Pete and I wandered merrily through the throng, up to the Washington Monument, before deciding to visit the National Museum of American History. It was a good place to reacquaint ourselves with this great land, and it had the shortest line.
Sadly there was a lot of anti-British sentiment on display within, with much made of the misunderstanding that led to the so-called "War of Independence" (you had representation for your taxation! You just didn't get to choose who it was!) Then there was the original star-spangled banner they wrote that song about. It celebrates the time a British fleet turned up at Fort McHenry and didn't kill everyone. Hardly "their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution" as one of the lines claims about the British, but there we go. We're all friends now I suppose.
After one of us had a nap it was on to the Air and Space Museum. I loved this one but Pete was less than impressed that you couldn't go into every plane and space ship. He didn't compare it favourably to Vancouver's Science World. The high-point for me was a display about flights to Hawaii, and how hard it used to be for pilots to find that tiny island group in the vast Pacific. There were some fantastic pictures of the first commercial jetliners of the 50s and 60s, complete with dining and sitting rooms. You'd never get that space nowadays...unless you fly business class, of course.
After that we were exhausted, something not helped by the 90F heat and 150% humidity that seems to be everyday June weather. I can see there will be a huge amount of educational content for me and Pete to cover over the next few years, starting with "who do you trust more - what that museum says, or Daddy?"
A replica of that banner, hence the fewer stars - we were yet to realise just how many states were out there.
Us and the Washington Monument.
Us and the Washington Monument (close up).
"Is it going? Can I get in it?" Pete asked about every vehicle. Sadly, the answer was always no.
Unimpressed by an obviously faked moon landing photo.
The vehicle they would have returned in, had they actually gone there.
Pete takes the wheel of a cessna. No Pete - we're a navy family, remember?
