Washington DC -- Day 4

Today, we took the subway and got off at Union Station. Union station is a subway stop, train station, bus station, and shopping/restaurant area. We chose this location because it is closer to the Capitol, which we have an invitation from Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office to visit. Here are some pictures of Union Station..........

Our first stop after Union Station, was the U. S. Supreme Court Building. When we got there, two lines existed for getting in.......... one for sitting in the court for as long as you wanted and listening to the case that was in progress, and another for a 5 minute tour with a chance to hear a couple of minutes of the case. You can see the lines in the first picture. We got into the shorter line, which was for the shorter visit. After the tour, we ate lunch in the building's cafeteria. There is also a picture of the Capitol from the steps of the Supreme Court building:

Since the Capitol was just across the street, we checked on general tour tickets, and were able to get a pair, but we had to wait for 2 hours. The Botanical Gardens were just across the street from the Capitol, so we toured it while we waited. Here's an outside picture, and a few close up shots of flowers growing in the center.........

We toured the Capitol, but inside pictures were difficult to take. I did get several views of the outside, and some detailed shots inside of the Dome. After the outside shots are the ceiling of the dome, the circular painted around the bottom of the dome itself (which is intended to appear three-dimensional), and the 'old' senate chambers.................