Republican Atheists’ President visited Washington D.C. for the first time

I had a great time visiting Washington D.C. for the first time during July 16-17, 2018 for leisure. I was lucky to receive tips ahead of time from an acquaintance about which locations to visit, so I had an itinerary planned out.

I had just arrived to Union Station by bus from hot and humid North Carolina, and was surprised the weather in D.C. felt almost the same. I first walked through Union Station, which was a beautiful building that had a  wide variety of stores and restaurants. Upon leaving the station’s main exit, the United States Capitol building was immediately visible.

The first location I visited was the Lincoln Memorial, which was full of visitors, young and old, from all over the world. There is a large flight of stairs that lead up to the famous Lincoln statue, and overlooks the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a long narrow rectangle-shape pond. I then walked along the reflecting pool and could see the iconic Washington Memorial in the distance.

Eventually I reached the large World War II Memorial at the end of the reflecting pool. It was a circular shape and had an outer edge lined with pillars that had the names of states engraved on them. A beautiful fountain was in the center, and other displays placed around the fountain that related to the historic war. Carvings of World War II events were placed throughout the memorial site.

I kept walking east towards the Washington Monument, which is the well-recognized obelisk that can be seen in presidential inaugurations.  Directly to the left of the obelisk is the White House, a location I was particularly looking forward to seeing. I could hardly see the White House from such a long distance away.

I was surprised how the White House was tucked into the city of D.C., and had large buildings surrounding it. For some reason whenever I saw photos of the White House I assumed it stood alone. I first walked along the backside of the White House, which features the pillars standing in a semi-circle. This area was fenced off at a long distance and there was a small area outside where visitors could stand a take photos. I continued walking to the front of the White House.

The front of the White House is on a street that is lined with other historic buildings that relate to government events, such as the Treasury Department. Regular traffic is not allowed on the street, so visitors can stand in the street and take photos. There were a few people holding signs protesting Trump, but otherwise it was a relatively calm crowd. Directly across from the White House is Lafayette Square, a park featuring various statues of generals and other noted people.

The next day I first focused on visiting the office of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation to see if they had printed information available to the public, and was interested in possibly introducing myself as president of Republican Atheists. Unfortunately, I learned that the office was in a high-rise building and was only accessible to people who had made an appointment.

I moved onto my next destination which was the Victims of Communism Memorial, a sculpture that was completed in 2007. It was located a couple blocks away from the office building. Occasionally events are held at the memorial site to draw awareness to the people impacted by communism. Flowers are sometimes left on the statue.

Later I went to the United States Capitol, an impressive building that is topped with a massive dome and is surrounded by grass lawns. I attended a tour, hosted by Free Tours by Foot, outside of the capitol that gave brief explanations of buildings in the area, such as the Supreme Court, Library of Congress, and buildings that house the offices of U.S. senators and representatives. This tour was great because it saved me a lot of time in learning about each individual building myself, and also threw in interesting points about historical events and architecture.

During the tour I went to the Library of Congress, which is across the street from the Capitol. The interior of the building was beautiful and full of esoteric imagery that was pointed out by the tour guide. It also houses Jefferson’s library, which are books placed on rounded bookshelves and shielded with plastic. I was surprised to learn that the actual library in the Library of Congress can be visited by the public – the only requirement is to obtain a card to enter.

Soon the guide took the group to a tunnel that connects the Library of Congress to the Capitol, which was convenient since it was so hot outside. After a five minute walk we entered the US Capitol Visitor Center, a location that provides information about the Capitol and also provides free tours to the public to view certain rooms inside the Capitol. The tour did not go into the visitor galleries of the chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate. To my surprise, US citizens must obtain passes to the visitor galleries from their representatives or senators, but international visitors can obtain passes right at the visitor center.

 

After the tour ended, I had just enough time to make it to the Cannon House Office Building, a congressional office building that houses offices of US representatives. There are actually six congressional offices buildings – three for US Senators and three for US Representatives, but that day I only visited the Cannon Building.

I went through a standard security check and then walked through long hallways lined with doors. Each door had a plaque next to it on the wall featuring the name of the representative, and the state he or she represented. It appeared that each representative has the option to choose three flags to stand beside the door. All representatives had the flag representing their state, but some added other flags, such as military flags or the Gadsden flag (the “Don’t tread on me” flag). Practically all California representatives had the rainbow flag. I even came across Nancy Pelosi’s office.

My acquaintance had mentioned to me beforehand that I can actually enter the offices of the representatives to speak to them. I was glad he mentioned this because I had honestly never pondered speaking to a representative in D.C. before. I managed to get the courage to open the door to a California representative’s office. There was a receptionist that looked up at me from a small desk to the left of the door. She smiled and asked how she can help me. I said I am visiting the area for the first time and am attempting to speak to Representative Mark DeSaulnier. She said he is not available because he was in session voting on legislation, but offered to take a photo of me with his plaque outside the office. It was the end of the day and staff were leaving their offices, so I did not pursue to speak with anyone else. But now I know it is an option.

I finally went to the Republican National Committee headquarters, which had been recommended to me by someone who said he had been there years ago. I assumed there would probably be a lobby with brochures or post cards about the Republican Party. Unfortunately, I found that the lobby was a plain white room with no information. All that was there was a desk with a security guard who had nothing to say. I guess the office had become more dull over the years.

I finished the day by returning to the White House and meeting with another tour group to learn about interesting events relating to the White House. The tour mentioned comical events such as Winston Churchill visiting D.C. while Franklin Roosevelt was president, President Grant becoming a public spectacle for smoking cigars in the lobby of a nearby hotel, and Andrew Jackson nearly causing a riot after inviting the public to a White House party.

Visiting Washington D.C. for the first time was a fun experience that I think will bring respect to Republican Atheists as an organization. I recommend everyone to visit. Be prepared to walk a lot and to have water on hand, especially in the hot months of summer. Be sure to stock up on snacks at convenience stores when you have the chance since there can be long stretches of only government buildings, so it can be difficult to obtain food or water.

Lauren Ell is President of Republican Atheists. She is a business owner, consultant, marketer and communications strategist. Contact Lauren Ell here. Follow Republican Atheists on Facebook and Twitter.