D.C. trip-Air and Space museum #2 and urban living

Dear readers, this post will chronicle the seventh day of our trip.

We began our day by taking a highly stressful journey on the beltway. It involved multiple traffic jams and a toll booth.

Once we arrived at the museum, we ate lunch with the McKinstry crew.

Sawyer was wearing a helicopter shirt for the occasion.

We started on the middle level, since that’s where the restaurant was. Father was excited to see the SR-71 blackbird. He wanted to send this picture to a friend from work.

Reid and Isaac loved the fact that this plane was called Little Stinker. I think it was the highlight of the visit for them.

Even after we had moved on from Little Stinker, the boys kept talking about it. Photo credit: Dave McKinstry.

Reid and Isaac really enjoyed the museum map.

The main thing I wanted to see at the museum was the Enola Gay. This was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The walkways were set up so you could look straight into the cockpit.

Seeing the bombsite really left an impression on me, I can’t imagine what it would be like to look down on Hiroshima through it, when in just a few minutes the whole city would be destroyed.

Sawyer enjoyed an interactive touch screen while we were viewing the Enola Gay. Photo credit: Dave McKinstry

I had imagined the Elola Gay being in a room all by itself, and on a raised platform. I had forgotten how big B-29s are.

The wing dwarfed other planes.

We viewed the restoration hanger.

Uncle Dave took this dramatic shot in front of the space shuttle. Around this time, he started talking about a rocket he had helped develop that was on display in the museum. The excitement from his sons was intense. Photo credit: Dave McKinstry.

The space shuttle has its own hanger.

The boys were very interested in the donation rocket. They begged their dad to put some money in, but he said his contribution was the parking fee.

The SR-71 blackbird from the upper level.

This photo was posed, but I think it accurately represents Father’s reaction to the museum.

Isaac and Sawyer saw a helicopter to match their shirts. Photo credit: Dave McKinstry.

Another view of the Space Shuttle.

The Enola Gay from the upper level. I think from this angle, the museum looks kind of cluttered.

Another attempt to pose with the Enola Gay.

The upper level had a lot of smaller aircraft.

Father especially enjoyed this section.

Once we made it to the bottom level, we viewed a display of aviation cameras.

The boys were tired, so we all took a break.

We went a little farther and I wanted to stop and look at the Enola Gay again. Reid told Isaac “Let’s sit under this important plane.”

The official sign for the Enola Gay.

This is a pano of the inside of the cockpit. One of the features pointed out was the ashtray, because apparently it’s very important to smoke while on a bombing mission.

More Enola Gay shots. I was hoping to be able to see the bombay doors and how the plane was adapted to carry the Atomic Bomb, but unfortunately you couldn’t. Father and I went to see another B-29 that came to Springfield a few months ago. You could climb up in it to see the inside. The Enola Gay had much more restricted access.

Looking at another WWII plane. I don’t remember what it was.

Once we made it to the space area my cousins rushed straight to Uncle Dave’s rocket. We stopped to take a picture with the space shuttle first.

Uncle Dave posing with the rocket he helped on. From what I understand, this rocket was used to shoot down a satellite that was no longer working. Uncle Dave was part of a large team of people who figured out how to use the missile. He said his focus was on radar. His sons on the other hand, seemed to believe that he had personally welded the rocket together.

Despite everything Uncle Dave could say, his sons were intent on believing that he had “built the rocket.” Father wondered if he had flung it into space with nothing but his arms. It really was Uncle Dave’s chance to shine.

Looking at very small rocket models.

Uncle Dave was Sawyer’s interpretive guide throughout most of our visit.

This was a model of how the space shuttle was launched.

I tried to get a glamor shot of my kin looking up at the Space Shuttle.

A photo of how the Space Shuttle was transported to the museum. Uncle Dave, whose office is within sight of the museum, says he saw this getup as it was coming in to land.

We went up to the observation tower and watched planes coming in to land. Photo credit: Dave McKinstry.

Back in the parking lot we handed over our chair and table, and bid our kin goodbye.

We decided to turn in our rental car and take the Metro back into D.C. This sounded like a great idea at the time, since it would allow us to avoid another stressful journey on the Beltway. Later we realized that rental companies don’t like it when you turn in your car a day early and at the wrong airport. They racked up lots of extra fees, but fortunately Father was able to use his smooth diplomatic skills to get them removed.

The airport is two stops from the end of the line. We intentionally got on a train going the wrong direction, rode it to the end, waited for it to turn around, and rode it back all the way into D.C. This was a very long Metro ride and it ended up costing six dollars per person.

We had to hold our suitcases in place the entire time.

Father was glad not to be driving on the Beltway.

At one of the stops our train had to wait a few minutes for the track to be clear. They made an announcement on the intercom, but there was a guy wearing a suit who had his air pods in so he didn’t hear it. He couldn’t seem to handle the fact that the train had stopped for longer than usual. He got out onto the platform and vigorously tapped his watch. I assume this was a message to the conductor to hurry up. He came back into the train shaking his head, utterly exasperated. I don’t think his efforts did much good. Photo credit: google.

We finally got off the train at Metro Center, and walked three blocks to our hotel. It took us longer than usual to cross the crosswalks since we were lugging our suitcases. Even though we still got across while the white stick figure was up, cars would get impatient and honk at us. I got very flustered and shouted sorry every time we crossed.

Our hotel was very posh. So posh that it made me feel out of place. I was feeling very done with urban life. I felt trapped in by all the cars and buildings. I wanted space, air, and trees. I was absolutely terrified to sleep in the middle of the city, surrounded by all the infrastructure. I wanted to be somewhere quiet where there was nothing going on. I really felt like I was going to suffocate.

Although I claimed not to be hungry, Father insisted on walking down to Subway. It was most likely the fanciest Subway in the world.

I felt a little more cheerful after we ate, so we decided to walk down to the White House. Of course, this was fun.

There is a statue of Lafayette across the street from the White House. Unfortunately it had been vandalized by people wanting to free Gaza. There were some choice words used against Israel that I dare not repeat.

I think it’s interesting (and amazing) that out of all the people they could have made a statue of across from the White House, they chose Lafayette.

The statue was dedicated to Lafayette and his compatriots. It was very hard to read the inscription because of the vandalism.

We had a much better view from this side.

Lets just say, the president had more pristine lawn than the Tyndall family. (For example: I didn’t see random piles of dog poop in various stages of decay, a common site at Tyndall acres.)