The Washington Monument

We decided to go to the Washington Monument today since Chris had a mid-week day off. Of course we forgot to bring our camera. (This picture is from June.) We took the 70-second elevator ride to the 500-foot level where we looked out from all 4 compass points to see the view of DC and beyond. How amazing! We could see everything--even our apartment! We see the Washington Monument every day from our balcony, so it was cool to see it the other way around! Did you know that it is the world's tallest free standing masonry building? The granite blocks are not held together with mortar, but rather with a little bit of caulking. Nice of them to tell us that on the way down instead of on the way up. On the ride down we got to see bits of the inside of the Monument. Memorial stones line the inside, donated and given from everywhere. It was fantastic! One day we want to take a tour up the stairs so we can see everything inside. Of course we will have to be in marathon condition to climb up 500-feet of steps. We plan on going back in a couple of weeks for another tour, and we will be sure to have our camera with us! (I'll post more pictures then.)