Thursday, Sept 25 — Several weeks ago, we’d booked tickets to take a tour of Congress for today at 1020. The confirmation had said to arrive at least a half-hour early for the security screening. Since ride shares were so much faster and easier than the free shuttle or Metro, we hailed a ride share and were dropped off in the east side of the building near the Visitor’s Center entrance at 0945. Much to our surprise, the entrance was underground.

When we arrived, there were only a few people in the line to enter the building. But within one minute, a large group of high school students arrived, and the line was suddenly very long. Talk about perfect timing! We were through the security check within a few minutes. Once waved through, we had no idea which way to go. Someone asked us if we were there for a tour. When we said yes, he directed us to take an escalator up to the next level.

We came to a large room dotted with statues. Each statue had the name of a state on it. We later found out it was called The Emancipation Hall.