The conference takes place yearly at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, near the National Zoo and across the street from the Woodley Park Metro Station. Fortunately, Washington DC has one of the best subway transportation systems and its grid layout of streets makes getting around quite easy. 
The highlight of the trip for both travelers was visiting the US Supreme Court and getting to witness the 1 hour argument on the case Black v US. When the court is in session, a very limited number of seats are available to view the action. The courtroom itself is quite large but most of the benches are filled by attorneys in the Supreme Court Bar, law students and the press among other VIPs leaving very few for the public. People assemble at least 30 minutes before the case starts (first case is usually 10AM) and get in first come first serve. The case was about an executive who the government claims deceived his company into wrongfully giving him a $5 million bonus under a Federal Mail Fraud statute. Even for non-lawyers, it was quite impressive to see the 9 Supremes in person (visitors to DC rarely get to see top leaders of the government up front and personal). First, the executive's attorney argued the law was vague and unjust – the justices asked questions and carried on a spirited conversation with the fast talking lawyer. The real entertainment started when the solicitor general (attorney who represents the government's side) started speaking. First, the justices started questioning what constitutes deceit to your company – if someone knew their company was going to build a bigger factory, is it wrong to buy land in the area ahead of time? What about telling your brother in law or best friend to buy land? The company still pays the market value for the land, so the entity harmed is not the company. Then Justice Breyer, got a lot of laughs asking how do you figure out how much harm constitutes fraud? He suggested there were 100 million Americans who would tell their boss they were going to work really hard just to get him out of their office, and then spend the day reading a racing form. Justice Kennedy followed by suggesting American workers might disingenuously tell their boss how great his new hat looks just to get the boss off his back so he could slip out the door to an afternoon baseball game. Should all of these people go to jail? The solicitor general argued prosecutors could make a judgment on what is significant enough prosecute. Justice Roberts then said we cannot just pass a law saying people must not do bad things and leave it up to prosecutors to decide who to put in jail. Anyway, the banter was very entertaining – watching the justices in action was amazing, and showed many of them really lived in the real world and not just some academic fantasy one. Ray thinks attending the Supreme Court was one of the most interesting tourist activities he has ever done (up with visiting the Tower of London!).
Ray and Traci also visited the brand new "Newseum" where ABC host George Stephanopoulos broadcasts his Sunday show every week. While a $20 museum entry fee is quite foreign in a city where all of the Smithsonians are free, both travelers think it was well worth it. The Newseum covers history of media from the Gutenberg press to Twitter – and with it, American history. The memorial to 9/11 was quite breathtaking. The museum is filled with multimedia films, interactive computer displays as well as glass cases containing significant news events during this country's history. The Newseum also has a balcony giving visitors one of the best views of the US Capitol.
Before visiting the Newseum, Ray and Traci went to the Smithsonian American Portrait Museum which represented a more traditional way of appreciating American history – in the form of great art. While museums will continue to show great art, it is difficult to not to choose the high tech Newseum to highlight and learn about American history. Comparing experiences such as the Holocaust museum, the Louvre, or the Newseum is difficult, but Ray definitely enjoyed his visit and plans to return in the future.
Besides the Newseum and the Smithsonian American Portrait Gallery, Ray and Traci visited the "Washington DC National Museum of Crime & Punishment"– Notable criminals including Jesse James, Al Capone, Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber have their stories memorialized in a glitzy museum with lots of hands on artifacts and displays. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Crime Museum is how it highlights how so many notorious criminals have been had their stories told in Hollywood movies! Before leaving for the hotel, Ray and Traci stopped by the National Christmas Tree (with the many smaller trees for each state and territory).
Despite several previous trips, Ray and Traci had never visited the US Capitol – Ray obtained advance tickets over the internet from the Congressional web site although during this slow day, walkup tickets were available. Besides visitor passes, one can request "gallery" passes for the House and the Senate from your elected representative / senator – these passes allow you to go into the bleachers above the House and the Senate and watch the action. Ray didn't get gallery passes but fortunately House passes were available from the House appointment desk in the visitor center. The Senate was voting on an amendment to the Health Care Bill so all the passes were gone (probably to lobbyists). The US Capitol Visitors Center was recently built and spectacular – no expense was spared (your tax dollars, of course) in building a spacious and elegant tribute to Congress. Even the cafeteria was good with a rich selection of foods, complete with both Pepsi and Coke dispensers to avoid alienating any particular state. The Capitol tour was short – they let visitors see the large round and largely empty space under the big Rotunda, the Hall of Statues with many famous people (each State gets 2 statues in the Capitol) and the old rooms formerly used for the House and Senate Chambers (which each body outgrew). The most interesting part of the Capitol visit was sitting in the House Bleachers and watching representatives say their piece for 5 minutes each with most of the chamber being empty. On C-span, only the representative talking is shown – what you don't see is a mostly vacant chamber. The place is rarely full except for votes or the State of the Union Speech. The whole process seems a bit silly when so much time is spent talking to an empty room.
Visiting the White House was another fun part of the tour – unfortunately, post 9/11 it is difficult – large groups like classrooms can get passes, you can beg your local representative or senator for passes or you need to know somebody to get you in. Traci's cousin Wendy arranged for such a personalized guided tour – Seeing the East Wing decorated for the holidays was great – you actually see more of the White House on the tour than you do of the Capitol.
Ray and Traci also made a trip to the National Cathedral, a short taxi/bus ride from the Omni hotel. The 6th largest cathedral in the world, like many structures in DC is spectacular except for the fact it looks like a copy of Paris' Notre Dame and construction was finally completed during the George H. W. Bush administration – not hundreds of years ago. They attended a wonderful demonstration by the organist and enjoyed the great view of DC from the balcony. Unlike previous blog entries, not much has been mentioned about food – mainly because the travelers didn't eat at many memorable places. Other than lunch at the Capitol, most meals were on the run at chain cafes like Cosi and Corner Bakery. Near the Omni Hotel, Ray and Traci ate at Open City, Trattoria Italiana, and Tono Sushi which all provided tasty and reasonably priced food for hungry travelers. Ray and Traci also enjoyed lunch with Traci's cousin Wendy at a "healthy" asian restaurant called Teaism in Dupont Circle.
Before returning home, Ray and Traci visited one more attraction just down the street from their hotel – The National Zoo. Washington DC is only one of 4 zoos in America with Giant Pandas. The travelers snapped some pictures of them and said farewell to the National's Capitol.
