Advertisement
Published: October 8th 2023
Edit Blog Post
United States Capitol
United States Capitol. East Front. View from East Capitol Street in 1965. This area is now closed to traffic.
"The Capitol, finely situated on a hill 90 ft. above the level of the Potomac, dominates the entire city with its soaring dome and ranks among the most beautiful buildings in the world. It is 751 ft. in length and 121-324 ft. wide, and consists of a main edifice of sandstone, painted white, and of two wings of white marble. It covers an area of 3 1/2 acres. The main building, with its original
low-crowned dome, was completed in 1827; the wings and the new iron Dome were added in 1851-65. ... The general style is classic, with Corinthian details. The principal facade looks towards the E. ..."--Baedeker 1909
IMG00111p1 Washington, DC, was the next stop on this trip. We took the Pennsylvania Railroad's
Senator from New York to Washington, DC. (This was long before Amtrak.) It was exciting to have my first trip on an East Coast railway.
My first visit to the National Capital! A day of Gray Line sightseeing in Washington took us to the US Capitol, the Smithsonian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. We saw the National Geographic Society Museum and Library of Congress on our own. In 1965, the National Air and Space Museum was housed in World War II Quonset huts set on the National Mall. I liked seeing the Wright Brothers Flyer and Lindbergh's Spirt of St Louis displayed there. I was a devoted reader of National Geographic, and so I really wanted to see the building where all the fine geographic and travel photos and writing originated. The National Archives displayed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights along with other founding documents. At Arlington National Cemetery, we saw the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and John F. Kennedy's grave. My mother wrapped
Smithsonian Castle
Smithsonian Institutions Building, known as The Castle. Built in 1855.
IMG00113p1 up the day by taking me to the Library of Congress. I remember standing on the portico of the Thomas Jefferson Building as the sun began to set. Little did I know then that this was to be where I would make my career.
The next leg of this remarkable trip took us back to Mexico. From Washington Dulles International Airport, my mother and I flew on Braniff to Mexico City via Dallas and San Antonio. Washington Dulles International Airport was still new, having opened in 1962. The airport used mobile lounges at that time to transfer passengers from the Main Terminal directly to aircraft out on the ramp. (They are used today to transfer passengers between terminals.)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0259s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb