Saturday, March 24, 2012

Gramma Mindy & The Air & Space Museum!

A few weeks ago, we were graced by the presence of Gramma Mindy! We had an action-packed weekend, since there was actually no one that was sick, and we had no actual plans...so we made it a point to get out there into the world and DO SOME STUFF! First up...my first trip to the Air & Space Museum! This is a huge museum devoted to showing off a lot of stuff from the history of (Duh) Air and Space travel. Everything from old advertisements of airlines, to the actual planes and space rockets themselves!

Being in the main hall with all the huge air and space vehicles was overwhelming!
Even going to the upper level so that we could look down at them was still a crazy thing to behold!

They were such gorgeous planes and things, but SOOO big! I was even a little nervous about how safe it was to be running around beneath these things....I mean, just how strong are those wires that are holding them up, anyway?

No matter...any hesitation melted away as I continued my quest to join the Guinness Book of World Records ranks as "Longest Period of time Running from everywhere to everywhere" by visiting some of the aircraft on display. You actually got to go inside some of the old planes.
Gramma Mindy showed me the old pilots uniform, here encased behind plastic so we couldn't get our hands on it...I guess they didn't trust us to "look but don't touch"

Mom told me all about some of the planes that were hanging around us...she's a pretty smart lady.
Dad showed me some cool old lunchboxes (I think we're supposed to call them "retro" to be nice to the older generations) he likes lunchboxes.
Dad found me this pretty cool flight simulator. It had three different types of steering controls set up for three types of planes: The super old school Wright Brothers type of plane, then an older but more modernized than the Brothers plane, and finally a modern completely electronic plane. As you moved the control levers, you got to look up into the transparent case above to watch how your control movements affected the simulated parts of an airplane. It wasn't just some computer simulation, you actually got to see the moving parts. It was really cool.
There was a display about what kinds of things people take in their luggage...I quickly identified with a small suitcase that was theoretically packed by a child....can you think of any reason why?
We found one plane that we got to go up and into, and then back out and around...I did this about 427 times...Mom and Gramma Mindy followed me for a bunch of them, and then they used the opportunity to rest, while Dad kept an eye on me...
Later on, after exploring the museum for some time, it came time to eat lunch, and so we all took a break to grab some food from the McDonald's in the museum...much like the highway rest areas we frequent on trips to visit my family in Connecticut, the museum delights in giving you the same food for double the price...HUZZAH!
Regardless, we don't do McDonald's all that often anyway, so it was a nice treat. I had some chicken nuggets, apple slices, milk and fries. I also looked pretty cool doing it...
Dad was kind enough to share some (OK...most) of his shake with me...it was capital D-lecious!
So far the weather had held up, and we had a lovely day at the Museum...we saw so much stuff (Including lots more airplanes, and some film reels highlighting the use of airplanes in old movies) and it was a very full day!

No comments: