More precisely: As of yesterday’s stop in Columbus, Ohio, I have been inside of the parlimentary chambers of 12 US state legislatures.
Twelve!
24% !
Yay!
I’ve also toured the US Capitol in Washington and the Parlaiment in Budapest. The houses of Commons and Lords in London was too hard to get into 
[searches OP desperately]
I can’t find the list. Was there a list?
Were there pix? Journal entries? Tell, tell…
You can’t just say, “I’ve been to 12 statehouses” and not give all the details.
Well, it all started when I was a page for my high school Government teacher, Ralph Ayers, who also was a representative in the Indiana House of Representatives.
During winter break in college one year, I took a road trip with my family to Salt Lake City.
A couple years ago, I took a road trip with my then-girlfriend-now-wife and 2 other friends through all 6 states in New England, including stops in Montpelier and Concord. This marks the beginning of this hobby as a serious enterprise, though at the time it was to see a really small capital/capitol, and the third-largest legislative body in the English speaking world.
My wife got her Master’s at NCSU in Raleigh. On one of our various drives down there from New Jersey (no bolding), we stopped in Dover, DE.
My brother lives in Tempe, AZ, which is part of Phoenix Metro. I visit regularly.
2 (?) Summers ago, I flew to Austin for a wedding.
I carpooled to a conference in Pittsburgh last Summer, and we stopped in Harrisburg on the way.
A few months ago, a friend drove us up to Albany for a day.
A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to see friends in Raleigh, DC, Baltimore, and Wilmington. A friend near DC took us on a drive to Maryland’s Eastern Shore with a stop in Annapolis.
This last week, we rented a car to visit some of my friends and family in Indiana and Illinois. We stopped in Columbus on the way back.
No matter how old this thread gets, I plan to update it when appropriate. I think it’s an appropriate exception to the zombie rule, no?
You’ll love the Hawaii State House - it’s made to look like it has a volcano on top.
I’m ashamed! I’m fifty two and I’ve never even been inside the chambers of our own state capital. Inside the building, yes, but not the Senate or the Representative chamber. And I can see it from my house.
…and it only took one hour and twenty-five minutes. And the state house is a 15-20 minutes walk from the train station. And Trenton is only 30 minutes past my regular stop on the same train that I usually take to work!
So why hadn’t I been before?
OH! I’m a gonna tell you why! You cannot get into the state house without a photo ID (so far, no worse than Annapolis or Albany), but what’s worse: you can only look around if you are on a guided tour! When I asked the lady on the phone (and the security guard who looked at my ID, and the tour guide) why they check ID, they all gave me some version of the non-answer that is “nine-eleven.”
(For any non-Americans out there, what this means is that people in power can make the rest of us (the sheepies) jump through any proverbial hoops they want, so long as they cite, as a reason, “security” or “nine-eleven.” Keep in mind that the jumping-through of these hoops need not actually benefit society in any conceivable way .)
Well, liberty3701 was going to Phila today, and it is only 30 minutes past New Brunswick, after all. So I went with her(as far as Trenton, anywhoozle).
It was a nice state house. Among the governors’ portraits, they do include Acting Governor Codey (who RULES!), and the name placard under Governor McGreevey’s portrait is missing (he’s gay , by the way). Oh, and some schmulzy sculpture in the hall-way which incorporates various Symbols of New Jersey™ has ONE ladybug. You know, to represent our one lady governor, Christine Todd Whitman! :dubious:
I was stuck on a tour with about 20 fifth-graders from Morris County. I say ‘stuck’, but they were very well-behaved, and asked pretty good questions for fifth-graders. Also, the tour guide got to asking questions of the kids, and expecting answers (which she got.). I mean, this is all well and good, but I never thought I would hear someone ask a group of 10-year-olds, “Can anyone tell me what anti-oxidants are?”
Georgia Fried Chicken on Broad and State isn’t bad. Mac/Cheese: 6/10.
Also, I would like to take this time to say that I am a big fan of our current governor, John Corzine: one, two, three
But, did you get to collect a bribe while you were there?
I got to go to Harrisburg on a field trip. From NJ!
You’re kidding, right?
I’ve taken school parties in there.
It’s actually hard to stop politicians greeting people who might give them publicity/money/votes…
I’ve been inside:
(1) The Ohio State House
(2) The Kentucky State Capitol (just inside a door, to be told that the building was closed to visitors, but I think that counts).
(3) Both the old and the new state houses in Illinois
I’ve walked all the way round the Indiana State Capitol, without actually going inside.
I’ve also been inside the United States Capitol, and several of the Senate and House office buildings.
In Ausralia, I’ve been in the state parliaments of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, and I’ve been in all three federal Parliament Houses – the first of which was the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne.
And I’ve been outside the Palace of Westminster in London, but not gone inside.
And I just remembered that I can add one more: I’ve been to a banquet insidethe Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (That’s my photo of the outside, taken on the same visit).
I take it that you are a UK citizen?
Do you have plans on when you will complete the set? You do realize that you are on the “Beginner” level of the quest now? Hitting a new statehouse just by slightly altering your commute is fine for now but those opportunities will go poof in short order to the point where you will need to drop some serious coin and take a special vacation just to pick up one or two additional ones. When you are up to 42 of them and you are staring at a map of the U.S. with South Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, North Dakota, and Wyoming as the last remaining virgin State Houses, you will only then discover the brutality and challenge of the sport.
I collect state quarters but not in any formal or official way. Sometimes I just look at the backs to see if I have gotten one I never had before. It is the same idea really.
He’s already been to Salt Lake City, but you’ve got a point. It’s easy in the east, the states are teensy. We’ll see what you’re made of when the list gets down to Baton Rouge, Pierre and Juneau.
I do the same thing, but did the Washington quarter ever come out? I haven’t seen one yet.
I’ve visited all of the Australian parliament houses (the Commonwealth, the six states and the two territories).
I’ve been to the Georgia State Capitol and was able to tag along on a VIP tour. Well worth it. The security was tough even before 9/11.
The Florida State Capitol is well worth it. The old Capitol building has all the history.
