White House and the President

Our hotel in D.C. was in a great location for the museums and monuments, but not such a good location for food.  We knew this beforehand, but were still amazingly unprepared at finding food our first night there. We walked for miles - and I do mean miles - looking for someplace to get a bite and still ended up back at the hotel restaurant.  Along the way, we happened to stumble upon the White House. We now realize that we were on the back side of the White House, be we were so disoriented at the time, we were just excited to see it. We couldn't get anywhere close to it due to barricades and some construction work.  When we stopped to snap a few pictures, Lee and I both noticed that there were snipers on the roof.  I know the president has a lot of security, but we were surprised that snipers were always out there, actively patrolling. A few minutes later, as we kept walking, we came to a blocked off intersection - no cars or pedestrians were being allowed to cross.  It was so frustrating.  Then, a helicopter went by overhead; and back; and by again.  Suddenly, it all started to make sense - the president was coming!  The sirens started in the distance and sure enough, the president blasted through the intersection a few minutes later.  What an exciting sight for girls on their first night in D.C.!!

Snipers on the roof. 

Lee feels quite certain that he was in the second limo, having gotten a bit of glimpse into both vehicles as they sped past.