Sonya's Blog - Day 145 - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Sonya's Blog - Day 145 - November 14th - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

We decided to visit a museum today because it was going to be a bit cooler (only a high of 12). Blake read out the various Smithsonian's we could visit and Isaac wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum. This is perfect for his Science, because this is one of his units that he needs to learn. I found some worksheets for him to complete while we are at the museum and I also found a Washington, DC scavenger hunt for kids. This covers all the main attractions and has a list of things to find at each one. There were about 6 or 7 items they needed to find.

I didn't have the greatest sleep last night as we are quite near an interstate and there is a lot of traffic on it. Blake got up and made me tea, which was nice. He then made everyone and egg scramble for breakfast - super tasty. Natasha and I pulled together some lunches for everyone and we finally got out the door just after 10. There is a bus that comes right to the campground and will take you to the subway train station. The train station is only a 10 minute drive away and parking is free on the weekends, so we opted to drive to the train station. The train runs every 10 minutes or so, but the bus only runs every hour and we didn't want to be stuck at the train depot for an hour if we just missed our bus.

We found the train station with no problems and it has a nice big lot for parking in. During the week it is only $5 to park there, which is very reasonable. We had bought smart cards to use on the train from the campground. These are cards that you load up with whatever amount you want and then just scan them when you are entering and exiting the train. You actually don't pay until you exit the train here and the fare depends on the distance that you traveled. When we got off in Washington, we were each deducted $3.60 from our cards. After New York, that is a very reasonable rate. We only had to walk a few blocks from the train station and we were at the National Mall and many of the Smithsonian museums are off this area.

We first went to The Castle, which is like a visitor's centre for the Smithsonian. It helps you plan your visit and give you some ideas about what is going on where. The guy working there recommended the app, as this tells you about special events and activities per day at each of the museums. All the Smithsonian Museums are free, but some have activities in them that cost money (like simulators and Imax theatres). When we had the information we needed we walked to the Air and Space Museum which was only a block away. This is a great museum that covers the start of flight to space flight and everything in between. We explored on our own for a bit, had lunch and then joined a tour. The tour guide took us through the highlights of the museum, like Charles Lindburgh's plane that he flew across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart's plane that she flew across the Atlantic, the first plane that broke the sound barrier, the Wright Brother's gallery, the Apollo Moon landing, etc. It was a good tour and the guide had a lot of extra information and little tid bits that we couldn't learn from the panels. When we were done the tour we explored some more and then went to see the Imax production on D-Day, which was narrated by Tom Brokaw. This was very well done. It gave a good idea of what the Allies were facing, the planning that went into the attack, the misinformation that was sent out to try and trick the Germans, the involvement of the French Resistance to help isolate Normandy and the day of the attack. The successes and failures and the eventual liberation of France and Europe.

A piece of moon rock, it is very smooth:

It was time to head back to camp after the Imax movie. Within 15 minutes we were back at the train station and on the train, which was nice and quick. We got back to the RV, I walked Kizmet, Blake started supper with the kids help and then the kids started blogging. We had to go to the grocery store so that took the rest of the evening and then we called it a night.

Sonya