1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE
“The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.”
-Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue surprised me. It was more of a festive radius of fun, tourists and security than a tight, tensed up secure neighborhood.
Let me just quickly mention that downtown Washington, D.C. is a clusterfuck of traffic, crazy road signs and tourists walking everywhere. You have to be very careful how you drive and where you park. I arrived on a Sunday so it wasn’t too bad but I cannot imagine being in this city during peak hours. NO THANKS! Los Angeles is bad enough.
First observation. The Secret Service outside the White House, Dwight Eisenhower Building, the United States Treasury building and other areas were very friendly. I didn’t expect that at all. There were a lot of them but for the most part, they were very courteous to anyone who had questions or just wanted to say hello.
Second observation. There were a group of young guys playing street hockey ON Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s just a big, wide, very well-paved street with 1000s of tourists trying to catch a selfie with the White House. How about some street ball out there? Would the Secret Service be ok with that?
Third observation. The Washington Monument resides in what looks like a huge park and was not too far from The White House. The place was gigantic and super fun. Kids playing everywhere. Softball games. Picnics. Tourists taking pictures. I lived on the East Coast for 14 years and never once thought of going down in that area to inhale the ambiance. It was great. I am very happy I went there. Minus the clusterfuck, well done downtown D.C.
Here’s a slideshow of my visit.
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