Tuesday, June 6

This was going to be one of our busier days in DC, but it started off with a White House tour! Josh had put in a request with his House representative, and our request was received; we’d have to wait until 2-3 weeks before the dates of our trip to see if our tour request was accepted. I think it was two weeks before, in the end of May, when we found out it was approved!

He had also put in for a Capitol tour, but that wasn’t able to work out. So we decided we’d just walk by it and maybe the next time we go to DC we’ll submit a request then.

Our scheduled tour time was for 10:30 a.m., so we grabbed a quick breakfast at Dunkin beforehand. It’s the New Englander in me, but I was like, why is the closest Dunkin a 17-minute walk from the hotel? Why aren’t there three of them on the same street?

It’s suggested to get to the tour 15 minutes prior to your scheduled time—since you have to wait in line—so we decided to take an Uber into the city to make sure. We were dropped off at the White House Visitor’s Center, and after asking a Park Ranger at the door for directions, we were pointed toward the really long line that was queuing up across the street.

We ended up making friends with the group in front of us and the couple behind us, in that way when none of you know what you’re doing/what’s going on. There was just one really long line, and the Secret Service officers were slowly letting people in. As it got closer to 10:30 a.m., we were like, are we in the right line? They ended up calling the 10:30 folks up around the rest of the line, so we followed the group in front of us. 

We showed our tickets to a Park Ranger, and then we had to pass by a Secret Service officer with a K9 in a single file line and went around the General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument. Then we had to go through two checkpoints where officers scanned our IDs. One of the officers said “What’s going on, boss?” to Josh and I started laughing as he was checking our licenses. 

After those two points, we walked through a trailer-type building where we went through an X-ray machine. Bags weren’t allowed on the tours, so Josh had to hold onto my license and credit card in his wallet. All I had on myself was my phone, the printed ticket, a Chapstick, and my sunglasses. It was weird being without a bag, but I get why they’re not allowed inside.

Once we finally got through that check point, we were guided outside through to the East Wing, where the tour would be taking place.

The tours are self-guided, but there are areas roped off and officers in each area/room who you can ask questions to or they’ll talk about the specific room. You basically just follow the line in front of you; there’s really no exploring, but it was still super cool to be like, I’m in the White House!

Throughout the first hallway we went through, there were these photo frames on the wall of the different presidents/families throughout history. 

Once we were out of that hallway, we turned the corner into another one where there were rooms we could look into: the Library, the Vermeil Room, and the China Room. The officer standing in that area asked us if we had any questions, and I was like, “No but this is just so cool.” Someone did ask him a question, I think about if these rooms are used currently, and he said for certain events, they’ll use these rooms as like sitting rooms prior to the event since some of them have bathrooms off of them. So like men’s and women’s sitting rooms.

Then we went up the stairs into the East Room, which I think I’ve seen on TV used for certain events. The chandeliers were massive. 

Next up where the Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room. The Blue Room is where they put up the Christmas tree during the holidays.

This is the State Dining Room, which was actually Thomas Jefferson’s office at one point, but since 1809 has served as the dining room.

My favorite first couple!

Although we were only allowed in the East Wing, it’s crazy to think that we were inside the White House. It took us about a half hour to get through, but I was sad to leave. If you ever have the chance to go on a tour, do it!

We were able to walk down a bit by the Ellipse—the big park in front of the White House—to take a picture of the front. Shortly after we took this picture, a Secret Service officer told us they were closing down the area and we had to leave. We tried to see what was going on or if anyone important was coming through, but it was hard to tell. Plus we had to get back to the hotel before we went to lunch.

We took an Uber back to the hotel so I could get my bag. Our driver that time asked us if we went on a White House tour—since we had him pick us up at the White House Visitor’s Center—and where we were from. Funny enough, he has family that lives up where we are.

Once we got to the hotel, we took a quick bathroom break and I grabbed my bag. Our plan was to take the Metro back into the city, and our Metro stop was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

My only experience on a metro/subway was once in New York City when I went to Yankee Stadium and once in Boston with my parents when I was younger. I was pretty impressed with how the DC Metro stations looked, and Josh said it was one of the better systems. (Spoiler alert: by the end of our trip, I had pretty much mastered it.)

We each bought a 3-day unlimited pass for the Metro. It was more cost-effective if we planned on mostly using the Metro. (Over the course we were there, we only used Uber twice; the rest of the time we took the Metro.)

To figure out what color line to take and where to get off/on, we were able to use the Maps on our phones under the Transit option. It’d tell us which line was quicker, what stop was the closest, etc. For this ride, we took the Blue line to Farragut West.

Ordering was pretty easy: you scanned the QR code on the little sign, placed the order online, and then they brought it to you. We sat at the counter inside, and we both got the Young American, which was a grilled cheese with tomato and bacon.

Our first museum stop was the National Museum of American History. This had to be the season of school trips to DC because we saw so many middle school and high school groups running around. So we just had to steer clear of those in the museums.

I took some pictures of the exhibits, and I also have pictures of Josh playing with everything. Anything that is interactive, you can bet he’s messing with it.

On the third floor were The American Presidency and The First Ladies. The dress on the left was worn by Michelle Obama at the 2009 inauguration, and the dresses on the right were worn by Jill Biden at the 2021 inauguration.

Probably my favorite part of the Presidents section, due to my obsession with the Watergate scandal. The case was under redesign, but I was able to sneak a picture of the Watergate file cabinet behind the big sign.

We were planning to go to Founding Farmers for dinner. I made a reservation online Monday afternoon for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but during the day, we realized we wouldn’t be able to make that one. I updated it to 6:15 p.m., and I’m so glad we made a reservation because they were super busy. We were sat within 10 minutes of getting there, and we sat outside—it was the only option available when I updated the reservation.

I ordered a glass of rosé, the first time I’ve ever ordered wine at a restaurant. Josh got some kind of lager. For our meals, I got the Fried Chicken salad—and contrary to popular belief, mostly mine, it didn’t actually come with chicken on it—and Josh got a Pastrami Reuben. Both were good, I just would have liked it if my salad actually had chicken on it. Probably should have asked when I ordered it. Oh well.

Our final stop of the day was the monuments. We ended up walking from the restaurant down to the monuments; the phone map directions had us walk through part of George Washington University. Josh wanted to bring me to the Lincoln Memorial first—where we encountered more of the school trip groups. (Most of them had matching t-shirts for the trip, and I told Josh we should have made shirts for our trip together.)

It’s in the process of opening, but it didn’t look like there were horses when we walked by. Guess we’ll just have to go back.

From there, we walked to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. It’s south of The Mall area, and it overlooks the Tidal Basin. This was another massive statue. I’m glad we walked down to see it, though.

We walked back by The Mall on our way to the Washington Monument—this is just one of many pictures Josh took of me taking pictures—and also walked by the World War II Memorial. 

The Washington Monument was a great way to end the night. It’s 555 feet tall, and when you look up at it, the monument looks like it goes on forever into the sky. We didn’t go up inside of it—that part was closed by the time we got there—but I don’t know if I could go up that high. It was still really cool to see it from the outside and walk around it.

On our way to the Metro to go back to the hotel for the night, we walked by the Department of Agriculture which was lit up for Pride month. We hopped on the Metro at the Smithsonian stop, which was about a 20 minute ride back.

Total step count: 23,819

Total mile count: 9.56