A Day at the Museum, and Jungle Jim's, Too!

Kate and I spent today at the Air Force museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base just outside Dayton, Ohio.  Its official name is The National Museum of the United States Air Force, which is much more impressive...but it is an impressive collection of aircraft and related memorabilia. We have visited the museum a couple of times before, so this time we started at the collection of Presidential aircraft, and then moved to the collection of experimental aircraft. Those two sorts of aircraft are housed on the base itself, some distance from the main museum. They have all of the aircraft used by Presidents, from Roosevelt's Sacred Cow, up through the modern no-named Presidential One used from Kennedy through Clinton. There is the Cow, and Truman's Independence, and Eisenhower's Columbia III, as well as the blue and white aircraft that brought Kennedy's body back to Washington.

The Sacred Cow

The Independence

The Columbine III

On the other side of the same hangar are 20 or 30 research aircraft, ranging from the early X aircraft through the ancestors of the SR-71. It is all very interesting, and very large. We were pretty well used up by the time we had toured both hangers, but we mushed on to the main museum area. Parking at the museum was once easy, with closeup handicapped spaces, but one of the prices we pay for the mayhem produced by crazed Muslims is that the handicapped parking area, like so many others has been blocked off...it's too close to the buildings that make up the museum. As a result, everyone has to park in East Jesus. It was very annoying. Another annoying aspect of visiting the museum is that they seem to think no one looking at the hundreds and hundreds of aircraft there will ever want to sit down. Except for the very occasional 5 or 6 seats in front of a TV screen showing some film clip, there is not the first bench or other seating area. Like the fact that no one associated with the museum has ever noticed that their loud speaker announcements are completely unintelligible, no one associated with the museum has ever noticed that 50% or more of their visitors are old duffers that want to sit down from time to time. I intend to write the board of directors of the museum on all of those points.

With all of that bitching out of the way, let me say that the museum is well worth visiting...and it's free, too. And the parking in East Jesus is free too, unlike the $16 parking at the Dulles annex of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, which is the only collection of aircraft that in anyway rivals what you'll find at Wright Pat. If you've been, you should go again, because new things will have been added. If you haven't been, you should work at getting there: It's really something! Here's a picture of the B-29 named Bockscar. It dropped the second atomic bomb. That bomb was The Fat Man model to those of you that might care about that sort of thing. Today, August 14th, is the 70th anniversary of V-J Day, victory over Japan, in 1945. It was brought about by the Fat Man--after the second atomic bomb, the Japanese surrendered.

Here it is at the museum

One last observation: Kate and I thought it odd to see families posing in front of a full-size replica of the atomic bomb the aircraft dropped. Go figure.......

The next day, somewhat recovered from extensive museuming, Kate and I headed home, with a stop at Jungle Jim's place in the Cincinnati suburbs:

No, not this guy!

This guy!

Jungle Jim’s International Market is more than a grocery store, it’s a destination! With more than 200,000 square feet of shopping space in each of our stores, there are over 180,000 products from which to choose.

In addition to all the grocery items, you’ll find store tours, food demonstrations and lots of fun and attractions for the whole family.

Our stores also offer more gift shops, boutiques, restaurants and conveniences than any other mega store in the region. Stop in for an hour or make a day of it. However you do it, shopping at Jungle Jim’s is an experience you won’t forget!

And that's the truth. Kate stocked up on coconut milk and cheeses. We made it back to the farm about two hours later.
Cheers

E