Barbara Edney talks fondly of rubbing the curly head of a black and white Portugese water dog on a recent impromptu vacation with her husband, Carl, and their daughter Julie’s family.
She then points out, “We had never seen anything like this – we even got to see Bo, the Obama’s dog.”
The Edneys’ daughter, Julia Tulloch, is an optometrist in Arden who went to high school and college with Sandy Kuhlman, wife of presidential doctor Jeffery Kuhlman. Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman is one of several doctors dedicated to the health of President Barack Obama. He was also on hand as a doctor for the Bush administration.
The Kuhlmans recently had the opportunity to invite their friends Julie and Tim Tullock to the White House for a personal tour and lunch. The Tullocks also brought along their son, Chad, and Julie’s parents, Carl and Barbara Edney of Tryon.
Getting an invitation for an inside look at the White House can often take up to six months, the Edneys said. They, however, were lucky enough to have their backgrounds checked within weeks in order to head off to Washington Sept. 14-18.
“We had to go through six checkpoints and steel doors to get to the West Wing,” Carl Edney said. “I had never seen so many secret service, but before long we were able to tour the West Wing. We spent the whole day, about eight hours, in the White House.”

Barbara said she felt the family received an exclusive look.
“We had someone with us the whole time who could unlock doors for us at areas where others couldn’t go further on the tour,” Barbara said.
Family saw the pre-festivities leading up to a medal of honor ceremony to be held later that day for a sergeant. They viewed portraits of all the presidents and presidents’ wives. They spent time in Dr. Kuhlman’s office and saw the rose garden where the Obama’s daughters often play with Bo, the family dog.
The Edneys and Tullochs also enjoyed lunch in the West Wing and saw that most every room was filled with fresh-cut flowers from the White House garden.
“Just walking the grounds and then walking in those doors and being able to see everything – oh, my, it was such an experience,” Barbara Edney said.