Sunday, November 15, 2010, 67F, Sunny
We left Arlington by car and drove through Georgetown to Newseum, which we wanted to see more of. Georgetown was a thriving port town in Maryland and it was absorbed into the District of Columbia in 1871. In the 1950's it became a more affluent area after John F. Kennedy moved there. The streets were narrow and the houses old - a very nice area.
We found a parking place close to the Newseum as it was Sunday. At the top of the building there is a terrace looking out over Pennsylvania Avenue with many panels describing important events that had happened on Pennsylvania Avenue. President Jimmy Carter was the first president to walk to the White House from the Capitol after the swearing in. Other presidents have walked but not all the way. I took pictures of the different panels that I will include. Just click on them.
Inside there was a display of Sunday newspapers from many states and countries -including the San Francisco Chronicle and Dagens Nyheter. The chase of John Wilkes Booth - the man who shot President Lincoln - was described. There were video displays of important news events like Watergate, women's fight for equality, 400,000people at Woodstock, etc. There were newspapers from 1503 to present day. You could spend years looking at all this. Jalil was very interested. The Berlin wall
(1961-1989) was described. The East German side had no graffiti and the West German side was full of graffiti. A watch tower had been sent to the museum from Berlin with pieces from the wall. There were stories of successful escapes and unsuccessful attempts.
Inside the restrooms there were tiles in the walls with headlines from papers that do not say what they mean.
The cafeteria offered a most delicious lunch - coconut chicken soup, salad bar with fresh berries, chili - at 70 cents/ounce.
By this time it was 2.30 PM and we rushed to the car to drive to Fredricksburg, Virginia. We found the Visitor Center just before closing and picked up some literature about the area. The main street Caroline Street was full of people, the stores were open, lots of Christmas decorations and music. We parked on a side street and walked around. I spent some time talking to Ulla who called. Jalil checked a few antique stores in the meantime but he did not buy anything. We stopped for coffee - at 5PM the line was still long. I asked a woman what was gong on. She said that it is always busy on a weekend, the weather was warm and it was close to the holidays. She was a toll collector and came here because she loved the town. It was a lovely town. Moe called to report that he was getting better.
We stopped for gas and I noticed big blotches on the windshield. First I thought it was green/yellow leaves. Jalil spent quite some time to clean it off. Was it bird droppings or what? It was grainy. Jalil had to drive back to check the parking spot for clues. There was no spots on the street but it was all over the hood and some on the roof. We had to find a car wash NOW! Jalil does not belong to the car washing people but now it had to be done immediately! And we found one after asking in two places. We had to use a lot of quarters but the car got soaped and rinsed. Then we got a room at Motel6 and I asked the clerk if he knew what it could be. He had never heard of anything like it. We still do not know what it was.
We called Steven's family and all four of them wanted to talk to us. Steven and Laura made us promise not to rush home for Dylan's birthday or Christmas. It is wonderful how supportive they are.
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