Have you ever been to the White House, Capital Hill, DC???

[underpants]

My wife and I were figuring out what to do for vacation and we decided to basically stay around home and do some overnight trips here and there.

Turns out she has never been to the White House or the Capital or the Smithsonian or any of the DC tourist things. Growing up mostly in central and eastern Virginia I just assumed that everyone had been there at least on school trips. Apparently not. She grew up in the western part of the state.

So have you?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Contact your congressman ASAP

I think that's still the only way you'll get into the White House. Also, they'll set up a nice tour of the Capitol for you.

[underpants]

12. Looks like they have resumed

http://www.whitehouse.org/tours/index.asp


FBI security check
http://www.whitehouse.org/tours/security-check.asp

:bounce:

[underpants]

13. 6 months

I just called my Congressman's office (Eric Cantor) and they said that you have to reserve them 6 months out. June is a no go. :grr:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

14. Honestly, don't let that stop you.

There's so much more to do that you won't even miss the White House.

[underpants]

16. Oh I know

We will probably go have a look at it. Fitting no? We have to stand outside the gates to look at OUR house.

Anyway there is plenty to see. Some relatives went there once and a guide at the Smithsonian said that if you spent 10 seconds at each piece (I think that includes each arrowhead to the Spirit of St.Louis) it would take you 30 years to see everything.

Smithson never visited the US....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Institution
The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the promotion and dissemination of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829). In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the United States of America for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 100,000 gold sovereigns, or $500,000 U.S. dollars ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation).

...until he had died
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Smithson

[Hugin]

2. Yes, Yes, Yes... and Yes.

Plan much time into a Smithsonian vist... IMHO, the best part of D.C.

[kay1864]

5. And decide WHICH Smithsonian you want to visit

There are quite a lot to choose from.

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. I went to DC on my 9th grade class trip.

Lots of cool stuff to see. We didn't make it to the White House because it was a beautiful day and the line stretched around the block. We went to the US Mint instead, which was much more interesting. I hear the WH is kind of dumpy.

[tigereye]

4. yes

several times, once in high school, a few times for marches, and once with my brother the congressional aide - we even got to go behind a few ropes... and then I took a pic of then Congresswoman Boxer's office. I don't think we toured the White House but we did see the Capitol, the Mint, the Mall, the monuments, the Wash. Monument, the Vietnam Memorial. I think DC is s great trip.

I love DC.

[MissMillie]

6. I could spend an entire day at the Air and Space Museum

great fun!

Mount Vernon is beautiful as well. On a spring day, a ride on the ferry is lovely.

[underpants]

11. I heard that was just a big empty room

GET IT? AIR and SPACE!!! :rofl:

[MissMillie]

22. D'OH!

:silly:

[SteppingRazor]

7. Yes to all...

Toured the White House with a group when my great uncle was in the Secret Service. He got us VIP tickets. I think it was during the Reagan administration, IIRC.

Toured the Capitol with the Boy Scouts a few years later.

Been to a few of the Smithsonian museums on various trips.

As for D.C. in general, I've been there a bunch. Last time was during the Cheery Blossom Festival last year.

[Radical Activist]

8. Yes. One of my favorite places.

I love going to DC. It has been too long.

[Midlodemocrat]

9. Yes, many times.

And you could also go to the Holocaust Museum. The Museums are pretty baby friendly, especially the Natural History Museum and underbaby is too young to be affected by the Holocaust Museum.

I highly recommend it. It is awesome.

And, actually, so is the one downtown here. Actually amazing for such a small museum.

[seemunkee]

10. Yes. Many times to all of them

Especially as a kid. Every relative that came out got the full tour so we did it all many, many times. The Boy Scouts do a hike called the Lincoln trail that starts at the Lincoln memorial and goes all over the city, did that twice. I still love to go to the Smithsonian and National Gallery. Check out the Air and Space annex by Dulles airport, its huge. They have a space shuttle, SR-71 and Concorde in the building along with lots of other stuff, at least 3 times the size of the one on the Mall.

[swimboy]

15. Senator Robb got us into the White House.

I've been in the Capitol but I have never toured it. The museums go on for days and are really impressive.

[fudge stripe cookays]

17. I highly recommend the American culture museum part of the Smithsonian

I went up for the Pro-Choice march, and went there the next day.

I was rounding the corner in the social reform wing, and stumbled across the Suffragettes' area by accident.

Standing there looking at all that history, imagining what those ladies went through, and remembering the girls next to me the day before plaintively singing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" turned me into a bawling mess.

When the girls standing next to me saw me, they knew what the tears were for. Pretty much everyone there that couple of days was there for the march. We all had a great conversation.

Every time I think of that, I start crying all over again.

[LionInWinter]

29. If you're going to the American History Museum, go NOW!!

Museum Is Going Dark to Add Light
American History's 'Architectural Transformation' May Take Two Years

The National Museum of American History will close for almost two years to reconfigure the core of its often-mystifying layout and build a new gallery for the Star-Spangled Banner.

The 42-year-old museum, the largest history museum in the country and the third-most-visited branch of the Smithsonian, will close Sept. 5, the day after Labor Day, officials announced yesterday. Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2008.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201278.html

[Reverend_Smitty]

18. Last time I was in DC was my senior year of high school

We toured the White House (the second tour group allowed back in after 9/11) and it was no big whoop...especially because of the family residing in it. The capitol was much cooler IMHO, our congressman actually let us walk around on the floor of the house...I got my picture taken in the speaker's chair. It was really cool

[begin_within]

19. I think everyone should be in the White House at least once. I was there

in 1977, during the Carter admin., and the public tours were free, you just lined up in the morning to get the tickets, then walked through (the bottom floor only, basically the East room to the state dining room and the 3 small rooms in between). I'm glad I went on the tour. The rooms are much smaller than you imagine them to be. The East Room is the largest room in the building, and you picture it as some great ballroom, but it's really not all that large - about the size of a small-town church hall and nothing more. But the building is so steeped in history, I found it to be a very neat feeling to actually stand in those very rooms. I could almost hear the echoes of John-John and Caroline.

[malta blue]

20. I found my trip to DC to be a great experience...

The Library of Congress is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. The Smithsonian is amazing. I hear the new Museum of the American Indian is really great too. I grew up in NYC, and there are many parts of the city that I missed as a child and have been checking out little by little.

Happy vacation!

[supernova]

21. Lived there for six years

And yes it was fun. DC is a great place to play tourist.

If you can manage it, phone your reps to get White House tour tickets. You get to see a lot more on the congressional version of the tour.

[GalleryGod]

23. At least once every 10 years...you won't regret going.

:applause:

[LSK]

24. nope

[kwassa]

25. I've peaked in the Oval Office ....

my wife was on the White House staff during the Clinton years.

I've taken the public tours and a private tour through the West Wing, which is much smaller than on television (which includes many rooms that don't exist).

Shook Bill's hand a couple of times, watched the Fourth of July fireworks from the South Lawn.

I love the National Gallery, just saw the great Cezanne show and the Dadaist show this past weekend.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

31. I saw the Cezanne show on April vacation!

It's a great one!

;)

[Mutley]

26. I've done most of the DC stuff.

I should have since I live 45 minutes away. :crazy:

I think I've actually done more there than in Baltimore.

[Sammy Pepys]

27. I work on Capitol HIll...n/t

....

[Spider Jerusalem]

28. School trip in sixth grade and a few times to visit family...

my grandfather lived in DC all his life, and his family's lived there since the 1820's.

The Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History are my 2 favourites...ideally you'd need a few days (at least) to visit each of the various museums to really see everything worth seeing, I think.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

30. Wander the Mall.

I spent a whole day doing that. Could have done it for four days. :D Just stroll down the Mall, Capitol to Lincoln Memorial. Simply awesome. :D