First Larry Craig, Now THIS?

As many of you know, I've got this thing for state capitals and their capitols. I had been to 23 of them -- capitols, that is, not capitals -- and so I essentially manufacture reasons for work or fun to get out to the ones I'm missing and check them out. That is how, in the past year or so, I've made it to Salem, St. Paul, Juneau and now Boise.

But, Idaho, you disappoint me so. The capitol was closed for massive renovation which involves adding a pair of wings UNDERGROUND. They needed more space, it seems, but they didn't want to attach something modern and unsightly to the classic old structure. So now I must return to Boise again in about three years to see the INSIDE of what looked like a beautiful 208-foot-tall Greco-Roman building based obviously on the U.S. Capitol.

So here's my Boise Trip Money Shot, taken with my cam on auto-click propped on a stick on a picnic bench because a straight couple was too busy mauling one another in public to help me:


But I can't really count it because I didn't get to go inside. I do, however, get to mark off another state I'd never been to, leaving now only Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming untouched by the Friesster.

Another Down, 27 To Go

You might recall from my posts about our visit to Juneau in March during our honeymoon, I have a geek's lust for state capitol buildings and plan in my life to visit all of them. So I finished my business in Minneapolis today with enough time to scoop up my college friend, Melissa,who lives in Chicago and coincidentally is here on business, and go on a field trip to St. Paul. (OK, we sort of coordinated it, but it was a coincidence that we both needed to be up here around now.)

It was an unexpectedly thrilling visit and here above to your right is the money shot. Unlike the lackluster Juneau building, this one was absolutely an amazing piece of art and history and governmental symbolism. It was quite large, has a huge and beautiful rotunda and was designed by the same fellow who designed, among other structures, the U.S. Supreme Court. Every inch of it was carefully thought out, from the moulding to the stonework to the way that visitors are greeted by a fellow in a black tailed tuxedo and top hat. Yes, really.

We got an earful from a lovely volunteer named Margaret who knew a zillion interesting -- and, truth be told a few uninteresting -- anecdotes about the building, the state's history and even about its comparisons to certain other statehouses. They had info sheets with histories of all the famous quotations on the walls and about each of the form of rock. I got Melissa to pose with Jesse Ventura which is good considering that Jesse's too shiny for you to really see.

So you may be thinking, 'What a dork.' And I do plead guilty. But before you condemn me, just look at some of these photos. And then check out this blog I just discovered where a couple somehow hitchhiked to 50 capitals in 50 days. I'm not quite sure how that's possible -- hitching to Hawaii??? -- but I'll take some time when I'm not running low on laptop battery and read further.

One Legislator's Loony Lot Lust

Meet Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks. We didn't, but we feel like we know him and his mustache. But let's start from the beginning.

We pull up to the Alaska State Capitol in a frigid downpour shortly after noon today and it’s confusing where to park and where to enter. The place is pretty quiet since it’s Sunday, so we pull into a back lot for legislators which is, by and large, empty, as you can see in these pictures.

Figuring we’d only be a few minutes – the Alaska statehouse rivals the strangely phallic Tallahassee one as the least attractive and most architecturally dull of any of the 30-odd that I’ve seen in my Capitol-loving travels – so we pull into a spot labeled “Guttenberg.”

As it happened, the inside of this Capitol held our interest for about 20 minutes, largely because an energetic, somewhat flamboyant security guard charmed us into taking interest in a few bits, namely a state seal made of locally mined gold, that we would have otherwise overlooked.

Miles went back to the car first as I insisted on reading absolutely everything. Again, this took us 20 minutes and snapping the picture here on the right (taken a little later when we returned after the rain calmed down) was the central purpose of our stop in Juneau. (It looks nice from this angle, but those marble pillars are the biggest enhancement in what otherwise looks like an insurance building.)

When I emerged, I noticed a wet piece of paper on the back window. It fell apart when I tried to pick it off to see what it said. But we have a pretty good idea what it was – based on these other two notes Miles had already found on the car. To your left, see the handwritten one by Minority Whip Rep. David Guttenberg of D-Fairbanks.

To the right, see the printed out one. Click on them to make them bigger if you can't see it this way.

Let’s take just a moment to point out the obvious here. There was a lot full of empty spaces. And yes, we acknowledge that we shouldn’t have parked there, but we couldn’t have known that we'd displace a deranged legislator. And not just any deranged legislator but one so proprietary about his parking space that he first stands in the rain and writes a note to the offender who forced him to park a few paces away on a dead afternoon. And then, perhaps worried that the rain would wash away that missive, Rep. Guttenberg went to his office (apparently on the fourth floor, according to the state's website) to print out another note about his parking crisis and, probably, a third, although it fell apart in my fingers so thank GOD he covered his bases with the others. One shudders to ask oneself what important piece of state business wasn't getting done while Rep. Guttenberg plotted his maniacal revenge over this injustice!

Alaska, we love you. You’ve been nothing but terrific to us. We even picked out an adorable two-bedroom with hardwood floors and killer glacier views in Palmer we'd move into in a heartbeat if only your media market was big enough for either of us. We loved our visit and, as weird as this makes us, your weather so much.

But Rep. Guttenberg, get a life.

You Know Juneau?

Everyone told us not to bother with Juneau, that there was nothing there, but I'm a state capital aficionado, so we spent an extra 25,000 frequent flier miles to arrange for a stop here before we return to the "Lower 48" on Monday.

Well, it's a truly, truly charming spot. I hadn't realized it, but it's a rain forest. They get 220 days of rain or snow a year. And it's raining here now -- some sort of a heat wave has brought the mercury up to 36. It was 5, by the way, when we got in the car in Anchorage from the motel heading to the airport.

Our camera battery is exhausted, so in lieu of pictures with this post, a few wry observations:

* The first billboard you see heading to baggage is a cryptic political message from Planned Parenthood of Juneau saying: "We're pro-child, pro-choice, pro-something else, pro-privacy." Hmm. Welcome, everyone and abortion-seekers!

* Juneau happens to be the largest state capital by square mile.

* In among the literature about the statehouse, the glacier tours and so on was a tri-fold brochure for the Refenstein Dialysis center. In fact, it's also on this Tourism Juneau website, complete with a "add to favorites" link should anyone possibly want one. There are pretty pictures of mountains, glaciers and bears. And testimonials like: "Having the Reifenstein Dialysis clinic open in Juneau enabled me to stay in my hometown. I have also had the opportunity to visit my son in Hawaii." Huh? Anyone want to unpack that one for me?

Off to the statehouse now...