The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA

The Museum of Flight south of downtown Seattle made for an interesting, educational and fun afternoon today. The museum is located adjoining The Boeing Company's Red Barn® —the original manufacturing facility. The museum contains real planes from the beginning of aviation to present day aircraft. You really see and learn about the history of aviation and how it's evolved in a relatively short period of time. The museum has a dedicated area for WWI and WWII aircraft which includes planes from most nations involved in these wars. In addition, The Boeing Company's Red Barn® is part of the museum and really shows how The Boeing Company got it's start. The Red Barn® shows how the early wooden planes were constructed by hand. This was all very interesting (OK, I think Suzanne was bored out of her mind), but the highlight was being able to walk aboard an old retired Air Force One plane that used by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. It was very fascinating to see their accommodations and the technology available back then. It was amazing the history that was made in this plane. Suzanne actually liked this part. Next to this plane was a Concord that we were able to board and look around as well. These two planes were the only ones in the museum that you are able to tour. The museum also includes a ton of information about each plane and how they were used. Lastly, there is a area devoted to space travel which contains actual artifacts that you can examine up close. I enjoyed this area more than I expected. Plan to spend several hours to see and experience it all. But don't worry about going hungry for they have a cafe (run by McCormick & Schmick's Restaurant) that we found was pretty good and reasonably priced.

Tip: The entrance fee is $14 per adult, but they honor AAA discounts, and there are $2 off coupons for each person up to four to be found in the Favorite Seattle Attractions Pamphlet.