{"id":6390,"date":"2014-05-10T18:23:57","date_gmt":"2014-05-10T22:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=6390"},"modified":"2014-05-14T06:20:35","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T10:20:35","slug":"exploring-d-c-and-the-library-of-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=6390","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the D. C. Metro and the Library of Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, May 10, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

This trip was a mini-vacation and celebration of our 12th wedding anniversary. \u00a0We went downstairs to the Cafe du Parc where we enjoyed Illy coffee outdoors on the sidewalk. \u00a0The weather was warm and humid with rain forecasted for the afternoon. \u00a0It was a treat to sit outside after such a long winter.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1951\"<\/a><\/span>Escalators to the Metro Platform<\/p>\n

Afterwards, we walked to the nearest Metro station to take the subway to the Library of Congress. \u00a0I remember reading about the completion of the first line of the Washington Metro in 1976. \u00a0The system has grown in thirty-eight years and is still expanding with planned completion in 2018. \u00a0According to Wikipedia, \u00a0the Washington D. C.\u00a0Metro is the second busiest\u00a0rapid transit system in the United States after the New York City Subway System. \u00a0There are almost 800,000 riders per day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSC_1960\"<\/a>Waiting for a Train at the Station<\/p>\n

The Washington Metro had a complicated fare schedule depending on which stations a rider gets on and off the train, as well as an extra cost of $1.25 for using a paper ticket. \u00a0Plastic commuter tickets were preferred but the five dollar per person additional purchase fee did not make sense for one day. \u00a0We rode five stops to the Capitol Building Station and then walked to the \u00a0Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1966\"<\/a>United States Capitol Building<\/p>\n

I suppose some day we will visit the Capitol Building, but our interests lean towards museums and libraries, not politics or government. \u00a0The Library of Congress, which consists of three buildings, is the research library for our elected officials on “Capitol Hill”. \u00a0The library has an excellent website: www.loc.gov for additional information.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1961\"<\/a>\u00a0The Library of Congress – Jefferson Building<\/p>\n

The Beaux-Arts style Jefferson Building which was completed in 1897 is very impressive with a magnificent center staircase leading to the main entrance. \u00a0The Great Hall leads to the Main Reading Room which is off bounds to tourists. \u00a0There is supposed to be a tunnel which connects the library to the Capitol Building across the street.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1970\"<\/a>Staircase to the Library of Congress – Jefferson Building<\/p>\n

After passing through security gates similar to boarding an airline, we entered the magnificent Great Hall. \u00a0There were several interesting exhibits being held. \u00a0We eventually climbed up to a bird’s-eye view of the Main Reading Room from the third floor balcony.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1976\"<\/a>A Corner of the Great Hall<\/p>\n

One of my reasons for going to the Library was to gather information for a mystery story that I’m currently writing. \u00a0I wanted my main character to attend to a reception for a new exhibit at the Jefferson building. \u00a0I asked at the information desk if this was possible and the woman said that the library held many receptions during the year. \u00a0She led me to the Great Hall and said that tables could be set up on the balconies for up to two hundred people.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1987\"<\/a>A Balcony and Partial View of the Ceiling<\/p>\n

She pointed out the place on the balcony where a small orchestra could be positioned and the area under the stairs where the bars were usually set up. \u00a0The woman also stated that dancing took place on the mosaic floor of the Great Hall. \u00a0Then she asked me, “Do you want to see where your character can hide the body?” \u00a0Oh course I did, so she led me to the large case which holds the Mainz Bible.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_1997\"<\/a>The Mainz Bible Case with Tourists<\/p>\n

The woman described how someone could open the case and hide a body in the large empty space behind the bible. \u00a0She also described in detail what was behind two doors on the wall behind the bible case. \u00a0This information was too delicious and will be a great help to me. \u00a0Now all I have to do is write that chapter! \u00a0On the opposite side of the hall from the huge Mainz Bible there was a similar case which held a Gutenberg Bible.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_2017\"<\/a>The East Balcony<\/p>\n

After exploring, we left the Library and walked to a local place called “We The Pizza” which was just a few blocks away. \u00a0The pizza was excellent! \u00a0Then we found the Metro station again. \u00a0It was raining so we decided to return to the hotel to rest. \u00a0Unfortunately, we’re not as young as we used to be and we got tired after several hours of walking. \u00a0We rested for a while and then took the elevator down to the Round Robin Bar for a light supper of crab cake sliders and good tomato soup. \u00a0It was a good end to a busy day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday, May 10, 2014 This trip was a mini-vacation and celebration of our 12th wedding anniversary. \u00a0We went downstairs to the Cafe du Parc where we enjoyed Illy coffee outdoors on the sidewalk. \u00a0The weather was warm and humid with rain forecasted for the afternoon. \u00a0It was a treat to sit outside after such a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eastern-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6390"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6426,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions\/6426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}