A Day at the Capitol

My first view of the Capitol when we came out of the Metro!

We went to Greg Walden's office in the Rayburn Building to meet our tour guide.  This tunnel connects the House buildings to the Capitol.  The art is done by high school students from all the states.

Oregon's art

Visitor's Center

This full-sized plaster model was used to cast the bronze Statue of Freedom on top the Capitol dome.

The Crypt

Rub your foot over this star and you'll have good luck!  George Washington was to be buried beneath the star in the crypt but he left instructions in his will to be buried at Mount Vernon - the crypt is empty.

Lucky Scott!

Bust of Abraham Lincoln.  The crypt has 40 Doric columns used to hold up the rotunda directly above.

Small Senate Rotunda

This magnificent chandelier was purchased from a wrecking company for only $1,500 in 1965.  It has an estimated 14,500 crystals and weighs 2,000 pounds.  It is suspended from an electrically driven winch on a steel cable so it can be lowered to be cleaned!

Floor and...

Ceiling.

Old Supreme Court

Rotunda

Capitol dome

Frieze around rotunda - can you find the Wright Brothers?

Declaration of Independence,  one of six oil paintings in the rotunda.

Rotunda is filled with statues of Presidents and other important people.  

Women's Suffragette statue; the women are Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott.  The statue done in 1920 was left unfinished because the artist felt the women's movement would produce yet another important woman to the cause.

Ronald Reagan statue

Reagan statue is unique because it has a thin layer of the Berlin Wall at the base.

Rosa Parks statue

Old Senate Room

House of Representatives

Scott walking towards the House with our tour guide.

House of Representatives stairs, where we're meeting our state representative, Greg Walden.  He's in a meeting with the speaker of the house... we wait, and wait, and wait...  Finally his aide gets a phone call, meet him inside.

The wait was worth it, we pass Speaker Boehner in the hallway and see all the protocol that surrounds that small event, literally everyone stops and gets out of his way.  Next Rep. Walden takes us to the Speakers balcony for a view of Washington.  Oh, my! AMAZING!!

The flag is at half staff because former Speaker of the House Tom Foley died.  His funeral service was held in the rotunda later in the afternoon.

Leaving the Capitol and on to the next site!