Our adventure began by taking public transportation into the Mall. I have to admit, I’m a big fan of public transportation. I take the bus to and from work each day (unless Amber is being generous and offers to pick me up from work on her way home) and other than the occasional...ok, daily deviations from the timetable, it is a great method to navigate the city and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, this weekend the Orange Line subway was experiencing route delays. Instead of a 20 minute ride to the Mall, our trip took nearly an hour. We had to get off the train after the second stop to take a shuttle bus to take us to the third stop, then we were able to get back on the train until our stop under the National Mall.
Did you know there are 19 different Smithsonian Institute Museums? Neither did I, I knew there were “a lot,” but not that many. At this point I’m not even sure where all 19 are located. I’m pretty sure all 19 are not located on or around the Mall. However, Amber and I decided to start with perhaps one of the most popular museums – the Air and Space Museum. When we made it to the Air and Space Museum, we were both hungry. I was told by a co-worker that you can get pretty good food at the “Smithsonian.” Thinking his recommendation generalized to all Smithsonian museums, I convinced Amber not to look for food near the Mall, and to just get food at the A&S museum. My mistake, apparently the A&S food selection is designed to cater to the needs of the majority of its visitors – kids. Our only options were, well crap; McDonalds, Donatos Pizzeria, or Boston Market. Not exactly the “good” food either of us were expecting. After our quick bite of Micky D’s, we started to explore the A&S museum.
Hubble Telescope replica
We started our exploration by walking through the main hallway, full of replicas and decommissioned planes, missiles, satellites, and other aeronautical vehicles that were suspended from the rafter or stood-up in the halls. It was fascinating to see some of the early planes in aviation history as well as one of the Apollo Lunar Capsules. One of the key exhibits both Amber and I enjoyed was the 1903 Wright Flyer; only the fist manned “airplane” to take flight. In addition to the Flyer, the exhibit also had several collections showing communications and other artifacts from the Wright Brothers. Perhaps the coolest piece was the actual telegram Orville sent to his dad proclaiming their triumph of manned flight. What was particularly cool was the fact that in the excitement of the moment, Orville did notice that his name was misspelled.
Josh with Orville and Wilbur
One of the Wright brothers actual planes (We're not sure if it's THE plane)
Success four flights thursday morning all against twenty one mile
wind started from level with engine power alone average speed
through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform press
home Christmas
Orvelle Wright
Another exhibit we enjoyed was the Pioneers of Flight. This exhibit included Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed 5B Vega, Charles and Anne Lindburgh’s Tingmissartoq – The first plane to fly from the West Coast to the Far East, and the “Black Wings” – the history of African Americans in aviation and the Tuskegee Airmen. I have to admit, there was so much to see and so many little kids running around that I’m not sure we really were able to take it all in. I guess the great thing about being so close is we have plenty of opportunities to go back.
By the way, Amber and I did happen to find a Smithsonian with “good” food. The American Art Museum has a café which offers a pretty expansive menu. Perhaps we will have to make that our next destination.
No comments:
Post a Comment