Via Craigslist

President Obama will be inaugurated into his second term in 39 days. With January 21, 2013 rapidly approaching, hotels, restaurants and other merchants across the D.C. area are grabbing at the opportunity to raise their rates for this quadrennial celebration of patriotism. And sometimes, they go too far. “Ridiculous Inauguration Deal of the Day” will examine the most ludicrous offerings we can find.

As if yesterday’s three-bedroom penthouse in Mount Vernon Square wasn’t soaking potential inauguration visitors enough at $6,500 a night, a group of Dupont Circle residents might have a stake on the most ostentatious listing for next month’s festivities.

On Craigslist, we found a three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment available between January 18 and 22 going for a stroke-inducing $55,000. Yeah, it’s in a popular neighborhood and the apartment is hooked up with amenities like heating, cable, wireless internet, paper towels—wait a second, this isn’t fancy at all. At least those Mount Vernon gougers had the NBA package and a rooftop pool. For $55,000, we expect some excessive gilding.

OK, maybe someone made a typo.