W is for Washington Monument

Here I am at the Washington Monument, not the "Washington Memorial," which some people inaccurately name.
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You can go to the top of the 555 ft 5 1/8 in tall monument by getting free tickets through the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/wamo/). If you are lucky you may even see Marine 1 land and take off at the White House.
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In this photo, you may notice that the Washington Monument has two different colors of sandstone. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848. However, due to political quarrels, lack of funds and other issues construction ceased in 1854 leaving the monument incompletely built at less than 150 ft tall. The Civil War had passed and more than two decades later President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill to complete the Washington Memorial project. The monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885 (remember George Washington's birthday is February 22). After work to the interior was finally completed the monument was opened to the public on October 9, 1888.

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This monument was the first stop on our "DC by Foot" tour (http://www.dcbyfoot.com/dcbyfoot.html). At the base of the monument, our guide told us the story of a Vietnam Vet who drove a vehicle (van or truck) up to the monument in protest to nuclear weapons and threatened to blow up the monument. I guess the guy's name was Norman Mayer. The incident took place in December 1982. Mayer was killed by sharpshooters posted in a building across the way from the monument. Our guide says that this is the longest confirmed sniper kill in US history. I don't know if that is true, but he did show us the bullet hole in the side of the monument about 8 to 10 feet from the ground. Mayer isn't that tall, but he would be if he were standing on his vehicle. It's quite an amazing story and there are lots of articles online. Articles about the incident say that US Park Police unintentionally shot Mayer. Word to the wise... don't mess with those National Park cops.

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The trip to the top is short, but well worth it. Be sure to get your tickets early. In the elevator ride you'll see the memorial stones(http://www.nps.gov/wamo/photosmultimedia/index.htm) inlaid within the wall of the monument.