From the cool mountains of North Carolina, I made a beeline to the hot streets of our nation’s capitol. Fortunately, I have both family and friends in D.C., so it was an action-packed few days.
First stop was to see my Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Jon (who may just happen to be my namesake), and cousins Kristin and Katie. As an unexpected bonus, my Aunt Janet was visiting as well!
VA Sourbeers (in hats!)
Aunt Cheryl, Kristin, Katie, and Uncle Jon
Why are we wearing hats, you ask? I think the question you should be asking yourself is, ‘why don’t I wear a hat in all my pictures?’
Actually, we had great fun discussing our little family idiosyncrasies, and came upon a story in which a friend of another Sourbeer (my uncle Emory) instantly recognized my Uncle Jon as a relative based upon his bearing and particular choice of hat. What can I say? We Sourbeers stand out in a crowd!
The many hats of Jon B. Sourbeer
Day 1:
For my first full day in D.C. I started exploring the city with my Aunt Janet, and we decided to hit an old classic – the Smithsonian.
And among the Smithsonian museums, my favorite is probably the Museum of Natural History. We had a great time exploring many of the new exhibits that had appeared since I had last been in D.C.
The new ocean area was quite fascinating, and had quite a few incredible displays, including the jaws of a ‘Giant Great White’.
It’s a bit hard to tell in the photo, but if you notice in the bottom left, there is a plaque with a sizing the comparison. The tiny little blob to the left of giant great white isn’t a fish, it’s a regular size great white. The jaws on the giant great white could pretty much act as double doors to a building. Yeah, Jaws has nothing on that guy.
My Aunt and I spent most of the day exploring the rest of the museum, including the incredible ‘Minerals and Gems’ exhibit, and the insect exhibit, which is pretty unique, because it is the only part of the museum with living specimens (well, they might have some plants, too).
We also explored the gardens and the new African-American and Asian museums on the grounds behind the castle. The gardens are pretty fascinating, because they form a micro-climate that is often more temperate than the rest of D.C.
Finally, to conclude the day, I grabbed a delicious dinner at the Lebanese Taverna in Pentagon City with some old college buddies of mine: Nate Meyer and John Gaebler. A good time was had by all, and we had a chance to catch up on all sorts of great stories, and give John’s girlfriend, Sabrina, an idea of what she was getting into.
Day 2:
The second day in D.C. was more relaxed, but still great fun. After a leisurely morning, I went out to my Uncle’s garage, where he was working on his Toyota FJ Cruiser. My Uncle entirely rebuilt the cruiser over the course of two years, and he was kind enough to give me a crash course in car repair and design while he repaired a broken bolt on the side of the engine.
If you can’t see the missing bolt, you’re clearly not looking hard enough. Just stare at it until you do…
It was really fascinating stuff, and building a car/vehicle of some sort is now on my list of things to do before I die. I’m hoping by the time I get around to it, I can work on an 2037 Toyota Solar Ship, that can run to Mars and back on a single fusion engine, but that might be the sci-fi nerd in me talking.
Anyway, after spending some time in the garage, Uncle Jon and I grabbed a great lunch at a burger joint, and then I headed off to hike the area around Great Falls.
It’s a beautiful park with some really nice paths and a wonderful picnic area. I had been to the area before, so I hiked a trail I had never traveled to the North. I got some great exercise and a chance to appreciate the beauty you often miss in a big city like D.C.
That night, I headed to Barracks’ Row and grabbed some good tacos, and good conversation, at a cantina with Nate.
Day 3:
The final day of my journey through D.C. was quite possibly the most interesting (hmmm, that might be taken the wrong way). My Uncle Jon had told me of a companion exhibit to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, called the Udvar-Hazy. Before I came to D.C., I had no idea the spot even existed. Now I’ll recommend it to anyone who goes there. The place is spectacular, especially for Air and Space buffs like me. The museum itself is the largest continuous open space in the world, and crammed full of some of the most historically significant aircraft besides the Wright airplane and the Apollo capsule housed at the main Smithsonian museum. Some of the very first airplane models, the progression of flight, and the most off-the-wall planes and devices reside there.
Minicopter, anyone?
It was amazing to find so many incredibly important historical planes, like the ‘Enola Gay’ and the first passenger jetliner just sitting out for everyone to see.
The ‘Enola Gay’
I wish I had had more time to explore it, including the observation deck over the main Dulles airport, and the flight simulators they have for various aircraft. But most of my time was spent just wandering around, looking at planes and surviving engines, of which there are no other copies in the world. And if airplanes aren’t your thing, there’s also a whole space section, with the shuttle ‘Discovery’ and several amazing satellites.
‘Discovery’
You can see one of NASA’s communication satellites, the golden umbrella, hanging over Discovery. But the piece de resistence was the SR-71 Blackbird. Although it has undoubtedly been replaced by some incredible craft that isn’t declassified yet, the SR-71 is one of the most impressive aerospace engineering feats in history – so fast, it was essentially untouchable by any weapon. It’s also pretty much the coolest looking aircraft ever:
Yes, it is the plane that inspired the X-men Blackbird.
After all those planes, it’s had to imagine wanting to go see any other airspace museum again!
To conclude the day, I got one more chance to catch up with my family. My Aunt Cheryl and cousin Kristin, who had been busy all week, finally had a chance to sit down and talk, and we had another wonderful evening of great conversation.
To finish up the experience I went to a final lunch with my Uncle and cousin Kristin at a delicious Kebab restaurant and then headed off to the Poconos.
See everyone again soon!
