I bet you all were wondering whether we would keep Jassa prisoner on the boat with no recourse but to draw, read (gasp!), check on his electronics (when the wifi signal is favorable) and spend lazy time with his grandparents. Naw!
Today we ventured to Washington DC. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Lincoln Monument were on the top of Jassa’s wish list. Wouldn’t you know it…..today marked the beginning of the 50th Anniversary celebration of Apollo 11. (This coincidence reminded me of the time we decided to drive from Portofino to Monte Carlo “for lunch” only to discover that we’d picked the starting day of the Monte Carlo International Boat Show….but that’s another story!)
A good chunk of the mall in front of the museum was given over to exhibits from organizations promoting various educational endeavors. Apparently not vetted by you-know-who…since there were quite a few with climate change messages. And it was crowded….and hot, but not as hot as it had been (105 the day before) because of a nice cloud cover that threatened but did not produce any rain.
I think Jassa had a better time at the Air and Space Museum than his photos show (at least I hope so). We watched an IMAX show about Apollo 11 that was terrific and he piloted on a Virtual Reality jet. We wandered around and looked at exhibits of rockets and space craft, “toured” a model of a space lab and wondered about the paint color choice (matte sea foam green) of the Soviets for their Soyuz module that linked up with America’s shiny silver and gold Apollo command ship for two days to prove the space race was over. Sorry no photo!
Incidentally, I LOVED the guide at the space suit exhibit. He instructed Jassa to put on the glove so that “his mom” could take a photo:-)
We departed the Air and Space Museum and were happy we’d arrived early — the lines out front stretched to the street. Next stop, the National American History Museum.
This museum houses the First Lady inaugural gown exhibit which is always fun to see. I did that and Jassa explored an exhibit that looked at the presidency from a number of perspectives….from military leadership, communications savvy, diplomacy, style and even sense of humor. I toured the America at War exhibit with him and answered his questions about the draft and Vietnam protests. An interesting conversation. Later, he told Grandpa that he didn’t like President Nixon because he killed students — the brief clip of the Kent State shooting obviously made an impression.
Finally, on to the Lincoln Memorial. We stopped for an early dinner first, figuring that the crowds on the mall would thin out after the 5:30pm museum closings. We sort of traded people-on-the-ground crowds for cars-on-the-road and crawled through D.C.’s infamous traffic, clogged beyond belief even at 6:30pm. Worth the stop!
One of the reasons Jassa was so eager to visit the memorial, alas, had nothing to do with Lincoln….it was a slide he was eager to try. Sure enough, alongside the steep stairway leading to the seated statue is a 4 foot wide length of marble….perfect for a slide. I took a video. I think this may be classified as aiding and abetting.
