National Cathedral Observatory Views

Since I had to find images of all things “religion” for the 52Frames photo challenge this week, we found ourselves at the Washington National Cathedral to see what we could find. We have driven by this place many times since we moved to DC seventeen years ago. We stopped by for the flower show and visited the Bishop’s gardens. And we went inside with some visitors from the Midwest who had this tour on their wish list. We would oftentimes pass by it on our way to a favorite restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue that unfortunately closed during the pandemic. So we parked down the street from the cathedral and took our morning walk here rather than in our neighborhood or the National Mall. After circling the premises we decided to go in so we bought tickets - ten dollars each! Included in the fare is a trip up to the seventh floor observatory. We had never been there before so it would be something interesting to do. There was a conference room, but also a corridor that circled around the entire section of the building. The hallways had arched ceilings and looked like a mini version of the church below. From there we could see the city from this height on all sides. The gothic building rooftops and spires were intriguing- especially because it was a bit cloudy and damp. We saw the picnickers who were sitting in front of the main entrance. There is still a lot of scaffolding up since the earthquake repairs are still ongoing. The bishops gardens looked tiny from above. But the most interesting view was of DC. There you could easily see the landmarks - Capitol building, Washington monument, Frederick Douglass bridge, the Jefferson memorial. And of course the neighboring buildings and homes were clearly seen as well. It felt sort of claustrophobic so I was happy to reach ground level again. It was a good visit.