It's good to see the same geniuses in charge of what you can/can't take on an airplane are hard at work protecting the White House, too, from folks who go on tours.
Prohibited items include, but are not limited to, the following: handbags, book bags, backpacks, purses, food and beverages of any kind, strollers, cameras, video recorders or any type of recording device, tobacco products, personal grooming items (make-up, hair brush or comb, lip or hand lotions, etc.), any pointed objects (pens, knitting needles, etc.), aerosol containers, guns, ammunition, fireworks, electric stun guns, mace, martial arts weapons/devices, or knives of any size. The U.S. Secret Service reserves the right to prohibit any other personal items. Umbrellas, wallets, cell phones and car keys are permitted.
So you can't take a pen, but you can take an umbrella?
Please note that no storage facilities are available on or around the complex. Individuals who arrive with prohibited items will not be permitted to enter the White House.
So for those of you who actually find strollers, purses, pens, cameras or combs to be something you actually normally to have with you, or that you wouldn't consider leaving at the hotel before starting your touring day -- I guess you're SOL.
Side anecdote: my mom took this tour some time back, and there was a portrait down a side hall that she wanted to get a better look at, so she took a step in that direction ... and had a Secret Service agent pop up from the other end of the corridor, giving her The Look. She's lucky -- who knows what might happen these days ...
(via J-Walk)
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Since I was curious, I looked up the rules for the Royal Residences in the UK.
While they are open when the Queen is NOT at a particular residence here are the restrictions:
Lavatories and baby-care facilities are located at the end of the visit.For safety reasons, pushchairs are not permitted in the State Rooms. They must be checked in and reclaimed at the exit. Baby-carriers are available for loan.
Photography and filming (for private use only) and use of mobile phones are permitted in the Palace garden. Mobile phones must be switched off elsewhere on the visitor route.
Bottled water and ice-cream are available for purchase in the Garden at Buckingham Palace.
The shop sells a wide range of merchandise, much of which is designed exclusively for the Royal Collection.
On the other hand there does not appear to be any tours of 10 Downing street other than being allowed to be on the street if you meet all the requirments to do so.
Well, the White House serves as sort of common ground between them.
I have no problems with the obvious stuff -- no guns (2nd Amendment!), no knives, no nunchucks. The camera stuff is maybe a bit sketchier. No pens is just goofy.
And having no way to store stuff is just goofier.
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