Outside of a chinese restaurant I had never encountered an Easter egg roll before. We managed to become the recipients of four tickets to this year's White House Easter Egg Roll. We were not there to witness the President's participation as we were in the last of three groups and he presented himself to the first. After a long (little over an hour and a half) shuffle through a roped cattle chute maze that ended at a series of metal detectors, we entered the grounds of the south lawn of the White House. There were many activities besides the egg roll. Costumed characters from PBS and a few other assorted animated characters such as Bugs Bunny and a Smurf roamed about. They were very kind to the small children. Volunteers whisked us about pointing out the various activities and we got some good photos with the White House as a backdrop. The highlight for me (aside from my children's delight) was seeing and listening to a concert by Ziggy Marley.

I'm glad I did this event once because it will be a once in a lifetime thing as I never want to do it again. It was way too exhausting to be worth a second time. Leaving my house at 12:30, on the train at 1:00, train ride plus walking to White House to arrive by 2:00, metal detector cattle chute and mob at entrance to gain access by 3:30, and it was over at 5:00. Each ticket was for a two hour stay and was done in three large groups. Our tickets allowed entry from 3:00 to 5:00. The weather cooperated for the most part as it finally let loose a cold rain right after we left. Cool but not cold for the most part. The kids had a great time and Brenda and I were able to see things vicariously through their eyes. And then there was Ziggy... Awesome.


Two Replies to What The Hell Is An Egg Roll Anyway?

Scott Hardie | April 15, 2009
As tiring as that must have been, it still sounds like a pretty fun day and something you can remind the kids of when they get older. I was little then, but I still remember our three-room tour of the Reagan White House when my father and a number of other government employees were invited for a holiday tour with their families. I've heard that civilians are no longer allowed inside the building at all for security reasons, which is sad if it's true.

Jackie Mason | April 16, 2009
[hidden by author request]


Web Junkie

Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »

Fast Food, Clowns & Intestinal Disease

Recent conversation with Brenda: Brenda: I really don't feel like cooking tonight. Is Chick-fil-A okay with you? me: As long as it's not McDonald's. Go »

Punched In The Nose With A Stinky Fist

The complete culinary compilation of Steve, Don't Eat It! at Sneeze.com. My reading was interrupted by a need for defibrillation - laughed so hard my heart stopped. Go »

The Miracle Of Marlboro

I'm old enough to remember cigarette ads on television. Most were (like all ads) ridiculously exaggerated concerning the adventures in coolness their product would bring. But these tobacco ads are intrinsically evil when promoting a product the manufacturers knew were killing people. Go »

Christmas Post #14: Scared Of Santa

Pretty funny site devoted to pictures of children unhappy with being seated next to Santa. The hilarious aspect for me are the expressions on the faces of the Santas who are obviously thinking of everywhere else they'd rather be than here with this screaming little turd-dropper in their lap. Poor kids. Go »

Stay-cation Week IV

Brenda had a minor medical procedure today so we dropped the girls at Grandma's house for the majority of the day. Got through the procedure and had a nice lunch (just the two of us) at a local restaurant. I had a steak sandwich that was very tasty except it was served on ciabatta bread. Go »

And No Need for Anaesthesia

Recent conversation with Brenda: me: I've decided that I'm not going to play that "got your nose" game with our grandkids. Brenda: Oh, really? me: Yeah, I'm going to play "got your appendix" instead. Go »