Despite a rough start to our day (Andy and I are *not* college students anymore), we did manage to make it to the Rhode Island State House before the beginning of Sigma Chi Grand Chapter.
What a beautiful building! It is open to the public, so we went inside to look around. The paintings on the inside of the dome and the chandelier that hangs from the dome are amazing…
…and the State Room has two paintings of George Washington on each end.
We wandered into the library because the kids were amazed at the “old books.” One of the librarians showed the kids a book from 1802. She talked with them about how spelling was not standardized, so some words look “funny” by today’s standards.
While in the State House, a bell began to ring and Laura informed us that it was the “call to vote” bell. We asked the librarian about this and she told us that both houses of Congress were in session to vote on the Rhode Island state budget. On the way out of the State House, we stopped to look at two cannons – one from Gettysburg and one from Bull Run.
The Gettysburg Gun actually has a cannonball stuck in its mouth and there is an explanation of how that happened.
We spent the rest of the evening at the opening reception for Sigma Chi’s 81st Grand Chapter where the Artillery Company of Newport had a cannon cast by Paul Revere on display.
It was great evening with great people, and a wonderful way to begin Grand Chapter.