Washington D.C. II

To save some time and I had already seen plenty of the Capitol, I took a cab to Washington Monument. Last year, I thought this was just a marble monument. Until recently a colleague told me that you can go to the top of the tallest (500 ft) stone structure in the world. Since more people are not aware that they can visit the inside of the monument it is quite easy to get a ticket. Near the street is a bookshop, where at the rear (!) side, a window is located where you can get free ticket to get access. Unlike to the Statue of Liberty, in the Washington monument an elevator takes you to the top.

The capstone of this monument which commemorates the first U.S. president, General George Washington, was set on December 6th, 1884. A difference in shading of the marble is visible approximately 150 feet up, where construction was halted for a number of years. The construction was halted because of the lack of funds and the Civil War.

From the top of the Washington Monument, you have an excellent view on the White House. On the left side of the picture you can see Obama’s basketball court (look for light green color) and the Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden. The vegetable garden has a 24/7 security guard. It would have been less expensive to go to WholeFood to buy some organic ingredients.


The overcast sky limited the options for a nice shot at the Vietnam memorial, but I got the most likely one.


My next stop before I would return to Houston was Arlington. The size of this cemetery is immense. I must have been quite an effort to align all the tombstone as can be seen in the picture below.