The Capital Complex

I followed up my tour around the memorials with a tour of the Capital area buildings.  In addition to the Capital itself, I also toured the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the National Archives.  The Library of Congress was really nice, it had quite a few really well done exhibits, including one of three original Guttenberg bibles.  And the National Archives was fantastic, in addition to several original letters from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, they have an original map from the battle of Gettysburg, President Taft's bathtub, Shaquille O'Neil's shoe, and of course, the original Declaration of Independence, the original Constitution, and the original Bill of Rights.  And an original of the Magna Carta from the late 1200's if I remember correctly.  I didn't get as many pictures, since flash photography isn't allowed inside a lot of these exhibits.  But here are a few the whet your appetite.

The ceiling and frieze in the Library of Congress.

 

 

 

The south facade of the National Archives

 

The front of the Supreme Court building.

 

The National Mall, Part 2

Continuing my tour around the memorials...

Looking west from the top of the Washington Memorial, with the WWII Memorial in the foreground and the Lincoln Memorial to the back.

More of the World War Two Memorial.  Very, very well done.

One star for each 100 casualties of the war.  Click the picture to enlarge it.

 

From the iconic Vietnam War Memorial.  As moving as I anticipated it would be.

 

The Wall.

 

Looking down the Wall to the Washington Memorial.

 

The Korean War Memorial.

 

The Franklin Roosevelt Memorial.  Less well known, but one I really enjoyed.

 

The bread line.

 

Several of these guys flew back and forth all morning.  Looks like they were going to the Vice Presidents Residence, or something else in that area.

 

Looking from the Washington Memorial towards the Capital.  More of that tomorrow...

 

The National Mall

Today I laced on my walking boots and made a trip around the National Mall.  I concentrated on the memorials on the Western portion.  I'll post some pictures here, then the rest in another post later.  Enjoy!

The White House from the south lawn.

This view is from inside the Washington Memorial.  That's the National Christmas Tree just to the left of the portico.

A few views of the Washington Monument.  Imposing from any angle.

 

 

The Jefferson Memorial.

 

 

The Lincoln Memorial.

 

 

 

 

The step on the Memorial where MLK gave his speech.

 

 

Fin

At least for me, the 2009 hunting season has come to an end.  It's been another great year on the prairie for me and my motley crew of bird dogs.  I'm off to new adventures, so I thought I would finish up with some random pictures from this year. 

The countdown has already begun, only 270 days until next season starts!