I've decided to do these D.C. posts as they come to me, rather than as a chronology of each day, since the trip is enough removed now that you're not reading to recap real-time what each day entails.
So, this post will start outlining our visits to the three branches of government. Saturday, June 4th we visited the White House and the Capitol building; Monday, June 6th we visited the Supreme Court. The Capitol and the Supreme Court are available to the public easily enough, but the White House tours usually have to be secured by your congressperson weeks in advance.
The White House tour is self-guided these days, though the Secret Service members stationed throughout the rooms do provide running commentary and information as you pass through their rooms so there is still the benefit of added information as you view the mansion. During the public hours, rooms like the Red/Green/Blue rooms, the State Dining Room, and the Entrance Hall that contains that red carpet leading to the East Room are all open (essentially, the entire ground floor) - I'm not sure if tours ever include things upstairs like the Oval Office, since that room is needed more regularly than the State Dinner room, but it was still really neat to be inside the mansion. It is much smaller in person - though, that's typical of things normally viewed in a TV. Looking down that red carpet into the East Room, where the president walks every time we have that favorite shot leading into a press conference, actually being IN the East Room and seeing what we normally see through the cameras... it makes it seem much more real.
Floor plan of the first floor, most of which we walked through.
Aforementioned view of the Entrance Hall's red carpet from the East Room
Blue Room
There is so much beautiful art in the White House, mostly but not exclusively relevant to America's history (portraits of people like Ben Franklin, etc.)... but what I fell in love with was the piano in the Entrance Hall (which is sometimes kept in the East Room). I asked the Secret Service if I could play it and they said no.
1938 Steinway currently in use in the White House.
1903 Steinway given to the White House during the Teddy Roosevelt administration, currently in the Smithsonian's American Art Museum.
A little about the White House pianos: Several presidents have been pianists, including Nixon and Truman, as well as many White House daughters. While many of these pianists preferred typical black grand pianos made by such manufacturers as Baldwin, the big name in the piano world has for a long time now been Steinway & Sons (think Stradivarius for violin, only Steinway is still fully operational and making instruments today), which is an American company. In 1903, Steinway gave their 100,000th piano as a gift to the White House during Teddy Roosevelt's administration, and it was commissioned to be beautifully decorated with artwork and gold. In 1938, Steinway gave their 300,000th piano to the White House, and that is the one currently in the Entrance Hall / East Room (depending on the day).
No cameras are allowed inside, so other than the ones I looked up on Google images, the only photos I have from the experience are outside the North entrance after the tour (taken on Loren's iPhone), and of the South Lawn at night later in the week.
Dad, Loren, Me, and Mom outside the north side of the White House
Of course, no visit to a capital city would be complete without sit-ins strategically placed in wonderfully photogenic locations (we had similar luck in London outside Parliament last year).
The South Lawn at night (taken by Loren).
In another entry, I will continue with our Capitol Building tour.
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