Travel Tips & Adventures

By Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw; Photos by George Bradshaw

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. Located in Washington, DC on the National Mall, it also has a companion facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles Airport at Chantilly, VA.

The space shuttle Enterprise is housed at the Udvar-Hazy Center, as is one of Amelia Earhart’s planes.

The NASM holds in trust some 50,000 objects, including air craft, space craft, engines, rockets, uniforms, space suits, balloons and artwork. The Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer is on display with related artifacts. A whole section is dedicated to the Wright Brothers with original and replica flying machines.

Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis

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By Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw
Photos by George Bradshaw

When we first arrived at Mt. Vernon, I didn’t realize it was going to be as extensive as it was. From the outside, the visitor center looks like any other visitor center, with its statues, gift shop and counters full of brochures and people to inform you of the wonders of the place you are about to see. Once you get through the visitor center, it is a whole other world outside. (more…)

Everyone loves a day at the zoo!  And one of the best zoos is the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.  Get on your comfortable walking shoes and plan to spend a day visiting the animals with your human animal family, because the zoo is even more fun with kids.

It’s All Happening at the Zoo

There is often a newborn – animal, that is – that creates quite a stir.  

The pandas are one of the prime attractions at the zoo.  With everyone jockeying for position, it may be hard to get some great photos.  It was fun watching the pandas, though, as they ate their bamboo and lumbered about.  They are so big and fluffy that you have to remind yourself that they are bears, so I was glad of the separation from them.

There are three pandas to view these days and they are playful and fun to watch, but sometimes, not totally active.  Hey, you wouldn’t want to move around a lot in the DC heat and humidity, either!

Playful Panda with Bamboo

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What better way to celebrate USA’S birthday than a visit to Washington, DC!

Imagine standing in bone-chillingly freezing weather near a large, manmade lake (The famous Tidal Pool) with two impressive monuments across from you, just waiting for sunrise.  That was the scenario for me several years ago in Washington, DC during the spring cherry blossom season.

Almost on a dare, I decided to try photography at sunrise since I’d always heard it was the best.  Well, it was, but the cold was so numbing that I almost couldn’t get my fingers to push the camera shutter.

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Jefferson Memorial at Sunrise

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