The White House

We actually took the tour of the White House first, before the Pentagon. When we scheduled our tours through Senator Chambliss' office, we ended up with the White House @ 7:30a, the Pentagon @ 11:00a, the Capitol Building @ 1:40p, Library of Congress @ 3:40p. Given that you cannot take ANYTHING with you into the White House (except car keys and a cell phone), it really affects how you do the tours. The Pentagon is similar, though they'll allow some things as long as they remain in your bag. We ended up with wallets in one pocket and cell phones in another and little else with us but ponchos (it was raining).

We did get to tour the bottom level of the White House and a portion of the first floor. Normally you'd have been able to see the dining room, but apparently there was a luncheon scheduled that day with the Israeli Prime Minister, so that was off limits. In fact, the tour that HAD been scheduled at 11a was pushed up to 7a, so the crowd when we got there was quite large. I really dislike crowds, but we managed.

After we left the building, we were at least able to stop and get a picture of the front of the White House with our cell phones.