Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

9 September 2014 - Dulles, Virginia

Weather: Maximum 19C (degrees Celsius) with humidity but no rain.

We awoke to American time to start our first day of sightseeing, checking out of our hotel room but leaving the bags at reception.  We took a taxi to the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum.  My husband is fascinated by planes, space and space travel so this will be the first place we are to visit to kick start the trip, visiting the first of four space shuttles.

Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

We arrived before the museum opened so that we could get the maximum time in the museum as we didn't have the full day to see it in.  Once the museum opened we were one of the first people in.  From the upstairs foyer you have a view over the SR-71.  We wanted to get to the space shuttle before anyone else.  But we were caught up by the volunteer willing to show us a Cessna.  He explains how to fly a Cessna and we sat inside it moving the steering wheel and peddles on his instructions.  Once we politely listened to his explanations we rushed off to join the other people viewing the Discovery Space Shuttle.  It is truly awe inspiring due to its size and the "romance" of space travel.

SR-71

Discovery Space Shuttle

I am not a plane expert and thought I would be bored in this museum but this was not the case.  It is an interesting place to visit and you can take guided tours.  Luckily hubby had read up on many of the planes and as a mechanic he was very interested in there designs and capabilities, sharing much of this information with me.

Sabre

Tom Cat

After seeing the Sabre and Tom Cat and a number of other planes it was time to have a snack at the McDonald's on site.  This would be our first fast food experience in the US, so why not McDonald's?  It was different to those at home, such as Biscuits instead of McMuffin’s.  These biscuits are not like the ones we know of in Australia but more like a scone.  It was strange to us to eat a scone in this manner, they are meant to be eaten with jam and cream, not eggs and bacon.

Next stop was to get the IMAX ticket email exchanged for the actual tickets and then buying flight simulator tickets.  The first flight simulator we tried was the fighter plane F-4E Phantom II.  Justin was the pilot and I was the gunner.  We had a practice go outside the simulator on a small screen where Justin found it difficult to find the planes for me to shoot at.   This was the case within the simulator, he certainly hasn't found another profession.  Having just finished a large hot chocolate, being turned upside down a number of times in a row was not ideal and I spent most of the time saying "God, Justin".  After a while I stopped being mad and just laughed every time we rolled in pursuit of the enemy.  We managed to shot down two planes, but if this was life or death we would have had no hope.  This flight simulator was so much fun we decided we would give the space shuttle simulator ago, which was so tame after the fighter pilot one.  Note do the space one first or choose the one which best suits the type of experience you want.  A plus to the space shuttle simulator is to experience what it would be like to re-enter the earth's atmosphere when returning from space. This makes it totally worth going on.

The planes from the viewing platform in the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum 

Then we spent more time looking at the remaining planes until it was time for the IMAX screening - The Dream Is Alive, giving an interesting insight into the space shuttle, the training required by astronauts and the work carried out on the shuttle when in space.

After the IMAX screening we decided to do the guided tour.  Robert Covey was our guide, he was knowledgeable and showed us most of the planes and the restoration area. This made our tour blow out to, two hours but worth it.

Restoration Area of the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

Sadly it was time to leave the museum to get back to the hotel to grab our bags.  Luggage in hand we got the hotel’s shuttle (bus not space) to the airport to get the Washington Flyer to the Wiehle-Reston Metro.  It took a bit to work out the ticketing system and no one had time to help us.  After purchasing our tickets, not sure if we under or over charged ourselves we got a train to Farragust West, where we had around a six minute walk up 18 Street to the Quincy Hotel.  That night we dined at the Grill Daily having Blackberry sauce pork chops with fries and Justin had the Brick cooked chicken with fries.  The food was nice but pricey.

Our room at The Quincy