Day 209 - Our Monument

It's a cliche. We all have cool things in our town that we never visit. They're for tourists, not locals.

I dragged the kids one such icon of our fair city... The Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Built in 1889, it sits at the geographic center of the city, and the state.
My mom took me in it when I was 10. It was snowing.  The elevator was broken. She was pregnant with my brother. We went home.

Today, my kids and I climbed the stairs.

I think this sign is supposed to be a pro-elevator marketing piece.

They were not thrilled with the idea. You can imagine.

But, I can't imagine that 30 years from now when they bring their kids to the circle and look up at the monument, they'd remember the ride up in the elevator.

331 steps. The higher you get, the hotter it gets. And steeper. And more narrow. And, if you were listening to my kids, it gets stupider.

We made it with a medium portion of complaining.

The observation deck is small, but the view is spectacular.

The Circle from above.

The State Capital.

An elegant roof-deck for, what must be, some kick-ass parties.

Having burned what must have surely been thousands of calories on the climb up, and down, we went to the mall for a well deserved treat. The kids buried their faces in Cinnabons. I found something better...

Cookie on a brownie.

Pure genius.

I highly recommend the monument. I also recommend visiting your own town as if you were a tourist. You'll be pleasantly surprised, and maybe just a touch less cynical about the place.

But you don't get to log stairs as miles.

Good running,

Doug

Numbers: 1.4 miles, grass and trails. Achilles is not 100%.