Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
out of a local gasworks; now, as the home of the State Department and George Washing-
ton University, it's an upscale (if not terribly lively) neighborhood crawling with students
and professionals.
White House
LANDMARK
( tours 202-456-7041;
www.whitehouse.gov
;
tours 7:30am-11am Tue-Sat; Farragut West,
Farragut North, McPherson Sq, Metro Center)
The White House has survived both fire (the
Brits torched it in 1814 - only a thunderstorm saved its complete destruction) and insults
(Jefferson groused that it was 'big enough for two emperors, one Pope and the grand
Lama'). Although its facade has changed little since 1924, its interior has seen frequent
renovations. Franklin Roosevelt added a pool; Truman gutted the whole place (and
simply discarded many of its historical features - today's rooms are replicas); Jacqueline
Kennedy brought back antique furnishings and historic details; Nixon added a bowling
alley; Carter installed solar roof panels, which Reagan then removed; Clinton added a
jogging track; and George W Bush included a T-ball field. Cars can no longer pass the
White House on Pennsylvania Ave, clearing the area for posing school groups and round-
the-clock peace activists.
»
Tours
A self-guided tour will lead you through the ground and 1st floors, but the 2nd and 3rd
floors are off-limits, and we have to warn you: due to staffing reductions brought about
by the government's inability to settle on a working budget, tours had been canceled until
further notice at the time of writing. That said, the tours are so popular, we are confident
(fingers crossed) they will resume.
If so, tours must be arranged (up to six months) in advance. Americans must apply via
one of their state's members of Congress, and non-Americans must apply through either
the US consulate in their home country or their country's consulate in DC. If that sounds
15th & E Sts NW; 7:30am-4pm)
; it's not the real deal, but hey, there's executive
paraphernalia scattered about.
»
Watergate
Virginia Ave NW; Foggy Bottom-GWU)
encompasses apartments, boutiques and the office
towers that made 'Watergate' a byword for political scandal after it broke that President
Nixon's 'plumbers' had bugged the headquarters of the 1972 Democratic National Com-
mittee.
