Washington D.C. part II

Upon summarizing the events of this past weekend, I realized that we really did try to do too much! The trip was never as relaxing as it should have been in spite of the splendid sights and sounds of such a fantastic city. Day 2 started out just as early as the previous day; only this time our feet were a little less excited about the upcoming events. Andrew dropped me off at the George Washington Monument around 0745 so I could stand in line for tickets to go up to the top of the monument while he parked the car. The ticket office didn't open until 0830 and standing in line I realized something very important about the outfit I so meticulously packed for Monday's adventures......it was NOT warm enough for the brisk DC air! Standing in line freezing my butt off I realized that there was only one thing that was going to get me through the next 45 minutes of standing in line: I needed to make a friend to talk to and FAST! So the unsuspecting man in front of me soon found out all about our previous days adventures, Texas, Ft. Hood, Ft. Lee and our anticipated move to Germany. Fortunately for myself, he was formerly in the Army and cared a great deal about my stories....little did he know that I really didn't care if he cared or not, I needed somebody to talk to keep my mouth running and my mind off the cold. He spoke of his time in the Army and how he loved it so and would have made a career out of the military if wasn't for his ill fated marriage to a woman who couldn't deal with the Army life. After nearly an hour of small talk to keep warm, we finally got our tickets for 1500.

After Andrew was finished parking the car we met up and started our journey across the national mall to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world containing millions of books, photos, manuscripts, maps and recordings it also serves as the research arm for congress. The building was completed in 1897 and was hailed to be the largest, costliest, and safest library in the world. Today, the library spans over three buildings settled on the east side of the national mall. The Jefferson building (the first building built) was the sole building open on Columbus Day, and the only one that we were able to tour. It is a large, incredibly elaborate and overly ornate building constructed in the Italian Renaissance fashion.
The reading rooms, where people are allowed to research and study the stacks of available resources are amazing.
Our next stop was a tour of the Capitol building.
The Capitol RotundaThe Center of Washington D.C. in the center of the Capitol building The Speaker of the House's ChamberStatuary HallOur final stop for the day was back to the Washington Monument for our scheduled time to go to the top of the monument. The 60 second elevator ride takes you to a level of 500 ft. where windows on each side of the obelisk allow you to view the north, south, east and west sides of the mall.