This past week, I was able to travel to Washington, D.C. and I absolutely loved visiting all the national monuments around the city.

The last time I traveled to Washington, D.C. I was only 14 years old. SO, I didn't have as much appreciation for what I saw. This time around, I was hit with such a feeling of patriotism in addition to admiration for the founders and leaders of our country. Especially traveling there so close to Independence Day!

I want to share with you guys a few highlights and thoughts about a handful of the monuments/memorials I visited while in Washington, D.C. paired with some images I shot with my Canon Rebel T5 and my Tamron 24-70 f2.8 lens.

1. Jefferson Monument

I went inside this monument the last time I visited DC, and I loved seeing the full sized statue of Jefferson standing in the center of the domed building. This time, I admired the monument from afar, and I was able to get such an awesome photo of it! This was just before sunset, and this time of day provided me with such a cool sky. The fact that you can look across this body of water and see this monument peacefully resting on the water's edge is so beautiful to me.

2. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

I had never been to (or heard of) this memorial until this past week, and I found it to be such an insightful one. This memorial encompassed huge, beautiful stones. At first, I thought that's all it was, until I found this face of Martin Luther King Jr. carved into the side of one of these large stones. On the side of the stone, the following words were present:

OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR, A STONE OF HOPE

3. Eisenhower Executive Building

This building is not a memorial or monument, but I thought the architecture was equally as magnificent, and should be shared. This office building is located right next door to the White House, and we would walk past it everyday from our Hotel to our destinations. This is where lots of our government workers go to work each day, and there is always heavy security out front. Unlike the other monuments and memorials above, this is not open to the public.

4. Washington Monument

The Washington monument is an iconic piece of architecture in Washington DC. Many people think that this monument is just there for exterior looks, but in reality, you can go inside this monument if you plan ahead! Take a look at the Nation Park Service's website and you can see just how to do that. If you're lucky, you can go to the very top of the monument and have the best view in the city!

Here is their website: https://www.nps.gov/wamo/faqs.htm

5. United States Capitol

This was probably my favorite building in all of DC. This building is SO HUGE and the details are so intricate and beautiful. The windows, coloring, everything about it just makes me proud to be an American. You won't want to visit Washington, DC without seeing this building.

6. White House

The first day we were in DC, we were on our way to a museum and accidentally stumbled upon the White House! I cannot tell you how funny of a memory that moment was because none of the women I was with actually believed it was the White House! They all thought it was too small to be the White House, and it took a security guard out front laughing at us and telling us that it is, indeed, the White House before they believed it!

We were lucky enough to get tickets to tour the inside of the White House (this took lots of pre-planning and reservations) but it was such a cool experience to be able to be walking the floors that so many influential people have walked before us. I would highly suggest touring the White House if at all possible.

---

The awesome thing about Washington, D.C. is that THERE IS MORE.

This only scratches the surface of all the amazing buildings and architecture you can find in this historical city. One of my favorite memorials, The Lincoln Memorial, is not pictured here (really bad lighting when we went) but also is a must-see.

The next time you are planning a trip to the East Coast, take a detour to Washington, D.C. to take a look at all the sights they have to see.

---

Xoxo,
Sarah

If you'd like to check out more of my work, visit my Steemit profile at @sarahjanele or visit my website at https://www.sarahjanele.com

Follow along for more photography, tips, tricks, travel, and more!