This is my 3rd trip to DC and the 3rd time I have tried to go up the Washington Monument. I appreciate that almost everything in DC is free. But it's really annoying when you have to show up at o'dark-thirty to get your free tickets. I know....I shouldn't complain....it's free for heaven's sake. But I feel like us west coasters have a serious disadvantage. The WA Monument suggests you show up 1-2 hours before the ticket booth opens. It opens at 8:30....so they want us to show up between 6:30 and 7:30. That's 3:30AM-4:30AM PST. Eek. Needless to say, we still have not ventured up the WA monument....and we may never have the chance.
But that's ok. Because our awesome DC tour guide, Kelly, suggested we head up the Old Post Office Tower. Very short wait, and you actually get a view of the W.M.....best of both worlds.
It's actually a bell tower. And a clock tower I suppose
We learned a little about bell ringing - or change ringing as it's called. Here are the highlights:
1. Non-competitive
2. Non-violent (because that was my first concern)
3. Highly stimulating intellectually
4. Mildly demanding physically (phew)
5. It's kinda like yoga (I paraphrased this one(
This is an engineering marvel if I've ever seen one. Instead of a classy screen to show us the video about bell ringing, they've hung an old dell laptop using 2 mini eye bolts and some chain. I can appreciate the resourcefulness, but wonder if it was the best use for the laptop. In any case, it got my attention.
Views from the top.
And another.
This is from the inside.
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