There are days on the road that are all about the open country, and then there are days that are all about standing in the rooms where the country gets run. Our first full day in Washington was the second kind. We spent it inside two branches of government, the Supreme Court in the morning and the United States Capitol in the afternoon.
Juneaux sat this one out, and she was just fine with that. Cherry Hill Park, where the Wild Blue Yonder is parked, has dog walkers who will come right to your camper and take your pup out while you are off sightseeing. They have kennels too, but our girl wants no part of a kennel, so the in-camper walk was the perfect setup. She got her exercise, we got our day, and everybody was happy.
Rather than wait on the bus to pick us up at the campground, we took the truck over to the rail station and caught the train down to the National Archives stop. From there it was a slow, easy walk past the Capitol and on to the Supreme Court. That walk gave us our first real read on the city, and it surprised us. We had braced ourselves for the picture you sometimes get of a big city, crowds and beggars and a general layer of grime. Instead the place was spotless. It actually became a little game between us to spot a single piece of trash on the ground, and we searched a good long
while before we finally found one, a lone Popeyes cup. That was it. Clean and orderly, top to bottom. There was also a strong Capitol Police and National Guard presence all around the area, and rather than feeling on edge it made us feel super safe the whole time we were out walking.
Inside the Supreme Court
Our morning was a lecture inside the Supreme Court, booked for us through our Congressman's office. The best part was where it happened. We were not off in some side room. We were in the actual courtroom
where the Justices meet. They walked us through how the chamber is arranged, where everyone sits, not just the nine Justices but the guests, the attorneys, and even where the President traditionally sits when he attends, though he can change that if he likes. President Trump recently came to hear oral arguments about tariffs, and he sat in the front row of the gallery, in the exact spot where we were sitting.
Walking into that courtroom feels solemn and awe-inspiring, almost like stepping into a temple of justice. The chamber is large with a soaring ceiling, ringed by tall marble columns in warm golden tones, with elegant marble walls and rich mahogany on the Justices' bench and trim. Ornate friezes overhead show the great lawgivers of history, and deep red curtains add to the formal, dignified feel of the place. There is a hush to it the moment you walk in, a reverence that makes the room feel weighty and important. The design is grand but balanced, and that balance is what humbles you. It conveys power, history, and respect without ever being flashy. We came away feeling the deep significance of where we had been standing.
Inside the Capitol
Later in the day we had a private tour of the U.S. Capitol, and our guide was Decklin, a Clemson student serving as an intern for Congressman Ralph Norman. A Clemson kid showing two South Carolinians around the Capitol felt about right.
We started in Congressman Norman's office over in the Cannon Building, where we met some of his staff. From there Decklin took us through an underground tunnel to reach the Capitol itself, which was a cool way to travel and not something most visitors get to do. We made our way through the Capitol Visitor Center and into Statuary Hall. Each state gets to contribute two statues of notable figures from its history to the National Statuary Hall Collection, a hundred statues in all. Many stand in the hall itself, but plenty of others are spread throughout the building, in the Visitor Center, the hallways, and elsewhere, simply because there is not room for all of them in one place. The Great State of South Carolina
is represented by John C. Calhoun and Wade Hampton III. And yes, Chad got his picture taken next to George Washington while wearing his George Washington shirt. You plan some things on a trip, and some things just line up.
From there Decklin took us out to the Speaker's Balcony, and the view stopped us in our tracks. It is a long, sweeping look across the Capitol grounds and down the National Mall, with the Washington Monument standing tall in the distance. This is a private, restricted-access balcony off the Speaker of the House's suite on the House side of the building. It is mostly reserved for the Speaker, members of Congress, and their guests for special occasions, so getting to stand out there was a real privilege.
We also walked through the Old Supreme Court chamber and the Old Senate chamber, both of them full of history. But the big highlight came last. Decklin got us into the House Gallery, looking down on the chamber I have watched on television more times than I can count. The funny thing is, on TV it looks enormous. In person it is much smaller than I ever pictured. Stepping into that gallery feels like walking into a living piece of American history, a sudden rush of awe as you look down into the chamber below. There is a quiet reverence in the air even when the House is not in session. You feel small and connected to something much larger all at once, the weight of democracy, centuries of debate, the gravity of the place. It is humbling and inspiring in the same breath, and it left me with a genuine case of goosebumps.
All in all, it was a great first day of real adventure in Washington, D.C. Two branches of government in a single day, and a long list of moments we will not forget. Best of all, Juneaux was thrilled to see us when we finally rolled back to the Wild Blue Yonder.
Gallery
