Washington DC Bureau of Engraving and Printing/National Cathedral Oct 2019

We had an early morning tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This was the morning that we got on the metro heading the wrong way and had to get off at the next stop and board again to go the right direction, so we had to hustle to be there on time. We arranged this tour through the Congressman's office as well, so we actually had a tour prior to the building opening to the public. It was really nice, there were only a few other people with us. We walked by later and the line to get in was out the door and down the sidewalk.

On this tour you get to see the printing presses and learn about how the money is printed. All the employees were funny and would hold up stacks of money for you to see. There are lots of layers of printing on the currency to try to stop counterfeiting, so there are lots of stages in the printing process. It was an enjoyable tour and you can even buy bags of shredded money in the gift shop. I thought that was a little weird but.. whatever.

We then walked over to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence,  the US Constitution and the Magna Carta. It was a little disappointing to see that the Declaration was so terribly faded that you could barely make out anything except John Hancock's signature. I'm sure they have a better copy locked in a vault somewhere, I hope so anyway. The Constitution is still legible as is the Magna Carta.

After lunch, we took an Uber to the National Cathedral for a tour there. I wanted to do the Tower Climb tour but they didn't have any that day so we opted for the behind-the-scenes tour instead.  It was an interesting tour. We started in the main cathedral and learned some of the history behind the cathedral. We went up to the upper levels and out onto a walkway to see the buttresses as well as some of the damage from an earthquake several years ago that is still being repaired as funding allows. We even got to go inside to see the top of the vaulting above the nave and we talked about some of the restoration efforts and the craftsmen who work on the cathedral full time.