DC By the Book

Excerpt: The cherry trees that lined the grassy strip were in full bloom. Everywhere KC looked, people were going in and out of the museums and other buildings on the National Mall. Kids zoomed around on roller blades. Joggers dodged baby strollers. Vendors stood behind carts selling food, T-shirts, and Washington, D.C. souvenirs.

Excerpt: The room they entered was cavernous. The walls were glass, letting in the sunlight. Airplanes, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and other things were on display. The Wright brothers’ 1903 Flyer was there, along with the Spirit of St. Louis. Some displays were roped off to keep visitors from touching anything. They checked out the second floor displays. They saw war planes and an exhibit about exploring the planets. Marshall stopped in front of a meteorite found in Antarctica. They came to an open doorway with a sign on a pedestal that read: CAUTION -- WET FLOOR APOLLO 11 LUNAR MODULE EXHIBIT CLOSED TODAY A red velvet rope blocked the entrance. A man in a gray uniform was standing on the shiny floor just inside the room. “This is so neat,” Marshall said. He leaned over the rope for a better look. In the center of the room stood the lunar module of Apollo 11, the first spacecraft of land on the moon. Under Apollo 11, a circle of dust and rocks represented the moon’s surface. Twenty feet above, two fake astronauts wearing space suits hung from cables attached to the ceiling.