What’s the D.C. experience without a tour of the White House? Since I began packing my bags to move to the District I have been trying to snag a tour of the First Family’s residence. Though I am still working on inside access, on Saturday I was able to do a tour of the White House grounds during the annual White House Garden Tour.
Here a few things that took me by surprise (that I should probably already know):
1. The front porch is actually the back porch.
Has anyone ever watched Scandal and imagined Mellie and Fitz to be overlooking the grounds on their front balcony? I know I did, but alas we are wrong — the “front porch” is actually the back. It is easy to mistake the back of the residence as the front because of its vast views — from the porch you can see the Washington Monument, the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. It’s also the place where the president officially greets foreign Heads of State. Nonetheless, it’s called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for a reason.
2. The Oval Office is on the ground floor.
Every time I look at the majestic images of the Oval Office, I’ve always imagined that it was located on the second floor of the White House overlooking the front grounds — never in a million years would I think it to be such a small structure, in a corner of the backyard. I mean really, don’t those look like the tops of large trees through the windows?
I did learn that my thoughts weren’t completely off base: during the 19th century, a number of presidents used the White House’s second-floor Yellow Oval Room as a private office or library – it wasn’t until Theodore Roosevelt became president that the West Wing was built (to separate the White House domestic space from the office space), and finally the Oval Office as we know it was established during President Taft’s tenure.
3. Sasha and Malia’s playset lives on.
The cutest part — in 2009, President Obama had a playground installed for Sasha and Malia Obama — a sign of normalcy in contrast to their growing notoriety. Though I’m sure it hasn’t been used in a while, it’s still cute to see a piece of their childhood.
Here are a few more images from our outing!
