Continuing from the previous post...

On the second day of my vacation I took the train down to DC for a tour of the US Capitol building. Sen. Reid's office arranged to have a tour guide meet me in the new visitor's center, which is built under the Capitol. There was supposed to be a group of five people, but I was the only one who showed up, so I had the tour guide to myself. I can't remember her name! I thought I wrote it down, but apparently not. This was the first time I'd toured the Capitol since the construction of the visitor's center. The last time was in 1997, I think.

Before my tour began I walked a couple of blocks down Pennsylvania Ave from the Capitol and had lunch at Good Eats Eatery, a burger joint which has been featured on Food Network. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't spectacular either.

Emancipation Hall, the main lobby of the Capitol Visitor Center.

If statues weren't lifeless lumps of stone and metal, the Capitol building would be crawling with them. Since they're immobile, however, they just stand around filling every nook and cranny. You're never without a pair of inanimate eyes staring at you. Each state has contributed two statues, some of which decorate the Visitor Center. Here is one of Wyoming's contributions, Chief Washakie.

Atop the Capitol dome is the bronze Statue of Freedom, an Athena-like lady with sword and toga. The original clay model has been reassembled and now dominates Emancipation Hall in the Visitors Center.

My favorite statue in the entire capitol is of King Kamehameha, from Hawaii. It looks awesome! Polished black and glittering gold; it really stands out. The statue wasn't moved to it's prominent position in Emancipation Hall until Pres. Obama, who was born in Hawaii, was nominated by the Dems last year.

Sen. Reid's tour coordinator advised me to meet my guide at this statue of Sarah Winnemucca. She was introduced to the Capitol building in 2005, joining Nevada's other statue, Sen. Pat McCarran.

In 1865, as the nation began the long healing process after the Civil War, Italian artist Constantino Brumidi painted The Apotheosis of Washington on the ceiling of the Capitol rotunda. The massive fresco shows George Washington ascending into heaven, where he becomes a god. Since it's 180 feet above your head, you can't really get a grasp for just how big the painting is, but it covers over 4,600 square feet! The figures are more than twice life-size, as much as 15 feet tall. Wow.

There are 8 huge paintings hanging on the rotunda wall. Each is 12 feet x 18 feet. That's bigger than the average bedroom! This is Declaration of Independence & Surrender of General Burgoyne, by John Turnbull.

One of the few photos I have of me was taken in the Old Senate Chamber. This room housed the Senate until the mid-1800's when the new wing was completed. It's not the greatest photo... The flash was a bit close.

This was one of my favorite rooms of the Capitol, the old Supreme Court chamber. These rooms do not photograph well with hand-held cameras, unfortunately.

That concludes the tour of the Capitol and Day 2 of my vacation. I'll post the rest tomorrow.