'Bucket list': White House garden tours prune a US divide
Thirty-thousand people are estimated to have poured through the gates of the White House for an annual weekend fall garden tour
WASHINGTON (AP) — There were the young women in fresh fall coats, a guy in a suit, hoodied parents with kids, all maneuvering for selfies with the White House south facade. The plant fans and the history fans leaned in to admire the perennials and centuries-old trees on the lawns where Commander the dog lolls and Marine One the helicopter lands.
Again and again, Secret Service agents rose to the challenge of the White House fall garden tour over the weekend, open to all comers with a free ticket: “Off the grass!" one agent in black uniform shouted, squaring his shoulders, not for the first time, not for the last. A straying visitor hopped back on the path.
An estimated 30,000 people in all strolled through the White House's black metal gates on Saturday and Sunday, as the red-uniformed Marine Band, overlooking the South Lawn, played everyone through.
With some of the most formidable of temporary security fencing down and pandemic restrictions eased, the tours on a not-rainy weekend were a throwback to the White House's early days, when there were fewer restrictions on access to the People’s House. For a weekend, the tour sheered off some of the distance between the nation’s executive and a curious, divided public.
