Montgomery

Some of you might not know that Montgomery is the capital of Alabama. When we moved here I wasn't sure if it was Birmingham or Montgomery. Birmingham makes more sense because it's in the middle of the state and has a larger population. Well, Montgomery is the current capital, so that is where we went on our field trip today.

First we went to the House of Representatives where they got to participate in a mock vote. The bill up for vote was whether to extend the summer vacation to six months. You can see from their final vote that it passed, 67-8, with 2 abstaining. I have a feeling that there were 10 who were confused about where to find the Yea button on their desk.

They got to meet the new governor and our representative. This picture is taken on the steps of the Capitol. This is the same spot that Jeff Davis took the oath of office of President of the Confederate States.

Then we went inside the Capitol. It was beautiful, I'm sure. There were lots of beautiful paintings and stuff. But everywhere we turned there were effing balconies. Remember me with my irrational fears of people leaning over railings? All I heard of the guide's monologue was, "Blah, blah, blah, Because we are a historic building we don't have to adhere to modern safety standards, or else our railings would have to be 42 inches high. Blah, blah, blah" I ask you, is that any way for our state capitol to set a good example for the rest of us?

For an hour we toured the Capitol. No matter how high or low we climbed there were more of those damn balconies. Even when we got down to ground level to look at the replica of the Helen Keller statue, there were balconies overlooking the basement. Really? Enough with the balconies and railings. By the way, two of the parents and several of the students commented on the queasiness of all those balconies, so I'm not the only one with this affliction. The floor is also uneven and bouncy.