Augusta: May 23

Friday, our last capitol... We drove from Concord to Kennebunkport to stay the previous day, the quaint town on the coast on Maine. It was about 80 miles southeast of Augusta.

Atop the dome is the statue "Lady of Wisdom" a female figure holding a pine bough in the form of a torch and a pinecone in her left. Also of note are many American flags! Definitely displaying their national spirit.

The architecture is fairily simple, not ornate, without Latin quotes or symbols. It is a very stately building, with art consisting of paintings of governors, senators, and, of course, Presidents Lincoln and Washington. The walls are painted white, as is the dome, and there are white Doric columns. One interesting painting along the stairs was one of Washington next to the behind of a horse. Another piece was a bas-relief above a fireplace, a scene of soldiers returning from the Civil War.

There is a "fossil hunt" - throughout the capitol building there are four kinds of marine invertebrate fossils in the floor stones. Definitely unique!

The senate and house chambers were simple, clean, orderly and quaint white painted rooms. On the second floor, of note there was a porch that was open to the public, where you can sit on rocking chairs!

Another tid-bit is that on the bottom floor there is a room for massages! For visitors or workers, what a great idea.

There's also a history museum accross the street about Maine, and the capitol is amidst green parks, which was nice. Augusta seemed like a nice small town, but we didn't stick around long enough to learn about it. We headed back to the beach!

May 22: Concord

After Montpelier, we were off on our 120 mile drive to Concord, NH. We stopped along the way in Stockbridge, where James Taylor wrote a song about.

There is an arch, the "Memorial Arch," outside, that honors NH soldiers and sailors. Once inside, you are greeted by a large statue of the 14th President and noted NH resident, Franklin Pierce.

Concord was a pleasant town, the capitol in the center of the State House Plaza, said to be the country's oldest statehouse, constructed in 1819 of Concord granite and Vermont marble. The architecture seemed to be quite simple, very down-to-earth, with walls painted white and white marble floors. Not too much art, but some paintings of governors and other well-known NH residents.

The House chamber was a little different in that they had theatre chairs without desks. In this chamber were paintings of Lincoln, Washington, Pierce and Webster. We couldn't go up into the dome because in order to, said the security gaurd, you would have to walk along the attic with pigeons. There is no rotundo under the dome to look up into.

On the way out, we stopped by a friendly cigar shop and John bought one to celebrate being on vacation. The clerk cooly responded, "excellent," after hearing of our ventures.

May 22: Montpelier

We drove late Wednesday into Barre, VT, right outside of Montpelier. Its too bad because Montpelier is such a darling town. We ate breakfast at a movie-like small-town diner. We walked through the quaint downtown to the quaint capitol in minutes.

The capitol looks like a giant house, or a mansion, with acres of open land behind it providing beautiful scenery. They are very proud of Ethan Allen, with a marble statue of him inside. There was no security or welcome desk, just as though you're walking into someone's home.

Simple exterior and interior, not ornate like most capitols, but very elegant in its simplicity.

Paintings of governors line the hallways along with chandeliers, and the floor a black-and-white marble checker. There are no Latin symbols or proverbs like most of the capitols, but there is a bust of President Lincoln, who seems to be quite popular. There are some quotes posted from their governors.

A curving staircase takes you upstairs where the senate and house chambers are--small, but nice and cozy rooms. There is also a nice reception room with large civil war scene paintings, but no civil war flags like the others. The governor's office appeared unused, with antique furniture and dated carpet.

I think this was my favorite capitol because of its homey quality. A woman in town, like in Providence, said that it is known to be one of the prettiest capitols. People are quite proud.

Albany: May 21

After a quick lunch, we were off on our 114 mile trip to Albany. We got there by 2pm and it was raining. The neighborhoods and area of Albany reminded us of parts of NYC. The capitol was right in the center of the city, parking very hard, but the building so huge you couldn't miss it. It seemed to take up at least 2 square blocks. However, there is no dome! So that is a big difference from most state capitols as of yet.

At left, me in front of the capitol next to a large statue of the Civil War General Philip Sheridan.

The capitol was under construction and so the entrance was on the side with a spray painted sign, very informal. There weren't as many paintings as previous capitols but the "Hall of Governors" showcasing some of the past state governors. There were a few sculptures, one of President Lincoln of course. There is one room, the Governor's Reception Room, whose fourty-foot-high rotunda ceiling was part of a dome that was never completed, but covered in murals chronicling important events in NY military history.

They boast a "Civil War Flag Preservation Project" housing it seems like hundreds of Civil War flags. John noted that he thought Southerners were proud of their Civil War history, and it seems as though Northerners are, as well.

The senate and assembly rooms were simple and nice. It is a such a monolith building, one reminiscent of an old, midieval castle where you get lost; the pamphlet boasts the "hallways resonate with the echoes of great aevents and people from our state's past"--you can definitely hear your echo in the gigantic rooms and halls of this building. The walls were painted simple, the stairs and many of the walls were cement. It was an adventure just getting around in it!

Hartford: May 21, 2008

In the morning we were off on our 90 mile drive to Hartford, Connecticut. We thought the Providence capitol was grandiose (and it was), but Hartford was crazy gradiose!! The style of the building is Gothic, with spires, a golf-leaf dome, medallions and bas-reliefs.

The interior (and exterior) architecture was very elaborate, detailed with some busts of prominent Connecticut-ians, and one big statue of Connecticut's "officia state hero," Nathan Hale, who said "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

The lighting was dim, with no visible security entering the building, and no ropes in the senate and House chambers, as is usual in other capitols visited.

There were many civil war flags and even a real tree from the Civil War with actual cannon balls stuck in it that had been shot. Another interesting tid-bit was the gold fountain they have outside the senate chamber, which used to be used for water breaks.

The capitol was a fine and very impressive one - the tour guide said it was voted the nicest interior of all the capitols (not sure who/where that was voted). It definitely was, and the town was also very friendly, clean, as the capitol is located downtown amongst much greenery and parks. Overall very nice!

Providence: May 20, 2008

After eating a nice lunch in Boston at an Irish pub (despite the uninvited company, another story...), we headed on to Providence, a 50 mile drive from Boston. Providence was rainy, but nice, small and easy to navigate around. Parking was also a lot simpler than Boston, being that our bed and breakfast (State House Inn at Providence, very quaint and nice!) was only blocks from the capitol building.

We were thrilled to find it open at 4pm despite the travel book's posted closing time of 4pm. The actual closing time is 4:30pm, so note to yourself! :) The capitol was quite busy, with the House and Senate both in session. News stations roamed about, interviewing senators and whoever, so that was kind of fun. We even sat in on the Senate for a minute.

The outside is very grandiose, with a central marble dome (said to be the 4th largest unsupported dome in the world), and four surrounding smaller domes. The interior was relatively sparse of art, but still carried classical Latin paintings and symbols like many of the capitols seen previously.

There were a couple of cannons and many flags displayed from the civil war. A neat aspect of the outside was a marble porch that went all the way around the building (though the entrance was hard to find).

After the visit we went to the very cool "Wild Colonial" pub in Providence, in the bottom of a very old looking building and had some local brew. The people were kind, and service was great in Providence!

Boston: May 20, 2008

We arrived at the Boston airport at 11:40 am, rented a car (we got a PT Cruiser! how fun!), and were off to the capitol right away. Our mapquest directions got us into the city well enough, and we spotted the dome, found parking for about $25/hour, and jumped out to head to the first state house on the tour. The capitol was very busy and loud with lobbyists (guess) and other senators, etc. It is, according to their pamphlets, the oldest capitol still in use (completed in 1798). It does appear very old, and is located in a very old, quaint neighborhood.
Here's John outside the capitol, which was right in the middle of the Boston city center, blocks from the Boston Gardens. Of course, the Boston Celtics have been doing well, and even the state house expressed their Celtic pride with a huge flag accross the front of the building.




Inside the building was pretty stately as expected, with paintings of the governors lining and walls, and multiple busts of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. However, to my dismay, John Adams only had one bust, no paintings (unless I missed it) besides one in the Senate chamber along with other presidents on the wall in creation of the Declaration. In a room that seemed to be honoring great presidents, there were large sculptures of Washington and Lincoln, and then some pieces cardboard with a copied picture of John Adams with some words about the second president (who, of course, was from Boston, unlike Washington and Lincoln). John Quincy Adams was not shown anywhere, though his name was listed on the wall on the Senate Chambers. This was disappointing to me as a grand-daughter of the great pres! But I guess I have heard that John Adams was unpopular.


Another interesting tidbit is that the Senate chambers has a round table, unlike the capitols we have seen previously. There's also a room that used to be on the outside that is now inside, displaying flags of each of Massachusettes cities.

We did it!

We're back and we made it through our seven capitols tour... I will be starting to re-cap our visits now starting with Boston...

7 capitols in 7 days!

We are so excited because we are about to venture upon our biggest capitol trip yet...7 capitols in 7 days! Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Monpelier, Augusta, and Concord...of course we are not bringing our babe, she will be safe with grandparents. We're just going to rent a car and see the sites of the beautiful northeast. We'll be staying on the coast of Maine for 2 nights, as well.
Trip starts May 20! Countown begins...