Completely surrounded by huge buildings, you can not see the Virginia state capitol building until you are there. It is stunningly beautiful and the fact that it does not have a dome is part of it’s charm. Don’t get me wrong I love the beautiful domes that we have seen on so many of the capitols. I’m not too sure that I am fond of Oregon’s non dome capitol, but New Mexico and Virginia have been two of our favorite capitols and they are both non domed. Utah is way up there and it is domed. 
The stones around the visitor’s entrance to the Capitol are loaded with awesome fossils. 
Thomas Jefferson was the architect of the Virginia Capitol. He was in France at the time and initially said no when asked to design the building on the grounds of being too busy. After some thought he must have changed his mind as he sent the blue prints and later a model of the building.
The model sent by Thomas Jefferson.
George Washington actually stood as a model for this sculpture below. It is his exact height, length of arm and shoe size. Supposedly it looks exactly like he did.
A dome on the inside of the building the ceiling of the dome in the rotunda is actually 20 feet below the roof of the building.
Eight of the U.S. presidents have come from Virginia. Another interesting tidbit is that the laws in the state of Virginia state that you can only be governor for only one term at a time. If you want to run a second time you have to sit out a term and only one person had ever been in office for two terms. 
The elevator shaft and its original iron work. It was not handicap accessible so it was removed but the shaft kept in tact. After leaving we headed to the historic Monument avenue in Richmond, it was lined with beautiful old houses and the monuments weren’t two bad either. Virginia was part of the confederate states so the confederate generals and president were the main focus for the monuments and many of the busts in the capitol.
A trip to the mall and back home for dinner. Good night all.
Owens Endeavors 