Fate Takes Us to the Newseum

Something very cool and unexpected happened to my son and me today. We decided to pay a visit to Washington, D.C. It was the first day of the Cherry Blossom Festival and it's always nice to look at pretty, pink flowers, right? (Yeah, right!) What we really wanted to do was ride the Tourmobile around the city and perhaps look at a monument or two. If you luck out you can get a really good tour guide who is both entertaining and educational.

Well, the trip didn't start out too well. We drove to the Vienna Metro station to catch the train, and the parking lot was completely full. There were also at least a dozen cars waiting to grab any spot that might come available, so we decided to keep driving toward the city and try a different station. Fortunately there were lots of spots at the West Falls Church station, so we parked and hopped the train.

We got off at Union Station, and no one could tell us where to buy tickets for the Tourmobile. The guy behind the Information desk suggested we just go outside, look for the tram stop and buy the tickets from the driver. Well, we finally did find the stop - and after 30 minutes - the tram still hadn't arrived. Pretty boring. Then, guess what! They don't take credit cards unless you buy your ticket from one of their ticket booths, which no one could tell me where it is!

We got frustrated and started walking toward the Capitol. My son was miffed and I was frustrated, but it must have been fated to happen because we got really lucky.

As we walked down the hill from the Capitol we found ourselves on Pennsylvania Avenue at the Canadian Embassy. Next door there was a lot of activity at something called the "Newsuem." A gentleman wearing a green windbreaker with this word printed on it approached us and invited us to a pre-opening visit to this new interactive museum devoted to the news media. He promised us we'd have a good time and that we'd come out "with a smile on our face!" How can you say "no" to that?

We went in and were totally wowed! It doesn't open officially until April 11th, so there were a few areas and exhibits that weren't quite ready, but all in all this is an amazing facility. You start with a short movie on the lower level and then take a glass elevator up to the sixth floor and work your way down.

The first thing we saw was an incredible collection of newspaper front pages going back hundreds of years. It's really cool to see the headlines of the major events of world history and we spent a lot of time in this area. The American Revolution - The Civil War - The Titanic - World War I - Rise of the Nazi Party - World War II - Korea - Kennedy Assassinations - Viet Nam - Moon Landing - 9/11 - all there, and much more! As you move down to lower levels you get to experience the birth and growth of broadcast media and how important this became to politics in the middle of the 20th century. There are some excellent exhibits on the First Amendment to the Constitution, and a moving tribute to journalists who have died in the pursuit of stories.

There are also some truly fun things to do at the Newseum. You get to stand before a news camera and read a story from a teleprompter. They give you a still photo of your appearance and you can download the video from their website. There's a 4-D movie theater (3-D glasses and a trip through time), which we did not get to visit, and several interactive displays that allow you to perform a lot of newsroom-type tasks. It's very up-to-day with lots of displays on digital media, blogs and video of news events recorded on cell phones.

Two very interesting exhibits are devoted to the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 attacks. There are several sections of the actual Wall on display as well as some twisted remains of the World Trade Center. One wall is covered with all of the world's newspaper headlines about the attack, and it's hard not to stand there and read each and every one.

The only criticism I have of the facility is its snack bar. For some reason they teamed with Wolfgang Puck so everything is extremely overpriced. Our lunch - which consisted only of a sandwich, a personal pizza, some chips and drinks came to $28! We were so hungry we didn't quibble, but I really think everything available was priced at twice what it should be.

So despite a rather frustrating start, our trip to D.C. turned out to be better than if we had ended up riding the silly Tourmobile! It's nice when things like this happen unexpectedly. I hope the Newseum does well. It's going to have to complete will all the national free museums in the area, but its offering is special and unique. Plus their decision to invite pre-opening visits like ours should work out well. I know I for one will be telling people it's an excellent new place to go.