After a much needed two month summer break, I’ll be posting quite regularly again. I’ve had quite a bit on my plate and things have slowed down drastically in life in general. So for all those people who might actually read these, you’re in luck.
This past weekend, I experienced why this country exists, how great it really is, and why I do what I do (as explained later in another post). I took a much needed trip and went to
The first stop on our agenda was to visit the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Trying to explain how magnificent that museum is would do it no justice, but I’ll try anyway. The entrance opens immediately to a few of the Apollo space mission vessels. Enormous rockets, the space station (our side and the Russians), various Neil Armstrong items, a vehicle driven on the moon, an exhaust piece from a space shuttle, and the first private aircraft to fly above our atmosphere were just a few of the space items on display.
There were little displays off the main open areas on each of the two floors that had their own theme. One display was a tribute to the Wright Brothers. The main attraction in that display was their first aircraft. It had been reupholstered with new cloth in the 1980’s, but it is the actual flyer. I was in awe just to see the very first aircraft ever and to see how far we’ve come in the short 100 years of aviation.
Another display showed World War I aircraft which was pretty amazing to see considering flight wasn’t possible just a decade or so earlier. Then, all of a sudden we are mounting guns onto aircraft and fighting wars with them. The different designs were pretty ingenious. Some front engine mounted aircraft had machine guns timed to fire in-between the propellers as they pass. Others had rear mounted engines that sat behind the person. I could go on and on about all the aircraft that I saw, but it’s better to just see it in person. I would highly recommend that everyone at some point go see this museum.
Since the American History museum is in under renovation, there were roughly 150 items on display at the NASM. I can not wait to see that museum when it opens. There were costumes from the original Wizard of Oz as well as Judy Garland’s shoes and a video camera that was used to shoot the film. Star wars robots CP3O and R2D2 were quite a hit and took the longest to see because of the long line. Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, George Washington’s uniform and General Custer’s uniform, were prominently displayed. A baseball signed by Babe Ruth was among my favorites there however.
After the NASM, we ventured over to the National Archives. We knew we weren’t going to get much time to see everything, so we went straight to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. When our time came to see the documents, I could not believe that I was witnessing on display the single most important documents in the world. I was in again in awe as I stood there reading “We the people.” Handwritten and signed over two centuries earlier by our forefathers. After we left the archives, our last stop was to see the Capitol building…simply amazing. I never realized how huge that building actually was and how beautiful either. All in all, it was a great trip and I learned a lot about our country’s accomplishments.
1 comment:
I went to Washington DC in 8th grade and simply loved it. You take for granted a lot of things you learn about in school until you physically see them. This is where you appreciate the workmanship, the nobleness, the bravery, the heroism, and the history that built so much of what we see today. It shaped who we are because we live in a place that wouldn't've been with those things. It's a dire shame so many homeless live there, but I want to go back again, and again.
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