DC By the Book

Excerpt: When we arrived in DC a few hours later, we all dropped our bags with the porters at the Hays-Adams Hotel (this was by far the fanciest hotel I’d ever seen, and my mom had her mouth hanging open the whole time).

Excerpt: “Hey, Mr. Peterson?” asked Taisy. “Now that we’re all here anyway, do you think we could go up to the roof where you made your phone call? I bet it’s an amazing view. We’d really love to see it.” / It was obvious Petey wasn’t sure what he should do. I’d bet big money he had never dealt with two ten-year-olds, one eleven-year-old, and a two-hundred-pound black Newfie in a stairwell at one a.m. This kind of thing probably wasn’t in the Hay-Adams employee manual. / “Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaase? I bet it’s so pretty at night from the roof,” Taisy pleaded again. / “Sure, why not?” / Two minutes later we were gazing out at the White House. It was lit up, glowing white and beautiful. It was so quiet and still it felt pretty magical. / “I feel like we’re in a snow globe that hasn’t been shaken yet, so there’s no snow.”

Excerpt: This was the first time I had ever been at the White House, and I know I should say I was in awe of being there in person, and that I really stopped to take in the grandness of it all, and I was bowled over by how much history had happened there. Honestly, couldn’t tell you a thing about it besides that it seemed big and fancy, because I had only one thing on my mind.

Excerpt: The White House felt different from the last time I was there. The president was on the premises, and he was delivering a speech. There was a buzz in the air. People walked faster, with more of a spring in their step. The White House is such an amazing place because it’s so many things to so many people. It’s actually a house where the president and his family live day to day. They even have their own movie theater. It’s also the place where he works and runs the country and makes some of the most important decisions in the world. Just being inside those famous walls made me stand a little taller.

Excerpt: We were first given our own private tour. We were so overwhelmed, we could barely talk.It was one thing to see this place lit up in the middle of the night from a distance. Actually being inside was, well, kind of mind-blowing. Of course, Elvis just walked around like it was no big deal. Taisy’s favorite part was the flower shop, where they made all the White House bouquets. Alexander Chang-Cohen told us lots of facts about the Diplomatic Room. It’s where President Roosevelt gave his fireside chats during World War II. I pictured Fala at his feet while he gave his addresses. I agreed with Taisy’s dad that the Map Room was supercool. Mrs. Chang-Cohen almost fainted when we got to see the Lincoln bedroom. She just thought it had been decorated so perfectly, and she said it was the most famous bedroom in the entire house.

Excerpt: I looked up as my mom parked the car at East Potomac Park. I saw a group of kids at the shooting line on a grassy field with bows in their hands and a crowd in the bleachers.

Excerpt: Picture this: three sleepy kids sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial while their parents are taking hundreds of photos of them and everything around them.