Presidents and Christmas - when a plan comes together

Not to be undone by the fact that the Australian Consulate in Washington no longer takes applications to visit the White House, Joanna called upon a friend to see if she could book her in for a tour on one of the days that they would be in Washington DC.  They had to apply about 6 months in advance to be fairly certain of getting the date they wanted.  Luckily for them, about 10 days prior to their departure they were notified that if it was going to happen at all, it would happen on the date they'd asked for.  So on 8 December 2015 they set off for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; made their way passed the sniffer dogs and other security measures to participate in a Self-guided tour of the central wing of The White House.  The White House has been around since the very early 1800s and every President since, except George Washington, has lived there. 

 

The White House was decorated for Christmas; and there seemed to have been lots of decorations from the looks of the photos that Joanna showed us this morning.  Everything from hand-cut paper snowflakes - made by children who lived in Washington DC; gold stars honouring all the American troops who have died while serving overseas; 56 snow people dotted around the grounds outside The White House - representing all the states and territories in the Union; to name just a few of the decorations that were seen by Stephen and Joanna. 

 

They were able to visit a number of rooms, including The Library, The China Room, The State Dining Room, the Red Room, the Green Room, the Oval Blue Room and the East Room as well as the Grant Foyer whilst on their tour.  Over 60 trees were used in the decorations and over 70,000 ornaments were also decoratively placed around the areas open for public viewing.  Apparently about 10% of the decorations are purchased each year; and the others are brought out of the storage box and re-used.  In the State Dining Room was a very large gingerbread house that weighed over 200 kilos (500 lb in total) including the gingerbread, icing and decorations.

 

Joanna continued her visit to Washington DC by also getting to see the crockery used by successive Presidents at the Museum; as well as visiting George Washington's home in Mt Vernon, and Jefferson's in Monticello. 

 

It took about 45 minutes to 1 hour to see all that they could see at The White House; and Joanna said that you are limited to being able to take a purse, ID (passport) and camera in with you.  About 30 - 50 people are allowed in at any one time, so about every half hour another group can gain entrance to see what is on display.  It is important to book ahead - they booked 6 months ahead.

 

Thanks Joanna, it certainly sounded like you had a great time in Washington DC.