1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

There’s nothing like breakfast at the White House! Well, it was close. Really we ended up at the Old Ebbitt Grill, just down the street. While our meal was great and the atmosphere reminiscent of old time DC, the highlight of the morning was the White House itself.

Our tour of the White House was scheduled for 7:30 AM and on the recommendation of the hotel staff, we took a taxi into DC at 6:00 AM…. Not fun for those of us non-morning people!

Needless to say, traffic was not bad, so we arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue about 6:30 AM, making us first in line for our tour! You would think that would have it advantages, but not so according to the Park Ranger who was on duty. We had a great chat with him, a former Air Force Officer, who has been working in DC for years. He had lots of great stories to share and had a dry sense of humor that Jim and I could appreciate.

By the time the sun came up (did I mention the early hour of all of this?), the line for the tour was around the block. At 7:25 AM, we moved in a Secret Service approved orderly fashion to show our IDs and pass through the metal detectors to admit us into the east wing of the White House.

There is a hallway with photos highlighting White House events through the years. We walked by the China Room and the Vermeil Room, then up the stairs through the East Room. The Green Room, Red Room and Blue Rooms were open as well as the State Dining Room and Family Dining Rooms. The hallway with the famous red carpet, which isn't as long as it appears on TV and in the movies, led us to the door out the front of the White House. 

Rumor had it that Mrs. Obama was hosting a Tea in the Blue Room in the afternoon, but for some reason they didn’t ask us to stay!

On the steps of the White House

In the White House