It rained again and we thought we might just stay in the hotel until check-out time at noon. However, my husband wanted to go to the National Air and Space Museum, which is a couple of blocks from a subway stop on the line we'd travel to to the airport. So, when it had not been raining for a while, we thought we should give it a try and visit for an hour.
We easily made the change from the Red line to the Yellow at good old Gallery Place. When we got out at the L'Enfant Plaza exit, we saw the food trucks that our daughter frequents for lunch. At the museum, we had some trouble at security, when they saw a corkscrew in my husband's suitcase with the scanner. He had to go outside to get rid of it. I could see him in the entryway trying to find the darn thing. A visitor overheard and told me he should just put it in his pocket, but he was outside and I couldn't tell him. (He should have just put it in a planter to retrieve later, but he threw it out.) What bugged us was that TSA hadn't cared about it for the plane. Why did the museum?
The next frustration was that there was no bag check. We had to drag everything around with us. It didn't help that the place was packed. My husband said that he'd heard it was the most popular museum in America. I was surprised to see so many kids, since school is still in session there. However, I soon realized they were often in groups, so it was probably field trips.
Before the satellite went out last night due to the storm, we'd been watching a show on lNational Geographic about the Wright Brithers and Glenn Curtiss. We thought, we'd continue learning about them here. The first exhibit we visited was on the ground floor and focused on early flight as if we were at an exhibition in the teens of the last century. There were exhibits on the Wright Brothers' company and Glenn Curtiss' company, as well as foreign pilots and female pilots. In watching the program last night, I'd come to favor Curtiss, because the Wrights were so litigious and not "giving their plane" to the world, as people claim. I was glad to see him in this exhibit and the next.
This is the Wright 1909 Military flyer.
Going upstairs, we passed The Spirit of St. Louis and SpaceShipOne. 
What a timespan they represent!
We visited the room devoted to the Wright Brothers. They were odd ducks, but they accomplished a lot. The exhibit showed the front of their home and the Wright Flyer.
It was a well-documented exhibit that explained why the museum replaced the fabric on the Flyer and did not flinch from discussing the accident that resulted in the first death of a person on a plane, which is where we left off last night. I was glad to read that Curtiss became the biggest plane manufacturer pre-World War I. The exhibit even included the airplane in popular culture, such as songs, movies and books. Really interesting!
No museum visit is complete without a visit to the shop. I fought my way around the kids to get postcards and a pin, while my husband waited outside with the luggage. My Smithsonian discount had the effect of getting the postcards for free.
It was time to head to the airport and a light, but insistent rain had begun. It is not easy to use an umbrella while pulling a suitcase and dealing with a bag. We had to wait a bit, but the train came and we headed off for Reagan Natiional Airport. I really prefer calling it National. We figured out which way to go to reach USAir's gates and headed off.
When we were near security, we stopped so that I could change out of sneakers into sandals. I made a quick check of a monitor and was glad I did- the plane was leaving over 1 hour late and from the other end of the terminal. Well,drats. We could have stayed at the museum longer or eaten at the Native American Museum. Like the woman ahead of us, we had to explain to TSA that the gate had changed since we printed our boarding pass. We didn't have PreCheck on this flight, so we had to go through the full-body scanner and she even patted down my pockets.
I established a base camp at a table, while my husband went off in search of food. I took that time to call two of the officers of my club to say I would be later than expected, but I would get there, perhaps in time for the business meeting at 7. (I am the president .) My husband returned with a Jackson salad (chicken, bacon, avocado, walnuts, and honey Dijon mustard for himself) and a Pattison hoagie (citrus braised pork, sautéed broccoli rabe and sharp provolone) for me from Taylor Gourmet. The sandwich was good and rather different, but I was frustrated by how often the broccoli rabe fell out of it.
The gate changed again and the departure time was pushed back another 21 minutes. I took a walk, as I felt a migraine coming on. I decided we needed fruit. So, I got a fruit salad in a cup from a pizza palce,and then picked up a Coke Zero from another shop. The delay gave my husband time for business calls and me time to read and play games.
My husband had changed our seats last night to give us more room, but we still wound up with a person in the window seat, while the rows around us had no more than 2 passengers. Yet another irritation.
The plane wound up taking off almost two hours late. We finally found out there had been mechanical problems with the plane while it was in Charlotte before coming to us. I did finish the Smithsonian I'd brought, so, hurray. Also, since the plane was less full, they gave us whole cans of soda.
It was a bumpy ride and it was raining when we reached OIA.
By the time we reached the terminal, it was 7:25. I called the Vice President, who said she was almost through with my agenda and I should go home. On the shuttle to the place we'd left the card, I found myself giving advice to a couple heading for Disney. I told them about the parks and recommended the Animal Kingdom Lodge's restaurants and animals. I begged the, to not eat American food in Epcot, to please not be those people. They appreciated the advice.
We stopped for a burger from McDonald's for me and I got our mail and papers from a neighbor.
When I checked my email, I found messages indicating the gate changed 3 times and that the first one announcing the delay said to show up at the original time anyway!!! A message on the home phone said the same thing. Why? When have they ever gone back to the scheduled time after announcing a delay?
It was a very good trip. It was a great way to begin my retirement, but now I should unpack.
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