Now that was a good (long) week-end.

Aaron from The Shekel came down Friday to catch the air show and hang out for a few days, and the G-rated version of this week-end's events can be seen on his page. But I just dropped his hungover self off at the airport and it looked like he at least made it inside so now the stories can begin.

Friday night I took him to work with me at a music venue where I labor part time. He put a couple pics up but I notice he omitted the best part of the entertainment. And of course there were adult beverages

Next day was airshow day, and it was good.

More on this later.

Then it was out for dinner and a second line parade--Aaron's first--and another show, this one where we were just spectators. But the adult beverages flowed free.


Sunday came and we went out to the swamp for a bit, and then came back and took kayaks out on Bayou St. John. We rewarded ourselves for that with another foray into the French Quarter and a few more adult beverages.

Yesterday we hit the Louisiana National Guard museum at Jackson Barracks.

It looks great now but it was completely destroyed during Hurricane Katrina and the pictures they have of the hundreds of historic guns ruined by submersion of the floodwaters is enough to make you cry. So we came back to my place and walked down to the Quarter to get some adult beverages to make us feel better.

I think we started out at R Bar (as seen on NCIS New Orleans) for a beer. Then I took Aaron to get some gifts for his kids and we had a few dozen oysters and some more beer Then it was into a bar where a lady friend of mine works, and she made us a couple of specialty cocktails that weren't exactly light on the rum, because she's a good friend. From there we went to Popeyes to grab some chicken on the way to the ferry dock and we went over to The Crown and Anchor, a nifty English Pub on the West Bank, to meet another lady friend of mine. We had a couple more beers, and a few whiskey shots, then caught the last ferry back in a downpour. And then because *someone* hasn't learned to use the bathroom before leaving a bar, we had to stop into another bar so he could go. And it's rude not to buy anything when using a bar's bathroom so we had a couple more tequila shots each and then I took him to a local pirate bar to get him his first Absinthe drink.

He seemed to like that 124-proof concoction, or at least that's what he told me a dozen times or so between there and the next bar, where we stopped in to see Janet the bar dog.

While we were there we ran into some Las Vegas cops here for a conference. We talked, they bought us a couple more beers, and then we invited them to join us for midnight burgers at Clover Grill, a Bourbon Street institution. Those guys were pretty hammered too, and wanted more drinks, so I steered them all to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and got Aaron a Hurricane because he hadn't had one yet and it's his last night. There we met a few members of a bridal party from Toronto, Aaron's home town, and one of us tried (and failed) to pick up the bride-to-be. (OK, that was me. Aim high, right?) We finally walked back to my place again.

I thought that it was a pretty good night, but Aaron seemed to have picked up a case of the flu somewhere along the way as he was still quite green and slow-moving this morning.

Good times...good times.

More National Museum of World War Two pics

Their Boeing building looks like my room when I was a kid--airplanes hanging from ther ceiling everywhere. Only there aren't models.

Four levels of airplanes hung from cables, with observation decks so you can see 'em fairly close.

Above, this Douglas Dauntless looks like it's about to dive-bomb some Toyotas out in the parking lot.

And this Corsair--an F4U-4 variant--is coming in for a landing.

There's a beautiful Grumman TBM Avenger here, too.

You can look right down and into it's cockpit.

There's a gun-nose B-25 Mitchell here.

And a whole B-17.

The B-17, an E model, was one that crash-landed in Greenand during the war. It was recovered in the 90's and brought here for restoration. Story here.

And last but not least--a P-51D Mustang.

Head back into their other building--the main one--and they've got this C-47 on dispay that actually flew in here to be preserved after more than sixty years of flying military and civilian cargo.

This engine is ready to turn over again any time.

And it'g got a Spitfire Mk. V to keep it company.

And yes, all day long I was calculating the tensile strength of those cables...(My weight * xft of drop / long fall to hard floor if performed incorrectly...)

Great day...and just fifteen minutes by bike from my house now.

Warbirds over Washington

Here they are, in all of their (mostly) radial-engined glory.

Some L-4 and O-1 observation birds led the way.

Then came a flight of Stearmans.

Then a pair of Fairchild PT-19 trainers. (Harrison Ford was not in evidence today.)

T-6 Texan time...and SNJs, for you Navy types.

A pair of P-40s put in an appearance, one dcked out in AVG colors.

And three B-25 Mitchells came over low enough to set off a couple of car alarms. Because RADIAL ENGINES!

Next came a beautiful PBY Catalina flying boat.

And a Grumman F4F Wildcat (lower left) escorts a Douglas Dauntless dive-bomber (upper right).

Another pair of Wildcats made a low pass.

Then a Lockheed P-38 Lightning flew past almost to fast to capture.

A B-24 came next, escorted by three little friends of the P-51 Mustang variety.

And four more very photogenic Mustangs followed.

They were clearing the way for two Boeing B-17 bombers.

Then it was a couple of Douglas DC-3s, better known in military parlance as C-47s.

Next, a Curtis SB2C Helldiver came over.

He was leading a flight and had a Grumman TBM Avenger on each wing.

Then came a Douglas A-26 Invader, my favorite attack bomber of all time.

Followed up by my favorite fighter in the form of a pair of Chance-Vought (of Goodyear) Corsairs.

Then Fifi the B-29 made a low pass over Arlington and came on across the river into the District.

Last, but certainly not least, the "Missing Man" flight, composed of (left to right) a P-40, a Corsair, a TBM Avenger and a P-51D.

I got these from the back side of the Lincoln Memorial, and it was well worth the effort to get down there to see this half-hour long parade of aircraft goodness. A special thanks is due to the men and women who made this event happen, because it could not have been easy to coordinate this event and make it come off as smoothly as it did. Out of all of the participating aircraft, only one, a TBM Avenger, had mechanical problems. That one made an emergency landing at Reagan International Airport just south of the District, and it'll be ok.