Out and about with my guest.

Yesterday, it was the World War Two museum.

Charles Lindbergh did his best to keep us out of the war against Germany. But once we were in, he at least worked tirelessly to help us beat the Japanese.

And Joe Louis joined up when he didn't even have to. And he's buried in Arlington National Cemetery today.

And there were planes.

And guns.

And lots of other great stuff. We where in there for over five hours.

Then off to a bar with the best happy hour oyster deal I know--.50 oysters with drink purchases. Aaron had never had oysters before but he gamely tried one...and then proceeded to clean the place out as he declared them to be the best food ever.

Then it was an eternity in various T-shirt shops while Captain Indecisive agonized over which souvenir T-
shirts to buy his daughters.

It kind of went like this all week:

Aaron on Friday as I pick him up at the airport: "I have to get some souvenirs for my wife and kids..." (buys nothing all day.)

Aaron on Saturday: "I have to get some souvenirs for my wife and kids..." (buys nothing at any of the museums of shops we're in or near.)

Aaron on Sunday: "I have to get some souvenirs for my wife and kids..." (buys nothing all day.)

Aaron on Monday several times: "I have to get some souvenirs for my wife and kids..." (buys nothing at any of the museums or shops.)

Aaron Monday night: "Take me to a T-shirt shop! I need souvenirs!" (Then spends an eternity looking over the crappiest crap while disregarding my heartfelt efforts to assist him select quality stuff for his wife and daughters.

--Jar of stripper glitter? Nope.
--Shirt with a picture of a unicorn giving the middle finger? Nope.
--Bettie Page wrist bracelet? Nope.

Some people are just impossible to shop with.

Finally he gets some stuff and then it's off for one last night out. "But it's OK," he assured his wife during one of his required hourly check-in calls...we're just going to play bingo. And we did.

With strippers.

And he won.

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.

Another museum of note finally visited

Sorry for the ack of posts. Work's had me pretty busy as of late.

But today I skipped work and went to see these:

And these:

And lot's more stuff at the National World War Two museum, just a fifteen-minute bike ride from my front door.

More pics tomorrow, I promise. I gotta go out now, but these should whet your appetites (Excpet for Displaced Louisiana Guy and his brother Matt, who were just there, and Old NFO, who has been everywhere, including in the background of several of the museum's period Pacific War shots. (I'm pretty sure that was him standing next to MacArthur on the deck of USS Missouri when the Japanese formally surrendered.)

Great museum, great time. Anyone else wants to come see it, drop me a line.