Thinking of touring a government building. Capitol or Pentagon. White House looks too difficult to arrange. Organization of American States may be the back up plan. State Department? (don't know if it's open or if it's worth it)

Any experiences with any of these? (Pentagon, Capitol, OAS, State Dept.?)

State dept has a fantastic collection of early american furnishings. was collected by the guy who also generated the white house collection. clement conger.

the pentagon has a large collection of remington bronzes

capitol is worth doing.

Library of congress is a magnificent building

you can arrange all 4 on line.

the OAS has a nice atrium with a few parrot type birds.

not worth the trouble, unless i missed something.

renwick gallery is a nice tour also.

We just did the White House and Capitol in June.

Managed to get the Pentagon last year in June.

Do it online thru your state Reps. or Senators.

You must apply for White House about 4 months in advance.

These are the staff led tours, but there are other ways to get in most.

My friend, who works there, gave us a tour of the Pentagon twice. Once in 1998, and the other in 2005, I think.

Last I checked the Pentagon is only open for tours for school groups, scout trips and the like. That being said I have been a few times for meetings and is interesting to see.

For the White House and Capitol just contact your Rep or Senator; they will tell you what is required for the WH and can have a junior staffer or intern do a Hill tour for you.

Supreme Court is interesting and next to the Capitol so can be done in the same few hours and does not require reservations.

Never been to State or OAS in the 7 years I have been in DC.

I enjoyed Engraving and Printing when I went with family a few years ago; the tour guide was awful but it is neat seeing money getting printed. It requires a time stamp ticket that IIRC you need to get the day of the tour but I might be wrong.

I toured the Pentagon as a high school student in 19XX.

The interior of the building is not all that interesting, in my memory. Lots and lots of hallways. We were told not to look through any open doors as we walked down the hallways. Somebody gave us a fairly cursory explanation of what they do at the Pentagon. (Hint: Lots of paperwork)

The interior courtyard was interesting if only for the fact that at the very center was a hot dog stand. I don't know if that's still true. But it's one of those things that sticks in your mind, especially as a teenager. Our tour guide said the hot dog stand was supposedly the deadliest place to stand during the Cold War. Obviously that joke became less funny after 9/11.

The tour was arranged by a teacher so I have no clue how it came about. It didn't seem like it was terribly unusual at the time, as the tour guide's presentation was done in the way that gave the impression she did it everyday.

Edited to add:

Here's an interesting article I found about the hot dog stand:
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/News...e.aspx?id=1049

The pentagon is going through some renovations right now which are making it really interesting...I believe tours are back to normal...just be prepared to be searched and present two forms of ID

pm me if you need more info


http://pentagon.afis.osd.mil/

More info...

they have recently made the exhibits more interesting and accessible during the tour...worth doing!

I just got my tour for the Pentagon scheduled a few days ago for this September by my state rep. Contact them and they will respond in a few days requesting the Name, date of birth and city of birth off each person on the tour.

You can schedule a Capital tour online at here or through your state rep.
I did mine online and it was simple enough.

Bureau of Printing & Engraving tour is good:
http://www.bep.treas.gov/locations/index.cfm/3

The FBI tour used to be good but has been suspended:
http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/tour/tour.htm

You can reserve a timed entry for the National Archives exhibits (letting you bypass the general line), either for a self-guided visit or for a guided tour:

http://www.archives.gov/nae/visit/reserved-visits.html

Live or stuffed?