Have returned to Ohio

Back in Columbus after a few days away. We almost could have driven to our destination as American Airlines had a massive cock up on Thursday morning for a flight to Chicago, and our flight. We were about three and a half hours late in departure.

Nevertheless we arrived at the ancestral home and had a very good time. Went out east on Friday. My son was not pleased being out in the open spaces and by the water. He just wanted to chill. He did not sleep well four of the five nights we were there. He did eat better as the weekend progressed.

Here's a photo dump, with some descriptions of what we did.




Bethpage Park, about five minutes from my parents house. Home of the Long Island Ducks of the independent league. Great place to see a game. If this was around 35 years ago when I was growing up, I would have been here all the time instead of Putt-Putt.



Fudgie the Whale knows.



It was Bud Harrellson bobble head night. My friend Jodi re-enacted the great fight he had with Pete Rose. Awesome!



The Museum of Natural History. Can't beat the dinos. I had not been here in years. When we went on field trips we always seemed to start on the bottom floors and never had time to see the fourth floor, where all the dinosaurs are.



The dioramas here are amazing.

Japanese girl giving the peace sign in front of a Tiki God. Come on!

My favorite diorama of all. Why?

Aw, look at the cute, dead otter.

Central Park was wonderful for a post-museum walk. Hey, a wedding!

The Bow Bridge.

Central Park Bandshell. Yes, is the answer!

Serious playground ball on 4th Street. The trash talking is amazing.

McSorley's Ale House, the greatest bar in the world.

This was outside of some theater/bar on St. Marks Place. I have not had time to research it, but there's Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones, who were in A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers.

I took pictures in all the subway stations.

Great visit. As always, there is never enough time. I did get to see a couple of friends and a few relatives. My wife met some more of the family. Had a brief, but wonderful time with an old friend from elementary school and his family. Ate some fresh fried sea bass, drank plenty. I think it was a good visit.

Back to work tomorrow. First day of school for my son. He starts the fourth grade. Where did the time go?

I see those fighter planes

Beautiful day for a mini road trip. We headed to Dayton to see the Air Force Museum. I had not been there for about twenty years and was wondering what types of changes had been made. There seemed to be a lot of improvements. A stunning amount of information on the walls and exhibits. What impressed her, and surprised me, was how little flag waving and blatant America F-yeah there was, especially since I have not been there since the end of the Gulf war.



She'd never seen a Wright Flyer up close before. Yes, that thing flew. Both of us were appreciative of the exhibits about the early days of military aviation. Here she is with a Sopwith Camel.



There are a lot of stories about the men and women who flew and did not make it that will rip your heart out. It's an overload of information that is very difficult to absorb in just a few hours. We got through a lot of the exhibits until world war two, and then it became too much.



Approaching the later exhibits up to today I started realizing we really have not learned anything from the lives lost. We're still blowing people up, but with prettier, more technologically advanced machinery. Here's what it's like looking into a bomb drop of a B-52.



There was a very moving exhibit about people from Dayton who had family in the holocaust. They donated a lot of photographs and other personal items, including a death camp uniform that somehow survived the war.

The enemies this country had and defeated were, for the most part, treated with respect. There was a kamikaze plane on display, along with a Japanese fighter and a MIG. The Berlin Airlift was given a good amount of space, with models depicting a Candy Bomber, who dropped parachutes filled with candy and chocolate to the children of Berlin.



You never know when you may come across a Russian checkpoint.



Above all though, the men and women who fought in these wars were all damn brave. You have to respect that. And the astronauts who flew in a Lunar Module the size of a well equipped hot tub get their due as well.



That's Apollo 15.

It's a great place to learn about military aviation, admission is free. Just remember, do not touch anything.



And remember to leave when you have reached your information limit.