Wednesday, December 18, 2013

A Holiday Tour of the White House!

Sean, Will, Vassily, Piper, Ginny, Morgen and James at
Sean and Will's apartment 
An elegant brunch for Scott's B'day
Their living room and Scott
Sean, Will, Scott and James at Rose's Luxury restaurant
We had a lovely visit to Washington DC to visit our two younger sons, Sean and James and for Scott to attend Roots Camp - a 2 day political action conference. We stayed with Sean and Will at their lovely Capitol Hill apartment. James and Morgen live nearby and we saw them every day.
Sean surprised us with tickets to the Holiday Tour at the White House. It was amazing and so beautiful. We spent over an hour wandering around the first floor state rooms, all decorated for the holidays. It wasn't at all crowded and you could take as long as you wanted. A knowledgeable guide was in each of the rooms to explain the history and artwork. What a holiday present!
The tour entrance to the White House - beautifully decorated

As was the corridor leading to the State Rooms

The windows looked out on the garden all decorated with
lights

The theme of this year was books - here a book tree

The Vermeil Room

The Library


The China Room

Wider view of the China Room

The State Receiving Room

The Harlem Globetrotters once gave a demo here!

A beautiful creche was in a niche

The Green Room

Scott and I in front of the giant Christmas Tree which
featured ornaments from every state and territory


The Red Room where First Ladies receive foreign digniteries

The State Dining Room

A close up of the tree

An even closer one of our state ornaments

The Tree itself

This year's gingerbread cake - it's the fireplace
and the White House on top!

A poignant portrait of John Kennedy


Christmas Carols rang throughout the rooms

They did a lovely job

The main entrance where we exited

A more distant view