Best museum in DC … ever.

I’ve been to a lot of the museums in DC, as my grandparents used to live in NOVA (Northern Virginia for those who don’t know) when I was young. I’ve been to the Air and Space Museum way too many times and with the exception of July 16, the 40th anniversary of when we landed on the moon, I have absolutely no intention of setting foot in it and many other Smithsonian museums for the duration of my stay here in DC. Therefore, I’m always on the lookout for places I haven’t been to, more off the map kind of places.

And while the Newseum isn’t off the map, it’s not a Smithsonian, which qualifies it as being more off the map. Plus, it used to be in Rosslyn and only recently moved to its new home on Pennsylvania Avenue with one of the most unobstructed views of the Capitol in the District.

The Newseum has some incredible artifacts in it. It has an original Gutenberg Bible, the door the Watergate criminals taped over to get into the building, headlines from the world’s most important events from various newspapers, a bullet-hole ridden truck that once carried journalists during the wars in the Balkans in the early 90s, and the telecommunications antenna that was once at the top of the north tower of the World Trade Center. All in all, it’s an incredible museum, especially for a history buff like myself.

Something else really cool about the Newseum is that they always have really cool speakers in the museum. Whether in the studio for NPR that is housed in the Newseum, or giving a speech in the basement, the museum has gotten some really great speakers (George Clooney once gave an NPR interview there).

I had the opportunity to meet Richard Wolffe, NBC contributor, who was signing copies of his new book, “Renegade” which is a compilation of his various interviews with the Barack Obama the candidate and Barack Obama the President. I told him I was a summer intern and he seemed very excited about that, saying that it’s a great place to be in the summer and that I could learn a lot. All in all, a really nice guy.

Also something to note: the PRIDE Festival was happening below the Newseum, and I went with a group of Middle Eastern political cartoonists (by the way, did I mention that I get to go to stuff with visitors because of my job? It's awesome). It was interesting to tell their interpreter what was going on and then to subsequently get their reaction.