Have You Ever Had Donuts at The Pentagon?

we made it to Washington, DC and the weather is excellent! i drove from Richmond, VA until about 3 miles outside of DC because it’s important to know our strengths and weaknesses. my weakness is completely losing my mind when driving in new, busy, downtown areas so i gladly passed the reins to my husband who someone remains much calmer when people are attempting to side swipe you every other minute.

we are here for 2 events (some tickets are still left for tomorrow’s workshop in DC…click here to sign up) and they are put on by District 36 Toastmasters and District 27 Toastmasters. we had a marvelous time here for D27’s conference in May that we couldn’t wait to get back out here.

we received an amazing offer to get a private tour of…..THE PENTAGON! i was sad when i saw all the signs that said “no photography” but i understood the reason for this so you will have to use your own imagination because i was not about to be tackled for some photos!

thank you to ralph for setting this up and thank you to cassie and michelle for taking us around and showing us all the interesting things! this was the only area inside the pentagon that you could snap a photo so you better believe i took like 27.

before the tour got started-you have to show TWO forms of identification (driver’s license AND passport-this is very important or you cannot get in), going through metal detectors and getting your hands swabbed for traces of bomb ingredients THEN you get into the visitor center.

after this, you find your official escorts and you hug them because they are great ladies (at least this was our case), then they check your ID’s again, have you enter your social security number, take your picture and print you off an official “visitor pass” badge that they won’t let you keep (i tried. remember…i’m a hoarder).

after our identity was confirmed, we set out on the tour and our first stop was seeing the “sorry honey, i’m working late area” which contained a flower store, fancy chocolate shop and a jewelry store! i told my husband how fun it would be if i got a pentagon souvenir in the form of a diamond necklace…he didn’t buy it (figuratively or literally). they also have a best buy, over 20 restaurants and a post office. it is absolutely a city within itself.

the place is huge and consists of 5 rings which equal 17.5 miles (we probably only walked about 1.5 miles). there are 5 floors above ground and 2 below ground (we stayed only above ground). they have done an incredible job paying tribute to all of the branches of military, lives lost and honoring those who serve our country. it was incredibly moving and powerful.

they also gave me a little fact sheet (i absolutely love fun facts about buildings/cities/everything) and here are my favorites:

• construction started on september 11, 1941 and was completed 16 months later
• 14,000 construction workers built the pentagon and people were working 24/7. literally.
• this is the world’s largest low rise office building consisting of 6,500,00 square feet (3,700,000 are used as offices)
• 25,000 employees-47% military and 53% civilians
• 16,250 light fixtures throughout the pentagon with 250 lamp replacements a day
• 284 restrooms and 691 drinking fountains
• each side of the building is 921 feet long
• 12,000 cups of coffee sold per day by dunkin’ donuts and starbucks
• 1,700 pints of milk used per day
• busiest subway in america- selling over 6,000 footlongs a day
• the pentagon has 6 zip codes

naturally, after i discovered that they had a donut place- i politely hinted to our tour guides that i would need to get a donut so i could add it to my list of interesting that i’ve done and more importantly so i could have another answer for the “2 truths and a lie” game. i can also say that i’ve never before eaten a donut seated next to someone holding a machine gun-that could have been the partial reason for my indigestion later on. it was basically everything i imagined but i was bummed my receipt didn’t say “pentagon dunkin donuts.”

we spent about 1.5 hours on site, walked up and down many of the hallways including the POW/MIA display, MacArthur corridor, 9-11 Memorial and the center courtyard. one could spend days going up and down all the hallways that are done tastefully and make you damn proud to be an american.

if you are interested in taking a tour for yourself and don’t have any buddies on the inside…check out their website and sign up at https://pentagontours.osd.mil/ 

and make sure you get a photo pretending to the the chief(s) of staff!

 the new wifestyle: you never know what opportunities may present themselves so take full advantage!

questions:
1) what or where is a cool thing you’ve done that not a ton of people have had the opportunity to do?
2) do you have any family in or are you in the military?
3) any rumors or theories you’ve heard about the pentagon or DC? (i’ve heard there’s a tunnel that connects the pentagon to the white house….dun dun duuuun)