Personal Tours

The other day we had the opportunity to visit two of Washington D.C.’s most popular buildings. First, we met a friend for lunch at the Pentagon! Our friend, Tanya, works there and offered to give us a tour after lunch. We walked through each of the military service hallways, passing the service Chief of Staff’s offices and the office of the Secretary of Defense. We went to the 9/11 Memorial Chapel and stood in the vicinity of the impact zone, but due to some construction, the memorial was closed. The Pentagon is museum-like, in that many of the hallways were decorated in themes such as honoring each of the wars or they are dedicated to V.I.P’s such as former military generals. There are photos, paintings, memorabilia, and timeline/information plaques regarding the hall. If was an experience and we were very thankful to Tanya for taking time out of her day to spend it with us. Unfortunately, no photos allowed.

After we left the Pentagon it was 4 o’clock and we caught the metro back toward the National Mall. We were unsure as to what we wanted to do and thought maybe we would wander into one of the museums. However, the sun was shining beautifully on the Capitol building and it captured our attention. We had yet to walk up to the Capitol so we decided to do that. It was getting late, but we figured we would take a picture or two from the steps and call it a day.

As we were strolling up the walkway, we noticed a crane and boards in the lawn and asked a police officer as to what was going on. He informed us they were going to be setting up the Capitol Christmas tree. He asked us where we were from and the lead into a short conversation. Out of the blue he asked if we had time and invited us to follow him. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours on a private tour of the Capitol Building with Officer Akeem Harris!

It was awesome as we were lead into hallways and rooms that most of the public is not privy to. We walked up the front steps to where the President’s inauguration is held, we stood on the front balcony overlooking the National Mall, we walked but the Speaker of the House’s office (she was in, but didn’t see her), he took us into both the Senate and House chambers and we actually stood on the floor of the House (no pictures allowed). We went into the Rotunda where officials lie in state. We visited the original Congressional Chamber and stood on the placards that marked the seats of people like John Quincy Adams or Abraham Lincoln. This is the same room that Adams suffered a heart attach and was taken into a small chamber next door where he expired. This room is not the sitting room of the Congresswomen (we got to go in there too). He took us underground and we rode the train from the Capitol to the Senate buildings and returned. Office Akeem shared stories, little known facts, and his personal opinions with us. He was great and we really enjoyed our visit to the Capital and with Akeem.

Original Congressional Chamber and room in which JQA died