It had been 19 years since the last time I stepped foot in the White House. Then, I was a Congressional intern on a tour. This time, I was going as a guest of a friend who works in the West Wing. He had invited several of his fellow St. Louis Cardinal fans to the President's reception for the team to celebrate their World Series championship. I was to sign in at the Northwest gate and make my way up the driveway to his office.

It is past 11pm the night before, and I am looking for my shoeshine kit somewhere beneath the bathroom sink.

As a reporter and anchor, I meet many people, including many noteworthy people. It is very easy to become jaded when you are scrutinizing other people's actions everyday, especially politicians. So, I wondered why a trip to the White House was affecting me this way.

I fixed a few blemishes and ran the brush over my black shoes. I was ready.

I got there early, so I walked along Pennsylvania Avenue for the classic view of the mansion. When I was an intern, cars could still drive here. Terrorism concerns have changed all that. In fact, to make it to my entrance, I had to walk all the way around the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. As I approached the gate, I knew why I had shined my shoes. A tremendous feeling of patriotism and a sense of respect came over me. Politics were irrelevant in this moment. History was creaking from the trees that towered overhead. I thought of Lincoln.

The Eisenhower building doesn't ooze as much history. Lots of young people in suits and with ID badges, drinking coffee and eating frozen yogurt. The gift shop is here for employees. I buy my young sons magnets of Air Force One and a couple of baseballs with the Presidential seal.

Lunch at the Navy "Mess," was anything but. I envisioned a cafeteria, but I felt like a visiting head of state. Even this dining room in the West Wing, however, paled compared to our next stop.

I find myself in the original mansion, the first floor of the residence. Literally, right up the stairs is the master bedroom. I am standing under the 1869 George PA Healy portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the State Dining Room. Engraved in the mantle below are the words of John Adams:

"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."

I am thankful I shined my shoes.

No velvet ropes to stand behind, I am joined by the Cardinals and by my nephew and brother in law, all of us taking measure of this rare opportunity. We have full run of the Red, Blue and Green Rooms. I admire a white marble top table with a vase of fresh cut white roses. I later learn that President Monroe bought that table for the mansion in 1817.

These are the rooms used for diplomacy and history. Grover Cleveland was married in the Blue Room. James Madison signed the nation's first declaration of war in the Green Room. Jackie Kennedy renovated the Red Room. And there on an antique sofa, I see third baseman Scott Speizio laughing with his teammates.

Finally, we walk down that red carpet you see behind the President in some speeches and we take our seats in the East Room. The bodies of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy once lay in state here. I felt honored just to breathe the air.

The President honors the Cardinals; they give him a jersey and ball. No matter who the President is, when you are only several feet from him, the energy is amazing.

He recognizes a young man two rows in front of me, Lance Corporal Chad Watson of the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Bush had met him at Walter Reed hospital. The Marine is recovering from injuries in Iraq. He is missing a leg.

I can't imagine walking a mile in his shoes, but I'm glad I shined mine before this memorable day.