re: #136 BeachDem

I was just going to say the first time I drove on the beltway, trying to get from Rockville to Silver Spring, it was shut down for 2 hours because someone dropped a suitcase out of their car.

(I then figured out how to go all surface roads, which was fine, except for the time I turned one street too soon and pulled into Walter Reed and was surrounded by peeps with guns.)

There are a bunch of nearby govt facilities that are unmarked. But if you accidentally pull into their driveway at all, a bunch of security comes out to greet you and have a little chat. I suspect that they are so used to lost motorists by now, that the show is somewhat pro forma.

There is also a local building in a nearby urban area that is unmarked. But if you try to take a picture of that local street, a bunch of security comes over to direct you to delete those pictures.

On the other hand, a highly secure facility used to be across the street from the DC Juvenile Detention Facility. Escapees were well known to cross the street, go into the facility’s parking lot, hotwire employees’ cars and later ditch them in DC. The parking lot had high barbed wire fences and signs saying that the guards were authorized to shoot. I have not heard of anyone actually getting shot. Probably too much paperwork.