Rachel set us up with a White House tour first thing. Actually first thing in the morning too. We had to be in line by 8:30 so that was instant "get used to the three hour time change"! We had Darrell and Now and Jeff with us but Rachel had to work. I had my little cross body bag with me and just as we were going in I discovered it wasn't allowed. Of course there are no lockers. I wasn't about to toss Kate Spade so I took everything out and put it my pockets and rolled it up. Surprisingly enough they ignored it. Thank goodness. Just when we thought we had waited in line forever the older lady in the front of the line passed out. So they had to call in the paramedics etc and then we really got to wait. Finally we made it in and got our tour.
They opened up the theater room this time. This is also where the President practices his state of the union addresses. It was fun to see a new room. But they had the family dining room closed for renovations.
The East Room is always a favorite of mine. It's so big and so pretty.
This view just never gets old.
Our whole group.
So after we toured the White House we decided we weren't that far from teh Ford's Theater so we walked over there. The tickets for the day were for way later so we never used them but we did appreciate the rest and the air conditioning for a bit. But from there we walked some more and had a snack break at MEndis' favorite Au Bon Pain. After some yummy treats we walked and walked some more down to the NAtional Archive. Everything is close together but not really but too close for Uber or the Metro so walking was best.
We toured the National Archive. Well actually just did the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence there. They are dimly lit and there's always a big ol' line but I still enjoying seeing them. Again enjoyed the air conditioning!
Then we Metroed over to Rachel's office. She left with us and we hit the food trucks for lunch on the way to the Library of Congress. This may have been the favorite tour of the whole trip for most if not all of us. It's just so rare to get behind the scenes like that. Again thank you Rachel for setting this up for us. The Capital police take you completely behind the scenes. We crawled all over the place.
Fantastic view. The best in the city!
We went up to the top of the dome.
The view from the balcony.
We went up to the galleries above the reading room where they filmed National Treasure and we even got to walk right through the Reading Room which was my favorite thing. It was so exciting! Then he took us through some of the aisles and aisle so books they have and down into another area with special treasures.
We got to see the original copy of the Book of Mormon and even the Lincoln Bible that has been used in a number of inaugarations. Sooo cool.
There was just so much to see and experience that day!!
After the tour we headed back to Jeff & Rachels and hung out for awhile. Then we went to dinner in Alexandria. Darrell and Now took us out to an Italian dinner. They left left after dinner and we got the idea to head to Sugar Shack for donuts. Great idea except we walked. And walked some more. But it was worth it in the end.
Seemed like WAYYYYY more than this.
But the reward was great.
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