Day 6 in D.C.: National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Udvar-Hazy Center - it's in a HUGE hangar

Thursday, our main goal was to see the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport (Udvar-Hazy Center). This was the museum wilder MOST wanted to see on this trip!

It's way out of the way from the rest of the museums, but with traffic, we didn't want to drive/take an Uber. So we went from the Ballston stop on the silver line to Dulles. From there, we had to take a commuter bus around to the museum. I had been avoiding bus transit because of traffic, but this was the only option. We stood around with like 12 other people waiting for the bus, but after 15 minutes past when it was supposed to get there, we ended up booking an uber anyway!

The museum is HUGE - it's two hangars with three stories of planes from the Wright brothers through modern planes, everything from parasailing to the Blackbird, and a bunch of spacecraft. Super cool.

Waiting for the metro

Excited!

The Concord was Wilder's No. 1 thing he loved seeing the entire trip.

Wilder LOVED Dusty Crophopper from the Pixar Planes movie for years and years. He has mostly outgrown that love, but this was a little like seeing a Disney princess in real life.

I'll be honest, Dusty was my most favorite part of this museum, lol. Mom memories!

Felicity and I could not get over this adorable "Sky Baby" plane. SO cute.

THE plane that dropped one of the bombs that helped end World War II. No big deal.

The Discovery shuttle was in the "space" hangar of the Air and Space Museum

We had lunch at the museum's Shake Shack!

Cosmic Custard

Steep escalator

After visiting the Air & Space Museum at Dulles, we took the Silver line all the way back into D.C. to visit my friend Linette. We met in a mom group for women with due dates in November 2013 (both our firstborns). We have been friends ever since! This is by far not the first time we've gotten to hang out in person, but it was the first in her city. We got cold brews and chatted in between end of school events for her, reviving our tired museum walking feet. :-)

I was delighted to pick up a journal at the Air & Space Museum. I like to journal about all our trips (before I blog about it!) but I've enjoyed doing it in journals I get from those trips. I looked in so many stores, and every single gift shop, and couldn't find one I liked. FINALLY found one at this museum.

So happy with my journal!

That evening we got Thai takeout with our friends and just relaxed! We walked 10-12,000 steps a day on this trip, sometimes more, and the kids were SUCH troopers. With just one full day left to go, we were getting a bit tired. But this museum was so great, I'm so glad Wilder got to be in his element.

Sweet Jake

I will never turn down pad see ew

Brady and Zach, BFF

Jake was giving Panda vibes

Next up: Day 6: National Museum of American History

 

Day 5 in D.C.: African American Museum and Smithsonian Zoo

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Day 5 of our trip to D.C., we visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This was our last time-stamped entry ticket spot (free, like all the Smithsonians), and one of the museums I was most excited to visit this trip because I've been wanting to visit since it opened! There was definitely demand for tickets, so I'd recommend booking ahead of time.

The museum has eight floors or exhibits - three downstairs devoted to history, a concourse and entry floor, and three upstairs featuring cultural, community and temporary exhibits. The museum had a map with suggested paths to take, and we decided to visit the bottom three floors before lunch and see how we felt. We spent about 3.5 hours on those floors, and decided to save the top floors for hopefully another visit.

A note if you are planning to visit--make sure to bring some clothing layers. I forgot my sweater on this day, and was frozen like a popsicle from the air conditioning. :-) 

This was an excellent museum! It was comprehensive about history and how it related to African Americans from the 1400s through when the museum opened in 2016. Very informative, included a variety of mediums, and gave room to sit and reflect on each floor. I found that my kids got the most out of the short documentary videos playing throughout--they wanted to watch every single one, and the videos encapsulated a lot of the info shared in those areas. 

I wish I could have visited a museum like this when I was my kids' age--I'm so glad we got to go!

 I can't stop thinking about this point. After walking around Washington D.C. for days. America's capital city was literally built by African Americans.

A simulated lunch counter

Wilder did a Black History Month presentation about Bessie Colman in elementary school and he saw her info at the Air & Space Museum. Felicity did a presentation about Shirley Chisholm, shown here!

For lunch, we made sure to go to the Sweet Home Cafe in the museum, which is so good that they have a James Beard Foundation Awards Nominee Best American Cookbook with its recipes. There were so many yummy options on the menu! Zach and Felicity chose roasted chicken, Wilder had fries, I had creole-seasoned lamb chops and green beans. SO good.

After the African American History Museum, we decided to head over to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. We took an uber, since it was too bit far to walk. Once we got there, I selected time-stamped entry (there wasn't too much demand so tickets were available).

We had initially planned to just see the pandas, because they are only at two zoos in the entire United States (this one and the San Diego Zoo). But when we looked at the zoo map, Wilder wanted to see the Amazonian exhibit at the far end of the park and I wanted to see the Przewalski's horses. So we ended up walking around to the very end of the zoo and back. 

We really enjoyed the zoo, despite our feet being tired from walking all day, the uphill climb from the other end of the zoo, and the day really warming up. :-) Starbucks just outside the zoo after our visit revived us!

I can't get over how cute pandas are

 

Przewalski's horses

Fun fact: I have met Przewalski horses before, in Fort Worth. Kit Moncrief (A horsewoman and philanthropist) is part of the Smithsonian breeding program so she had some on her property. I wrote an article about it for Fort Worth Magazine.

I loved this sign! lol

Prairie Dog 

We saw black squirrels near the zoo! Our friend said they were originally a gift from Canada.

Steepest escalator I've ever seen. I nearly lost my balance and saw my life flash before my eyes

They love public transit

After another long and fun day touring around, we went back to the Pattersons to relax and visit with our friends.

Brady and Wilder playing

Next up: Day 6: National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center