I spent every free moment I had during my AIT, in the museum. I watched them tune a baby grand, an then play 2hours of really fine clasic music, then another day we watched them build a log cabin. I saw the Hope diamond and walked into a steam engine that had a cylinder that was6-8 feet in diameter. The Air an Space part was like a drug to me. I could have lived there. If you have never been, you are missing the single must interesting place on the planet. The only negative thing to the Smithsonin, is you can NOT see it all.
You bet, Guyfang, I remember that log cabin! That's cool that you watched them build it. I didn't see it until after it got built.
That was back in the old Museum of History and Technology.
It's the same building, and even pretty much the same exhibits (+/-), only now it's called the National Museum of American History.
They had an old drug store interior in there too as an exhibit. And my old man told me how he used to go to that same actual drug store as a kid, when he was growing up in D.C. and before it became something "historic" that the Smithsonian wanted to preserve. Wacky!
Oh, and for the record I believe that the Air and Space Museum is the single-most visited museum in the entire world (or at least it used to be). So you're not alone in being thrilled by that place. It IS pretty cool.
I guess I'll have to go back and check out the Me-262. There's even an "Ask the Expert" session at the exhibit on May 13 I noticed. I guess I'm there!