Being Touristy - The Washington Monument

Since I moved to DC, I haven't really done many touristy things. I work, grocery shop, occasionally go out to restaurants and bars, but I haven't done many museums, monuments, anything like that. Sunday, however, I went up inside the Washington Monument.

With my roommate Kate (left) and my sorority sister Jessica (right)

One of my sorority sisters and a friend of hers visited me and my roommate for the weekend, and as a thank you for letting them crash in our apartment, they got us tickets to go inside the Washington Monument.

There are two ways to get tickets. You can book in advance online. These tickets, however, sell out VERY early. When I checked today, the earliest available tickets were for Monday, June 20. When you book online, you also have to pay a $1.50 service charge for each ticket.

The second option is to get same-day tickets. These are free, but you have to get out of bed early to get them. You get the tickets at the Washington Monument Lodge, a little building just outside the monument, located along 15th Street. The Lodge opens at 8:30 a.m., but lines start to form as early as 7:00 a.m. One person can get as many as six tickets and reserve them at any time tours are available that day. Tours run from 9:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. (or to 9:45 p.m. from May 31 - Sept. 6).

My friends woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get to the Monument and were able to get us 6 tickets for a 1:00 p.m. tour that day. We arrived at the Monument just before 1 and waited in a line that had already formed. Security guards take small groups, maybe of about 10, into a security checkpoint, and then into the Monument. Once inside, you go through a hallway to an elevator, which takes you to the top of the Monument. Warning: you're ears might pop! The viewing area is small and sparse, not decorated at all. You can look out of 8 small, dirty  windows, 2 on each of the Monument's 4 sides. Maps above the viewing area and below the window tell you what you're looking at. It's a great view of DC! You can really see everything. The biggest disappointment for me, though, was the reflecting pool. It was drained and looked disgusting. The view is worth the free ticket though. Here are my pictures of each of the views:

North view: The White House

East view: The Capitol

South view: The Jefferson Memorial

West view: WWII Memorial, non-reflecting non-pool, Lincoln Memorial

Historical display

You're allowed to stay up in the top of the Monument as long as you'd like. When you're done, you walk down one flight of stairs to the floor below the viewing area. There are little displays, telling you the history of the Monument and George Washington.

New York keystone

When you're done here, you take an elevator back to the bottom of the Monument. On the 2 and a half minute ride down, a park ranger slows the elevator at certain points and unfogs the elevator windows to show you specially designed keystones in the Monument. There are different stones for the states. New York has the biggest and fanciest one.

Overall, I'd recommend going. It's free, quick and offers great views and since it's such an important monument, is just something cool to say you've done. The best part, for me at least, was being outside the Monument on the ground. It's giant, completely towers over the mall. And with the openness of the mall, just looks very cool. Definitely something to at least see while you're in DC.

FYI - it's closed on Christmas and the 4th of July.