Library of Congress!

There are a few things I have found most librarians adore: sensible shoes, funky leggings, cats, old books, typewriters, card catalogs and naming their pets Dewey or Page....that being said, I was thrilled to be invited to the Library of Congress last week. Getting ready to go to DC required my eating the fresh food in the fridge before to set off. So I had a high cholesterol dinner prior to the trip.

 A group of New Jersey librarians all packed their luggage, pushed their glasses up their noses and sensibly set off in their comfortable shoes to tour the Capitol and the Library of Congress.

I have to say, DC is by far one of my most favorite cities. It is just enough south of the mason dixon line to be sunny, warm and the people are much more slow and relaxed than in NJ/NYC.

rolling up my warm NJ sweatpants to get some DC sun on my Yankee bones.

St. Matthew's close to DuPont Circle in DC

 In DC you can find real sweet tea, buttermilk biscuits, chicken fried just right and even okra deep fried to perfection. So 80% of me was going for the sun and food while 20% was looking forward to the most important legal library of the USA.

Food trucks line the streets close to the Capitol. YUMMM

 There was a world to learn during my classes at the Library of Congress (LOC).

on my way to my classes at the Capitol

there she is!

I could write an eternity on the history and the importance of the Library of Congress, but it would be obscenely long. The library offers some of the best research tools for people in every age that will earn you top grades in school. The thing that struck me the most was how the architecture imitates Rome and Italian art.


Here are the top 5 things I liked:

1. They have mosaics like those in Ravenna, Italy. Click here to see my blog on the amazing Italian mosaics.

2. The Librarian of Congress, Dr. Billington, took some time to talk to me and answer my most pressing question, "Which book is your favorite and should I read it?" I went home with a list of 20 books he told me to read...they are all so huge it will take me a life time. Here we go with the first page of "War and Peace"...
3. I went to the House of Representatives through the Republicans entrance (was security scanned about 20 times) but was tickled to see that the Republicans drink Royal British tea with William and Kate on the tin!

"Bligh me, Wills! The Americans fancy ouah tea!"

4. I had lunch close to the Vise President's office and even though I didn't make it out of my classes in time to visit a gift shop I did get to steal some chips from next to his office. VP potato chips taste very politically correct!

crunch crunch!

5. The "Quiet Please" signs and owl paintings everywhere in the LOC reassured me that it is ok to tell people to be quiet in the library.

Shhhh....you're in a library!

Now for the food. I was waiting for this part! Ok...let's just do the top five yummy things.

1. 2AMY's Pizza. This is Neapolitan pizza at it's very best. Out of all the certified pizzerias we have visited none compare to the uncertified 2AMY's in DC.

They also carve their own prosciutto

get it girl!

ahhhh

2. Annapolis Crabcakes. We spent a morning walking around Annapolis that is just the cutest most rickedy little town in Maryland.

 We went to Pusser's Restaurant on the waterfront of Annapolis and delighted eating some meaty buttery thick crabcakes on a perfect salad.

 It was divine eating the flaky meat while watching the boats cruise in and out of the Annapolis harbor.

3. Afterwards Cafe and Bookstore DC. Best coffee and cake in town with a bookstore to boot!

4. Au Bon Pain....this is a chain restaurant but the honey drizzled croissants flaked with fresh slivers of almonds are enough to take your mind to a very happy place where gravity doesn't exist and unicorns float around the rainbow....that good.

The chocolate croissant is also worth every single of its 560 calories

5. 2AMY's Pizza....we sinfully ate too much pizza....but no other pizza in the US can compare to 2Amy's perfection. The dough, the acidity of the tomato sauce, the slight wooden taste of the woodchips that cooked it, the height the dough puffs when cooking, the slightly sweet mozzarella di buffala cheese...goey goey goodness.

I am happy to say we also did quite a bit of walking in DC. About 12 miles up and down the streets so we probably burned a fraction of the food consumed, but not much!

The end