Rajeev's World: A Tribute To The Founding Father...

With my body clock still on Asian time, I was up pretty early, before daybreak, and I had a few (8+) hours to kill before my meetings begin. I decided to head to the Washington Monument at 7 AM...

Daybreak over DC...

There still seem to be sentiments that non-whites are discriminated against, as this poster suggests...

Waiting for my train at NoMa station...

The trains in DC are hardly impressive. I found them dingy and grimy with obvious signs of wear and tear. It seems the Unites States has stopped investing in its own infrastructure...

A street in the central DC...

What a powerful statement...

A view of the Capitol - she does look impressive...

Getting to the Washington Monument...

The Washington Monument is shaped like an obelisk and was built to commemorate George Washington, the founding president of the union. The monument is made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss...

The monument is both the world's tallest free-standing stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk. It is nearly 169.046 metres tall. It is also considered as the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances...

Construction of the monument began in 1848, but was halted from 1854 to 1877 due to a lack of funds, a struggle for control over the Washington National Monument Society and the American Civil War. Although the stone structure was completed in 1884, internal ironwork, the knoll, and other finishing touches were not completed until 1888...

Plane Spotting time from the Washington Monument, as this Southwest Boeing 737 makes its approach into DCA, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport...

A difference in shading of the marble is visible in the photo above, at a height of approximately 46 metres. This shows where construction was halted and later resumed with marble from a different source...

The monument was designed by Robert Mills, but he did not include his proposed colonnade due to a lack of funds, proceeding only with a bare obelisk. Despite many proposals to embellish the obelisk, only its original flat top was altered to a pointed marble pyramidion, in 1884...

The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848. The first stone was laid atop the unfinished stump on August 7, 1880 and the capstone was set on December 6, 1884. The completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885 and officially opened on October 9, 1888...

Upon its completion, the monument became the world's tallest structure, a title previously held by the Cologne Cathedral. The monument held this designation until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris...

A Delta Bombardier CRJ-900 on its approach into DCA...

Fifty American flags (not state flags), representing each state of the union, are flown 24 hours a day around a large circle centered on the monument...