Washington DC: Day 1...

We received notice that Miss R's school would be going on an 8th grade field trip to Washington DC next May.  We looked at the itinerary- two nights, normal visits to Arlington, monuments, buildings, all for about $2500.  We decided to give her the choice.  We would help her figure out how much she would have to earn each week to go with her class, OR we could go as a family for a longer time.  Miss R chose the latter.  I'm very happy she did!  We had a great time.  B had a work thing near DC in June, so it actually worked out quite well.  We were able to stay in the same hotel the whole time we were there.  We did things he would like while he was with us, and did the things he would enjoy less while he was working.

Disclaimer:  I am writing this several months after the trip!  

Our first day in town we spent at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center- AKA the big air and space museum out by the airport as opposed to the smaller Smithsonian Air and Space downtown.  Still owned by the Smithsonian, just with more space for the really big awesome stuff. 

B, still sporting the det stache...  This is such a huge, awesome place.  We planned to only visit this museum the whole day.  The museum is free, but you do have to pay $15 for parking.  We sort of did without lunch, planning to eat an early supper.  I think we stopped at a walmart on the way back to the hotel to get sandwiches etc.  I do think there was some hangriness involved in waiting that long.  I should have insisted we all go to the car for some granola bars and snacks.

We started with the engine displays.  B did a really good, thorough explanation, and the girls listened very well.  

 

The corsair- one of my favorites!

 

B with the Huey, one of his favorites.

 

The Soviet Mig and the American Saber- combatants over Korea.

 

The actual space shuttle Discovery is here.  So amazing!  Here is its belly:

Heat shields are amazing!  These tiles were a furnace of heat and gases passing through our atmosphere.

We had fun searching for all the little hidden objects on this prop used in the movie Close Encounters such as R2D2, a Volkswagen bus, tie fighter, and a cemetery.

Certain members of my family make fun of me for this, but I was SUPER EXCITED to see the actual quarantine trailer that the Apollo 11 astronauts were put into on the aircraft carrier after coming back to earth. So cool.

The amazing wings of a WW2 dive bomber (Curtiss Helldiver).

The Blackbird, one of my favorites.  I can't believe this gorgeous plane that can go thousands of miles an hour was built with 1960s technology.

A shuttle nose boop.

Make sure if you visit to go up in the observation tower!  The views were gorgeous.  There was a dark blue thunderstorm coming in, it was beautiful.

Really my only complaint (and this was true of most of the Smithsonians) was that the sticker collection was basically nonexistent. 

Here is my travel journal for the day: