Eastern Excursion 37: the Rest of DC

We've done just about everything there is to do in DC. The only things we were missing were touring the White House and going inside the Washington Monument, neither of which we wanted to do with kids. So we got a babysitter and off we went ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.

White House

Steps to touring the White House:

1. Tickets are required. You get them from your state senator.
   
2. Find at least 9 other people to go with you. You can only request tickets if you have a group of 10 or more. (If you are really, really lucky you'll request 10, hoping you can convince 8 other people to come, and they'll call and say that they can only get you two. Wohoo!)
   
3. Request your tickets months in advance if you really want to get some. And even then you aren't guaranteed.
4. Two weeks before you go, submit you full name, birth date, and social security number for security clearance.
5. The day of your tour, bring basically nothing. The list of forbidden things is so long that in the end they also list the three permitted items: wallet, keys, cell phone. Cameras of any sort are not allowed. If you have one, they won't store it and they won't let you in. (We know, we tried.)
6. As you go inside show your photo id. They will compare it with their list of people who passed security clearance. Proceed through metal detectors, x-rays, etc.
7. Walk around on the self-guided tour. There are no tour guides. If you really want to know stuff ask the Secret Service guys. They know everything.
8. Do not try to take pictures with your cell phone camera, even if you're outside. The SS guys have eyes on the back of their heads.

Aerial shot so you can see the West (left) and East (right) wings.

White House, first floor

White House, second floor

Alright, so this is what we learned. Tours go from 7:30 am to noon, the rest of the day the President uses the home like normal. The white house is 55,000 square feet, if you include the two wings. The tour starts in the right wing, where you pass below the First Lady's office. You then walk through the ground floor and main floor of the house, where you see libraries, galleries, reception rooms, and dining rooms. The tour does not go to the west wing, where the cabinet, VP, and Oval offices are.

The top floor is the private residence of the family. "Private," of course, is a relative term. Visitors don't get to go up there, but the SS guys follow everyone, including Sasha and Malia, everywhere they go. Along with the playground the Obamas added, the White House also has a pool, tennis court, jogging track, putting green, indoor basketball court, movie theater, and bowling alley.

White House front. The President's bedroom is on the top floor, to the left of the portico. The windows are covered by trees.

White House back. Sasha and Malia's rooms are on the top floor. The center window is a hallway connecting their rooms, the windows to the right and the left of that center one (and under the portico) are each of their rooms. The window on the left has a large butterfly sticker on it, the one on the right has a large bird sticker.

Washington Monument

Okay, did you know that the Washington Monument is HOLLOW?! I didn't realize that for a really long time. People used to get to the top by taking 497 stairs. Now there is an elevator to 500 ft (it is 555 ft tall). On the way back down they actually slow the elevator down and you can see the inside. It is decorated. For real. It has monuments and stones from all 50 states and numerous countries. Who knew?! In case you didn't realize, the main sites in Washington DC form a cross, and the Washington Monument is the center of that cross ...

View to the South - Jefferson Memorial

View to the East - Lincoln Memorial

View to the North - White HouseView to the West - The Capital

Man, I'm gonna miss living close to DC!!