1900s wasn't a great time for the park, but just before that it was part of a whacky rich person plan. In 1888, senator John Brooks Henderson built the still existing redstone walls around... His actual castle.

The castle was to be part of a development that would include a better presidential residence to replace the forgettable little white house. Or failing that, the Lincoln memorial. Failing both plans, she settled on a park, leading to your point.

[RIO Holiday Street Fest & Fireworks presented by Novavax in Gaithersburg md] (https://events.visitmontgomery.com/event/street_fest_fireworks_presented_by_novavax?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=Visit+Montgomery+County) Dec 10

For me it depends on where I'm going. Coming from the burbs and driving in the city, or downtown bethesda/silver spring? Definitely prefer the metro. But going between the states or staying out in the burbs, even if I'm going to be following a metro line, a car is preferable. Why pay $5 to park, wait for a train, ride it to the station, walk a few blocks to my destination, and then do it in reverse, when I can just drive in half the time. Same with going between md and VA. I'd have to metro into dc and then back out, or I can drive and save a bunch of time.

What kind of lame local thinks they're too cool for the mall. We have a bunch of free world class museums and some gorgeous monuments all in the same area. How can a person dislike that!? Especially in like November-March when the tourists are gone.

If you're willing to travel, Taco bar in Gaithersburg

We're also past the 20 year mark where higher ups and those potentially in the know are retired and at an age where they're losing their health and influence.

I work for the government. When I see someone from 20 years ago fucked my reaction is "someone from 20 years ago fucked up" and the old person in the office goes "oh yeah they retired a few years after I started" and you move on and fix the fuck up, not cover it up to protect someone who has been retired for 17 years from a 17 year late negative performance rating.

Obviously a 911 conspiracy is more significant than someone who wrote an incorrect report or whatever but the fact is that the government is millions of individuals and you need a whole lot of loyalty to keep secrets safe once you're gone, same as any large organization.

For a while the quipper was always a wise native dcer, while the foolish people were transplants in a transplant job like consulting, which apparently someone overhearing it just knew somehow.

At least in MD, everything at the chains (Goodwill especially) gets hit hard by resellers who grab everything of potential value the second it leaves the stock room. Independent places tend to be best with not tolerating that and also getting decent donations. The small charity shops sometimes have good finds but it's 95% old man clothes. Even if you find something that's a great deal, odds are that it's going to be very difficult to pull off unless you're really good at pulling off 1980s rich retired lawyer.

That implies this person has knowledge beyond vague conspiracy theories they read on the internet