Today we toured the Washington Monument.

555 feet tall

The entry (which we can't photograph inside) is armored, like walking into a bank vault.

Getting out of the elevator, we are facing East, and 500 feet up.

I went right to work documenting everything.

To the East is the Capitol.

This is Bill taking the picture of the Capitol.

Hi Bill!

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is northeast.

Shadow of the Washington Monument, like a big sundial, telling us it is 1:30pm.

Here is the Old Post Office Pavillion.

Facing North we see the White House.

White House up close.

OEB (Old Executive Office Building)

Here is a diagram of the north view. Above it you can see one of the lights used to keep aircraft away.

Looking up to the tippy top.

To the West is the Lincoln Memorial...

... and the World War II Memorial.

South is the Jefferson Memorial.

Jefferson Memorial

Time for a camera lesson. On the left is Bill's iPhone 11 from 2019. On the right is my Canon 300HS camera from 2011. I guess it's time for me to admit, the iPhone camera is better.

Or is it? The Canon has an optical zoom, so distant images are a bit clearer.

I thought it was strange that many of the interior stone parts were behind glass.

A nub in the wall on the way down one flight of stairs to get back on the elevator.

The Washington Monument gets hit by lightning often, obviously.

There is a little crown on top that are the actual lightning rods. Notice how small the spikes are from a retired crown in front.

The elevator has opaque window panels, and you can see the building pass behind them.

On the way down, the elevator slows and some panels become clear so you can see some of the commemorative blocks from cities, states and countries.

Here is a big panel from the City of Baltimore.

More commemorative panels

Flags around the monument. It was a very windy day.

This is the Old Ebbitt Grill, because I like the nutcrackers.