Updates for Saturday, March 19th [2005]

Dear Friends,

I remember the day the first brick of the Capitol city was laid (I recall being mortified that there was no special ceremonies to avail the architecture of the future city), I remember the day that I and Mr. Hamilton agreed upon it's creation, and even the day Sir Washington decided upon the Potomac River for it's placement. It was a week ago that I finally returned again to the Federal city, albeit a bit later than I had planned, with Ludwig and Daniel to study the mystery of the missing researcher Julius Rothbard. It had been nearly two hundred years since I had been here last, and it is interesting to see all that has changed.

We were not going to make light of this trip, we want to give Julius every opportunity to make communication with us, as we knew he would be watching our activities. To be sure, Ludwig has exhausted all his contact methods, email, phone messages, even leaving a note on his own door saying "Off to DC". Daniel had his own agenda, wanting to see popular sites, which we agreed might give Julius an opportunity to approach us should he be truly watching. The longer we stayed, the more opportunity we could take to find out what is going on... so I opted to spend some time touring the Capitol buildings, and perhaps even find a way to sit in on a session of Congress. Ludwig informed us that he wanted to visit the great Library of Congress... a library I hold dear to my heart. What was once a scarred remnant of an invaded Capitol is now the largest library in all the world... I remember when I sacrificed my 6,000 books to revitalize it, and upon the trip I was perhaps in the greatest anticipation to see just how well the library has grown since. Between that and our questions about the mysterious St. George Tucker of history to the headquarters of an organization called Phi-Beta-Kappa, I believe we had more than enough to keep ourselves occupied.

Our first stop was the heart of Washington; the Capitol, it's monuments & the President's palace. It's expansion since my time is remarkable, truly a representation of progress, perhaps too much so. We stopped at Lady Bird Johnson park, and walked crossed the Arlington memorial bridge (while I do not know who Arlington is, I must say his bridge is a vast improvement, as it is a shorter and stronger bridge than the single old one there used to be) into the place of the Lincoln memorial. There were many tourists there, and I did wonder exactly how great the memorial would be, so we decided to stop there first.

Despite the uncomfortable situations that were visited upon us, we continued out to the beautiful reflective pond towards the grand Washington monument. Passing into the wooded surrounds we saw the Vietnam Veteran's memorial wall, again, the tourists never seemed to be far behind.

Continuing we also had a moment to see a tribute to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and crossed the Constitution Gardens only to find the Washington Memorial under construction and unavailable to the public, it is opening anew this Spring. The tourists were only becoming more bothersome at this point.

Heading back towards the cherry-trees that line the lakeside, we crossed to the south of the Lincoln memorial and to the memorial for a much-spoken-of President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32nd President.

As we walked further, to the southern bend of the meager tidal basin (I never recalled a lake being here, instead just a few ponds, how things do change over time...), I saw the tourists congregating at another building, appearing to be yet another monument, so we decided to inspect it.

It was nearing noon, so Ludwig wanted to make the trip north of the Capitol to the headquarters of Phi-Beta-Kappa, the scholarly organization Julius has lead to. We hoped to consult someone with a historical background to learn more about St. George Tucker.

Well, our trip did not answer too many questions. I knew the man St. George Tucker from my time, only scantly however, and his involvement in anything modernly is not relevant to history. I don't understand what Julius thinks this "time crisis" is, perhaps Julius is mistaken about what really happened? Daniel and I spoke in private about discussing all this with Ludwig, but we agreed that perhaps it is best to remain silent until we learn more, perhaps some research at home at the libraries is in order. Our trip to DC was definitely not over, it was still before 1pm and we went back to the Capitol building, with tickets we acquired earlier. Going in, and exploring the functioning Capitol, was a very refreshing feeling. As a man who has great appreciation for the law, seeing legislation in action has a feeling of satisfaction. Daniel and Ludwig did not share that appreciation, however I spent most of my time there sitting in a House meeting, where there was much debate regarding transportation and finance. The degrees of money being thrown about were in the orders not of hundreds, or of thousands, or even of millions, but of billions. Perhaps the Capitol has grown too big for a man like me.

The Library of Congress is not one building, but three now. One named for me, one named for Mr. Madison and one named for Mr. Adams. It is fitting to see so many tributes although I doubt most knew who we really were. And there is no more fitting tribute to a man than a library, with so many great books. The Great Hall in the building named after me is bright and vibrant, so much so I almost felt a certain degree of zealous decadence, which I did not appreciate seeing as it was a building in my name. No matter, I still appreciate fine architecture and grand design where it is. We went along a lecture tour of the Library, one particular place of solace was the Library's reading room, looking down upon it gave me a certain feeling of hope that the leaders of the world still read, perhaps about the injustices of the past and the mistakes that need to be rectified, and never made again. Perhaps a little history, my friends, is all I seek to instill upon the world.

There was only one last place to go, a small archive building off to the east of the Capitol. There were a few people there, although we were approaching closing hour. In a rotunda, we approached an exhibition of the charters forged in my time. I recognized each of them, as I took them all by the hand and read each of them, however they are so old now that one would probably damage the documents by touching them. The Declaration, the Constitution and the amended Bills. Perhaps I have little to say, as I know the meaning of each of these documents, in my own way having my own hand. All I could observe, however, is that I saw no man who appeared to be a legislator, a congressman, a statesman, or any official of any sort visit the building. I was hoping to see at least one, even one man who looked like one so I could lie to myself... but no, there was just tourists. The meager many who probably never once took the time to read each of those documents, who are there to snap photos of something they probably will never read, understand or appreciate fully. After that, I knew it was time to leave. Matters in mind, I chose not to see the White House... I felt the visit would be unrewarding.

We are now home safe, and were not contacted by Julius at any point. With no information to go on, Ludwig and I have decided to spend our time researching the circumstances of the time mystery. We do not believe we were being followed or watched, and if we were, then the person doing so is clearly not ready to act, so for the time being we are safe... and may investigate this mystery as it develops. I also return to work and something of normal life, although I hesitate to call anything normal since my trip to this time. Make a safe way on your adventures, friends, for I wish you health and happiness, and think of you with affection.

Adieu.

- TH. Jefferson