Air Power Park

We were big fans of the Air and Space museum when we lived in DC, and we're big fans of the Virginia Air and Space Museum, as well. But they just don't compare to Hampton's Air Power Park in terms of accessibility and pure magic -- because there is something magical about being able to get up close and personal with the fighter jets and rockets, to have so many in one place, and to even be able to reach out and touch them.

Anouk's love of airplanes seems to grow and grow, and so we made a special trip to Air Power Park last weekend. The park, located on fifteen acres off of Mercury Boulevard is hard to miss. You're driving along and then bam: rockets against the trees. The park features vintage aircraft and space exploration vehicles from the 1950s and '60s as well as an indoor museum filled with model planes and nautical vessels in exhibits dedicated to each of the armed services. There's a small playground behind the museum building, too.

A time capsule, interred at the park in 1965, to be opened in 2065. 

We followed the map around the rocket garden and saw the sights: a Thunderchief fighter jet, a massive Polaris missile, and best of all, a Mercury capsule used in the first manned spaceflight (along with the Little Joe rocket that launched it). The capsule was way smaller than either J. or I thought it would be...here's a photo of A. standing next to it, to give you some idea of how little it was. Because of it's cramped size, the astronauts used to say that it was "worn" rather than flown in!

Inside the museum, we had fun looking up at all of the vintage model planes made by a local donor starting in the 1940s. The NASA room also features small-scale models of the Challenger shuttle and the Mars rover, and of course we had to spend some time checking them out. The Cold War Era Room gave J. and me a weird kind of nostalgia -- it's strange to think how big and scary the Cold War stuff seemed to us back when we were kids, and how long ago and far away it all seems now.

Best of all, Air Power Park (because it's a public city park) is free -- a great bargain, considering that admission at the VA Air and Space museum can cost up to $20 per person! And considering that Anouk learned a new word while she was there -- she's still toddling around talking about "wockets." Priceless, you know?

To the moon! Let's go!