NEW MEXICO, DAY 5: STATE CAPITOL IN SANTA FE

 June 29, 2021

The New Mexico Capitol Building in Santa Fe is the only round capitol in the United States and is sometimes called "The Roundhouse." I love that New Mexico paid this tribute to its local culture instead of mimicking the traditional US Capitol style, as so many states do (although previous iterations of the New Mexico Capitol, most notably the 1900 version, were much more traditional).

This building, dedicated in 1966, is supposed to resemble the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above. The Zia is the symbol on the New Mexico flag, a symbol we saw reproduced all over New Mexico.

As the symbol implies, the Capitol has four similar entrances, differentiated by the sculptures in front of each one. Each entrance is topped by a stone carving of the State Seal of New Mexico.

Door handles are not my usual blog fodder, but check out these turquoise inlay handles.

The rotunda is 49 feet in diameter and 60 feet high. The skylight uses the design of an Indian basket, and the blue- and coral-colored glass represent the sky and earth.

CALIFORNIA: TULE ELK RESERVE, THE CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL, AND SACRAMENTO MURALS

 August 7, 2020

Five months into The Great COVID-19 Epidemic of 2020, we were getting pretty tired of staying home, but we were hesitant to travel. However, when our son Sam proposed meeting up in Northern California to explore the Redwood and Sequoia National Parks and surrounding areas, we figured that was a trip we could make pretty safely at the time. The numbers of cases were down and we would be in a place where we could be outdoors almost all day.

The plan was to pick up Sam at the Redding Airport, so we got an early start and headed north. It is a 600-mile drive, and not always particularly interesting.

About the only excitement was this silo and mailbox painted with cherries. Yup, pretty boring.

Of course, Bob did have to take a side road when he saw a sign for the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve. It is located in the No-Man's Land 20 miles or so west of Bakersfield and three miles off the 5 freeway. Never heard of it? Neither had we.

MASSACHUSETTS: BOSTON - BACK BAY AND BEACON HILL

November 7-11, 2018

Occasionally I get the opportunity to attend a work-related conference in a fun place.  In 2018 I went to Boston for a national Honors conference.

The conference was wonderful, and I made sure that I took every opportunity to explore the local area during lunch and after the last session every day.

I stayed in the Westin Copley Hotel, located in the prestigious Back Bay area of the city, and to get to the conference, which was in the nearby Marriott, I had to walk through Copley Place, a very upscale shopping mall that links the Marriott to the Westin. It was a good ten-minute walk, and for numerous reasons I enjoyed every minute of it every time I did it. 😊

NORTH DAKOTA, BISMARCK: STATE CAPITOL BUILDING

September 13, 2019

One of the things we like to do as we have traveled around to the 50 states is visit the state capitol buildings. There are a lot of states we will have to go back to because we didn't go to the capital city or because it was Sunday and the capitol was closed or because of some other reason.  

But we made it to the capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota's capital.  It was not super exciting, but it had some fun components. 

First, some info on Bismarck itself. It was founded in 1872 by European Americans on the Missouri River and was made the capital in 1889, the year the state was created from the Dakota Territory and admitted to the union as the 39th state. (FYI, it made it in ahead of South Dakota, the 40th state.)  Bismarck has a population of about 75,000 people, not very big, but by no means the smallest capital city.

The original state capitol was built in 1883-1884 to house the territorial government, but it burned to the ground in 1930, requiring that a new building be built during the height of the Great Depression. They came up with this 21-story Art Deco structure, still the tallest building in North Dakota. Its nickname is "The Skyscraper on the Prairie."

They have a very nice state seal, which is in the front entry.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: STATE CAPITOL BUILDING

The capital city of New Jersey, Trenton, has a population of about 85,000 and is only the 8th largest city in the state. For some reason, I expect the state capital to be the largest city in the state, even though that is often not the case (as in my own state of California). Trenton is located in almost the exact geographical center of the state (north/south), however, which is more than I can say for Sacramento or many other capital cities.

Trenton does hold the distinction of being the site of George Washington's first victory in December 1776 (the Battle of Trenton, which involved the famous Delaware River crossing), as well as serving for a brief time in 1784 as the United States capital. It was named the capital of New Jersey in 1790, and the "state house" (an early name for a capitol building) was built in 1792, making it the third oldest state house in continuous legislative use in the United States.

The New Jersey State House is unusual in its design as it deviates from the standard capitol architecture that is patterned after the national capitol building, although it does have the customary dome, which can barely be seen in the first picture below:

Here is a better view of the dome. I love its unique design:

Even though the original 1792 building had numerous additions in the 19th century as the state grew, it feels fairly small inside, especially when compared to some of the other cavernous capitols. The central "dome room" or rotunda also serves as the main foyer/waiting room. I did love the dark coral walls and beautiful woodwork:

. . . but this dome--not so much. I couldn't get past the image of a fried egg, sunny side up:

ALBANY, NEW YORK: STATE CAPITOL BUILDING

Relatively recently we added state capitals and state capitol buildings to our LISTS OF THINGS TO SEE. That meant that on our last trip to New York, we had to take a major detour to get to the state capital/capitol in Albany, which is about 150 miles north of New York City.

Although only the 16th tallest building in Albany, the capitol, with its castle-like turrets, definitely dominates the skyline. Here's a view from the freeway:

New York, originally called New Netherland (with present-day New York City being New Amsterdam), was settled by the Dutch, and I thought this capitol building looked very Dutch:

Compare it to the town hall in Amsterdam: 

However, many accuse the architects of trying to imitate the Hotel de Ville in Paris, which is perhaps a better comparison:

Photo from here

A blend of Italian Renaissance, Romanesque, and French Renaissance styles, the Albany capitol is said to be the most artistically elaborate state capitol ever built in the United States. I love the long walkway that gives visitors ample time to appreciate the majestic architecture. I could imagine red carpet rolling out in front of us as we approached, and maybe a trumpet or two sounding our arrival: