{"id":700,"date":"2022-07-15T14:30:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T19:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whattoseeinwashingtondc.com\/?p=700"},"modified":"2022-07-15T14:30:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T19:30:31","slug":"a-trip-up-the-old-post-office-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whattoseeinwashingtondc.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/15\/a-trip-up-the-old-post-office-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trip Up the Old Post Office Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m not scared of heights. But that doesn’t mean they don’t make me a little uncomfortable. Which is why I was a little nervous to go up the 270-foot Old Post Office Tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my dad wanted to see it again, so up we went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reach the tower, you skirt around the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to a little back entrance tucked half into the ground that seems like the wrong place. But the sign printed on the door claims otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you even start your ascent, you go through a hallway talking about the history of DC and the tower itself. It’s been newly renovated, but there are still touches of the old left- such as the door labeled \u201cElevator Pit\u201d and the 1899 vault door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1899<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To reach the top of the tower, you have to take two elevators. I’m not scared of heights, but I don’t like elevators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first elevator is U-shaped with semi-transparent glass on one side to allow a glimpse of the ostentatious hotel dining room. After winding along a little back hallway, you reach a room with the ropes of the Congressional bells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact: The bells are still rung by hand every Thursday at 7 pm and on Federal holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you get a second elevator with a wonderful max capacity of 5 people. It’s utilitarian and tight. This is the part that made me most nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then the doors open and you’re in the tower. On all four sides are openings allowing you a view of DC spread out all around. In the center is a raised cast-iron platform for an even better vantage point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was the perfect kind of tower. Stone, a solid floor, and windows with ledges so you can’t see straight to the ground. Even my mom, who hates heights, would probably enjoy going up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each window has a sign underneath telling you what buildings you can see outside. My dad could name them all, and plenty that weren’t listed too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent a good fifteen minutes wandering from window to window, admiring the view and checking out the cool rooftop terraces all around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we took the two elevators back down to the ground and back into the city we’d been looking down at minutes before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Old Post Office Tower is run by the National Park Service, keeping it free and open daily from 9 am to 4 pm. You can also get a NPS stamp at the tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n