Well, hello Saturday! It’s a working Saturday for me. But I’m on my second cup-o-joe (which is funny to say, because I have a lot of friends named Joe) and it is a beautiful day out side so I am motivated to get the work done so I can play later.
I slept in this morning. Although, some of you may disagree with me when I call 8:30 am sleeping in…but it is for me. I am an early bird. I’m usually up NLT 6:30 every morning. I don’t even have to set an alarm…usually. Today was apparently the exception. But in my defense, I got to bed kinda late last night. The Viper Pilot and I had a fun night of watching Burn Notice over the phone together and chatting about our day. Then when it came time to say goodnight, I really started missing him and had a tough time falling asleep. What I like to do when that happens is scroll through pictures of us together on my iPod (I know you’re not supposed to use electronic devices in bed but I don’t care) and that reminds me of how close we are to being done with long distance once and for all. Ladies, go give your man a hug/kiss. Right now. Because the worst thing you may ever have to do is say goodnight over the phone and go to bed hug-less. And I hope to God if you do, it is only for a couple of nights, not weeks, even months, at a time. I like to think our love story is just like a movie, but honestly, after 5 years of long distance, in the words of Taylor Swift, “If this were a movie, you’d be here by now.” {Shout-out to Joe B! That was my one and only Taylor Swift reference in my lifetime and it was just for you, Joe. Any more references and there will be consequences. Ha!} I mean, I love my dog and she is an excellent snuggler, but… anyway, so yeah, that’s why I slept in. Digression….
Okay, back to my spring break adventures. This part still has pictures, but has a better story. Sit, back, relax, and read!
DC is a huge city. It is definitely a city to make you proud to be an American. You remember the Lee Greenwood song? Bridget, I know you do!! Oh, the memories.
“And I gladly stand up!! next to you and defend her still today. Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this laaaaaand. God bless the USAaaaaaa!”
I would say the song was in my head 98.9% of the time I was in DC. Kind of like for the first few days when I first moved to Colorado, I couldn’t stop singing “purple mountain majesty…”
The Library of Congress is far more impressive than I anticipated. I’ve seen pictures, but to see it in real life was just incredible. You know I love color, and just look at all the fine detailing and architectural features of this great hall. It’s an absolutely amazing work of art. Who knew a giant room could be the perfect canvas?
I also spent some time in the Air & Space museum. Duh. You know me, so you knew this was coming. Over the years, we’ve been to a lot of airplane museums and the verdict on this one? Meh. I mean anything involving airplanes is fascinating to me, but this one lacked something very important –> REAL airplanes. There were lots of pictures and models, but not many of the real thing. I still enjoyed meandering around and reading and learning, though. I also got a few ideas on how I want to decorate my dream home. 🙂
How cool would this display be in a vaulted ceiling in a family room…over a fireplace?! |
I was incredibly disappointed to find that the ONLY F-16 they had was a little model. |
Hughes H-1 Racer |
The H-1 was built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935 as a racing aircraft. It set a world airspeed record (567 km/h or 352 mph) and a transcontinental speed record across the United States (LA to Newark in 7 hours, 28 min, 25 s at an average speed of 535 km/h or 332 mph). It was designed solely to be the world’s fasted airplane. The cool thing about all this is, the only other aircraft to hold such honors have been military but the Hughes H-1 was built by a private individual (designed by Howard Hughes and Richard Palmer, built by Glenn Odekirk). This single engine, monoplane beauty is rocking the bare aluminum fuselage. Howard Hughes have been one incredibly eccentric dude – I’d love to have coffee with the gentleman.
AirCraft: the Jet as Art |
This was an exhibit they had of photographs of aircraft taken by Jeffrey Milstein standing at the end of a runway. Using a camera I can only dream of, he captures high-resolution digital photographs of the aircraft as they streak past in the sky. Most of the pictures in the exhibit were taken at LAX. I was “this close” to purchasing a supersized poster to bring home with me, but it was a bit pricey, a picture of a commercial jet (lame-ish), and would probably get ruined in the move. Flight is powerful and elegant and in my opinion, Milstein transformed aviation technology into a fantastic work of art. I have dreams for an airplane room in our future dream house and I would love to have these photographs of military jets on the walls…
I was meandering around the gift shop when I passed by a couple of gentlemen who looked really familiar to me. I always find it funny how when I travel I see strangers who resemble people I know, but these two looked like the real deal so I went out on a limb and said cautiously,
“Mr. Fair…?”
Check back later to catch the rest of the story…this post is getting long, eh? Heh heh, oh, I know. I’m so mean. If you’re on Facebook, you already know the story, anyway. 🙂 I’ll add the rest tonight or tomorrow.
Cheers!