The Little Train
Friday night we got a little insider's glimpse of Washington.
We are a one-car family here. On a typical day, Harvey takes the kids to school in the morning (about ten minutes away), then drives the car back to our house, walks to the bus stop, and catches the bus to work. That way I can have the car during the day to run errands and pick the kids up in the afternoon.
However, Harvey does have an assigned parking spot in the giant garage under the building next to his, the Rayburn building. So if he needs to drive to work, he can. Another benefit of this spot is that we can use it after hours if there's somewhere near his building that we want to go. But there's a catch. I can drive the car out of the garage, as I've done a few times when I've met Harvey for lunch. He takes the car to work, I take the bus to meet him for lunch, and then I drive the car home. But I can't drive the car into the garage. Harvey has to show his badge. If I want to drive the car to meet him and park at his office, he has to meet me on the street, get in the driver's seat, and drive the car himself into the garage. It's a little trouble, but it's worth it to have the free parking.
That was the routine Friday night. I drove the kids to the Hill, and we met Harvey on the street and he hopped in to drive the car into the garage, to his spot. Our plan was to walk to Union Station, which is on the other side of the Capitol, for dinner. We could have walked out of the garage and used the sidewalks, as any tourist would. Instead, we took a route less traveled: the tunnels and the halls of the Capitol itself.
Tunnels connect the House office buildings to each other, the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Senate office buildings on the other side (at least those are the ones we know about). There are certain places you don't have access to unless you are with a congressperson or staffer. It's one of the perks of Harvey's job.
So after parking our car, we headed to the tunnels. There is one where you can walk to the Capitol, and there's another where you can ride a little train. We thought the train sounded more fun, so Harvey flashed his badge and we walked through security and hopped on.
As we got off the train under the Capitol, the kids asked if we were going to see Barack Obama. I told them I didn't know where he was at the moment. They seemed surprised that he wouldn't be at the Capitol all the time. We decided to take an after-hours stroll through that magnificent building anyway.
Our brief Capitol tour ended as we made our way outside and finished our walk to Union Station, the beautiful old train station with access to Amtrak and the Metro, a huge food court, shops, and restaurants. We walked around for a few minutes, but by this time the crew was getting hungry, so we had dinner at Center Cafe.
We are a one-car family here. On a typical day, Harvey takes the kids to school in the morning (about ten minutes away), then drives the car back to our house, walks to the bus stop, and catches the bus to work. That way I can have the car during the day to run errands and pick the kids up in the afternoon.
However, Harvey does have an assigned parking spot in the giant garage under the building next to his, the Rayburn building. So if he needs to drive to work, he can. Another benefit of this spot is that we can use it after hours if there's somewhere near his building that we want to go. But there's a catch. I can drive the car out of the garage, as I've done a few times when I've met Harvey for lunch. He takes the car to work, I take the bus to meet him for lunch, and then I drive the car home. But I can't drive the car into the garage. Harvey has to show his badge. If I want to drive the car to meet him and park at his office, he has to meet me on the street, get in the driver's seat, and drive the car himself into the garage. It's a little trouble, but it's worth it to have the free parking.
That was the routine Friday night. I drove the kids to the Hill, and we met Harvey on the street and he hopped in to drive the car into the garage, to his spot. Our plan was to walk to Union Station, which is on the other side of the Capitol, for dinner. We could have walked out of the garage and used the sidewalks, as any tourist would. Instead, we took a route less traveled: the tunnels and the halls of the Capitol itself.
Tunnels connect the House office buildings to each other, the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Senate office buildings on the other side (at least those are the ones we know about). There are certain places you don't have access to unless you are with a congressperson or staffer. It's one of the perks of Harvey's job.
 |
| Posing with a Judah-size Capitol in the basement of Daddy's building after lunch |
 |
| It was a bumpy ride ... |
 |
| But we made it! |
We were just passing through, so we didn't stop much to look around or take pictures. We simply walked in wonder through those grand, empty halls, through that famous rotunda, in the still and quiet of the evening, nonchalantly crossing by the "No visitors past this point" signs. I watched the kids' feet skipping and twirling across the beautiful mosaic-tile floors, and I took it all in.
(We did take one photo. Tabitha recently did a geography report on the colony of Rhode Island, so when she saw the statue of Roger Williams, she was excited and couldn't pass up the photo op.)
 |
Tabitha with Roger Williams, founder of RI
|
We stopped outside the station before heading home for a family picture.
 |
Bright lights, big city!
|
To get back to our car, we stayed above ground and walked past the Capitol along the back side, which was originally planned to be the front. You can tell when you look at the statue on top of the dome, which is facing that direction.
It was more than Harvey's job that brought us to DC; we were hoping for opportunities like Friday night's, and now we're experiencing them! They are a privilege and a blessing. Thanks for letting me share them with you. (And if you come see us, maybe we can help give you an insider's glimpse as well!)
 |
| Daddy's girls |
Comments
Post a Comment