From the Inside Looking Out

The People’s House, the Castle, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…whatever you want to call it, we visited the White House! The early morning tour last Wednesday was everything I hoped it would be. After going through some pretty tight security, we exited the staging area, and suddenly, to the left was the House that we had all been standing in line to see. It’s definitely a sensory overload – there are beautiful gardens on either side of the entrance, and the first hall you enter is decorated with beautiful wood paneling, and leads to another hallway through which you can see the gardens, the fountain, and the fence behind which I stood every other time I had visited the House. It was absolutely amazing to be on the other side of it. 

The first hallway of the tour features photos from famous moments in the history of the Presidency, and leads into an entryway that was the original entryway to the White House (thank you to someone else’s guided tour for telling me that). There, we saw cabinets full of Presidential china sets, artwork that presidents had owned, and a few sitting rooms and libraries. There was also a wooden movable divider that Katy, our coordinator, told me is a makeshift wall that the President and First Lady use to get around the East Wing unseen during tours. Then: up the stairs to the most beautiful parts of the tour. The marble stairway was uneven because of all the people who have used it over the years, and it fed into a beautiful dining room with golden walls, carpets and drapes.

After that was the Green room, the Red room, the Blue room, the State Dining room, and the famous Entrance Hall, with portraits of past presidents adorning the walls, a red carpet running down the length of the floor, and to the left, the large front doors through which I imagine every important person has entered the House. To the right, directly across from the front doors, was a door with the Presidential seal above it that WAIP got a great photo in front of!

When we exited through the front door, I could see the garden, the lawn, the fountain, and the Washington Monument - a view I'm sure every President has looked upon every day.

I cannot believe that I was able to experience that, and hopefully I’ll be back one day…but my dream would be to do so as an employee. Maybe someday it’ll come true!

-Sarah Hudacek