Philadelphia 30th Street Station

Philadelphia 30th Street Station is the boxy sibling of Washington Union Station. While Union Station has a vaulted ceiling 30th Street has right angles.

The high-ceilinged main hall of 30th Street Station is also a concourse. The gates are stairwells down to the platforms beneath the station that serve Amtrak Northeast corridor trains as well as destinations across Pennsylvania. There are several large wooden benches similar to those at Boston South Station throughout the main concourse.

A second concourse off one end of the main concourse serves SEPTA and NJ Transit trains from gates that lead to platforms either below the station, or to an elevated line at the second floor level. Another hall off the main concourse contains many shops and eateries.

The main concourse is dominated by a dramatic statue at one end of a winged angel holding a dead body. A plaque at the base of the statue reads:

"In memory of the men and women of the Pennsylvania Railroad who laid down their lives for our country 1941-1945."

On an earlier trip through 30th Street Station I remember discovering a waiting room off the main concourse that was dominated by a large dramatic painting. The details of that painting escape me now.
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College Park Aviation Museum

In College Park, Maryland is the oldest continuously operating airport in the world. Don't try to book a ticket there the next there the next time you're flying to the Washington, D.C. area. Unless you fly your own plane, or know someone who does, your not likely to ever use this airport, but it is worth going to for the College Park Aviation Museum.

This excellent, small, modern museum tucked away out of site on the edge of the airport, explains the basics of flying, and the development of airplanes that took place at College Park.

We were welcomed to the museum by Mort who collected our admission ($4 for adults and $26or children). Mort's name tag identified him as a recent volunteer of the year award winner. As he handed me my receipt he said to me and the boy: "If it's behind a rope, or glass, don't touch it. If it isn't, play with it."

An animatronic Wilbur Wright welcomed us to the exhibit area, and gave us a history of the early years of flight. The main exhibit halls has replica and relic planes that were developed and flown at college Park on display on the floor and suspended from the second story ceiling. A catwalk let's you see the suspended planes as up close as the ones you can see on the floor. Amongst the features of the museum more interesting for children, are a propeller that you can spin to start the engine (the boy spun it, but nothing happened), an airplane dashboard, bomber jackets to try on, and two flight simulator video games.

There were only two other families at the museum when we visited on a hot federal holiday. It made for cool break from the heat.

The College Park Aviation Museum is located at 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive in College Park, Maryland.

To get there when heading away from the University of Maryland campus from the Paint Branch Parkway turn left onto 51st Avenue at the large sign for the museum. Head straight down 51st until you reach the entrance to the airport. Follow the signs there to the right. The museum has plenty of parking. The museum should be a manageable walk from the College Park Metro Station on the Green Line. The museum's website is
www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com.
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Smithsonian Folklife Festival

For two weekends at the beginning of every summer the Smithsonian Institution puts on the Folklife Festival on the National Mall.

The big attraction for me at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is always the food, which represents the cultures being featured in the exhibits and the performances of the festival. This years festival features Mexico, Asian Pacific Americans, and exhibits under the umbrella "The Smithsonian Inside Out." This year there were four vendors offering foods from the following cultures: Indian, southeast asian, and Mexican. There was also a barbecue tent, surrounded by the Smithsonian Inside Out exhibits.

The food options were mostly platters of an entree and side dishes. Since we'd already eaten lunch, and it was still too early for dinner, I opted for something light, and ordered Elote from the Mexican vendor, Casa Oaxaca. Elote turns out to be roasted corn on the cob, slathered with mayonnaise, and sprinkled with cayenne. It tastes better than it sounds.

The boy opted for french fries from one of the permanent kiosks on the Mall (the boy often opts for french fries).

The Folklife festival features dance, music, story telling, cooking, and folk art. We listened to a trio from Mexico sing folk music. We sat in on stories by two doctors, one American-raised ethnically Chinese, and the other an immigrant from India, who compared eastern and western medicine. We watched Indian dancing, and skipped the demonstration on spam sushi. We also watched four men Mexico spin upside down from a pole. We never got down to the Smithsonian Inside Out exhibit.

This year, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival runs through July 5.
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Smithsonian National Zoological Park

The boy and I have been going to the National Zoo for all of his nine and a half years. The zoo has changed a bit over those years, as has the boy, whose had different favorite things about the zoo from time to time.

When he was younger, the boy, like so many others, was fascinated with the baby animals. First it was Kandula, the elephant. Later it was Tai Shan, the giant panda.

There was also a time that the boy really seemed to enjoy Amazonia, an indoor exhibit tucked away in an easily overlooked part of the zoo. Lately, I can't drag him there.

For the last few years, the boy has mostly seemed to enjoy the giant pizza. Yes, they have a giant pizza at the National Zoo. No, I don't know why. The boy will play on the pizza for hours. Our days at the zoo lately end with me insisting that we must go, greeted by much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Near the bird exhibits is an eagle statue carved from pink granite that was once on the exterior of the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City. The boy has a book I gave him about the construction, and later demolition of Penn station. The boy and I often pass through the new Penn station on the train. The statue at the National Zoo is one of the few remaining statues from the old Penn. We both appreciate it for its striking visual appeal, and connection to railroad history. In addition, the boy likes to climb on it.

For a while there, the zoo seemed to have a problem keeping it's animals alive. Just from memory, in my ten years in Washington, I recall accidental deaths of a zebra, a lion, and two red pandas. The red panda deaths were tied to a very severe rat infestation. I recall, when the boy was a toddler, pushing him in his stroller on a late fall weekend through the zoo. When we came to the prairie dog habitat we discovered not prairie dogs popping their heads out of the holes, but rats, and one very nervous looking prairie dog.

It was shortly after that day I read about the two red pandas that had died from eating rat poison, buried in their habitat. The zebra, as I recall, died from a problem with the animal's diet, and the lion died in surgery from problems with the anesthesia.

The first bit of advice that any local should give a visitor when making a trip to the zoo: alight Metro at the Cleveland Park Station. Don't use the deceptively named Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Station. Alighting at that station will require you to walk several blocks uphill to the zoo. The walk from Cleveland Park isn't any further. The zoo is laid out on a slope, so be prepared for the uphill walk after you've seen everything. Also, plan to bring your lunch or eat at one options near zoo. The prices on food at the zoo are pretty steep.
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National Building Museum

The National Building Museum is one of Washington, D.C.'s lesser known, under- appreciated museums. The building itself is striking, and the exhibits, focusing on the built environment, change frequently.

The best way to get to the National Building Museum is by Metro. I'm not suggesting this for the obvious benefits of avoiding traffic and limited (and expensive parking), but because as you ascend the escalator out of the Judiciary Square Station at the F St. NW exit, the six-story-tall, red-brick National Building Museum looms over you.

On today's visit to the National Building exhibits featured the layout of Washington, D.C., parking garages, solar houses, and New England house designs. 

As interesting as the exhibits are, the building itself is worth going to see. The 19th century structure originally built to house the Pension Bureau has many fascinating and distinguishing features. Wrapped around the exterior is a frieze featuring Civil War era soldiers. The centerpiece of the interior is the naturally-lit Great Hall featuring four-story, faux marble columns under the six-story roof, and a series of busts in individual alcoves at what would be the fifth story level. The Great Hall has a carpeted floor and a fountain in the middle. It's a great place for kids to run around. Indeed, the National Building Museum has provided some kid's toys in one corner of the hall. In the opposite corner are cafe tables, and a small cafe counter. The museum has a large shop with an extensive collection of books on architecture, a variety model kits, and various quirky items.

The National Building Museum is located at 401 F St. NW in Washington, D.C. The nearest Metro station is Judiciary Square on the Red Line (take the F St. NW exit). Admission to the museum is free, but they do ask for a donation. The museum is open seven days per week, Mon. through Thurs. 10 to 5, and Sun. 11 to 5.

Washington Union Station

Everyone who visits D.C. should arrive, at least for the first time, by train to greeted by Union Station's expansive main hall and the view of the Capitol as you exit the front of the station. Union Station serves as a kind of portal to federal Washington. When you arrive in D.C. by train, you don't ease into the city, you arrive greeted all at once by its grandeur.

The main hall with it's arched ceiling, is impressive both for its expansiveness, but also for the details: surrounding the hall at the second-floor level are Augustus Saint-Gaudens'
statues of soldiers holding their swords and shields. You can get an up close view of the soldiers by eating dinner in one of Union Station's restaurants. Indeed, you should eat a couple meals at Union Station; after you've viewed the statuary up close from America the Restaurant or Thunder Grill, eat at the upper-level of the station cafe in the center of the main hall to enjoy the experience of being surrounded by the main hall's arched ceiling, and enjoy watching people pass by below.

Union Station has many shops and restaurants. There is a food court at the basement level. Stores and restaurants are located along the perimeter of the main hall and the two wings. A second level has been built into the original concourse making space for shops on two levels. Amtrak's ticket counters are located on the ground floor of the original concourse. Departure gates are located in a new, architecturally unremarkable concourse behind the original. Amtrak's Club Acela is located in a pleasant, but windowless and also unremarkable, room in the new concourse.

Washington Union Station is served by Amtrak, MARC (Maryland commuter trains), VRE (Virginia commuter trains), and Metro by way of the Metro station of the same name located underneath Union Station. Metro buses, the Circulator, and various tour buses depart from the front of Union Station. Washington's intercity bus station is located just a couple blocks behind, and some buses depart from Union Station's parking garage.

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Boston Back Bay Station

Just a few minutes from the terminus at the palatial South Station is Back Bay Station near Copley Square. The station, also serving the T Orange line and MBTA Commuter Rail, is concrete and brick, in the brutalist style of most T stations. At Back Bay the platforms are below ground level.

For travelers taking Amtrak from the northeast corridor to a destination on the Downeaster route (New Hampshire and Maine), Back Bay station would be the stop to disembark for the Orange Line for a single ride transfer to North Station. There is no direct rail connection between North and South Stations. The transfer from Amtrak and commuter rail to the Orange Line is merely a matter going up one level, walking a few yards, passing through the fare gates, before descending one level to the T platform.

Pictures of historical railroad stations from the region adorn the walls at Back Bay Station, as well as pictures and text about the railroads that served the station in the days before Amtrak and MBTA. There's also a placard with the story of a railroad porter.

There's a convenience store, and two Dunkin Donuts(!) in Back Bay Station.
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