Today we put to the test the notion that we are "very fast by feet" (an assertion made by the lady at the information station in Reutte on our European Dream Vacation).
We woke up and walked over to the subway to get to our tour of the capitol building
. Our tour started at 10:00am. We were guided through the building and told a number of stories about its history: how it was built and things that have happened there. We saw the columns that Thomas Jefferson insisted be topped with corn in a unique American way - which were apparently the only thing that didn't burn down in 1812. Desmond put his tiny toes on the cornerstone laid down by George Washington himself. Desmond also saw his first movie in a theater. It was called From Many, One and described how our many states and individuals come together as one nation through the process of representation (it was more interesting than it sounds). The tour continued and continued. It was crowded because all the winners of an art contest were all visiting today, so everywhere we went there was another line to wait in. I overheard tour guides saying to their groups that they had never seen it this busy. We started looking at our watches. Even with the late checkout we requested at the hotel, we needed to be back by 1:00 and it was nearing noon. The subway trip had taken half an hour on the way there.
We excused ourselves a bit early from the House Chamber (where the representatives sit when Congress is in session) and moved quickly through winding corridors and staircases, back through security reclaiming our phones, and out towards the subway. At this point we were extremely grateful that Desmond was in a carrier and not a stroller
. Waiting for elevators would have been excruciating.
But we ended up doing some waiting in any case. The subway was delayed. We watched the expected arrival times change on the reader board, mentally comparing them to our checkout time.
"Four minutes." I read off the reader board
"And then four stops."
"Four minutes and four stops. What time is it?"
Our train came at length. We boarded at 12:20. We rode the four stops
"How many blocks is it from here?" I asked as we hurried up the escalator into the sun and heat
"Two blocks down. Five blocks over."
"What time is it?"
"12:40"
"Right"
"We are very quick by feet!"
We made it up to our room only to find that our keys no longer worked. Bryan ran down to get his card remagnetized. There was no time to feed Desmond in the room so we grabbed our things and made it down to the lobby. We took care of him and grabbed our things. I wish there had been time to take a picture, but there wasn't.
Imagine, if you will a couple dodging businessmen and women as they go, striding purposefully down the street in travel clothes. The man wearing a large backpack and carrying a full-sized car seat with a cinch sac strapped into it. The woman following along wearing a floppy hat, hugging an oversized diaper bag to her front and carrying a baby on her back. So we looked the nine hot blocks we rushed to our subway station.
It was more of this to get to Union Station and onto our train. We weren't able to get lunch before boarding the train (particularly disappointing seeing as I had food in hand in the food court when the announcement came over the intercom to board and I had to put it back because there was a line to purchase it). We ate some almonds and drank a few sips of water and settled in for our train ride.
It was quite pleasant. We rode through Maryland, Delaware and eventually into Pensilvania. Jeff met us there and acted as native guide the rest of our trip via commuter train to where Annaliese was waiting to pick us up.
We spent the rest of the evening visiting with the Goves and enjoying being stationary.
Capitol and Train Day
Monday, June 22, 2015
Nether Providence Township, Pennsylvania, United States
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Comments

2025-02-09
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Leslie
2015-06-23
What a whirlwind of a day for the 3 of you! Good thing you guys are seasoned travelers and able to get from point A to point B without difficulties, and keep smiling thru it all. Love you