I've never enjoyed games of word association because the first thing that pops into my head usually has nothing to do with the word with which I am supposed to be associating. Nonetheless, when someone mentions Washington, D.C., most people will immediately think of the White House. As one of the oldest monuments in the area, and one of the most well-known monuments in the world, it's hard not to think of the famous white building when picturing the D.C. cityscape.

If you’ve been to D.C. lately, I’m sure you’re familiar with another, newer “monument” as well: food trucks. Food trucks line the streets of busy areas, selling fresh, homemade food right off the street. While they might not be monuments in the conventional sense of the word, they have become such an integral and stable feature of Washington that it is difficult to define them as anything else.

Quite conveniently, over the past two days, I have gotten the chance to explore both.

While my East Wing tour last week was amazing, last night’s tour through the West Wing was even better. My internship site organized the tour for the four interns here. Unfortunately, we didn’t run into any high-level politicians, but just being in the intimate quarters where the most major decisions in our country are made was such a cool experience. We got to see the War Room, the Oval Office, the Rose Garden, a quick glimpse of the Situation Room, the Waiting Room, and a long list of other Very Important Rooms with names I can’t remember. It definitely reinvigorated my childhood dream of becoming president, and while I don’t think that’s actually going to happen, it was unbelievable to walk through the same hallways of our presidents.

This afternoon, I got to experience the other end of the monument spectrum. I work in the Farragut North area, which attracts a number of food trucks. Today’s lineup included a pizza truck, a cupcake truck, a Mediterranean truck, and a burger truck. I opted for a gyro from the Mediterranean truck and a cookies and cream cupcake. Trust me, if I had served you the food on a nice plate and a tablecloth, you could have sworn you were in a fancy restaurant. I was shocked that such great food was coming from a truck parked on the side of a street, but I am now a full supporter of the addition of food trucks as a D.C. monument.

Whether White House or food truck, museum or restaurant, I’m slowly working my way through my list of D.C. monuments, which seems to be growing at a much quicker pace than I am able to complete. Quite honestly though, I'm perfectly okay with that.