Washington, D.C. - Day 2

Today was the first full day that we have spent in Washington, D.C. This post will be limited to the things that we're doing on this particular trip. I have plenty more to write about all the trips that I've taken to D.C. I've been lucky enough to visit there as both a teen-ager and as an adult. More on those trips later...

Today, we spent a fantastic morning at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. However, this wasn't the regular museum that you find on the Washington Mall. This is the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is a HUGE building/hangar out by the Washington Dulles Airport. It houses some spectacular planes - including the original space shuttle prototype (the Enterprise), a full Concorde, the Enola Gay (look that one up - it's important), and tons of other aircraft.

This particular museum is now my second-favorite of ALL the museums in D.C. (the original Air & Space museum is at the top of the list, by a slim margin). Like many boys/men, I have a healthy fascination with aircraft and jet planes. Military aircraft is a particular interest.

As you walk into this massive building, you see some vintage WWII aircraft hanging from the roof, including a Corsair and this P40:

P-40 "Kittyhawk"

One of my all-time favorite aircraft is the SR-71 Blackbird. This was a "spy" plane from the 1960s, all the way up to the 1990s. Growing up during the cold war, the Blackbird was just fascinating to me as a kid. It could fly Mach 3 - and avoided surface-to-air missles...just by flying faster ; )

My nephews and G-Man, in front of the SR-71 Blackbird

Another major exhibition at the Udvar-Hazy, is the original working space shuttle, the Enterprise. You can't believe how big these space shuttles are, until you're standing right next to one.

The Enterprise

I remember, as a kid, signing a petition for NASA to name the first shuttle after the spaceship from "Star Trek" (I come from humble, nerdly beginnings). By visiting this museum, I had a chance to check out the tile structure and massive landing gear, up-close.

Geez, that thing is HUGE...

I hope, that when my youngest son is a little older, that he will totally geek out on all this stuff ; ) I also love that all of these museums are free (our tax dollars at work). G-Man had fun looking at all the planes, and telling me about the shuttle...over and over and over again. Here we are, together, standing in front of the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter:

Lockheed Martin X35-B Joint Strike Fighter