Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Those Going to D.C. Don't Have as Many Sightseeing Options as They Used to

Aired November 06, 2001 - 06:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: As long as we're on the subject of travel, apparently those going to Washington, D.C. don't have as many sightseeing options these days as they used to.

Sheilah Kast now, telling us about more doors that were once open, are now closed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILAH KAST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The newest tourist spot in the Washington, D.C. area is next to a highway on a hill dotted with makeshift memorials.

CORI FEIST, TOURIST: We just wanted to see history in the making. We just wanted to see what it really looked like instead of just in the news and the newspapers, and to pay our respects.

EMILY PARKHURST, TOURIST: It seems so exposed and open, kind of just gaping rooms.

KAST: In the aftermath of the September 11 attack on the Pentagon, visitors to the nation's capitol have lost some of the high- profile attractions that used to draw them here. Tours of the White House, the Capitol Building, the FBI and the Mint all suspended.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we have mentioned, the navigation had to be perfect.

KAST: Museums and nearly all of the memorials are open, but they've lost many of the tourists who used to fill their halls, especially hordes of schoolchildren on class trips, mostly absent this fall.

JOHN DAILY, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: We probably are running anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of what we would normally have this time of year.

TERI MCLEAN, TOURIST: We're taking advantage of the, you know, less traffic and, you know, it's been nice. It's really easy to get in and out.

KAST: The Smithsonian receives most of its budget from the federal government, but George Washington's Mount Vernon, a private foundation, covers 85 percent of its costs from tickets and other sales to tourists. Fewer people could mean economic catastrophe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see, Washington's teeth are clearly not wooden.

KAST: So in an effort to attract visitors, the curators at Washington's historic home decided to make history, displaying his dentures for the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Washington's dentures are not made of wood, but rather of human teeth and modeled teeth carved from cow teeth and elephant ivory.

KAST: A spring hinge pressed the lead base against the first president's gums to hold the quarter-pound appliance in place, a plausible explanation for the grumpy look in the Gilbert Stuart portrait, the basis for the image on the dollar bill.

JAME REES, GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOUNT VERNON: Well, we took the dentures on a road trip around the country. We were just amazed at how they attracted the most attention -- more attention than any other item in the show.

KAST: And attention is what Mount Vernon needs right now. That's also why they've opened the third floor, usually off-limits to visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a storage room, kind of the equivalent to a china closet.

SANDY BAHEN, TOURIST: It's very poignant, I think, right now to go visit a place like Colonial Williamsburg or a Mount Vernon or a Jamestown, because that's, you know, that's our roots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they're coming because they know that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) doesn't just teach the mind, but it can touch the spirit.

KAST: And the American spirit is just what the tourist industry is counting on. Sheilah Kast, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.