The Whitehouse & other big buildings

 

We’d reached our limit with Smithsonian Institution museums for the day, so we wandered our way toward the White House. Along the way, we were struck by how many huge, extravagant buildings flank the National Mall, many of them lined with long rows of stone columns across their front façades.

The famous Waldorf Astoria hotel.

We stopped by the White House Visitor Center, which features a full-scale Oval Office replica, exhibits on the history of the White House, and a gift shop.

The view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue is definitely less “fencey” than from The Ellipse. The expansive gardens are nice, but they also partially obscure the building, which sits quite a distance from the viewing points. To be brutally honest, it felt a bit overrated.