This morning we had passes for a 9:30 tour of the capitol.  We took the Metro to the Capitol South station and got soaked on our two-block walk (our umbrellas are in the car).  We checked in and had time for pastry and coffee in the cafeteria prior to the tour.  Our clothes were pretty dry by the time the tour was over about 10:45.  We walked over to the Hart Office Building (the rain had stopped) and visited Al Franken’s office, where we got passes for the House and Senate Chamber tours.  The staffer was nice and let us go into Al’s office (he wasn’t there) and take pictures.  Paul Wellstone’s sons gave Al their dad’s nameplate from his senate days.  We walked to Amy Klobuchar’s office and signed her guest register.   We went back to the capitol and toured the House and Senate Chambers.  We had to go through security many times.  Cameras are not allowed in the chambers--the Senate Chamber is much nicer than the House.  There were no representatives in the House Chamber, but John McCain was speaking about Afghanistan in the Senate.  The only people there besides the visitors were about 20 staff people.  Our next stop was the U.S.  Botanic Garden.  We then continued down the Mall and went to the National Air and Space Museum,  where we saw the Wright Flyer, The Spirit of St.  Louis and the Apollo 11 capsule.  We crossed the street and went to the National Gallery of Art.  We stopped at the National Museum of Natural History just long enough to see the Hope diamond.  Our last museum of the day was the National Museum of American History, where we saw the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner, the exhibit  The First Ladies at the Smithsonian and Julia Child’s kitchen.  On our way back to the hotel we walked by the White House.  We spent a couple hours relaxing in our room, then went out for Chinese at Charlie Chiang’s.  It was an interesting but tiring day.  We walked over ten miles!

The Capitol