White House & DC Day

We had several lucky things happen in our last few weeks living in DC.

One of them came along right when we were in the midst of packing and moving.  After trying four different times, and thanks to a persistent staffer in U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici's office, our request for a White House tour was FINALLY granted.

Photo op before getting in line for the tour

Although our "to do" lists at work and home were as long as our arms (just one week before the big move), we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do one last “DC Day” and check off a few more items on our East Coast Bucket List.

Waiting in line and ready for the tour

We showed up outside the White House at the appointed hour and, after multiple rigorous security checks, we were eventually granted access to begin our self-guided tour.

While we didn't see the Obamas or Michelle's mom or even Bo or Sunny (the Obamas' dogs), our youngest got to see a little bit of behind-the-scenes cooking action as he passed through the kitchen on his way from the back elevators to the self-guided tour route.

The Obama's State Dinner Service

The library

East Room (site of state dinners, receptions, concerts and other events)

Portrait of General Washington (saved by Dolly Madison
before White House burned in 1814)

The Green Room (Thomas Jefferson hosted dinners in this room)

Glimpse of Washington Monument through one of the many rooms

Beautiful tapestries in the Blue Room, an
elegant oval room used for receptions

The Red Room

The State Dining Room 

The flowers from the Singapore State Dinner
a few days before were still on display!

Beautiful harpsichord in the entryway

Lantern hanging in the North Portico

One last look before heading out

After our tour, we headed to one of our favorite casual DC eateries (Merzi in Penn Quarter; www.merzi.com/), and then we continued on our whirlwind tour of some sights on our DC Bucket List that we hadn’t gotten to yet.

Next stop . . . the National Archives.  We really only had time to see Charters of Freedom (the originals of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights), but they were well worth it!  Go see them if you get a chance.

Next stop . . . the U.S. Supreme Court.  While we'd walked by it many times, we had never seen the inside of the building.  As luck would have it, we got there just in time to join in on a tour of the courtroom.  It was packed, so we had to make our way all the way to the front row of the courtroom, which gave me a chance to reach out and touch the actual "bar" that separates the lawyers from the spectators . . . as close as this lawyer will ever get to that bar in her lifetime!

Last stop . . . the Library of Congress.  We had wanted to see the Jefferson Library ever since we visited Monticello and learned that Congress bought Thomas Jefferson's library to replace the collection that was lost when the British burned the Library of Congress in 1815.

Jefferson Library

Some of the volumes in the Jefferson Library

What we didn't expect was to see such an incredibly beautiful building on the inside.  Wow!  The photos don't really do it justice.  See this one in person if you can!