Warbird Information Exchange

Hello All

I am riding from Indiana to Washington D.C. for the Rolling Thunder gathering Memorial weekend. I will have only Saturday when I am not commited to Rolling Thunder functions. Can I do the Air and Space museum and the Udvar-Hazy Center facility in a day? What other military museums are in the area? I am a newbie to Washington D.C.

Thank You

Glen

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Its only " THE LAND OF THE FREE" because of the brave.
Proud member Rolling Thunder Indiana Chapter 6

No you can't do both in one day if you want to see anything.

Udvar-Hazy is bigger, has more aircraft than downtown and is normally less crowded.

Kind of depends on where you are staying as to which will be easier to see.

Regards,
Mike (DC Native)

Both can be done in a day, but in order to do that, be at either place (probably the Udvar center) at opening time...spend a few hours, then go to downtown DC...the other Air & Space is on the mall. So much to see in only a day...Some of the memorials are a few mins from down town, and Arlington Cemetary is just on the other side of the river in VA. My uncle is burried there, and has a nice view of the pentagon and the Washington Memorial (which is also downtown). I suggested the Hazy center first because everything else is downtown. The museums usually close up about 4 or 5:00. It's a nice time to spend a day. Not sure about other military musuems, but Aberdeen is a 1.5 hours north on I-95, but that CAN'T be done as well. Good luck, take some pics, and happy riding. I'm enjoying my bike as well.

As Mike pointed out, not everything can be done in a day if you dont mind rushing and "skipping" a few things...

Both of them are right. If you want tos ee it all and read it all, then no, you can't do both. But if you don't mind kind of getting a good overview, then sure. Start at Udvar Hazy, and then go downtown. THen when the museum closes, you are downtown with the monuments that are still open. Do yourself a favor, tour the monuments in both the day, and night. If you want to take night pics, bring a tripod. You will NOT be sorry for viewing the monuments this way.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Depends on your focus.

The single most moving thing I've seen in DC was the Holocaust Museum. They have actual beds from one of the camps, and you actually walk through one of the railroad cars the Nazis used. I only had a few hours, so I had to do it faster than I'd have liked, but my soul was intensely moved.

Arlington National Cemetary is also incredibly moving. Seeing the graves of so many, both historic and unheralded, along with the Tomb of the Unknowns...well, that's it's own kind of intense.

I'd also strongly recommend the WWII monument, and do it soon, while there are still veterans that you can watch.

I say watch because the first time I went, I watched as men for whom the monument exists shuffled in their time-tattered gait around, and watched them linger at various places memorializing where they had served, and where their comrades lost their lives...watching that was, for me as moving as speaking with them.

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

The Natl Museum of the USMC located at Quantico is a first class facility and display. There are about a dozen aircraft for viewing although many are suspened overhead.

Thanks guys! That gives me a start.

Glen

_________________
Its only " THE LAND OF THE FREE" because of the brave.
Proud member Rolling Thunder Indiana Chapter 6

I was in DC in March. What I did on my last day was start @ Arlington Cemetery-got to see the changing of the guard, and walked across the Arlington Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, then worked my way up the Mall and ended at the Air & Space Museum. Started @ 10:30 or so and finished the day @ 5PM when the Air and Space closed-they may be open later now.

I would recomend that you stay closer to downtown for a single day. I totally agree that Arlington is the place to start. If you have never seen the changing of the gaurd that alone would make the day complete and doing it on a week day is the best as the crowds are less. From there you can metro to the mall and check hte Air Space, American History, and the WWII museum- all within walking. And if you have never been to Lincoln Memorial it is well worth climging the steps to check it out as well as the view of hte capital. Not necessary Aviation related but I think it ties into the underlying theme of why we honor our veterans by keeping the airplanes flying.

The problem wiht Udvar Hazy is that it really takes an hour of travel from Downtown and they hit you for 20 bucks to park. Not bad if you can devot the whole day, but may not be worth it for a few hours and traffic there and back is really hit or miss so even in the middle of hte day you can hit rush hour and loss even more time sitting in a car.

Overall I think you will get more bang for you buck dowtown and do a lot more in a short time.

Keep in mind that it will me Memorial Day Weekend, people and traffic will be in abundance. The Mall (downtown) and every attraction nearby will be packed.
Played tour guide over Easter weekend and took some guests to the American History Museum, you couldn't walk inside due to the amount of people. We left after 20 minutes, it just wasn't enjoyable. Typically the Air & Space Museum will be the same way.

If aircraft are your focus, Udvar-Hazy is a bit out of the way so it is usually less crowded.

Good luck,
Mike

I visited D.C. twice in the past couple of months... and everyone is exactly right.

Check the museum/smithsonian websites for closing times.

I spent about 2-3 hours at the Mall A&S (I had been there before, and knew what I wanted to see -Flak Bait-). The Mall museum was VERY crowded.

I spent about 4 hours or so at Udvar-Hazy (I had to get home).

In both cases I think that was enough to get a general overview of each museum.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hazy+visit

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NASM Mall is now closing per their Summer hours, so at 7:30pm.

NASM Dulles will shift to Summer hours in June, will be open until 6:30.

Recommended sequence is Dulles first, then Mall, due to the later hours Downtown. Expect parking issues, even with a motorcycle. And remember that there are some limited amount of aviation artifacts in both the Castle and the American History Museum.