Homeward Bound
This weekend I’m on my way back to the town where I was raised. Back to Grandma’s House in Tarentum PA. Most recently notable for the current location of the Pittsburg Mills Mall. No matter how far I go way I still Love to see the Massive Steel bridges crossing the Allegany River. Churches on every corner and of course Little Pucketa Creek at Memorial Park in New Kensington. Besides good old-fashioned fellowship with the family and extended family these things still inspire me to come back. This trip we are good make a small detour to Alexandra’s Tea Room in Springdale on the way to Tarentum. We are really looking forward to it as they are ranked # 27 out of 147 for Tea rooms of PA. This is just the tip of the iceburg for my home town. This should be a good weekend on our mini road trip back to where it all began.
Greenline to the White House
On the metro green line on the way to tour the White House. There are a few things to mention about this trip so far. One- today there is a tea-party rally and an event for the anniversary of the “I have a dream ” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. Its clear that because of these two events going on at the same time downtown is going to be flooded with people. The best way to go is the metro but there are super long lines to wait in if you don’t have a metro fare card already. So if you are going to plan a trip to Washington D. C. Make sure to plan on getting to the metro early to find a place to park and to get you spot in line.
There were uniformed officers also at the metro for directions and to keep things orderly. If you need to know anything ask them they will steer you in the right direction.
If you can. Take the time to look up the metro prices before you get to your station. Most machines take all forms of payment. But with high volume its likely to run out of change to return to you and many only give back a max amour of $5.00. So if you can bring enough money for at least round trip though a day pass is best. 
We took the greenline to L’ Enfant station and switched to the Blue line to Federal Triangle stop. It puts you close to the mall, White House , Smithsonian and Washington Monument. There are lots of signs and maps to let you know where you are in relation to all the sights. We had a map that came with our Tour info but it was a little off so we asked a security guard and checked a map and made it to the White House Visitor Center. We took advantage of the restroom there as you can not use the restroom in the White House itself and we didnt know how long the tour would be.
Once we reached the White House Tour check in gate we split up. We had purses with us which are not allowed in the White House so I waited at Pershing Park across the street while my sister and mother took the first trip and I went through on my own while the held my bag. You also can not take your camera inside but you can have a cell phone which you must turn off while inside the house. Once on the out side of the tour you are allowed to take a few photos on your Camera phone of the outside of the house.
Chinatown coming soon…
