One of my favorite pictures from the White House Rotunda...sorry for all the pics guys, this is still surreal
Don't be sorry. Is this your first time in D.C.? I remember the first time I was there. It was both amazing and disappointing. The amazing part are all the monuments and capital buildings. The Smithsonian was amazing. The National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall, which was brand new at the time, blew me away. The disappointing part was all the panhandlers on the streets and the fact that most places were handicap inaccessible at a time when even in "Slab Town" Oregon, most sidewalks and public buildings were handicap accessible by law. I haven't been to a reception at the White House, but I did have lunch with Oregon Representative Kurt Schrader about 10 years ago in the Senate dining room, which felt like a pretty big deal at the time.
Take a ton of pictures. You'll enjoy looking at them for years to come. Not everyone has the chance to spend time in our Nation's Capital city. Have you had the chance to see much of the city? Have you visited Dupont Circle? It's such a fun part of the city....lot's of street side cafe's. Real Estate there is out of sight. Tiny apartments sell for a fortune. Oh, and get lots of postcards too. The photos on them are often better than any you can take yourself, unless of course you and your friends are in them.