LIFE IN MAY + AN AFTERNOON AT THE NEWSEUM <> WASHINGTON D.C.
In my last post, I mentioned the Newseum as one of the places to visit in Washington D.C. but I did not feel like I did the Newseum justice so here we are with a post dedicated to the Newseum and all the things I love about it.
Between the age of eight and fourteen, there was one thing I wanted to be more than anything else - a reporter. I would sit at the dinner table with my fake mic extended towards my mouth (I grew up in the 90s) with the copy of the latest times or newweek magazine opened before me pretending to report the news. Sometimes I played the part of the correspondence in the field. I loved the news and my love for new folks came second only to my love for Thierry Henry (again , remember I was 14ish) - Don't judge. All this to say, I really loved the news - purely reporting of happenings around the world - not the "share my personal opinion" fest that fills the air today. The days of Walter C and Dan R.
One of my fondest memories was watching the fall of the berlin wall with my dad - so when I heard about the Newseum in D.C - I had to visit. I am not sure how best to describe the Newseum except to say it is a museum of/about news as it should be reported and even if you were not a nerdy kid like me - you will still have a fantastic time here. I don't think my words will do this place justice but I will try - I hope the pictures tell a better story.
There are six levels dedicated to all things news and every inch of this place was awe inspiring and fantastic some of my favorite parts included the berlin wall gallery where I got to see sections of the actual wall on display ; the FBI Exhibit featuring some of the biggest cases of the last century. Also on display was the pen that Gorbachev used to sign his resignation. That was just the concourse level.
I absolutely loved the Pulizer prize photograph gallery displaying every winner of the Pulitzer price. This gallery seriously confirms the saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words" Without ready the scripts that go with the pictures - you can grasp everything that the photographers saw in the moment the images were captured.
On level 4 - THere so mnuch to see here - including the 9/11 gallery which takes you back to those moments - I still remember exactly where I was. There is a wall with headlines from just about every country the day after 9/11 - it was bone-chilling. Then off the side from that is the President Lincoln is dead gallery which was ridiculously informative for this history buff.
A few other favorites - A full wall display of the declaration of independece and a replica of the machine on which the original was printed (typed) - that's on Level 6. The News Corp. news history gallery on level 5 and the reporting Vietnam exhibits were fantastic.
Its so hard to narrow down favorites because every part of the Newseum was fantastic so stop in on as many as you can as you make your way up to the Greenspun Terrace on Level 6 which features spectacular views of the Capitol and Pennsylvania avenue. There is also a gallery of Today front pages on the terrace and it features the front page of just about every newspaper in the country on daily basis.
Oh - How could I forget ? You know how I love quotes? Well they got several lining the hallways and I snapped away camera in one hand, phone on the other - over all I took over 200 pictures so it was hard to narrow down the ones to include in this post.
Besides the permanent galleries there are some temporary ones including the boomer list which was on display at the time I visited.
The Newseum is opened daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Tickets cost $25, but there are a few discount opportunities (click here). I loved every moment of my Newseum visit and I cannot wait to get back to D.C. to explore it some more.