Our original plan was to head from Nashville to Mammoth Cave National Park, KY for two weeks. But we made a detour to spend the first week in Wilmington, OH. While there, we made sure to make a stop at the Dayton Air Force Museum.
We made the detour so we could pick up our new camper! Wilmington is a pretty sleepy town, but it is only a few miles from Dayton, OH.
For most of the week, we packed up our Coachman Apex and settled into the new Open Range BHS328.
Justin visited the National Museum of the US Air Force when he was in high school. The tour guide told him then that one day you’d be able to tour an Air Force One.
Some 20 years later, you can indeed go aboard several Air Force One planes, as well as tour a whole section devoted to space travel.
When we were first married, we went to Washington, D.C. for Memorial Day. We went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Justin majored in history in college and is especially interested in military history. He took a picture, or ten, of every plane in the building. To me, we spent what felt like an eternity there. So, I had some concerns about how long this museum would be able to hold the girl’s interest.
I had no reason to worry. Dayton is also the hometown of the Wright Brothers. Diagrams and wind tunnels show the science behind the development of aviation. Early photographs help to bring the trials and mishaps to life.
Early History of Aviation
The Wright Brothers offered their technology to the U.S. government in 1909. It was unproven and the government declined. The government finally accepted and added aviation (beyond that of the hot air balloons used during the Civil Wars) in 1914. It really struck me that in just a few short years, airplanes played a pivotal role in WWI.
The Hangers
The Air Force Museum has three hangers. You can view each section on your own or with a guide. We toured the first two wings on our own but opted for the guided tour in the last wing. This wing covers the space program and the Air Force One planes, and our guide added so much beyond what we would have read on our own! If you have time, I’d recommend you do a guided tour of each hanger.
We arrived at the museum around noon and it closed at 5:00. There is so much to see that we actually didn’t get to see all of it. The museum is free (they do accept donations), but they do have several movie options for a small fee. We would have liked to watch Apollo II, but we ran out of time.
Some of the famous planes you can see here are the Enola Gay, the Hanoi Taxi, and the Bockscar.
You can also see missiles and spaceships and some crazy aircraft developed only for research and development.
You can also walk through a space shuttle, as well as land a space shuttle in a simulator. The girls and I used the same simulator at WonderWorks in Myrtle Beach. It is hard! Somehow, Justin landed it on his first try.
You can walk aboard Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s plane, with wheelchair access. He only used it once. Truman’s plane, “The Independence,” and Eisenhower’s, “The Colombine,” can also be toured. It was really amazing to see the advances in technology and the additional space as you progressed through time.
Every president from Kennedy to Clinton used one of the planes. This is the plane that brought JFK’s coffin back to Washington, D.C. It’s also the plane on which Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as president. Jackie had the plane reconfigured to make room for the coffin. She refused to let her husband be transported like cargo. We literally stood inches from where Johnson took the oath of office. It was kind of a surreal moment.
It was also surreal when we heard about a mass shooting in Dayton three weeks later. We had considered going to the Oregon District for dinner one night, but opted to go back to the campground. We had so much unpacking and organizing to do in the new camper before we left for Kentucky.
This isn’t the first time we had been in the same area before a terrible event. We stayed at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas before the mass shooting there; we were in Barcelona and walked down La Rambla months before a terrorist mowed down people in the street. Things like this make you remember that tomorrow is not promised. But it is a beautiful feeling to have no doubt about where you are going when it is your time to go. It allows you to live your life to the fullest and have no fear for today or tomorrow.
But, I digress😊 The Dayton Air Force Museum also has a cafeteria as well as picnic tables outside. You cannot bring backpacks or food into the museum. Allow some time to look at the many memorials outside of the museum.
And like any good museum, they force you to walk through the gift shop on your way out. We’ve gotten pretty good at not purchasing souvenirs. But the girls were super interested in freeze-dried ice cream. I have their review of the ice cream and the museum and will try to upload it soon.
A Cincinnati Staple
The trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop at a Skyline Chili. I’ve made Cincinnati Chili at home before, and Justin considers himself a hotdog chili aficionado. This is a chain restaurant, but good! This is pretty similar to the chili his grandpa’s bar and hot dog shop, the Majestic in Greenville, used to serve. Comment below if you know the secret ingredient in “Greek-style” chili 🙂
