In Washington DC for a few weeks and I finally got to Mt. Vernon, where we admired this riding chair, a replica of one owned by George Washington. They were used instead of horseback and were reputedly more comfortable because you could shift your weight around. It was easier on the horse as well to pull the weight, rather than carry a person on its back.
The economy of Colonial Virginia moved in carts---they were the pick up trucks of the day.
A view of the mansion in its imposing location with beautiful views out to the Potomac!
For contrast to the speed of the cart, we visited the Narional Air and Space Museum Annex to see the magnificent machines on display. The blackbird, Lockheed SR-71A, my husband is standing in front of is the fastest manned, air breathing plane ever made. On it's final flight from Los Angeles to Wash DC it made the trip in 1 hour and 4 minutes. Designed and built in 1966, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the plane....despite it's appearance, it qualifies for Sepia Saturday. As the docent in the museum explained it was designed with slide rules and one large card sorter.
The skunk was the mascot of the blackbird as it was a product of "skunkworks" engineers at Lockheed. On all the planes the skunk is smiling. They painted this sad skunk on the plane in the museum in recognition of the birds final flight to the location.
Here is the official logo of Lockheed Martin company with the smiling skunk.
More and more wonderful planes.
A few of the space program artifacts.
Jet on over to
Sepia Saturday for more stories about getting from here to there.
A great take on this month's theme spanning well over two centuries. I had not heard of a riding chair before , so,it was good to see a photograph of one. I was struck by the huge cartwheels.
ReplyDeleteI visited the Air and Space Museum first in the 50s, and again in the 70s...and remember seeing the "Spirit of St. Louis" (Lindberg's Atlantic-crossing airplane) the first time, and then space vehicles the second time! It must be getting crowded!
ReplyDeleteThe chair cart was certainly aptly named. The blackbird has a menacing look about it.
ReplyDeleteI visited the Air & Space Museum in the spring of 1992. What an awesome place with so much to see. I couldn't get over how small those first space capsules were! To think of being cooped up in them - first being thrust out into space, & then coming back into the earth's atmosphere with a 'million'-degree fire burning just feet below your feet - protected only by some fancy tiles? Wheesht!!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed visiting Mount Vernon in 2005. The Air and Space Museum is on my list for next time ( f there is one). It looks and sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteIt’s a great museum. We visited it on our one and only trip to Washingtom many years ago.
ReplyDeletethat looks like just a regular chair attached to the cart. how weird. Washington did have a gorgeous view. I can see why he decided against a 2nd term.
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