We slept in a bit. It was needed. Our first stop for the day was the White House. It was so much smaller than expected. The road between the park where we stood and the White House was a no man's land. It wasn't really blocked off but there were secret service and police officers present. The moment any one stepped off the sidewalk onto the road, their whistles were blaring. Chris had sent a request many months ago hoping for a White House tour. Denied.
From the White House we took the Metro to the Capitol Building. Chris had also requested a tour of the Capitol through Senator Ken Buck's office. Granted. So we arrived a little before our scheduled time of 10:45 am and chatted with the staff members in Senator Buck's office while waiting for another group to arrive. The other group didn't show up so we went on a tour on our own with our guide Kaylee.
We went underground for the tour, first standing in a long line to go though security. It moved fairly quickly. We learned about the structure, the additions, statues, history, original front doors, and the stairs where each new president exits for the inauguration.
For the inauguration, the current President followed by the Vice President and their families exit the Capitol from these stairs. They are followed by the President-elect and Vice President and their families. Once the inauguration is over, the newly inaugurated President and Vice President and their families are the first to enter the Capitol followed by the former President and Vice President.
Our next stop was the Archives of the United States of America. We weren't allowed to take pictures at all in the archives. I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, but while we were in the bathroom, a man came and used it as well even though he was dressed as a man and there was a mens room right next door.
We stood in line to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The line looked long so we told the girls we would stand in line while they went down to the gift shop. Shortly after that, we were crowded in to a large group entering the room at one time. The girls weren't back yet, so we had to go forward without them. Fortunately a security guard was kind enough to let them skip the line as he saw us talking with the girls and telling them they would have to stand in line on their own. It was a pretty crowded room.
It was well past lunch time, so we headed downstairs to a small cafe to eat and take a short break. As we exited the archives, we found a small sculpture garden. There was so much busyness, it was nice to have a break from all of the hustle and bustle.
Chris was looking forward to the National Air and Space Museum. He had been once as a young boy with his dad and had looked forward to seeing it again. Apparently it hadn't changed all that much. We split up; Kristen and I went upstairs to explore while Amy and Misha stayed with Chris. It was safe to say that we were wearing our kids out. There was lots to see, lots to read, and many miles to walk.
Stephen Henninger lives in Colorado in our ward.
The funny joke of the day occurred when Chris was explaining to Amy and Misha about the attitude of plane, when it shifts right to left. Chris asked, "Do you know what it is called when the nose goes up and down?" Amy promptly queried, "Sass?"
In fact, after we left the Air and Space Museum, Amy and Misha opted to rest in a park across the street from the Capitol Building while Chris, Kristen, and I explored.
After a time, we called Amy to have her and Misha join us by the Capitol as we made plans for the rest of the evening.
We walked a couple blocks to a restaurant that Chris located online called The Alibi. We sat outside resting our feet and drinking plenty of water. We weren't heading back to the hotel yet because we had a found a concert being held later on the steps of the Capitol by the Unites States Army Chorus. As we were finishing up dinner, it started to rain. Fortunately we had purchased two umbrellas and huddled under them as we walked back to the Capitol. The concert was on hold because of the rain. The bonus was that many people either stayed away or left because of the rain. We got some great seats and waited to see if the performance would go on. It was about this point that Kristen realized that she no longer had her hoodie tied around her waist. We figured she had left it back at the restaurant. Chris called The Alibi and luckily they were able to locate the jacket and hold it for us. Halfway through the performance, Kristen needed to use the restroom, so Chris took it as a good opportunity to walk back to the restaurant and get Kristen's jacket as well.
The US Army Chorus was joined by the Young Men's Ensemble of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus. They sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" together which was amazing. Then the young men sang for about 20 minutes and then the Army chorus. Finally they joined together for some final songs. It was amazing. Though we had some tired and unwilling participants at the beginning, the girls were all happy that we stayed.
The final song was "Battle Hymn of the Republic." It was moving moment for me to hear members of the Army Chorus change the words in the third verse from "let us live to make men free," to "let us die to make men free."
As we walked to the Metro (via a short stop at McDonalds to use the restrooms), the girls spotted their first fireflies. They were enchanted. In fact, I would say the fireflies were some of the high"lights" of the day and week.
As we walked through McPherson Square after exiting the Metro toward our hotel, we spotted a rat running through a pathway it had created. The girls were grossed out. The park seemed to be a habitation for many homeless people...and rats.
Since Amy has shown a bit of intolerance to dairy even with lactase, we didn't want to take a chance on her getting sick. So no ice cream for her. Chris had purchased some the day before at CVS. Amy wasn't very thrilled, but we have learned that it takes almost three days for her to recover from a dairy encounter.