Birthday Celebration

So over the past weekend, Jim had a birthday.  The one thing he wanted was to go to Texas de Brazil and proceed to put himself in a meat coma.  If you don't know what this place is, then you need to check out this link.  

However, the one in Richmond was closed the entire weekend.  This was going to be a problem.  Luckily there is another one in Fairfax, which is quite the hoof for us.  But I was determined for Jim to get what he wanted.  So in order to kill time we went to the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  

We drove something like four hours to get here.  Traffic was a bear! I thought it wouldn't be so bad.  Most people have gotten where they need to be by Saturday afternoon.  Ugh!

Jim and the Corsair (our 1st stop)

So let me bore you with a few pictures from the museum.  We went with a plan.  We always have to see the Corsair (Jim's favorite!) and the Space Shuttle Discovery.  Which is good because we only had a short period of time before or reservations for Texas de Brazil.

A rear view of the corsair

Believe me I actually have LOTS of photos of the Corsair, but I didn't want this blog to be just about it.  Even if Jim could talk about it for hours on end.  And being the good wifey that I am...  I did take copious numbers of this particular aircraft.

Space Shuttle Discovery

A closer look at the nose

Side rear view

Check out the back!

I must say that I geeked out over the Space Shuttle.  I grew up during the time frame when we were still going out to the stars.  So it was REALLY cool to get to get close to a shuttle that had actually been up in space.  You could actually see the tiles on the bottom of the ship that had slightly burnt up on re-entry.  How cool!!

Space ship model from Close Encounters of the Third Kind

They have the model of the space ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  I'm drawn to this model, because there are a number of odd things that the model makers put on the space ship.

Can you find R2D2?

 I'm only ever able to find the airplane, R2D2, the cemetery and the mailbox.  There are a number of other things.  I'm sure I'd have an easier time if the lighting in the area was better.  That is my only complaint of the entire museum.

In front of missile

Of course I had to snap a shot of my sweetie in front of a Talos missile.  Jim has a bit of a history with missiles.  That's for another day though.

A sweet end to a sweet day.

 We made our reservation, barely, and had a very nice time with our friends.  At the end of the meal we got dessert and after dinner drinks.  They found out it was Jim's birthday and decorated his dessert.  We didn't say anything, the manager came by our table as our friends were giving Jim a present.  This was done very quickly.  So kudos to the staff at Texas de Brazil in Fairfax!!!  He had a lovely after dinner drink that I had to call up and find out what it was the next day.  It was that good!

If you ever need a nice after dinner drink for sipping, I highly recommend Licor 43.  Slightly sweet and oh so good!

All in all a good day, I think!

Happy birthday Jim!  I hope it was a good day for you!  Here's to many, many more!