Parker and I woke up Saturday and decided to cross something off of our Virginia bucket list. It was a really cold day, so since we weren't going to be able to do much outside, it was a perfect day for one of the many museums my husband has on the agenda to see. If you know me, you know I'm not really a museum person. I wish I was because I think people who enjoy museums are so well rounded and intelligent, but I would usually rather play a board game or go see a movie. Parker loves history museums and anything to do with airplanes, so I adopted the "I-love-my-husband-so-I'm-going-to-suck-it-up-and-go-to-a-museum" mentality for the day. Honestly though, I ended up having the best time! It's always fun seeing your husband so excited about something, so that definitely helped, but I felt like I learned a lot and really enjoyed looking at all of the airplanes. The thing that sets this museum apart is that all of the planes are in flying condition with the exception of 4. These planes are decades old and still fly around on the weekends... how cool is that?
The guys that volunteer at this museum just genuinely love airplanes, so it was neat hearing their stories and learning where each plane came from and what its purpose was. There was a Navy hangar, an Army hangar, a WWI hangar, and an original German hangar.
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| Photo opp with the Model 75 Stearman |
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| Army Hangar |
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| Parker in front of a TBF Avenger |
The below picture of Parker was just too good not to post. Apparently this is his motivator face. Feel motivated yet?
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| F4U Corsair |
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| Junkers JU52 |
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| We got to see one of the pilots take the SNJ out for a spin! |
Even though I really feel like I listened and learned a few things, I still had to have Parker go through this post and identify each plane. I can listen all I want, but unfortunately I don't speak the language of plane.
Saturday was just a fun day. We loved getting to spend the afternoon at the museum, and we capped the evening off with a little date night to go see the movie Big Eyes (we liked it!). If you are in the Norfolk/VA Beach area and like history, planes, and/or have a husband for a pilot, we highly recommend spending a day at the Aviation Museum!
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| In front of a combat veteran Focke-Wulf Fw 198 |
14 comments :
I feel like I could have wrote this lol. I've been meaning to make a VA bucket list for quite sometime. My oldest is obsessed with planes and we have yet to make it to the museum
This looks like a fantastic place!
This looks like so much fun! I'll have to recommend it to Dan if we're ever in the area! We love the National Museum of the Air Force here in Dayton - it is HUGE and takes hours and hours to work your way through. My favorites are the WWII planes and of course the Presidential hangar... because you can walk through several of the old Air Force Ones! :)
We are heading down to VA Beach in the spring! Love it there!
What a cool museum! I'm an Air Force brat, so I love planes.
That looks awesome! Whenever I make it to VA Beach (Because I will SOMEDAY) I will have to visit the museum!
This looks like a really neat place! Love the photos.
So do you think Parker will volunteer someday at the museums?
My husband would love this!!
I like your line "I don't speak the language of plane". I feel like that about several things my husband is into...especially things with numbers! I really don't speak numbers...
Love this post! We live right next to an Air Force Base and next to the base is a huge aviation museum. I have been taking my son there since he was five and now he will be eleven in a couple weeks. Brendan loves this museum and could name out every.single.aircraft. Of course his favorite is the Thunderbirds, but he has a few close seconds. We have endless amounts of pictures taken here...this is probably one of the only places bren doesnt mind me taking his picture at...he gets proud to stand in front of each airplane to let me capture on camera. Each year, this same museum has an awesome flying show (I guess that's what they are officially called__that's what we call it anyhow, lol) and bren and I attend that every year...it amazes me, each time we go, at the talent these military pilots have...just unbelievable!
There is also a great aviation museum over in Hampton Roads!
We almost had our wedding reception there, but we were a little nervous about getting there in bad weather, and luckily we decided against it because it snowed the night before and day of our wedding!
We went to a WWII themed Valentine's dance there and I HIGHLY recommend it if they're still hosting one! Great food, great music, everyone volunteering was in period costumes and many of the guests were too!
Pretty impressive for a private collection, huh?!
So cool! I love that you got to see one of the planes in action.
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