field trip

radio and tv museum-Bowie,MD

Nipper the Dog and Keli

In March 2011, Carrie and I traveled to Bowie, MD. Which is about forty-five minutes from Alexandria,VA. Our destination: The Radio Television Museum. I do love listening to the radio..and I have to admit there are some shows I don't like to miss..but what I like more than those to things is going to random tourist attractions and visiting different places, trying new restaurants..and of course getting a magnet ( which this place did not have) :(
I met Carrie in Alexandria and we headed up to Bowie. When we got to the museum we were put in a tour with a couple I think they were a couple? who mentioned several times "how old they were" and seemed to remember stuff from when my PARENTS were little but looked to be about my age.. I am still super confused about that..
We started out in the first room where we learned that the earliest form of "radio" was a telegraph and how on the Titanic they sent out SOS... I said oh I thought they said CQD...then the tour guide thought I was super smart...when in reality I just have the movie Titanic memorized...turns out the other lady on the tour loves that movie too..and also has it memorized...
We progressed along with radio history and saw and learned all sorts of interesting radio trivia..like did you know that all the stations out here have names that begin with a W? think about it WIHT (Hot 99.5) WMZQ (98.7 Country).. and then I forget where the dividing line is maybe the Mississipi River all the stations start with K like KKEX (Kix Country) or KVFX (94.5VFX)...I remember there was this one station in Provo,broadcast out of Salt Lake that just PROCLAIMED "Utah's FAVORITE MUSIC IS COUNTRY!!!" which statistically it PROBABLY is... BUT wow what a proclamation..now I could go on a tangent about Utah and radio stations BUT BACK TO THE MUSEUM!!!!!
We also learned that the dog you see me with above is named Nipper. They said they had little Nippers for sale in the "gift shop"I kind of wanted to buy one to put on my bookcase until I realized that they were little antique Nippers that cost like 20$...I really like the fact that people used to gather around their radio to hear programs. It just makes me feel so nostalgic!! We then started learning about TV and saw lots of TVs. We went into a room where there were different things that we could make radio sound effects with, a mom that had joined our tour with two young elementary school kids really enjoyed that part..I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THE HORSE SOUNDS with the coconuts!!! We liked our tour, our tour guide was nice and knowledgeable. I think that kids would enjoy this place. I also think it would be cool to listen to some old shows on the radio for a party or just with a friend or something. Maybe I will tomorrow with the kids I am watching this week. The "gift shop" was just a few random things that IDK who does or would buy and no magnets. I am so grateful for my friendship with Carrie and her willingness and desire to go places with me. THANK YOU CARRIE!!! here is the website for you to check it out http://radiohistory.org/