Holding Hands By Moonlight

From Christine Simmons of the Associated Press:
The first couple took full advantage of the cool spring night. After a date night out on Saturday evening, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama decided to take a stroll when their motorcade arrived back at the White House. So they began walking on the driveway of the White House South Lawn while holding hands. First they passed the West Wing, then their children's swing set. They kept walking, swinging their hands together. There were no Secret Service agents right behind them — the agents stood off, in one of the rare moments that the Obamas had private space outside the White House walls. As the Obamas walked behind shrubbery and out of sight, the unscripted moment left reporters guessing where they were going. To the vegetable garden? The basketball court? No final word, but they eventually came back the same way from where they started, rounding out their 8-minute walk. The walk wrapped up one of their first date nights in the District since they've lived at the White House. Before arriving home and taking the stroll, the president and first lady dined out for nearly two hours at a posh Georgetown restaurant. The stroll was a quiet contrast to their dinner outing. The Obamas' visit to Georgetown attracted thick crowds of onlookers who were held back by police tape, while sirens occasionally wailed and a protester chanted outside the restaurant.
BTW: The President and First Lady had dinner at Citronelle, one of Georgetown's ultra-chic, super pricey eateries.
Officially named "Michel Richard Citronelle, the joint is owned by Michel Richard, a renowned chef who once owned a similar restaurant in Philadelphia. When we once asked Richard why he left Philadelphia he glared at us and curtly replied: "You never came."
Citronelle's Web site outlines a program where you can rent out a "presidential ballroom," among others, for private dining.
There's a chef's table in the kitchen to watch Richard at work. No menu is posted on its Web site. but there are 8,000 bottles in the wine cellar.
The site says the restaurant is "a reprieve from traditional East Coast-style dining" and the restaurant bills itself as "as fresh and bright as the cuisine that graces its tables."
Citronelle was named "One of the world's most exciting restaurants" by Conde Nast Traveler, an honor according to the Web site, afforded to only 8 U.S. restaurants.
Both Washingtonian magazine and Open Table list Citronelle as "very expensive" and a full dinner there will easily set you back $100 per person.
Enjoy the recession!