White House Tour, Washington, DC

Today we toured Barack’s new house (OK, I couldn’t resist!). We left the campground via bus at 8:40, switched to the Metro at College Park Station (University of Maryland), and ended up at Metro Center about an hour later. Laura was hungry (surprise, surprise), so we scooted into a coffee shop for a snack and warm drink. Our tour started at 10:30, and they ask everyone be in line 15 minutes early. Security is very tight – they don’t allow cameras, backpacks, purses, pens, or most anything else. You must have a picture ID, and you must request the tour roughly a week ahead of time through your congress person so they can do background checks. If you follow the rules, the screening process is a piece of cake.

We entered via the East Colonnade and toured the Library and Vermeil Room on the ground floor before heading upstairs. The initial room you enter on the First Floor is the large East Room, where many of the press conferences take place. It was also used to host a dinner for 250 for the Pope last year, even though the Pope didn’t attend the dinner (apparently he never eats in public). The most striking element of the room is the portrait of George Washington. It is the oldest piece of artwork in the White House collection and was on the wall when John Adams originally took occupancy. This is the same portrait that Dolly Madison saved in 1814 just before the British burned the house as part of the War of 1812.

From the East Room we progressed through the Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room, and State Dining Room before exiting the front of the house. Laura’s favorite part of the tour was the red room (surprise, surprise), while Brian favored the view from the front lawn looking at the grand white columns. Teressa was most impressed with the history and the fact that we live in a country that allows us to tour our president’s home, and immediately teared up when we entered the building (surprise, surprise). My favorite part was viewing the full length portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, but I walked away struggling with one thought – why would anyone want to be President, living with a house full of secret service agents and 1000 strangers filtering through every morning? By the way, Laura wants me to run for office so she can invite friends over to play in the big white house! ;-)

After the tour we headed across the street for lunch. Established in 1856, Old Ebbitt Grill was a favorite of President’s Grant, Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt. Rich in history, the food was excellent too! Before heading back to the campground we stopped at the White House Visitor center to allow the kids to get their passport books stamped.

There are no pictures of the interior of the White House – send your complaints to the security staff! ;-)