Day 14, August 6, 2023, Sunday. Reston, VA 

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has two centers.  One Center is downtown DC and is closed for renovations. The other is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles Airport and which is about a 25 minute drive from the coach. We visited the Udvar-Hazy Center and excitedly started viewing the aircraft (well maybe Rosemary was not as excited as I was). There was a free tour which was lead by our docent, Leslie Taylor, a former engineer. The tour described many of the aircraft in detail including the manufacture and evolution of modifications to the aircraft, the features of each and the role of each in aviation. Among the aircraft described were the Lockheed SR-71 (the “Blackbird” with speed of mach 3), the F-14 Tomcat, F-18 Hornet, F-35, Bell UH-1H “Huey” helicopter, Bell AH-1F Cobra helicopter, Sikorsky JRS-1, Vought Corsair, Gruman Hellcat, Concorde (speed of mach 2), Boeing 367-80 (“Dash 80", basically the prototype for the 707 and the KC-135), the B-29 Superfortress  “Enola Gay” (which dropped the first A-bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima) and the space shuttle Discovery.  The tour was fantastic and lasted over 2 hours. Even Rosemary found it interesting and enjoyable. And there was even a Cessna 152 (a single engine two seater) which is the type of plane in which I took Rosemary for a ride out of Tampa International Airport when we were dating. It was during that flight that I found out Rosemary’s fear of flying (and no, it was not because of the pilot). (For aviation nuts like me, I suggest checking online for video of the Dash 80 roll by pilot Alvin “Tex” Johnston on 8-7-55).

Day 15, August 7, 2023, Monday. Cream Ridge, NJ (Trenton) (195 miles)

Travel Day. Checked into the Crystal Springs Wilderness Lodges & RV Park (50 amp FHU). Toughest campground I have ever experienced requiring registration and proof of insurance for both vehicles including a special RV insurance endorsement plus signing a license agreement and completing a move in condition form for the campsite. Fortunately I had all the required items. We planned to visit Trenton the next two days and this was the closest place we could find to park the coach at 27 miles away.

Day 16, August 8, 2023, Tuesday. Cream Ridge, NJ (Trenton)

After a 30 minute drive we entered the free underground parking garage for the NJ State House. We had a guided tour of the Capitol (NJ refers to it as the State House) which lasted over an hour. We visited the General Assembly chambers where 80 representatives (2 from each district of about 223,000)  meet and the Senate chambers of 40 senators meet. The legislature meets from September through June which is a longer session than any other state that I can recall. Thankfully the Florida legislature only meets for two months a year and they do enough damage in that short period of time. The State House was built in 1792 and has been renovated 7 times with the 7th time still underway. It is the second longest continuously utilized state capitol after Annapolis, MD. Virginia’s Capitol was built a few years earlier but there was that 4 years in which it ceased being a United State. We spent the afternoon at the Grounds for Sculpture - Seward Johnson Center for the Arts. The collection of art focuses on many important sculptors of the last 60 years and was founded by Seward Johnson in 1992.  The exhibit featured 300 works and numerous works of Seward Johnson spread over 42 acres. Many works were life size three dimensional sculptures based on paintings of famous artists like Renoir and Monet in which one could place themselves among the figures for photos and we did.  We also walked across the Monet Bridge. Other works were colossal in size. We had so much fun it was like we were kids in a candy store. And the weather was not overly hot. There are 4 restaurants associated with the GFS but only one for dinner, Rats! restaurant which we made a reservation for shortly after the GFS closed.  The food was good but the service left a lot to be desired.  Clearly short staffed.  After dinner we drove to Princeton University to view the campus. The beautiful gothic buildings reminded us of Duke University. Another great fun day!

New Jersey State House

Grounds For Sculpture

Day 17, August 9, 2023, Wednesday. Cream Ridge, NJ (Trenton)

Today we visited the Old Barracks Museum and joined a tour.  The barracks were constructed in 1758 and housed British soldiers during the French and Indian War. It is the only remaining military structure left in NJ associated with the Colonial Wars.  It is also the place George Washington authorized the Continental Army to be inoculated with smallpox. Suffice it to say, I will not restate the process described to us by our guide. Next we visited the NJ State Museum which had exhibits on the history of the area and artwork mostly with NJ connections.

Old Barracks Museum

NJ State Museum