On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:05:26 -0500, DCMacLean
wrote:

I'm going to be in Washington for a few days next month. I have
limited time and would like some opinions re the two Air & Space Museum
sites -- at the Mall vs at Dulles. Since I won't have time to do both
sites, which would be the better. We will have a couple of kids with us
also.

For a hard-core aviation nut, no question that the Udvar Hazy annex is
the place to be. But if you can do only the one, then I think you're
better off at the main musuem on the Mall. This is the most visited
museum in the world, and not only because it offers an air-conditioned
respite from DC in summer. It's much more of a theme park, while the
U-H annex is basically a hangar full of warbirds and important *types*
of civilian planes. There's an Imax both places, with kids and adults
queueing up for it, but the kids likely will enjoy even more the WWI
airfield and the aircraft carrier deck at the Mall museum. The
galleries are designed for visitors instead of being limited to
walkways. There's a full-bore food facility (just box lunches at U-H,
at least when I was there). And of course you can move on to another
museum when the kids tire of it, whereas at U-H you are in "edge city"
as it is called, endless motels and business parks and no sidewalks.

Either way, an experience not to be missed.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com