A Capitol Day in Pennsylvania

We have visited 14 different states in our motor home so far in 2016, and we have managed to see most of those state capitol cities as well. Since we are parked just 25 miles from the Pennsylvania capitol in Harrisburg, we planned a day trip into the city. We were met by a grand building as we walked up the street.

A closer picture will show the unusual lime green color of the dome. It is topped by a 17-foot-tall gold statue named "Commonwealth," just to give some sense of scale to the size of that huge dome. After seeing so many capitols, it's hard to compare the size and grandeur of each one. But we can say that the city parking meters in Harrisburg are the most expensive we have found so far.

Once inside the building we are greeted by the grand white marble stair case. This area was designed to mimic the Paris Opera House staircase, and it was beautiful.

Denisa is feeling like a debutante as she makes her way down that grand staircase into the capitol lobby. All she needed was her white ball gown and her elbow-length evening gloves to make this picture complete.

From the big atrium area, we could look straight up into the dome overhead. Again, Pennsylvania was inspired by a European landmark. This dome is a one-third reproduction of the dome at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The cornice below the dome is encircled by a combination of five different quotes from this state's founding colonial Father--William Penn. Made of postage-stamp-sized golden glass tiles to make letters that are several feet tall, the quote that encircles the rotunda is, "There may be room there for such a holy experiment, for the nations want a precedent. And my God would make it the seed of a nation. That an example may be set up to the nations. That we may do the thing that is truly wise and just."

All the capitol tour guides were already reserved for a group of 80 fifth graders this morning, so we had to make our way around the building on our own. We did join them for some of the narrative given by the tour guides, as well as the state legislative member that was hosting their group. So we know that the marble in this room is from the Pyrenees Mountains of France; and the huge picture has William Penn in the center, with Ben Franklin on his right. The Representative was answering the fifth graders' questions, and we also know that he likes his seat on the aisle this year better than the one in the middle of the row that he was assigned his first year.

The Senate chambers were even more ornate, with large murals encircling the room. It looks like Pennsylvania took great pride in furnishing its capitol with marble from as far away as possible. The walls here are covered with marble from Ireland, and the white marble in the entry way was from Italy. But we didn't see any of the famous Pennsylvania blue stone in the capitol.

We also heard the tour guide say that if it looks like gold, it is in fact 23 karat gold. Even the 17 foot statue on top of the building is covered in real gold.

There are stained glass windows encircling many of the large rooms, and they were designed and completed by a famous student of the Tiffany glass master.

We had noticed that the lights in the capitol seemed to have an "X" shaped bulb inside. The tour guide was telling the fifth graders that the building was built when electricity was brand new, and 25 watts was the largest bulb available. So all the light fixtures have globes that were cut with a diamond pattern that would magnify that light as much as possible. It's those engraved diamonds that make a regular bulb look like an "X."

Our last stop was the governor's ceremonial office, where press conferences and large meetings are held. No meetings today, but they still had two people guarding the office against attacks from suspicious southerners.

As we hurried back to our expensive parking place, we had to admire the city's sky line along this street--with three beautiful old churches in a row, capped off with the green capitol dome. 

The capitol is just a few blocks away from the Susquehanna River. We drove across the nicely arched Market Street Bridge to get to City Island. Just like its name would imply, there is an island in the middle of the river big enough for a sizable baseball stadium, miniature golf, restaurants, and a boat launch.

This Walnut Street Bridge is in the same neighborhood, and is now limited to pedestrians only. It was well-used by downtown office workers donning their tennis shoes to get some exercise during the lunch hour. We have been blessed with beautiful weather this week, and we are trying to take advantage of it by staying outside as much as possible too.

We have one more picture of yet another bridge making its way across the Susquehanna River with the state capitol dome to the far right. We love the way the still waters of the river reflect the clouds overhead. As we travel this part of the state, we will find that this wide river doesn't have many bridges except in the Harrisburg area. When traveling east to west in this area, we had to return to Harrisburg or York to get across the Susquehanna River.

With no wind and temperatures in the low 70's, we had to find a way to spend more time outdoors. So we discovered Wildwood Nature Park in the north section of Harrisburg. It has a 3.5 mile trail that encircles a pond that is totally covered by water lotus. The picture below looks like a grassy meadow, but that is actually the pond.

This is a county park, and it was a great slice of green in the middle of an urban area. They were hosting "Art in the Wild" which they described as a series of "naturally inspired trail-side creations." The local hikers were asked to vote for their favorite among the 16 displays. Denisa voted this as her favorite--a xylophone made of natural materials that allows walkers to stop and play "Ode to Joy."

We took one of the lesser-traveled trails near the water's edge, and were rewarded by this siting of a deer on the trail ahead of us.

We watched as she gathered up her family of two fawns as they mosied on into the forest.

That was a more pleasant wildlife viewing than the snake that Denisa almost stepped on beside the trail. This was actually one of two snakes we would see today. Denisa almost pulled a muscle in her leg as she changed gears from a fast forward into reverse when Mark yelled, "Snake!"

So this day we got a nice mix of urban Harrisburg with a nice touch of green in the middle. Our legs were tired from our city walking as we headed back home about rush hour. It makes us know that we like these ventures into the city, but we're sure glad we don't live there.