Inside Obama’s White House

As an intern trying to make the most of her summer in the capital, I’m always on the lookout for cool things to see and do. The Smithsonians? Check. Free concerts at the Kennedy Center? I’m there. I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to tour the Holy Grail of D.C. destinations, the cherry on top of the Executive sundae–the West Wing of the White House (above).

This is not an opportunity that comes along every day. Tours of the White House’s East Wing can be arranged through your representatives in Congress anywhere between six months to 30 days in advance. But the West Wing takes a little something extra. You have to know a White House staffer… so when a friend asked if I’d be interested in seeing where President Obama goes to work every day, I jumped at the chance.

Having seen pretty much every episode of NBC’s “The West Wing” ever made, I started out half expecting to run into Leo McGarry in the hallway or pass Mrs. Landingham’s desk on my way to see the President. Brace yourself, reader: it’s not how it looks on TV. Don’t get me wrong, the West Wing is still incredibly cool. But everything, from the corridors to the Oval Office, is a lot smaller than any fictional version of it I’ve ever seen.
 
Official photos of the President and the First Family covered the walls as we made our way through the hallways, past staffers’ closed office doors and at least four guard stations. Every once in a while a new batch of pictures is put up, and the old ones make their way into people’s offices.
 
For all that it doesn’t look the same as in the movies, once in a while we passed something instantly recognizable: the Rose Garden, the Cabinet Room, and finally, the Oval Office. I’m not going to lie: it’s pretty awesome to look up and realize you’re standing in front of a place you’ve been seeing in pictures your entire life.

President Obama hasn’t made too many changes to the old decorating scheme yet–in fact, even the rug in the Oval Office is one of the holdovers from the last administration. Usually each president designs a new one when he takes office, and brings it in when he redecorates.  

Not everything is the same, though. My favorite changes? A bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. has replaced one of Winston Churchill, and just outside those famous windows behind the president’s desk is a new swing set… so Dad can still supervise backyard play. In the middle of the Oval’s coffee table sits a giant bowl full of apples–and yes, they are real. I asked.
 
I may not have seen Bo

hanging out on the lawn or the butter with the seal of the President on it in (though it would have made a fantastic souvenir), but it was a pretty unforgettable experience. Now if only I could figure out how to snag one of those old Obama photos…

Can’t make it to the White House this trip? Check out Traveler’s awesome Washington D.C. guide for other great things to do.

More from Traveler:
Places of a Lifetime: Washington D.C.
Free D.C.
Family D.C.

Photo: M.E. Valcarcel via Flickr