White House Garden Tour

The White House opens its grounds to the public twice a year for garden tours. I missed the fall tour, but it couldn't have been as spectacular as what Rich and I saw that day. Even though the tour is free, timed tickets are distributed early in the morning on a first-come, first-served basis much like when we got tickets for the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. The big difference is that this event isn't nearly as popular and people weren't camping out since the night before.

We were there about an hour before ticket distribution and there were only about 30 people in line ahead of us. We got our tickets and then went and had breakfast while waiting for the tour time. We got in line about half hour before as instructed, went through oodles of security, then entered the grounds from the southeast gate onto the paved driveway that circles the south lawn of the White House.

We were only allowed to walk along the paved driveway. If you stepped off the driveway onto the grass even by a foot (you know to get a picture, or pose for one), you were immediately yelled at by one of the many secret service agents stationed about every 20 feet or so. Let me tell ya, they are not kidding around. I saw an agent yell at a little girl that couldn't have been more than 8 years old when she stepped off the driveway onto the grass to get a closer look at a picture of Bo, the Obama's new dog.

We saw the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.

We saw the Rose Garden. (It was still too early in the season to see any roses, though.) This garden and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden are the only formal gardens on the grounds.

Many of the trees were planted to commemorate a person or event. The oldest that I saw was a Southern Magnolia planted by Andrew Jackson in honor of his late wife in 1830. I got this picture of the plaque on the tree, but was standing too close (and couldn't leave the pavement) to get a picture of the tree. I meant to get one from a distance after we'd walked a bit further along the path, but forgot. (D'oh!)

We saw the brand new playground that the Obamas installed for their daughters. It was crazy the way people were snapping pictures of this like they'd never seen a playground before. Then, I realized I was one of them. It's tucked away so that it can't be seen from the viewing public. There are also tennis courts, a pool (which we couldn't see), a basketball hoop (not a full court) and a small children's garden also tucked away.

While it was fun, I would really have liked it if the tour were held a little further into the season so that there were more flowers in bloom. There were azalea bushes all around the children's garden, but the buds hadn't even started to open yet. I'll bet that's a sight to see. I love azaleas.