Unpopular opinion: the Air & Space Museum on the National Mall is... meh. The exhibits are nice, sure, but it was SO PACKED in there it was muggy inside from all the people bodies squished together. Ew.
This is the Air & Space on the Mall. SO CROWDED.
The Udvar-Hazy Air & and Space Museum by Dulles, on the other hand, was AMAZING. The second we walked in the door, Paul noticed, "This one is nice!" The very nice old volunteer at the info desk suggested we take a lap around over the catwalk, through the shuttle hanger, before joining a tour. (Always listen to the suggestions of nice old volunteers, they know what they're talking about.) A docent led us on a nearly two hour tour through aviation history. I'm not actually a big airplane person, but I love stories, and this guy could tell stories.
Highly recommend the museum by the airport. There's even a Shake Shack inside! Admission is free, $15 for parking.
The Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. The guy named the plane after his MOM. If my kids ever drop atomic bombs (they'd better not) they'd better not name the plane JiaYing Grygiel. Tip: You can see into the cockpit from the catwalk.The Space Shuttle Discovery!!!!! They built the hanger specifically for the space shuttle. It flew 39 missions into space, 365 days total in space. Every single one of those black tiles is a unique shape.WWI-era Sopwith Camel, AKA Snoopy's plane.You can watch the restoration work!This Lockheed SR-71 flew from LA to DC in 64 minutes! It's basically a big, fast camera (spy plane). But it used film, so pilots had to stop to process film.View of the Lockheed SR-71 from above (the black one).Our excellent docent.Life-size astronaut made of Legos!Ended our day with the requisite astronaut ice cream. It tasted like a cookie.
