Behind the Blog: Roll...Pitch...YAWN!

The Air & Space Museum is apparently the Smithsonian's most popular and they now have 2 campuses to visit. In addition to their main site on the Mall, there's a very large hanger out near Dulles Airport where they display very large aircraft - things like a Concorde jet, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Our visits to both sites were interesting, and we're all glad we had the opportunity, but...

I was surprised to discover how much the kids and I just couldn't get into looking at airplanes. The kids are normally excellent museum-goers, but they bounced around from exhibit to exhibit and never seemed to really be able to focus on anything. They normally enjoy guided tours and listen with interest, but when we took the docent tour at Air & Space, all 3 were bored to tears and so was I.

Pat, on the other hand, was riveted! He hung on every word during the 1.5 hour tour at the Mall site and couldn't wait to visit the Dulles site since several people had told us it was "even better".

Because the first tour had been the equivalent of torture for the rest of us, we ended up skipping most of it. We opted instead for a visit to the gift shop where we purchased some little glider kits, then went outside to fly them. Still, we had high hopes for Air & Space Part-II a few days later.

To get to the Dulles site required a bus ride of approximately one hour, followed by a fifteen minute shuttle ride. We spent nearly as long getting there and back as we spent at the museum itself. Also, the bus was stuffy and crowded, which didn't set the stage for a good day.

Upon arrival, we learned that we were just in time for another 1.5 hour docent tour!! Pat was giddy with excitement. I tried to sound encouraging for the kids; after all, we were going to see a Space Shuttle!

Twenty minutes into the tour, Pat's mouth is hanging open and he's following the tour guide like a puppy. Drew and Jake have disappeared somewhere in the museum and Emily looks like she just lost her best friend. Airplanes are just NOT that interesting.

I rounded up the kids and we spent the rest of our time looking at the exhibit on space food. This the kids found FASCINATING; also the model of the diaper wore by astronauts during flight was a BIG hit; and the bright red acrobatic Bud Light plane (here's to you Mr. Acrobatic Flight Maneuver Guy). Otherwise, they were ready to go.

Thankfully we did come across a volunteer who did a wonderful job teaching the kids about the 4 principles of flight and letting them sit in the cockpit of a Cessna. That killed some time while Pat finished the tour.

When we suggested it was time to catch the shuttle back, I really thought Pat might not join us. He simply couldn't get enough of the place.

Thinking back about who all had told us how incredible the new Air & Space campus us, I realized all were men; a couple were retired military. The one woman who had piped in about the place when her husband was describing it had talked only about the long bus ride... that should have been a clue!

Fortunately, the air conditioning in the bus home was working and I had a book to read to the kids. Pat slept the whole way back... dreaming of flight, no doubt.