An Evening on Capitol Hill

After a visit to Capitol Hill during Week 3 of the 2014 St. Albans School of Public Service Program to meet with a U.S. Senator, we were back this week to focus on the House.  We began with a late afternoon tour of the Historic Capitol Building, with the National Statuary Hall being a spot of particular interest since each State has had an opportunity to select two statues for inclusion, and the choices reflect a good deal about the history of the nation.  We also enjoyed the majestic Capitol Rotunda (see brief video below).
After touring the Rotunda, we were fortunate enough to be able to meet with Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), a 26-year Member of the House of Representatives (and father of Celeste, SPS Class of 2014!).  Congressman Pallone took questions on everything from his road to politics to the upcoming mid-term elections.

We ventured off Capitol Hill itself but stayed in the neighborhood for dinner.  Top Chef tv show fans got a treat with our visit to former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn's restaurants, Good Stuff Eatery and We the Pizza.  (Verdict from SPS 2014: two enthusiastic thumbs up!)  After a good meal, nothing like a brief constitutional: we strolled back over the Capitol Hill grounds to meet our bus back to St. Albans.  At that point in time, our streak of superb weather luck finally broke, and the skies opened up.  But SPS '14 was more than game for the challenge, converting their "Business Casual" attire to "Business Trashbag" with some home-made raincoats.