June 7th was the perfect day. Sunny and warm, with a cool breeze. I never make it down to the Mall on the weekends, but after this trip I realized I need to do it more often. It's gorgeous. There's sunshine, a beautiful, spacious landscape and everyone is happy.

As we walked closer to the Washington Monument, I realized it was the first time I've ever been so close to it. I've walked by many times, of course, but never before to the center, inside the circle of American flags. It was as American as apple pie.

See the two different colors? It's because the National Monument Society ran out of money in 1854, then twenty-five year later the U.S. Government took over the project and used a differed quarry. Want to learn more fun facts about the Washington monument? Here they are.

When you go up to the top of the Washington Monument you can see three National Monuments from a new perspective.

The Lincoln Memorial

The White House

The U.S. Capitol

We all loved it. And took lots of pictures!

Here's another view of the White House. Somewhere out there is our neighborhood, our home.

From inside the top, you can look out the windows in each direction--to the North, West, East and South. Since DC is divided into quadrants, here are the views of  NW, NE, SE, SW.

Northwest

The Potomac river, the Key Bridge, Georgetown University, & Baked and Wired.

Northeast

Noma, Brookland, DC Armory, H street & Toki Underground.

Southeast

My office building, National's Stadium, the Potomac river & the National Harbor (with the Capitol wheel I need to go on).

Southwest

The Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon, the Tidal Basin (home of the Cherry Blossoms) & Hains point.

Pointing to Hains point. I honestly didn't even know it existed... so now I want to go.

Here's the whole group! I was only allowed to reserve six tickets, and managed to get a great group of six together. A sister, a roommate, a sister's friend from SF, a friend/soul-roommate (took her spot in the apt.) and a friend's friend visiting from France.

And of course, while Stephanie was still taking cool pictures, aka enjoying the moment ...

... we were already instagramming the occasion.

Millennials. We love instagraming our cool activities, especially going up to the top of the Washington Monument.

Thank you, National Park Service for making it possible for us to enjoy our National Monuments! If you're interested in visiting the Washington Monument, check out the National Parks Service site!

Have you ever been to the top of the Washington Monument? What did you think?