The White House is the oldest public building in the District of Columbia, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most famous address in the United States. Every President except George Washington has conducted the government of the nation here. In the past 200 years the White House has come to symbolize the American Presidency across the world.
from invensyscybersecurity.blogs
Although Dave and I saw the White House numerous times from the outside, it was our first tour of the inside of the White House. This November the White House tours were resumed and we decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
According to foxnews.com, President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama surprised a group that made it in on the first day, greeting and hugging a long line of visitors in the Blue Room. Even one of Obama’s dogs, Sunny, joined in. The self-guided tours are resuming on a limited basis of about three days a week and they’ll run through Jan. 15, when temporary funding runs out.
Dave and I visited the White house a couple weeks ago. We were able to schedule our tour through Senator Webb’s office (Virginia) and they emailed us 4 days later requesting background check info. The whole process with the background check took around 2 weeks and on Saturday morning with the printed confirmations we were standing at the White House tour entrance. We arrived an hour early for our tour but they still accommodated us, which was nice!
Once at The White House… The security process was 5-10 minutes on the day we visited. Once through Security, the tour was self-guided and there was Secret-Service personnel in each room to answer questions. There was no rush through any of the rooms or halls.
On the ground floor, there were rooms that could only be viewed from the doorways. On the next floor, we passed through the State Dining Room, the East Room (the largest room), “Green room”, “Red Room”, and “Blue Room”, which were all wonderfully decorated. Our favorite is the oval Blue Room.
In the Oval Blue Room, decorated in the French Empire style chosen by James Monroe in 1817, presidents and first ladies have officially received guests since the Jefferson administration. The walls are covered in reproductions of early-19th-century French and American wallpaper. Grover Cleveland, the only president to wed in the White House, was married in the Blue Room. This room was also where the Reagans greeted the 52 Americans liberated after being held hostage in Iran for 444 days, and every year it’s the setting for the White House Christmas tree, according to frommers.com.
@ 2004 White House Historical Association postcard
The Gold-and-White East Room. This is where the president entertains visiting heads of state, as well as the place where seven of the eight presidents who died in office (all but Garfield) laid in state. It was also where Nixon resigned. The room’s early-18th-century style was adopted during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902. Note the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington that Dolley Madison saved from the British torch during the War of 1812. The portrait is the only object to have remained continuously in the White House since 1800 (except during times of reconstruction).
@ 2004 White House Historical Association postcard
We visited the Green Room, which was Thomas Jefferson’s dining room, but today is used as a sitting room. Mrs. Kennedy chose the green watered-silk-fabric wall covering.
@ 2004 White House Historical Association postcard
The Red Room, with its red satin-covered walls and Empire furnishings, is used as a reception room, primarily for afternoon teas. Several portraits of past presidents and a Gilbert Stuart portrait of Dolley Madison hang here. Dolley Madison used the Red Room for her famous Wednesday-night receptions.
@ 2004 White House Historical Association postcard
From the Red Room, we entered the State Dining Room. Modeled after late-18th-century neoclassical English houses, this room is a superb setting for state dinners and luncheons. Below G.P.A. Healy’s portrait of Lincoln is a quote taken from a letter written by John Adams on his second night in the White House (FDR had it carved into the mantel): “I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessings on This House and on All that shall here-after Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under this Roof.”- from frommers.com.
@ 2004 White House Historical Association postcard
A little history. An Act of Congress in 1790 established the city now known as Washington, District of Columbia, as the seat of the federal government. George Washington and city planner Pierre L’Enfant chose the site for the President’s House and staged a contest to find a builder. Its facade is made of the same stone that was used to construct the Capitol. The mansion quickly became known as the “White House,” thanks to the limestone whitewashing applied to the walls to protect them, later replaced by white lead paint in 1818 according to frommers.com.
from lionsclub.org
It was nice to get a glimpse inside a place with so much history since the birth of our Nation. According to whitehouse.com, as part of President and Mrs. Obama’s commitment to open the White House to as many Americans as possible, they have partnered with the Google Art Project and allowed their 360 Street View cameras to capture the rooms that are featured on the public tour. Now anyone, anywhere, can experience the history and art of the White House via their computer. Take the virtual tour here.
The tour ends at the North Portico, where we were allowed to take pictures.
Here is a fun fact from wikipedia: Teddy Roosevelt was a famous fan of hunting. But, he spotted a bear cub once on a hunt and let it go, because he had problems with shooting a little bear cub. The story got caught up by the press, and a woman contacted Teddy Roosevelt to ask him if she could use his name in a project. He said yes. The project was an adorable stuffed bear – which she named Teddy. And that’s how we got the Teddy bear, ribbon and all. Maybe it wasn’t as earth-shattering an invention as electricity, flight, the lightbulb, or the mass-produced automobile, but tell that to the millions of children hugging their precious Teddy as they sleep!
After the White House tour we strolled past it on Pennsylvania Avenue, down 15th Street and observed a roller-hockey game across from the Treasury Building. It was cute. 🙂
Fall foliage is seen on the Capitol’s streets.
We walked towards our favorite restaurant in Chinatown. Chinatown in DC is small, just a few blocks. The impressive Chinatowns to me are in San Francisco and New York, which can be viewed here.
The restaurant’s interior is nothing special, but the food is very good and fairly inexpensive for DC. They also serve the best hand-made dumplings and noodles in the city.
They make delicious homemade dough right in the restaurant’s front window. I recommend a visit to the Chinatown Express restaurant, if in the Chinatown area.
