Suddenly, it is summer and we have a sunny, steamy day! Today, we headed first to the White House. We had requested a tour through our House Rep five months in advance and found out two weeks ago that we were lucky enough to get one. So, after breakfast and another Uber ride, we joined Sara in a line of other tourists outside the White House. We had to go through four different security checks, including a canine inspector, but once we were in, we were on our own. The tour is self-guided, so you can spend as little or as much time as you want visiting about eight or nine different rooms on the first and second floors of the main White House (i.e., not the West Wing). It is beautiful. Everything gleams and is so tasteful. Huge arrangements of fresh flowers grace polished, antique furniture. We entered through the East Colonnade, which is lined with some great photos of past presidents as well as the current president. From the windows, we had views of the Kennedy Garden and the South Lawn. On the first floor, we saw the Library, the Vermeil Room and the China Room. We climbed the stairs and on the second floor, we saw the East Room, which is where concerts are held (think Kennedy Center awards performances), the Green Room, the oval Blue Room in the center of the White House (looking directly south at the Washington Monument), the Red Room, the State Dining Room, the former family dining room, and the long hallway that connects the East Room with the State Dining Room. On the way out, we gave one of our extra sets of Washington Monument tickets to a kid who really seemed to be enjoying the tour and his mom. He took our picture on the steps of the North Portico of the White House in return.
Despite Laura’s longtime goal to get a hug from Michelle Obama, we couldn’t dawdle at the White House as long as we might have liked because we had an appointment at the Supreme Court immediately after our White House tour. After another Uber ride we were soon sitting in the highest courtroom in the land. The Supreme Court does not calendar arguments past April, so there weren’t any justices present, but we had a pretty good lecture from our guide on the background of the court as well as the building. Afterwards, we were free to wander around and take in the displays.
By this time, we were hungry. Sara was returning to POMED to give some more intern training, so the rest of us set out for the National Museum of the American Indian, which we had heard has the best food of any of the Mall museums. The walk was hot and the air-conditioning very welcome when we got there. The cafeteria was a bit disappointing. The food selections were indeed interesting (native dishes of various tribes from up and down North and South America), but the prices were very high and the staff was inattentive to the point of rudeness. Oh, well, at least we were able to satisfy our hunger in air-conditioned comfort. We spent some time in the museum and saw an interesting exhibit on the history of treaties between the US government and different tribes, which seemed to do a pretty good job of presenting different perspectives. We also saw a wonderful display of all sorts of creative animals made by different tribes.
Next door is the Air and Space Museum, where we spent a fairly brief visit. We saw all the planes and rockets, old and recent, hanging from the ceiling and also took in an exhibit on the early history of flight. By then, we were ready to head home, which we did with a brief detour through the US Botanic Gardens, which are next to the Capitol building. Finally, some place we could enter without security! We found some shaded chairs in the rose garden and rested a bit. I ventured inside the conservatory, which is filled with all kinds of plants and flowers, and managed to give away our last two sets of Washington Monument tickets to some very appreciative fellow tourists.
We got back to the house just before 5:00, when we were expecting our rescheduled bike delivery. “Bikes to Borrow” brought us five hybrid touring bikes, complete with helmets and locks. We tested them out and made sure they were adjusted for us and that we could manage the gears. While we were taking care of the bike delivery, we had a take-out dinner of chicken kabobs delivered, which we ate before we set out on our evening adventure. It was a beautiful, warm evening. On our bikes, we headed back the way we had come a couple hours earlier, past the Capitol, the Botanic Garden, the Indian and Air & Space museums and on to the Washington Monument. We went first to the Vietnam Memorial so that we could be sure to see it while there was still light. From there, we wove our way through hordes of eighth graders and their now weary chaperones to the Lincoln Memorial, then on to the MLK Memorial, where we sat and reflected a bit. We then crossed back to the Mall and visited the Korean and WW II Memorials and then made our way back toward the Capitol and home. Once home, we watched the Warriors lose to the Thunder again – boo!
The White House
The Supreme Court (no photos allowed inside the courtroom, even when the court is not in session)
Air & Space Museum
U.S. Botanic Garden
Touring the Monuments and Memorials by Moonlight
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