West Wing, the tour

A few weekends ago, my brother dropped by D.C. for a few days to play tourist.

However, before he left he spent one afternoon being a tour guide, or at least a facilitator. Turns out, one of his college acquaintances happens to work in the West Wing of the White House, so we got a private tour one Sunday afternoon.

For those who are huge fans of the TV series of the same name, the West Wing might be a disappointment. It looks little or nothing like the set of the series. Other than the fancy touches (huge blow-ups of photographs by the White House photographer, original portraits of historical presidents, American art everywhere, and the general trappings of power) it generally looks like a well-carpeted office building. Walls instead of cubicles, and better suits, but the general feel stays the same.

So in general it's just offices, but of course the fun is in the details. Such as the Roosevelt room with dual portraits of Teddy and Franklin, with the story being the portraits are rotated depending on the party affiliation of the administration. Currently, the portrait of Teddy is on top. With any luck, in a few months Franklin will take the spot of honor.

There's the newly renovated press briefing room, complete with engraved name plates at the base of each chair. (The front row goes something like: NBC, ABC, Helen Thomas, CBS, CNN). Then a quick jaunt up and around through the halls, and you end up in front of the Oval Office. A different hallway leads behind, to the Rose Garden. Then duck through a door to see the actual working offices of the people behind the Office.

Across the street is one of my favorite buildings in D.C. - the Old Executive Office Building.

The building is built in a grand French style, with columns dotting the exterior and wide, sweeping staircases and hallways inside.

The most ornate room is the Indian Treaty Room - which never saw an Indian Treaty signing. But it does have a grand tile floor, a balcony and the gleaming touches designed to impress. Also a nice view of the White House across the (closed to the public) street.

In all, a day spent looking at places I never expected to see despite living in this city.

Seattle photos

Seattle library


Space Needle


Our Seattle show - the band was an eight-piece, growing to as many as 10 when they brought up guests from the audience.


Sci-Fi Hall of Fame


EMP guitar sculpture


EMP lobby

Seattle

Sorry, Seattle. You might be fighting for the top of the attractive list here in the States (or at least a strong runner-up to San Francisco) but you've got no chance when Vancouver is in the running.

So after the better part of a week in Vancouver, we headed to Seattle. Seattle might not quite match up to Vancouver for scenery - the mountains and the beaches are both further away - but it's still one of my favorite cities in the country.

It doesn't hurt that every time I've been in Seattle the weather has been at its best (not really a true test of the city, of course). And Priceline gave us a deal on a high-rise downtown hotel, putting us right in the center of the tourist stops.

Of course, the first day you have to hit the Pike Place Market. Then a ferry ride over to West Seattle, where we walked along the ocean-front road, checking out a few shops and enjoying the sun shining over the water. Time nearly ran out on us before we got back across the water for a half-price baseball game in one of the best stadiums I've been to (more on that in another post).

Another day took us to the very oddly designed Experience Music Project at the foot of the Space Needle. The EMP is something of a museum for music (although mostly guitar-heavy rock music, with an emphasis on Jimi Hendrix). The EMP has a especially cool feature on the top floor: a series of booths equipped with guitars, drums, keyboards and the like along with interactive demonstrations of how to play. The guitar station felt a little like a much more realistic version of "Guitar Hero" (this one actually has strings). Kirsten threw down the rhythm guitar part of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Guitars played into our evening outing as well - in Seattle, you've got to hit a show, right? At least that's what I learned a decade ago from watching "Singles." The locals said there was one show with local bands that stood above the rest, so we pulled out a bus map and headed North to the Ballard neighborhood and the Tractor Tavern.

Ballard is an area I wouldn't have otherwise ventured out to, but it was a good destination - a strip with coffeeshops, restaurants and clubs, along with the required quota of hipsters. The show was good, the beer was good - what more could you ask for?

Unfortunately, our West Coast swing ended with red-eye flights the next evening, which for me lead directly into a day of work on minimal sleep and then a big July 4 weekend. Jumping back into the East Coast humidity mostly makes me long to head back West.

Vancouver

Vancouver
Originally uploaded by ecstaticist

I want to move to Vancouver.

It's not an unusual feeling to get back from vacation and wish you could return to the destination, to once again free yourself from your day-to-day life with different geography. I'm sure there's some of this in my desire to return to Vancouver. Certainly the city showed me its very best - the entire time we were there, I basked in sunshine and just-right summer temperatures.

But there's more to it than that. Even though I keep moving East or South, at heart I want to be on the West Coast. And Vancouver has advantages no other city has (although with two big disadvantages that I'm going to list right here: 1) the weather can't always be this good, and I'm fairly sure most of the time it's downright bad; and 2) my first day I wandered through neighborhoods which literally reeked of desperation and poverty (well, they literally reeked of urine, mostly, but the other things too). It's a little jarring to go directly from the shopping districts of downtown, decide to return by going one block in a different direction, and end up picking your way through people with needles sticking out of their arm. D.C. certainly has its share of problems, but it seemed to be more visible in Vancouver, or maybe we just haven't taken such a wrong turn in D.C.).

The advantages start with the surrounding natural scenery. The city runs right up against the mountains to the north, which rise right up out of the harbor. Downtown opens onto a large wooded peninsular park, which is bordered by a waterfront walk and a number of surprisingly good (but small) beaches.

The neighborhoods (outside of the aforementioned skid row, which actually had a couple of hostels I later saw advertised online and could only cringe at the thought of some of the unsuspecting travelers who must have booked there) provided varied experiences, from the downtown towers to the trendy revitalized Gaslight district, to the parks and condos of the West End, to the slightly grungier feel of Commercial Drive. Downtown is compact and walkable. The transport system is serviceable. The sushi place we stumbled onto was amazing.

And there were the beaches. Who knew Vancouver had beaches, especially ones that invited you to throw down a towel and bask in the sun? (There were always plenty of Vancouverites doing just that, but the skin tones betrayed the obvious fact there must not have been many previous weekends with enough sun to bask in.)

My favorite beach was the clothing-optional Wreck Beach, not only for the obvious reasons. Essentially located on the University of British Columbia campus, the beach was packed and had a very fun vibe - from the clothing vendors selling tie-died skirts and wraps (an interesting business, selling clothes to nudists) to the food vendors (personally, I'd wear clothes while operating a barbeque grill, but that's just me) to the masses of people chilling out on the beach, or enjoying the water, or playing sports on the beach. Very easy-going vibe, and about half of the crowd split onto either side of the "optional" choice. It's a long way from downtown, where I spent most of my time, and where the more traditional beach-going crowd could be found.

As far as I can tell without doing any research, Vancouver is the only city in the world where beaches and a skiing area are both reachable by public transport. This is nearly everything I've ever wanted in a city, and there's so much more to like. Like the fact it's in Canada, which seems to me to be the U.S.'s relaxed cousin. The stunning visuals. The plethora of dining/shopping/drinking options. Even the hot dogs from the street vendors just seemed better than the hot dogs in D.C. (and they were better, far better - the last time I bought a hot dog from a stand near the mall, the bun was moldy. In D.C. you get a hot dog, and a bun. That's it. In Vancouver I got a sausage, a non-moldy bun as well as grilled peppers and onion. Paradise!)

I did little while in Vancouver other than wander around the streets, eventually find a waterfront, chill out on a beach for a while, then wander the streets some more. I did go to the Museum of Anthropology and gawk at all the examples of totem poles. I also found myself at the Vancouver Gallery of Art at 2 a.m.

The Gallery had an exhibit showcasing comics, animation and video games - a grouping I wanted to see. Then I found out the museum was putting on a special event while I was there, opening its doors from 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. one night, and hosting D.J.s and bands in addition to the exhibit. This made for an excellent night, especially since the gallery was directly across the street from our hotel, so I could stumble home and go straight to bed when I was done with the fun.

blogging

Not that anyone cares, but I'll have updates on my West Coast swing as well as the Fourth of July holiday here in our nation's capital (where your freedom reigns) - just not until this weekend. It's a busy week - working during the day, then out at the baseball stadium at night.

Suffice to say, the West Coast vacation was wonderful, and the 4th was a lot of fun with my brother in town and a choice spot to see the fireworks over the Mall. However, what the weekend wasn't was restful.