White House Garden Tour

On a perfect October Saturday, my mentor, Mary Fischietto invited me to the White House Garden Tour. She works for the Office of Budget and Management as a health policy advisor and received special passes for the event and encouraged me to bring a friend along.

My roommate, Gia, and I met up with Mary about a block away from the White House and began the journey through security and throngs of people. The Garden Tours occur twice a year, in the fall and spring, and show off numerous gardens that have grown and blossomed since the original Garden Tour in 1972 that was hosted by Pat Nixon.

The tour began with a look at the impressive South Lawn, which includes a putting green, the landing site for the President's helicopter, Marine One, and the Presidential Trees. Since the 1870s, most presidents and their wives have planted trees of their choosing. I got my first view of the Residence and the West Wing which were very impressive, as the West Wing overlooks Jackie O's Rose Garden. I also learned about the Residence, I always assumed the presidential family lived in the huge white house, which is not the case.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and Gia and I were thrilled to finally get an up-close view of the White House. The gardens represent a lot of history and are amazing in the way they show the playful, down-to-earth sides of the President. There were pictures of ambassadors and Presidents having beer in the Rose Garden and Presidents running with their dogs in the South Lawn. I'm glad the Garden Tour provided this opportunity.