Museum Day!

We got a late start today after our marathon yesterday, but still managed to squeeze in three museums.

We started at the Newseum...or museum of news. It was absolutely amazing. It is the only museum that changes an exhibit every day! That, of course, is their exhibit of front pages. They receive thousands of submissions every morning of digital front pages. They have to narrow them down to several hundred which are then printed and pined up on displays on the sidewalk as well as in the museum. There are front pages from every state in the union as well as many foreign countries. It was very interesting. One exhibit had rows and rows of newspapers from the first printing press up through today with historic headlines such as Jesse James, the

sinking of the Titanic, the assination of JFK, and so many more. It was a newspaper timeline of the history of our country. Other amazing exhibits included a huge piece of the Berlin Wall and a entire guard tower, a mangled news antenna from the top of the Twin Towers framed by front pages from 9-11, history of news coverage from many wars, a photo wall of all the journalists across the world who have lost their lives doing their job, a 4-D movie experience about some famous historical journalists including Nellie Bly and Edward R. Murrow, lots of interactive news screens, and lots, lots more. We could have spent the entire day there.

Next, we took in the National Archives. This was so incredible. We got to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of

Rights. I use to teach about these documents, so it was very special to actually see them in person. The National Archives has many other exhibits as well, all about famous documents and how they have impacted our world, as well as the preservation of these documents. The digital age has brought new challenges to the world of document preservation.

We finished up the day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. It is amazing how many planes of all types and space vehicles have been fit into this building. The story of flight right up through the

modern age of space exploration is illustrated with historical and current vehicles.

Our treat for the evening was dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. The grill is the longest established restaurant in Washington D.C., being founded in 1856 as a boarding house and saloon. The meal was fantastic!

Tomorrow is our last full day in DC as we leave Friday morning for Gettysburg and then on to my cousin's place outside Philadelphia.

We're trying to prioritize what we want to see before we go...there is still so much.

Thanks for reading, and good night!
Will & Rich