We’re still a little sore from all the walking we did yesterday and we wanted to let someone else do the driving for a change.  We have pre-paid several tickets for things to see and do so we did two of them today.

We drove straight to Union Station where we hoped to catch a tour bus called the Old Town Trolley.  First we thought we’d get a bite to eat in the food court at the station, but while we were eating, Mark saw a couple guys that looked kind of suspicious so we picked everything up and left.  The station lasted through the day, so I guess it was for nought, but better to be safe than sorry!

Union Station as we were approaching it. It was so huge I couldn’t get it all in the picture.

I got this shot of the train yard from the second level of the parking deck.

An interesting looking information booth.

Waiting on the street for our bus, I got this shot of the Capitol through the rain and fog.

We were told on the tour bus that Union Station was designed to look like a Roman bathhouse. The statues above the doors are Roman soldiers, naked but for their shields.

Our tour bus had plastic windows that could roll up, but because of the rain they were down.  At first I was able to take a few pictures through the raindrops because there were only about three or four of us on the bus.  At each stop, the driver picked up more people and the windows began to steam up.  It was difficult to see anything, let alone take pictures.

The Japanese-American Memorial representing their internment during WWII. The five rocks represent the five islands of Japan.

The Supreme Court

Library of Congress

The Capitol dome again. The driver said that the work that’s being done on it should be done by the time of the inauguration.

The Botanical Gardens

At this point, the windows became too foggy for me to take any more pictures.  We would have liked to get off to see some of the sights, but we had a tour already paid for on the route.  Mark had wanted to see the Crime Museum, but it’s closed.  We were told they lost their lease.  So instead, we went to the Spy Museum.  Apparently, that will be closing soon too, so we were lucky to get here when we did.

Our trolley bus in the foreground as we got off and prepared to cross the street to the Spy Museum.

A replica of the Rosetta Stone. It’s in the Spy Museum because of what it took to break the code and translate the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

A coded egg

This one’s for my nephew, Nate. They say George Washington was the first American spymaster.

Ian Fleming apparently based James Bond’s cases on some of his own.

Thomas Jefferson invented the cylindrical cypher in the 1790’s. Mark and I were reminded of a similar cypher in The Da Vinci Code.

We knew that the last buses were going to pick up at 5:00, so around 4:30 we prepared to leave.  We waited on the street for a bus for a few minutes, but we knew we were only a couple blocks from the ticket office for the bus so we walked there.

On the way to the ticket office, we passed Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was shot.

We got to the ticket office and asked when the bus would arrive.  They said it should be there in a few minutes, so we waited.  And waited.  Maybe it was just that we were anxious to get back to our truck because we were supposed to meet up with Denise Fuller again, but it seemed like more than a few minutes before the bus arrived.

When we finally caught the bus, the driver continued the tour.

The Capitol dome is ubiquitous!

At some point, the driver dropped the pretense of giving a tour and started asking us where we’re from and what we’re doing.  We found out that he’s only been with this tour company for eleven months, but he drove tour buses in Chicago before this.  We had plenty of time to visit because we were stuck in traffic.

He tried calling in to tell them Independence Avenue was backed up and they told him something was going on at the Engraving and Printing Building.  He tried to take a turn out of the traffic, but we ran into another slow up where a stage was being set up and he thought he saw a sign that said something about a candlelight vigil which he guessed might have something to do with the Paris attacks.  Then we got into another area and he surmised that there must be a hockey game going on.  We were also passed by a couple cars with sirens and lights where everyone was trying to get out of the way.  The driver said that’s how dignitaries are escorted around town.

Whatever the cause of the traffic jam, we got back to Union Square late.  The driver advised us to have dinner there and wait it out, but we were eager to go.

Inside Union Station in the evening.

By the time we got into the midst of the traffic, we realized we weren’t going to make it to meet Denise tonight.  I checked my tablet and found an email from her, and between her and me, we decided to skip seeing each other tonight.  I was disappointed, but I also didn’t want to tie her up waiting for us.  We’re going to try again tomorrow.