Today, Rita and I got a tour of the White House. It took a lot of doing (on Rita’s part) to arrange for the tour, but it was worthwhile. We entered from the southeast side and entered through the East entrance (where visitors usually enter) near where the First Lady’s offices are located, past a number of sitting rooms and the library. We then went upstairs to the second level and went through several well known rooms including the large East room, where presidential press conferences are held, and the smaller red, blue and green rooms, through the state dining room, then out the front. Apparently they alternate between self-guided and guided tours, depending on the crowds. Ours was pretty much guided, which was good as the uniformed secret service people described many details in each room I would never have picked up on with an unguided tour. It took about an hour and a half to go though, mostly due to the slow moving of the large crowds.
While it was interesting, and definitely worth while, it was also somewhat underwhelming. I guess because they’re trying to maintain historical accuracy, colors and things look a little drab. I guess I was expecting the White House to be super-glitz, but it was a bit more basic. Definitely a unique tour, and I’m glad I got a chance to take it.