Washington, DC (10/21/17)

After a spending a relaxing week hanging out with friends in NYC, I continued on with my cross-country road trip. My next stop was Washington, DC, to see my college friend Greg and his wife Anna. Thanks Greg and Anna for hosting me!

I had a fantastic time visiting DC’s museums and memorials. Some highlights:

Coolest museums and memorials (free too!)
Tour of the US Capitol building
Sat in on a session of the Senate

Air and Space Museum annex

My first stop in DC was the annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, officially known as the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The annex is located at Washington Dulles airport in Virginia and stores artifacts that don’t fit into the museum’s main building on the National Mall.

*Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – a large hangar filled with cool airplanes.*

2017-10-22 14.48.31 — *NASA space suit!*

One of the most well-known artifacts in the museum is the space shuttle Discovery, on display since 2012. Discovery‘s first flight was in 1984, and during its 27 years of service it flew into space 39 times — more than any other spacecraft in history. Most notably, Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

Discovery from the front.

2017-10-22 16.21.31 — *Discovery from the back. Humans for scale.*

2017-10-22 16.24.35 — *Discovery selfie!*

Another famous artifact here is the Enola Gay, the B29 aircraft used to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.

US Capitol

The next day I headed to the National Mall to explore the Capitol Building. Built in 1800 and home of Congress, it is also the origin for DC’s street numbering system.

I signed up for a guided tour of the Capitol, which was super informative and well-organized. The main attraction was the Rotunda, a large circular room below the dome. The Rotunda has statues of important leaders, 2 per state; California’s statues are of Father Juniperro Serra and Ronald Reagan.

2017-10-23 13.57.17 — *The Rotunda, located below the dome of the Capitol.*

2017-10-23 13.57.59 HDR — *Capitol dome.*

Next to the Rotunda is the old House of Representatives chamber, used until 1857. The chamber is a whispering gallery, and legend has it that John Quincy Adams used to pretend to fall asleep to listen in on conversations across the room. However, the internet informs us that this is unlikely due to the acoustic effect being muted by the chamber’s furniture, drapes, etc. Instead, John Quincy Adams often legitimately fell asleep due to his old age.

Senate Session

It turns out that the Senate and House of Representatives are open for visitors! Fortunately the Senate happened to be in session, and I was keen to observe democracy in action. Visitors are allowed with a special pass, obtained from any Senator’s or Representative’s office. I walked over to the Senate office building and got my visitor pass from the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Thanks Senator Feinstein!

Unfortunately no electronics are allowed in the galleries.

While the opportunity to observe our legislative body in action sounds thrilling, the short chunk of the Senate session I witnessed was underwhelming. According to a security guard, Senators don’t often come in unless their presence is needed, e.g. for a vote. One Senator was wrapping up his speech to the C-SPAN cameras, with several aides taking notes. A few other Senators were in the gallery which fell mostly silent after the speech was done. Not quite as lit as expected, and after 15 minutes I was ready to get going.

Library of Congress

My next stop was the Library of Congress — the largest library in the world. The library’s purpose is to research requests made by Congress members, and only high-ranking government officials can check out materials.

2017-10-23 15.52.47 — *The Library of Congress holds a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book to be published on a printing press in the 1450s.*

2017-10-23 15.56.43 — *Main reading room.*

After checking out the Library of Congress I headed to Tidal Basin to see the FDR, MLK, and Jefferson memorials.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Walking through the FDR memorial was a moving experience. The memorial is comprised of 4 outdoor rooms, taking the visitor through each of FDR’s terms as president — from the Great Depression to World War II.