The Solo Scale:

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Where else can you see moon landers, century-old planes, and learn about history while you’re at it, all for the fantastic price of zero dollars? In Washington D.C., all the Smithsonian museums are free of charge, which means that you can discover the National Air & Space Museum by doing nothing more than wandering in.

If you’re making a day of going to the museums on the mall, it’ll be easy to find the Air & Space Museum.

To visit during its open hours (currently 10AM – 5:30PM), you can walk if you’re staying close or you can take the metro. The nearest metro station is L’Enfant Plaza, which has the Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, and Silver lines.

What can you find there? As the name suggests, you’ll be seeing plenty of exhibits on Aviation and Space travel, but given that it’s a Smithsonian location, you’ll get to see some truly iconic things. That includes things like:

• 1903 & 1909 Wright airplanes
• The Apollo 11 command module
• A Mercury capsule
• Lear Jet
• Lilienthal Glider
• And so much more!

In all, the visit to the museum will probably take you a few hours, even if you linger at the exhibits. It’s not small, but there are a few larger exhibits that can eat up plenty of time. Plus, there’s so many exhibits that you can spend the better part of a day looking around. For an aeronautics enthusiast, it’s a dream come true to see the history of flight right before your eyes.

Once you’re done, you’re perfectly located to check out some of Washington DC’s other memorials and museums. Just down the block is the Smithsonian Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Asian Art. Plus, right next door is the Hirshhorn Museum (which has modern & contemporary art). Head in the other direction and the National Museum of the American Indian is right there.

Venture a little further and the Capitol building is at your fingertips. It’s a perfectly central location to start your day!

If you’re interested in visiting, you can check out more details at their website!

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