WHITE HOUSE to WHITE HOUSE (end of story)

 Last 24 hrs

From this

 

to this

 

 
Well, we were there whilst Obama had breakfast, but yet again he failed to invite us to join him.  We were just downstairs from him and the family on the 7.30 am tour!!

Somehow Allan managed to get us included in this, as well as an interesting tour the day before round the State Department - it has been great to have such an embedded contact in Washington DC life and we are so grateful to him for arranging such special visits.  Here we all are outside the WH - no cameras allowed inside and of course we had to jump several layers of security guards, machines and searches of person (no bags either)

Amazingly we were allowed to roam (under the watchful eye of security guards in each room (who answered our questions - unless they affected security ie. most of the questions! ) through many of the downstairs rooms (see here for the rooms) where you see dignitaries being met and posh meals being eaten.  Lots of photos of past presidents and visitors and beautiful flower arrangements in every room.  Someone had the gall to ask if they could have a rose - er, no!

It was a great way to finish our grand tour of DC - we had worn our feet out the day before round all the memorials and monuments in the Mall - all very interesting and different stories.  They do do memorials well - Roosevelt and the Martin Luther King ones rivalling the very poignant 9/11 Pentagon one that we saw at the beginning of our trip.

Then it was a quick look around the Arts and Crafts gallery where this piece was just incredible -


What do you think it is?  Just a piece of cloth hanging over a grandfather clock.?


Wrong.

Beneath Wendell Castle's clever shroud, there is neither a classic grandfather clock nor a statement about time. Castle's magnificent Ghost Clock is a haunting sculpture so still and timeless it suggests eternity. Constructed from laminated and bleached Honduras mahogany, Ghost Clock is a powerful example of trompe l'oeil, a French term that means "to fool the eye." Here, the "drapery" is not soft, supple cloth but beautifully carved wood that suggests muslin in color and texture. What we think we see is, in fact, not what is.

Then onwards to the airport, sad farewells to our wonderful hosts, Allan and Sue, and the red-eye special
 to Manchester.  Train to Grange-Over-Sands, with the snow getting ever deeper, and lovely pick up and lift back home by Phil and Joan.

Florida sun but a distant memory!







Thanks for reading the blog - hope you enjoyed it.