Day 5 of Washington Trip: Wednesday

Got to sleep until 6:30 this morning! Yea! Got ready and walked the ½ mile to the bus stop for the X2 bus. Took it to H and 7th Streets. Went into Starbucks and got a drink and something to eat. Walked a couple of blocks and saw a park with benches so we sat down to enjoy our breakfast. After we ate, I looked at the map and realized we had walked the wrong way on 7th Street! So we reversed course. We were in Chinatown and there are all sorts of restaurants, stores, and theatres. Mom even saw an Irish Pub with the name in Chinese underneath! LOL The Hooters restaurant also had the name written in Chinese. I did not know that the Chinese had that word in their vocabulary! LOL

We got to the Crime & Punishment Museum a little after 10. Even though our tickets were for 11, they let us right in, no waiting. There was no one ahead of us! They told us we could take pictures, just without flash. It was a very neat place… and another overload of information. It started with medieval forms of punishment and moved to the Salem Witch trials to the Old West outlaws such as Doc Holliday and Jesse James to the 1930’s Capone era to modern day criminals such as Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Unabomber. There was also a section with unsolved cases. And a “fake” crime scene where you follow the evidence right through a CSI lab, complete with the body lying on the autopsy table!! There were lots of interactive things throughout the museum.

We were very fortunate that only one VERY large school group came through soon after we entered the museum. They went on past us and then we had the place almost to ourselves! It was great! Lastly, we went down to the studio where they tape America’s Most Wanted. Alas, just my luck, John Walsh was not in town and they were not taping today. But it was neat to see the studio… it looks SO much smaller in person.

As you leave the exhibit area, they snap your picture and put it up on a screen with a bunch of other mug shots! Funny stuff!

Of course, we visited the gift shop… I got a pair of handcuff earrings… just like Beth Chapman’s… LOL.

It was 1:30 before we left there… so we found a McDonald’s and ate some lunch. Then we walked to the Ford’s Theatre. It was an absolute zoo there! Kids and people EVERYWHERE. There were 4-5 buses on this one block at all times. We were there early and they wouldn’t let us in until our appointment time at 3. Then they told us that we couldn’t be in line in the lobby – we had to be in line outside. That was fine until it was time to go in and they took the line in the lobby first! To have so many tourists, many of these places are not very organized! Anyway, we finally went in and were seated in the theatre. There was the box were Lincoln was shot… decorated as it was that very night. A park ranger came out and told us the history of the theatre and the story of that night in April 1865. Our ticket to the theatre was supposed to include the Peterson House, which was the boarding house across the street where Lincoln died. Well, the line to get in there was forever long… Mom and I looked at each other and said, “That’s just the room where he died – let’s go!” We stopped in a souvenir shop, bought some more stuff, and caught the D6 bus. We were so tired and sore by then…. Riding on the bus sounded like heaven – at least we’d be sitting down. Thank goodness we didn’t have to wait long.

We had started talking with a really nice lady at the bus stop. So once the crowd thinned out on the bus, we moved and sat next to her and was continuing our conversation. Another lady on a cell phone was on the other side of the lady. To my left was a lady with a cane. Across from us was this man who had a backpack, two other bags, a couple of coats, headphones, etc. Pretty sure he was homeless. Well, he was talking constantly. People thought for awhile that he was talking to the lady next to me. I actually wondered at first if he was practicing something he was listening to on his headphones. But it turned out that he was just crazy. Which became apparent to everyone once another man boarded the bus and was standing up front… with one foot over the yellow line. Well, all of a sudden crazy man jumped up, yelling and complaining, went to the front and was telling the driver that he needed to make that man move back behind the yellow line because it could cause the driver to wreck. And he wanted to be safe on this bus! That was bad enough, but then the man standing in front that crazy guy was talking about started arguing with him. Back and forth. The women around us and the bus driver started telling him to let it go – it wasn’t worth it. The woman next to me even stuck her cane in between them a couple of times! But being a man, he just wouldn’t give it up. I just knew they were going to come to blows at any moment and all of us would be in the path. This went on for a couple of blocks and then finally crazy man got even more mad and grabbed up all his stuff and wanted off the bus. Standing man told him not until a bus stop and wouldn’t let him by. People were begging him to let the crazy guy off. We finally came to a bus stop and standing man still had to be difficult and not let crazy man by until we had come to a complete stop. Insane! But crazy guy did get off, stood there facing the bus, threw down his bags, ripped off his jacket, put his hands on his hips and glared! Everyone laughed. The women around us swore this was normally a calm and quiet bus! As we got to the end of the line, the lady with the cane, the lady from the bus stop, Mom and me were all who were left on the bus. We were all laughing and talking about what happened with the driver. He was so enjoying it. He said we were his best trip of the day!

We transferred to the B2 bus (which luckily lets us off only 3 blocks from the condo) and got back here about 4:30. We haven’t done much since then. Ordered a pizza and now we’re watching POTC: Dead Man’s Chest… my favorite of the trilogy.

We’re headed to Arlington National Cemetery in the morning. And we’re driving there!