California Wine Country

The California Wine Country in Napa and Sonoma suffered during the recent fires. Now they are suffering from a lack of people visiting the wineries. The fire is over and the wineries are open. October is still the best time to visit our beautiful wine country. With fewer crowds the experience will be even better. If you were ever thinking of going now is the time.

Air and Space Museum, Washington Dulles

On my last trip to Washington I took a friend to the Air and Space Museum at Washington Dulles Airport. The building is very large and can exhibit aircraft that won't fit into the Air and Space Museum on Capitol Mall.

Some of the highlights were, Space Shuttle Discovery, Enola Gay (dropped first atomic bomb), SR-71 which set the record for cross country flight time the day they delivered it to the museum, an Air France Concorde, and a Space Lab replica.

I also enjoyed seeing the WWII exhibit which showed Japanese aircraft but the best for me was the experimental German planes, jets and rockets developed during WWII.

You will see military aircraft but you will also see private aircraft, gliders, and balloons. They even have the balloon or replica of it that participated in the highest altitude parachute jump. I also liked the experimental space program exhibit. One was a glider attached to the re-entry module that could glide to a safe landing on land instead of parachuting into the ocean.

I would take at least a half day walking the exhibits. There are free guided tours that I would also recommend. If you like, you can also go to the Imax theater. We watched a movie about the workings of an Air Craft Carrier in 3-D.

The Museum is only a couple miles from the airport. If you have a flight from Dulles and have the time go to the Museum before you depart.

California Wine Country

Once again, here is my yearly pitch for visiting the California Wine Country in October. First of all, Spring and Fall are the best times to visit. The crowds are smaller but more important is the weather is at it's best. In the summer the inland heat sucks the marine layer off the coast cooling down the cities on the coast. Mark Twain said it best when he said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a Summer in San Francisco".

Come visit the California Wine Country, see the fall colors, see the crush and enjoy a less crowded atmosphere.

Now is the perfect time to visit every wine region in California.

Belgium Grand Prix

I have been going to a different Formula One race every year for quite a while. I know I could get to see more of the race at home with the camera and replay and commentary but you can't get the feel of the race you get in person.

This year my race was the Belgium Grand Prix. For those of you that don't follow F1 the experience is over 3 days. Day one has two "Free Practice" sessions and is on Friday. Day two is on Saturday and has "Free Practice 3" and after that qualifying for the race on Sunday. Qualifying takes an hour and is split into Q1, Q2, and Q3.  All determine the starting position that they start in and is known as "Go fast day". Sunday is the actual race.

One other thing to mention is that a race venue like Belgium can have up to 3 races on Sunday. That means 3 sets of races on Sunday, 3 sets of qualifying on Saturday and 3 sets of practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. When you think of the price of a 3 day ticket and what you get for 3 days and 3 races it is a great deal.

I have said it before that Formula One races in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. If you planned a vacation around a race you would be going to the top world attractions as well as seeing a great race.

As for seeing the race in person as opposed to TV it is like going to a football game when you can watch it on TV. You miss the pregame activities, the feeling in the crowd, and what goes on during commercials. F1 on TV does not include the other races. It does not include the pre-race activities like seeing Michael Schumacher's son drive a car that he won a race in at Belgium and you will miss the excitement in F1 of the crowd following their team or driver. For Belgium you would not have a feel for the elevation change of the track. The climb up the hills with the cars going over the crest and down hills with a high speed turn at the bottom. I walked the track on Friday and really got a feel of the elevation change.

The new F1 owners are making the fan experience a priority. During the three days go to the fan zone where you can see driver interviews, meet members of each team and watch entertainment. It is more than just a race.

If you are into racing, look at the schedule, pick a destination and have the time of your life.