The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. is a treat to behold no matter how old you are or where you come from, but when you’re a 12 year-old boy from North Texas, I think it seems especially magical.
It was a whirlwind vacation for the family that year – New York City, Baltimore, Atlantic City, Rhode Island, and of course D.C. – but nothing stands out to me now like that Air and Space Museum. The women, that being my mom and sister, had gone their own way. Women in the Arts, I think, or maybe the Holocaust Museum. That left just my dad and me to have the real fun.
With the largest collection of air and spacecraft in the world within eyesight, real fun is easy to have!
Give your 12 year-old son memories to last a lifetime with a trip to the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The monolithic structure is unmistakable. The broad-shouldered façade and glass atriums, surprisingly simple in our oft-elaborate capital, welcomes more visitors than any other museum in D.C. Step inside and it’s really no wonder why.
I guess we should get the marquee displays out of the way. Famously, the National Air and Space Museum houses the:
- Spirit of St. Louis, which carried Charles Lindbergh on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris
- 1903 Wright Flyer, the Wright brothers’ first successful aircraft
- Columbia, an actual command module from the Apollo 11 (that’s the good one)
- Bell X-1, the first plane to exceed the speed of sound
- North American X-15, built in the 50’s, still the fastest plane ever
Those are the really famous ones, and of course you’ll want to see them. In fact, most of them are in the front hall gallery, so they’re kind of hard to miss. But, there’s so much more to the National Air and Space Museum. Like:
- Albert Einstein Planetarium, one of the most advanced planetariums in the world
- Early Flight, a gallery of pre and post-Kitty Hawk aircraft
- Space Race, a wide-reaching exhibit exploring space travel as well the terrestrial and political implications
- Exploring the Planets, this exhibit jets way past the moon
- IMAX Theatre, flight-themed shows on a humongous screen
I’m not sure it’ll take you a whole day to see it all, but I am sure that after you do, you’ll be museumed out. If you’re doing the Natural History Museum as well, which I totally recommend, you’ll want to space them out.
Like all Smithsonian museums, the National Air and Space Museum is free to visit, although some attractions – the planetarium and IMAX – do carry an admission charge. The museum is open daily, excluding Christmas, and is located on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Learn more.
Located just minutes from the Mall, and frankly just one of our favorite hotels, is the historic Phoenix Park Hotel on Capitol Hill. You can easily walk from the hotel to the museum, which in a town like D.C. is exactly what you want to do. They tend to run cool museum packages, too, so keep an eye out the next time you’re headed into D.C.
Have fun at the National Air and Space Museum.
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Visit the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. is a treat to behold no matter how old you are or where you come from, but when you’re a 12 year-old boy from North Texas, I think it seems especially magical.
It was a whirlwind vacation for the family that year – New York City, Baltimore, Atlantic City, Rhode Island, and of course D.C. – but nothing stands out to me now like that Air and Space Museum. The women, that being my mom and sister, had gone their own way. Women in the Arts, I think, or maybe the Holocaust Museum. That left just my dad and me to have the real fun.
With the largest collection of air and spacecraft in the world within eyesight, real fun is easy to have!
Give your 12 year-old son memories to last a lifetime with a trip to the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The monolithic structure is unmistakable. The broad-shouldered façade and glass atriums, surprisingly simple in our oft-elaborate capital, welcomes more visitors than any other museum in D.C. Step inside and it’s really no wonder why.
I guess we should get the marquee displays out of the way. Famously, the National Air and Space Museum houses the:
Those are the really famous ones, and of course you’ll want to see them. In fact, most of them are in the front hall gallery, so they’re kind of hard to miss. But, there’s so much more to the National Air and Space Museum. Like:
I’m not sure it’ll take you a whole day to see it all, but I am sure that after you do, you’ll be museumed out. If you’re doing the Natural History Museum as well, which I totally recommend, you’ll want to space them out.
Like all Smithsonian museums, the National Air and Space Museum is free to visit, although some attractions – the planetarium and IMAX – do carry an admission charge. The museum is open daily, excluding Christmas, and is located on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Learn more.
Located just minutes from the Mall, and frankly just one of our favorite hotels, is the historic Phoenix Park Hotel on Capitol Hill. You can easily walk from the hotel to the museum, which in a town like D.C. is exactly what you want to do. They tend to run cool museum packages, too, so keep an eye out the next time you’re headed into D.C.
Have fun at the National Air and Space Museum.
Related Posts
No related posts.