The White House

Dave and I had a wonderful opportunity to tour the White House earlier this week! A member of my team in Virginia has a brother-in-law that is an economic advisor for the President, so through that connection, he was able to get our team in for a tour the week before Christmas! The tour consists of the "East Wing," as opposed to the famed "West Wing" which is, I suppose, to be expected! Every room was decorated beautifully for Christmas. We walked through the room where Abraham Lincoln and JFK lay in state after their assassinations. It was a powerful moment to walk on such hallowed ground. It was a beautiful room with ornate chandeliers and marble fireplaces. Next was the green room which was last updated by Jackie Kennedy. The walls were decorated with a beautiful silk green upholstery (if that makes sense.) It was in this room that Dave called me over to the window which I had just absently walked by. I looked out and was instantly frozen in awe at the realization that I was looking at the view of the White House lawn from the inside looking out! A few moments stick out like that for me in life... (1) being onstage with Bon Jovi, (2) walking down aisle at my wedding, and (3) the view from inside the WH! There was a beautiful upholstered antique chair in front of the window, and although I'm sure it's discouraged, I perched there on official WH furniture and took in the view. Anyway, to top it off, we saw the "first dogs" playing on the lawn too! Seriously! It was just like they were outside at any ol' person's house. We went through a few more rooms and then exited out the back of the house. We couldn't take in cameras, but Dave managed to snap this one outside with our cellphone. Fortunately, no Secret Service man took us out!

Another exciting moment, after the left the gates, we decided to walk around to the front of the mansion to see the view again. We had been there for a few minutes when a cop told us to clear the area. Of course, we asked why we had to leave the area where all the tourists stop to take pictures, and he said the President would be leaving soon. So, we decided to hang around a little while longer to see what we could see. Several black cars and SUVs began to line up in the same driveway out front that I had just looked out over 30 minutes ago. We also noticed a couple of men on top of the WH clearly scoping the area. After we finally got shooed away, we walked North again toward Pennsylvania avenue and sure enough we saw the Presidential motorcade go by... little flags on either side of the car and all! Come to find out, the President was just going a few blocks down the road to speak at the Veterans Affairs office. So, by chance, there we were walking alongside where the motorcade was positioning to pick up the President after the speech (We were only allowed to be this close bc the President was already inside the building.) Anyway, that was interesting in itself. The Secret Service weren't quite as in lock-step and talking in their earpieces like you see on tv, but they looked pretty serious nonetheless. Dave even got yelled at because he wasn't continuously walking (he had stopped to gawk, as we all were!) We didn't see George or Laura, but it was a very exciting day indeed!

After all this, we needed to kill a little time before our lunch with the entire project team. Everyone began to scatter in different directions, but I felt obliged to stay with my boss and his wife who had actually taken me and Dave out to dinner the night before. We decided to take a stroll through the lobby of The Willard hotel which is a very elegant, old-school grand hotel. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas as well. So, we're leaving the hotel, and I'm thinking how great the day has been when... WHAP! I tripped and landed on all 4's on the sidewalk!! I was completely sprawled out. The opposite of anything elegant! Fortunately, I didn't break the skin on the hands, but I was very embarrassed! Good thing I don't take myself too seriously or else I'd never be able to look my boss in the eye again.

Finally, we have to say a big thank-you to MeMe for flying up to keep Lawson, so Dave and I could enjoy our dinner with my boss and the WH tour! She flew home with us last night, and we were so glad because not only did she pack everything for Lawson, but our flight was delayed by almost 2 hours and she helped keep him occupied!