DC ~ Capitol Building and Library of Congress

Ok, I'm going to apologize in advance because I have the feeling I might get a little long winded with this post ...

A few days before the marathon. Garrett and his friend Chris {who also ran the marathon} decided to take a chance and write to a Congressman to see if we could meet with him and get a tour of the Capitol Building.  {If you plan ahead} anyone coming to DC can write to their Representative or Senator and request a staff-led tour.  DID YOU KNOW THAT?!?  I think that's pretty awesome.  We didn't exactly get a staff-led tour because 1. it was last minute & 2. we weren't even contacting our Representative, lol!  So back when we were all in NC {Chris and his active duty wife, Heidi, as well} Garrett and them worked with a Colonel Gibson.  He retired from the Army and ran for Office .... and won ... twice {!} he's in his second term.  We thought, what the heck!  We're all in town together, let's see if the Colonel ..... Congressman .... wants to meet up with some old Army pals.  {not really, they weren't 'pals', but you know what I'm saying ;) }.  

So anyways, on Monday, Chris and Heidi stopped by for lunch and one last visit before they hit the road and while here Chris gets a call from the Congressman's office!!  seriously.  And they said they would love for us all to come by the next day and hopefully there would be time in the Congressman's schedule to meet with us!  We were all blown away.  The fact that someone in the office actually read the email and responded so quickly was pretty awesome.  

Bright and early the next morning we arrived at the Longworth building, just beside the Capitol Building.             

After a brief stop at security, just inside the door, we were passed through and had nearly complete free reign of the building.  From there we went up to Congressman Gibson's office and walked right in {you walk into the aide's area first.}  They were all so welcoming {there was about 4 workers in there at the time}!  Of course the Congressman was stuck in a hearing but his aide led us all into his private office to wait for a while in hopes that he would be out soon.  And the photo opts ensued!  I mean really, how often are you just hanging out in a Congressman's office?!

The huge thing we all took away from this experience was the realization of just how accessible your Representative is!  Anyone {who passes through security} has the freedom to go to their office and say ..... hey!  As the aide said 'our government is much more open to the public than the media would have you believe'.  He said that people come in all the time in an effort to have their voice heard!  How fantastic is that?!  Something to remember when you're visiting DC.  

{follow THIS link to find out who your Representative and Senators are and try to meet them and get a tour of the Capitol next time you're in town :) }  

After a while the aide said the Congressman wasn't getting out of the hearing; so he sent us on to the Capitol Building with a staff escort by way of the tunnel that connects to two building.  Even that was beautiful! 

We finally emerged at the very crowded visitor center.  The staff member told us to hang tight for a few minutes while he secured us some tour passes {that went straight to the front of the line!}  

**Kayla Photos**

The tour itself was pretty quick and sweet!  Even the kiddos liked it :)  {while in the tunnel a very nice officer handed out stickers to the kiddos which they proudly wore all day!}

The Rotunda.

While we were at the Congressman's office we were given special passes to visit the House of Representatives Chambers!  This was kind of a big deal.  Only those who visit their Representative {or Senator to see the Gallery of the Senate} get a pass.  No photos were allowed so this is a stock photo I found online.  You might recognize it as the room the State of the Union Address is always given from!

And we sat up in the balcony, right about where this photo was taken from.  They were in session at the time.  A Democrat was speaking about immigration, if I remember right, and the few people in the room {mostly Republicans} were all looking thoroughly board!  lol. 

After a much needed lunch break in the restaurant just off the visitor center we made our way through another tunnel to the Library of Congress.  It was a first time visit for all of us .... and .. well ...it was breathtaking.  Garrett has declared it his favorite building in all the world.

Our travel companions for the day!

Outside was a great view of the Capitol Building ... minus a few pesky trees!

Truly, a fantastic day!  One for the memory books .... or blog books in my case ;)