We went on a tour of the Library of Congress with our co-op. I don't know what I expected, but it was really amazing. I can't wait to go back and spend some more time exploring this amazing building with so much information everywhere! And that's without even going into the actual study rooms. Our tour was supposed to be focused on Thomas Jefferson, but our tour guide kind of did his own thing so it hit Jefferson here and there, but was a cool tour none the less.
The Library of Congress was built in such a cool way. The architect went to Chicago and hired artisans who had no where to work after the World's Fair, brought them back to DC and told them to do what they wanted. So the marblework and masonry is really ornate and at times bizarre. There are these little cherubs up the staircase that each have things in there hands to represent things like books, a globe, a hammer, a spear, etc. But the guide said that some, they don't know what's in their hands and can't figure out what it's supposed to represent.
The girls also thought it was super cool that we each had an earpiece to hear the tour guide so he didn't have to yell and we didn't have to try to crowd around him to hear. We could wander and look and still hear him where ever we were.
There is an exhibit of the books in Jefferson's own library. There are some missing, but it's still neat to see what Jefferson himself would have read and thought enough of to have in his personal library.
There is also a children's reading room tucked away in the bottom of the library. They have the normal children's library stuff like puppets and toys along with many cool books. They did have an exhibit of the collages that were used to illustrate "Parrots over Puerto Rico." They were amazing and beautiful!
We took the tunnel to the Capital to get back to our car and while we didn't have time to do a tour or see much there, we did snap a picture inside.
It was kind of a wet day, but we decided to try for the National Zoo anyway. This zoo has large enclosures and as-close-to-natural-habitats as I guess you can get. Zoos always make us a little sad though. We enjoy seeing the many different animals and I'm thankful for the conservation efforts of many zoos like this one. But I do hate to see large animals or birds contained. I did get to see a few animals I had never seen before. I had never seen a Maned Wolf, but man! Those things are huge! (said in the voice of Tiny Elvis)
Still, we had fun and the girls enjoyed seeing new animals. So it was a fun day!
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