A Fantastic Tour Guide

Today we started our day at the US Capitol with our favorite intern as our guide.  It was hard to believe that Brett was now just like one of those interns that we toured with twelve years ago on my first trip to DC. We started in Congressman Larry Bucshon's office meeting the other interns that Brett worked with.  We then walked through the Longworth building to a tunnel that took us to the inside of the Capitol.  Along the way we saw the student artwork that was chosen to represent each of the Congressmen's districts in the United States.  We also learned that limestone from Bedford was used to make the columns inside Brett's office building.

We were impressed by Brett's knowledge as he gave us a fabulous tour of the nation's capital building.  There was so much to see including Indiana's statues, the portrait gallery, the original Supreme Court gallery, the old Senate room, Mike Pence's office door and so much more.  It was great having Brett give the tour as it was only the four of us and we could ask all of the questions that we wanted.  We spent well over an hour walking through the Capitol and learned interesting facts such as John Quincy Adams dropped dead on the House floor.  Brett definitely had the knowledge and delivery to give us the best information possible.  We all appreciated the opportunity to see him in his work environment.

Our tour led to lunch time and Doug found a bar down the street from Brett's apartment called Bullfeathers, named after Teddy Roosevelt.  It was fun to eat there.  Next we went to the National Archives to view the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  It was very hot today with an actual temperature near 100 degrees, so we decided to next cool off at the hotel.  After taking a break we walked to our favorite souvenir shop near Ford's Theater.  We didn't buy very much, but found a few small items.

Our hotel had a free happy hour which we all took advantage of after shopping.  It was still hot out, but it had cooled off enough that everyone felt ready to walk to Jefferson's Memorial.  The view from it was just as fantastic as before.  We then made a stop at the World War II Memorial.  I appreciated walking the Pacific side and taking pictures of Brett, Cam and Meg at the Indiana pillar.  I remembered talking about it with Paw Paw after my first visit twelve years ago.  He knew that he would never make it to see it, but was appreciative of the pictures I brought back.  

Our last stop of the night was The White House.  They were setting up for the fourth of July party on the lawn.  Once we were done sightseeing we took Brett back to his house.  It was perfectly located within two blocks of his office and in a nice neighborhood.  He appreciated our visit and we were all glad to have had spent the past three days with him even though they seemed to fly by.