060729 - Ohio
Ohio – July,2006
This week we played tourist in the state of Ohio. After leaving upstate New York, we carefully bypassed Cleveland (some of you will understand), and headed south for Akron.
As par for the course, we couldn’t find a local museum ( Re: Toy Marbles), and it was in a neighborhood of questionable safety, so we abandon our search and headed for a Wal-Mart.
The next morning, we sought and found a charming aircraft museum (MAPS – Military Aviation Preservation Society). It had a nice variety of vintage and modern war planes, as well as a shop where they rebuilt old planes and even get them flying again. They encourage teenagers and youths to participate in the reconstruction and get a very good crew of kids who learn to appreciate the history of aviation.
Then it was off to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This was quite a thrill. Besides the usually display of memorabilia of uniforms, equipment and the like, they had more movies and clips than anyone could watch in a weekend available. It was like a drug – the more we watched, the more we wanted to see.
In the actual Hall of Fame, it felt like a shrine with all of these busts displayed around the room in a subdued light. In the middle of the room was a bank of large computerized viewing screens where you could select any team, position, or time period and then watch more videos. They day went fast and so did my stamina and endurance. By the time we got back to the beast, it was all I could do to pull myself up that first big step.
Our next stop, Dayton, Ohio – found us at the United States Air Force Museum.
Having been to what I thought was the best air museum I’d seen so far being the Boeing in Seattle, I was really impressed here in Dayton.
We started out with a small problem … the handicap parking section was full (and believe me, I do everything I can to squeeze in anyplace I can), so we had to stay at the RV and Bus section which was at the opposite end of the lot, about ¼ mile away. It was quite a walk till we got to the front door, and I kept thinking about the walk back later.
Inside, we opted for a couple of movies at the Imax theatre and they were terrific. One about flight and the other about the Blue Angels.
The museum was actually about 6 large hangers (and I mean blimp hanger large), starting with early flight all the way up to space travel. Many displays were enhanced with scenery and manikins of the period. There were planes on the floor, and hanging from the walls and ceiling. It reminded me of my childhood when my brother and I would build model ships and planes and then hang them from shelves to simulate flying.
In one “room”, they had a B-52, which is a huge plane. Its wingspan is longer than the first flight of the Wright brothers, and the hanger still had room for at least 30 other aircraft, including a super cargo carrier.
By the way, something I did not know, … the Wright brothers grew up and had their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They selected Kitty Hawk Virginia for their test flights because of the weather conditions and wind currents.
By 4:30 we were really tired, and with legs and back giving out, we headed for the exit. Just then, they announced the museum was closing in 30 minutes. We could barely see the outline of the Beast in the distance, and finally climbed in 40 minutes later and collapsed. The one great advantage to the Beast is that once you’re inside – you are home. After a great sandwich and glass of cold lemonade and a 15 minute nap, we started the engine and headed for camp and an early night’s sleep.
This week we played tourist in the state of Ohio. After leaving upstate New York, we carefully bypassed Cleveland (some of you will understand), and headed south for Akron.
As par for the course, we couldn’t find a local museum ( Re: Toy Marbles), and it was in a neighborhood of questionable safety, so we abandon our search and headed for a Wal-Mart.
The next morning, we sought and found a charming aircraft museum (MAPS – Military Aviation Preservation Society). It had a nice variety of vintage and modern war planes, as well as a shop where they rebuilt old planes and even get them flying again. They encourage teenagers and youths to participate in the reconstruction and get a very good crew of kids who learn to appreciate the history of aviation.
Then it was off to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This was quite a thrill. Besides the usually display of memorabilia of uniforms, equipment and the like, they had more movies and clips than anyone could watch in a weekend available. It was like a drug – the more we watched, the more we wanted to see.
In the actual Hall of Fame, it felt like a shrine with all of these busts displayed around the room in a subdued light. In the middle of the room was a bank of large computerized viewing screens where you could select any team, position, or time period and then watch more videos. They day went fast and so did my stamina and endurance. By the time we got back to the beast, it was all I could do to pull myself up that first big step.
Our next stop, Dayton, Ohio – found us at the United States Air Force Museum.
Having been to what I thought was the best air museum I’d seen so far being the Boeing in Seattle, I was really impressed here in Dayton.
We started out with a small problem … the handicap parking section was full (and believe me, I do everything I can to squeeze in anyplace I can), so we had to stay at the RV and Bus section which was at the opposite end of the lot, about ¼ mile away. It was quite a walk till we got to the front door, and I kept thinking about the walk back later.
Inside, we opted for a couple of movies at the Imax theatre and they were terrific. One about flight and the other about the Blue Angels.
The museum was actually about 6 large hangers (and I mean blimp hanger large), starting with early flight all the way up to space travel. Many displays were enhanced with scenery and manikins of the period. There were planes on the floor, and hanging from the walls and ceiling. It reminded me of my childhood when my brother and I would build model ships and planes and then hang them from shelves to simulate flying.
In one “room”, they had a B-52, which is a huge plane. Its wingspan is longer than the first flight of the Wright brothers, and the hanger still had room for at least 30 other aircraft, including a super cargo carrier.
By the way, something I did not know, … the Wright brothers grew up and had their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They selected Kitty Hawk Virginia for their test flights because of the weather conditions and wind currents.
By 4:30 we were really tired, and with legs and back giving out, we headed for the exit. Just then, they announced the museum was closing in 30 minutes. We could barely see the outline of the Beast in the distance, and finally climbed in 40 minutes later and collapsed. The one great advantage to the Beast is that once you’re inside – you are home. After a great sandwich and glass of cold lemonade and a 15 minute nap, we started the engine and headed for camp and an early night’s sleep.
posted by The Highway Guys @ 8:18 PM
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