A whirlwind weekend in D.C. really is worth blogging about…but honestly, I think I’m still recovering 😉

I already told you about the amazingness that was the White House Correspondents Dinner.  When I first arrived late on Thursday, we visited some monuments…at midnight – at it was awesome.

After some sleep we hit the ground running to the U.S. Capitol.  My dear friend and reporter Jackie Fell has a Capitol press pass.  Apparently that means you can do whatever you want.  And we did!

On the other side of this door, you’ll find reporters typing away at their stories.  Once you are in this room, you can walk into the press gallery overlooking the U.S. House.  This was the door to that gallery.  We weren’t allowed to bring in phones AT ALL.  NO PHOTOS!

It was amazing to see your lawmakers in action.  And by amazing I mean comedic.  Often times embarrassing.

They were debating the FAA Sequester bill – basically voting on a measure to allow more flexibility in how the sequester cuts impact the FAA.  It was fascinating to watch everyone before the debate started.  Michelle Bachmann just walked around the house floor for a good 10 minutes looking like a lost dog.  You can see her in the above picture sitting by herself, wearing a white jacket and black dress.  Then Nancy Pelosi holding court over on the democratic side.  It was honestly like watching a live show of Saturday Night Live.

The sad part was that no one was listening to each other.  Lawmaker after lawmaker would get up, yell/scream/tell a bunch of lies…to no one listening.  And then they voted.  The line we heard most often…”we wouldn’t be in this situation if Ronald Reagan were still President.”  Yeah….

Here’s a look of the inside of the Capitol dome – just so pretty, a picture doesn’t do it justice.

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I just had to get a picture at the Senate podium in the press room:

My sister, Katie and I were also geeking out about different West Wing similarities.  Were you a big fan of that show?? I was OBSESSED!  Still love it a lot and just being in DC always makes me think of my favorite president ever, Jed Bartlet.  I know Aaron Sorkin is a big brain and all, but I guess I never thought that any of his characters were based on real people.  I mean, the West Wing really started before the age of Google and Wikipedia.  So we were thrilled to find the real, actual Josiah Bartlett signed the Constitution

Did you know there are little trains that run under the U.S. Capitol? I DID NOT – and was so excited to see them in person!   All I could think of were the trains that run in Wreck It Ralph – they were so small and funny.  I couldn’t stop laughing at them:

And once we got outside, we had to snap a Capitol selfie:

From there, we had to hit up some of the Smithsonian’s.  I think it’s so amazing that these museums are free and open to the public.  I, of course, only really wanted to see the American History one with all the pop culture stuff.  Success!

I was so excited to see Kermit – not as excited as the high school girls literally losing their minds…but excited.

Also of note  – these fancy shoes:

And last – but not least…

Can you believe that one chair is so famous? I remember watching this show when I was little.  It was funny to hear all the high school kids wondering what this nasty chair was all about.  Ah….to be young…

I really enjoyed the exhibit on Dresses of the First Ladies.  There were some great dresses!  Does this one look familiar?

We then stopped in a gift shop, where Katie once again was reminded that the world would be a better place if Ronald Reagan were still President:

From there, it was a trip to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where I was once again reminded how much I miss the Space Shuttle program:

We had enough learning for one day – we we made it over to one of my favorite DC bars…

From here, things got a little crazy.  We ate dinner, had some drinks…danced….

And then my phone died.  Probably a good thing.  I don’t think we got home until about 3am.  More to come….this was just day 1 folks!