mybigadventures.com

We got up to the alarm, as we had timed tickets for the Capitol Building today. We gave ourselves a bit of a lie-in - having decided last night to get a taxi there. It was quite a long walk otherwise and we were both still suffering a bit with bikes. Upon checking the timed tickets, as we left the room, we realised it said to get there 45 min early, to allow time to get through security. Given that it was 9:15 AM and we were still at the hotel, and the timed tickets were for 10 AM, we realised that this was never going to happen. Nevertheless, we decided to skip breakfast and get going. The bellman got us a taxi for a fixed price of $12, and we arrived about 9:50 AM. It wasn’t very busy and we got straight through security, collecting our passes in time. The tour was led by a person speaking through a microphone, which was picked up by our headsets - although only when you are very close which meant we kept missing what he was saying. The tour lasted just under half an hour and included a 30 minute video on the history of the Capitol building. Although the tour was free, we didn’t find it particularly good as you only really go into two main rooms. The Dome room and another anteroom, containing statues gifted by the individual states. Our guide was from Florida; their statue was of the man who invented air-conditioning. There was also a statue of Rosa Parks and a trick where you could whisper in one part of the room and hear it across the room. (In the Dome room, there is a statue of Reagan and it was mounted on a layer of pieces of the Berlin Wall).

After the tour, we went to the shop and bought a sew-on badge, then headed over to the Library of Congress, which, in comparison, was awesome. We managed to get a free official guided tour, just as we arrived, with a guy called Ray. He was very knowledgeable and took us all around the library, explaining everything. The group whittled down somewhat, until only about five others were left. The tour ended overlooking the reading room - which appears in the National Treasure film. Apparently, the books on the second floor were painted on by the film company.

Feeling hungry, we went back to the cafe in the Capitol building. There was a wide selection to choose from. Dani had a salad (that they weighed) and a chocolate bun, and I had chicken and chips. It cost about $25 and was very filling. After lunch, we headed over to the station, which was nearby, to ask about luggage. Turned out we would be fine with regards to our luggage on our train journeys, and on the way out, we picked up a new map, and an Australian tourist gave as a bus ticket for the bus tour that he no longer needed, which still had time on it.

From here, we headed over to the Capitol area again, to locate the Shakespeare Folger Museum it was easy to find, as we realised it was actually located on our map! We went in and a quite abrupt security person gave us the basic info. Feeling a bit confused, we went down the corridor until we came to a main room, containing some artefacts. After about 1 minute, a different woman came in and told us where we were and what there was. There were various items from Elizabethan England - a letter from Elizabeth I to James I (as he became) about Catholicism in England; some China; and then some texts from the time. But, most impressively, the first Folio edition of the works of Shakespeare’s plays (only 36), published posthumously by two of his friends! Quite exciting! You can actually look through it, with an electronic version that you could interact with. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Johnson. Unfortunately, the main room of the museum was closed for restoration (this is becoming a running theme!) so they only had a limited collection available. The Folgers were/are avid Shakespeare fans, who were fascinated by the Elizabethan era, and collected as much material as they could.

At the other side of museum, they have the Folger theatre, which has been constructed to resemble an Elizabethan theatre. The woman, seemingly in charge of that side, talked to us about the theatre and the reasons behind it. When she found out we were from the UK, she confused us a bit by talking about the recently discovered theatre in London - we thought she meant the Globe, but we weren’t sure! We left and had a quick look in the reconstructed Elizabethan garden to the side and then headed back down the grassy mall to head back to the hotel.

We were walking quite casually, until we became aware of a helicopter flying back and forth. It appeared to be the presidential helicopter! So we hurried on, at top speed! They kept appearing as if it was flying away, but it kept going in circles and coming back, so we kept going, heading towards the White House. We made it to the grass patch in front of the White House, and were glad that we hadn’t tried to get nearer as it was cordoned off. We watched as the helicopter landed on the White House’s main lawn and squinted to see if anybody got out, but apparently not. It lifted off and flew away, only to repeat the whole thing again several times! Eventually, we decided to head off - we then heard a policeman telling another bloke that they were practising manoeuvres while the President was on holiday. Never mind - it was nearly a spot!

Once back at the hotel, we slothed for a bit and made our way to ‘Matchbox’, (having worked out where it was this time!) up 14th Street. We both had pizza - I had spicy meatball and Ben had chicken - and then we had a vast trio of desserts to share - sorbet, chocolate brownie and pancake balls, with dipping sauce. Despite very itchy bites, a very good day!

Today we visited Crook Hall and Gardens, it's one of the oldest inhabited preoperties in Durham dating from 1217 and is literally a stones throw from the hotel. It was £8 each to get in, and you eneter through the cafe at the bottom of the garden. As you enter the garden there is a fabulous maze, it was planted in the year 2000 and is simply aMAZEing. After a few wrong turns we found our way to the castle in the centre; you can climb up and have a view across the top of the maze, brilliant! The gardens were delightful, broken up into small sections including a secret garden, walled garden and an orchard to name a few. There was also a number of lawned sections throughout the gardens with tables setup where customers were enjoying afternoon tea.

We were treated to much nicer weather today with quite a bit of blue sky and sunshine popping through the clouds and it made for a nice warm wander about. We also had a wander around the manor house which is still the private residence of the Bell family. It is part medieval and part Georgian and most of house is open allowing visitors to wander freely. We unfortunately didn't encounter the white lady, ghost of the property, perhaps next time!   

Just a quick one to wish Danica a very happy birthday. It's results day today, so I think the celebrations will be carrying on well in to tomorrow!