If I could
sum up our trip to the White House in one word, it would be WOW. It was
truly a childhood dream come true. Jan and I arrived at Reagan National
in DC at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2004. After securing our
rental car, we drove up to our hotel in College Park, MD, where we
stayed at the University of Maryland, Maryland College Marriott. It was
the closest hotel we could get to downtown DC where I could use my
Marriott Rewards points to get a free room. Upon checking in I
was informed we were eligible for a complimentary upgrade to the
Executive Suite, and it took me about a millisecond to think it
over before saying "yes".
After
changing to slightly more formal attire (suit and tie), we headed back
downtown where we hooked up with our good friends Tim and Aleen Besmer at
Starbucks on the corner of 14th and G Streets. As
you may recall, Tim is the Executive
Vice President and co-owner of the USS Sequoia, the former Presidential
Yacht. We waited at
Starbucks and met Bob Graci
and his wife Shawn, who came down from Harrisburg, PA, who were
also invited on the tour. Bob is the former Assistant Attorney General
for the State of Pennsylvania and
Superior Court Judge, currently an attorney with Eckert
Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC.
Shawn is a High School teacher and they
are long-time friends of the Besmers. The
evening was quite beautiful and we spent about an hour enjoying
conversation, coffee and pastries while seated outside at a sidewalk
table.
Shortly
after 7:30, we walked around the north side of the White House grounds
on Pennsylvania Ave., down West Executive Ave., around the Eisenhower
Executive Office Building
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/eeobtour/ to
the southwest gate of the White House complex, next to the EEOB. Here
we had to present our photo ID's and were allowed to proceed on to yet
another gate on the southeast side of the EEOB, across the street from
the West Wing. Again we had to present our photo ID's and were given
badges to hang around our necks, and waited the arrival of our tour
guide, Lonnie Hovey. Lonnie is
the Director of Preservation, Architecture & Construction in the
Executive Office of the President. Once Lonnie arrived, we were taken
into southeast entrance of the EEOB and rode the elevator to the 4th
floor. Lonnie took us into a room originally known as the Navy
Department Library and Reception Room, now called the Indian Treaty
Room. The room was used as a library and a reception room and was the
location of the very first televised press conference held by Dwight
Eisenhower in the 1950's. The architecture in the room was stunning.
Lonnie explained to us in detail the symbolism used in all aspects of
the room and discussed its uses. He
also explained that the building was built to be as fireproof as
possible, using predominately stone, marble, concrete and cast iron in
it's construction, with very little wood. He then took us up an
elaborate staircase to the 5th floor and showed us the ornate rotundas
of both the east and west wings of the building.
From there
it was back down the staircase, down the elevator and back out to the
2nd floor, where Lonnie took us into another conference room. The room
(of which I cannot recall the name of) was once used as an office by
Richard Nixon during his presidency as a place to escape the confines of
the West Wing. Several photographs taken of Nixon were in this room.
Lonnie then unlocked the door of an adjoining room. It was a bathroom
that Nixon had installed that Lonnie had discovered, untouched after 30
years. In the bathroom was a small shower, toilet, sink and medicine
cabinet containing toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash and shave
cream....all Nixon's and still there after all these years! It was
amazing! We then went back to the first floor and at this point,
were ready for our tour of the West Wing.
We walked
across the street to the western-most door of the West Wing. While
crossing the street, Lonnie pointed out where the offices of Condi Rice
and Dick Cheney were on the northwest side
of the building. He also explained the overall floor plan of the West
Wing, pointing out how both the structure and architecture has changed
over the years by the different administrations. The entryway and door
had a canopy over them which came out about 20 feet from the building.
The door had an small overhang above it that came out about 2', which
Lonnie explained was almost removed from the building, since it served
no useful purpose. However photographs of the overhang were found
from Kennedy's presidency and it was decided to leave it on the
building. Upon entering the building, we went into a small reception
area where there were several large (approx. 18" x 24") and very recent
photographs of President Bush on each wall. Lonnie told us that the
pictures are rotated on a weekly basis. Most of the pictures were from
the President's visit to Florida the prior weekend. All of them were
quite good. I asked what was happens to them once they are taken down
and was told that some are saved for use in the Presidential Library,
and some are given away to the individuals appearing in the photographs
with the President.
Past the
foyer was a desk where a Secret Service agent was seated and we could
see down the hallway where the offices of Condi Rice and Dick Cheney
were. We then went down a flight of stairs and were shown where the
White House employees go to get their meals. At the end of a short
hallway on this level was the White House "Situation Room". Of course
the doors were closed, with a sign posted by it saying "Authorized
Personnel Only". Then it was back upstairs where we were taken down
another hall that led us out to the walkway adjoining the Residence and
the West Wing, opening up into the Rose Garden. Here we were allowed to
take pictures, which will be posted later. The walkway has been the
location for many memorable photographs of the Presidents over the
years. One I recall very well is of John and Bobby Kennedy walking and
talking with one another and a 2nd photo I remember is of President
Reagan leaning against on of the columns.
We then
went back inside, taking a left down another hallway and came to the
Cabinet Room, which has been recently remodeled. It was interesting to
see the nameplates on the back of the chairs and get a sense of the
"pecking order" of the Executive Branch. Of course the President's
chair had the highest back and was easy to pick out. Lonnie said that
the press had been allowed to see the room for the first time the day
before we were there and it had yet to be used for a Cabinet meeting
since its makeover.
Down the
hall from the Cabinet Room was the Oval Office. The door was open, but sadly
nobody was home. The room was quite pretty and tastefully decorated.
Although we were unable to set foot inside of it, we could clearly see
about 95% of what was in the room. Lonnie pointed out how each
President is allowed to design the HUGE oval rug on the floor. The one
the Bush's designed was quite nice. Lonnie also explained on how the
Bush's had the floor redone to a hardwood finish. Several years ago
the floor was made of a cork substance and when Eisenhower was
president, that the floor got pretty well chewed up by him wearing his
golf shoes in there all of the time. In a later administration, they
put down a hard wood textured vinyl flooring (which surprised me) which
remained until the current administration. During
the course of discussion about the contents of the office, it was quite
interesting that the uniformed guard outside of the office was able to
tell us who the sculptor was for one of the statues in the room when
Lonnie wasn't sure of the person's name. To get a sense of
everything we saw, here is the link to a virtual tour of the Oval
Office: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/life/ovaloffice.html#
Across the
hall from the Oval Office is the Roosevelt Room,
where we looked into the room from one angle, then walked down a hallway
to peer in a 2nd door to get another angle. From the second doorway
we could see the photograph hanging over the fireplace in the room, it
was of Teddy Roosevelt. According to Lonnie, the picture of a Roosevelt
always hangs on the wall, but will switch from Teddy to Franklin
depending upon the current Administration.
From there we went into the Reception
area of the West Wing, where Lonnie explained that in the TV show the
West Wing, the Reception area they use is much larger that the real room
itself. In this area was a glassed-in bookcase that contained several
large sets of books. It was interesting to see that they were the
official Presidential paper for every President from Eisenhower through
Clinton. There were also two desks on each side of the room, a sofa and
several chairs.
At this point, we went back outside the
western door of the building and walked around to the north side of it
to enter into the Press Room. Here we were allowed to take pictures
again. In the back of the room there were risers where all of the
cameras are set up. In front of the risers are all of the seats for the
press, each seat with a nameplate on the front of it telling who sits
there. Of course on the front row were the big-shot news agencies,
like ABC, CNN, CBS (surprisingly still there after Dan Rather's
debacle). The only person's nameplate we saw was of Helen Thomas,
smack-dab in the middle seat on the front row. We also were allowed to
go up and stand at the podium where we took several photos of the group
together.
By this time, it was getting just past
10:00 p.m. and we had to conclude our tour. We walked with Lonnie back
through the security gates, said our goodbyes and exited the south gate
of the complex. We took a leisurely moonlit stroll past the fence on
the south end of the White House grounds around the block and ended up
at Old Ebbitt Grill, where we had a late supper. After our meal, we
said our farewells and parted ways. Tim and Aleen gave Bob and Shawn a
ride up to Shady Grove, where they caught a train back to Harrisburg and
Jan and I headed back to our hotel.
It was a bit of an education driving
through the streets of downtown DC after midnight. There were several
homeless folks sleeping in doorways and we saw them gathered in groups
in some of the public spaces. There were also a few characters walking
the streets that I would want to cross paths with on a dark night, but
after what seemed to be a VERY long drive, we made it to the hotel in
one piece.
The next morning we didn't have a great
deal of time to go sightseeing before having to catch our plane. I
wanted to take Jan to the top of the Washington Monument, however we
discovered that they are renovating the grounds surrounding it and the
building is closed until next spring. We were however able to see the
new World War II Memorial. It is quite a beautiful tribute to our
Greatest Generation. What made it more meaningful to us was that there
were dozens of WWII Vets there, some with tours and some with their
families. Jan said the sight brought tears to her eyes.
We didn't have enough time to stop up
and see the Native American Museum at the Smithsonian which just opened
this week and wanted to see. We drove up past the Mall where we saw
lots of tents, etc. where several festivities are being held. From
there it was on to the airport and the return trip home.
