Since you asked my advice I suggest you make this travelogue a summer series. It's hot and no one will protest a little light reading. Besides, you still managed to work in some political and cultural observations in case anyone wants to ruminate on them.
If you are mentioning it then you really didn't "ignore" the fact that the "body in whose name knowledge is collected, ignores" the Library of Congress. Hard for you to ignore that, I think. Your point on that is an excellent one though, one I hadn't really thought of. It gave me a mental picture of those men and women with ties askew, and jackets off, taking up every available seat and sitting on the floor with piles of books stacked around them like fortresses of knowledge. Sweat dripping from their brows and reading glasses perched seriously on noses, they all have messy hair and worried expressions. A sense of urgency fills the room as they pour furiously through pages, scouring hundreds of thousands of books. I like to imagine frantic speech as they ask each other what answers they've found or wonder aloud when and where similar situations as we face have occurred. Chaotic searching in the history section. "Do you think there could be any answers there?"
Finally, "What's that name over there? The one with the light out? Gibbon! Where's his book? Maybe he knew something!"
Imagine if the people who claim to be looking for answers and solutions, really were. A fantasy, I know.
I'll admit to being a big fan of the National Treasure movies as well. It's always fun to read a book or see a movie and then go to the locale. Dan Brown's books and a certain trip to Rome come to mind. I'm glad she enjoyed it. Hopefully, you didn't bring on too many face palms. :)
I traveled to D.C. with my daughter when she was roughly the same age. One of the "off the beaten path" things we saw was the sculpture, The Awakening. It depicts a large giant waking up and struggling to break free from the earth. When we saw it, it was located at Hains Point, but has since been moved to National Harbor. The links that could be made to the idea of a sleeping giant awakening are obvious and numerous. I thought at the time the proper placement for it would have been the National Mall in full view of the Capitol. A reminder for the people and their (ahem) public "servants."
Mr. Snarky traveled to the capitol with a student leadership group around the same age and loved seeing all the protesters. His observation upon returning about the entire experience was that "You can feel the power. Things are happening, and you don't know if it's good or bad, but you can feel it."
One comment about your not snickering at the "Equal Justice Under Law" inscription:When I see mottoes and quotes (that your daughter might say are face palm worthy in their hypocrisy) on such buildings my thought is that it is the ideal, the goal, or objective. It isn't a guarantee but something to strive for, not a promise but a hope. We all know it isn't happening but it's the standard.
Perhaps your trouble with it is in that it seems more like "doublespeak" in many instances. People believe it already exists when if fact, it never has. Just like lots of other ideals we hold dear. We are falling short but cannot help be reminded of that very thing as it is written in stone. The question is how to hold those in power to the standards they say they embrace...
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