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Published: August 19th 2017
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Spitfire
Pride of place in the planes of WWII section. Today is museum day so we needed to pick our preferred museums and go visit. My son and I wanted to go to the National Museum of American History and the National Air and Space Museum. My wife wanted to go to the National Museum of The American Indian.
Leaving the hotel was a bit of a shock. Even early in the morning it was phenomenally hot - definitely the hottest day so far so it seemed like a long walk down to the National Mall.
The American History Museum was fantastic. We asked a guide about the museum and, realising that we were British, he referred us to the Price of Freedom section, noting it doesn't paint us in a good light.
The Price of Freedom is the largest section of the museum, but seems to leave you thinking that the history of America is the history of war: the War of Independence; the Civil War; the First World War; the Second World War; the Korean War; the Vietnam War; the Cold War and the Iraq War. What it did do however is give a real insight into the place that guns currently have in the American
Super Jet
The fastest plane - Mach 6. mindset and hence why there is so much passion about the Second Amendment. It also gave historical context to the the current events in Charlottesville and the heated views about the removal of the statues of General Robert E Lee and General "Stonewall" Jackson. I can't believe I am about to say this, but I think I agree with Trump in that it is sanitising the country's history.
It was also really interesting to see how the country grew from the original 13 states to the current 50.
I also left me a bit bitter about the French - collaborating to undermine the British. I also wondered why it didn't cover any of the pre-independence history. Yes, it arguably was not America then, but it is the history of America none the less. Just my view.
Other sections covered the history and the role of the president, American enterprise, African American history and the history of American democracy.
It was then off to the Air and Space Museum. The big difference with this and the previous museum was the number of children - everywhere and extremely noisy. The museum is fantastic with lots to see and,
Wright Brothers
The original plane in the centre of the Wright Brothers' exhibit. if you are a child, to do. The Apollo space Programme was well covered, although not was dramatically as it is at the Kennedy Space Centre, the Space Shuttle Missions, aircraft of the World Wars and the space race of the 1950s. I didn't realise that many of the rockets used to put satellites into space and the like were actually converted Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.
There was a big section on the Wright brothers, including the actual plane. There was another section where it was nice to see the Starship Enterprise make an appearance.
My wife enjoyed the American Indian Museum, which covered the history of the indigenous people far beyond the boarders of the current USA. If I was worried about the actions of Britain as portrayed in American history, then that is absolutely nothing compared to the likely reaction of any American who go to this museum.
Once back in the hotel an awful new news story from Barcelona has replaced the Charlottesville story. It really does seem that the new channels can only cover one story at a time. The Trump response has again been very news worthy, and CNN are letting rip following him bringing in some apparently untrue story about a General Pershing.
The news does keep getting in the way of all the drug adverts, which seem to make up the vast majority of the ads, with most of the time needed to list all the shocking side-effects that seem to include everything up to and including an horrific, painful death.
We fancied some donuts as a treat in the late afternoon, but ironically the local Dunkin' Donuts had run out of donuts.'
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