DC Day #7

Today was not a day for pictures, not that you can see them anyway. We started the day incredibly early - like Andrew made me get up at 5:45. I put on several layers and we went down to wait in line at the Supreme Court. Today they were hearing oral arguments and Andrew wanted to get in line early so we could get tickets to sat in on these arguments. We were number 6 and 7 in line. Around 7:45, they gave us tickets to mark our spot in line and allowed us to leave line to grab breakfast and use the restroom. We went inside the cafeteria there at the Supreme Court and did just that. I'm afraid we couldn't get a picture of this yummy food. We left everything at home because we knew we wouldn't be able to take it in the courtroom. Andrew had a bacon, egg, and cheddar sandwich with coffee and I enjoyed a HUGE cinnamon roll with some fruit loops I had brought from the condo and a grape juice. We sat inside for about an hour because it was freezing outside even with all our layers. They took 50 people in today so we were easily accepted. I won't go into the case but basically this guy was being deported because he pleated guilty a LONG time ago. He didn't know he could be deported if he plead guilty so now he is trying to get appeal. Today they were arguing over whether or not he should be able to appeal and where. Things were complicated because this guy used to be in the army. Anyways, I found this pretty cool. I didn't really understand half of what they were saying, but I know it was an experience not many have. And it was pretty cool. Andrew, however, LOVED this. No surprise. This may be his favorite part of the trip. Guess that's why I got up at 5:45 this morning.

After that we headed over to the Library of Congress for a 12:30 tour only to discover there was no 12:30 tour. So we went to Blanche Lincoln's office to pick up some passes for the Senate Gallery. Then we went on to the capital and sat in on a meeting of the House for about 15 minutes before getting shuffled out of there. Again, we were made to leave our cameras behind so no pictures. This was much like the Supreme Court, cool, but I didn't really understand what was going on.

Then we had a tour of the Capital. We saw a great video at the beginning and then went around in a large group to see the main features of the capitol and to get a little history. I enjoyed the tour, but it would have been much better if we had a louder tour guide. She was very small and very quiet.

After the tour we went in to sat in on the Senate. They allowed us to stay as long as we liked. Drew liked that. This was really cool. We got to witness New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Maryland trying to get an amendment passed so they could vote on it. I only know this because Andrew explained it to me. Once again, not a clue what they were saying. :) Really neat though.


Next we went into the Botanical Gardens. They had some beautiful flowers in there but we didn't stay long. Remember I said we were dressed in layers... and it was EXTREMELY warm in the gardens. I think I would like to go back if we have time.

We ran into the museum of Air and Space to get an idea of how long it would take us in there. We are going to need a while. Daddy, you would love this museum. There are airplanes of all kinds hanging everywhere. It reminded me of Seth's bedroom on Meadow lake when you hung all those models from his ceiling. It was really cool.

We will be going back there when we aren't worn out and when we have more time.

Then again, it was time to come home to the condo and crash.