Mid-Atlantic Museum Air Show 2017

Two years ago Don and I attended the Mid-Atlantic Museum Air Show held annually the first weekend of June in Reading, PA. We had a blast! I loved seeing the cosplay. Don loved seeing the many World War II era bicycles. The weather was sunny and warm. I even broke the event up into a few different blog posts, one about the cosplay and another about touring a B-17 Bomber. 

We did not go last year because it was the same weekend as Ashley's graduation from St. Ann's School, plus we were about to leave for Disneyland, oh and Don had just been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (which has since been surgically repaired).

Ashley hung out with my parents for the day and Don and I drove out to Reading. We parked in the same lot we used last year, which was only about two miles from the airfield. 

This time we noticed more of the airplanes.

I admired an exhibit of a mid-century household I had not noticed before. Perhaps because it reminded me of Don's parent's house and all the items I am trying to relocate -- perhaps a museum would be good for the stuff?

There was some good cosplay.

And even some bicycles I didn't remember seeing last year.

The most fun I had was talking to the exhibitors. We chatted with a woman whose interest in WWII history stemmed from her experiences as a modern day military medic. She said many of the techniques used during WWII (such as taking blood from one soldier and putting it immediately into a wounded soldier) are still in use today. We also commiserated over cleaning out our parents' homes.

Speaking of cleaning out the house, I found a WWII era bandage and gladly gave it to this gentleman who explained to me the rules of figuring out the age of an item. You ready? This is cool. In 1943 the US government began issuing two-digit codes to identify cities (such as Chicago and NYC). In 1963 they expanded that to the 5-digit zip codes we are all familiar with. In 1983 the extra four digits, which most of us ignore, was introduced. So if a package has an address without a zip code, it was issued before 1943. A two-digit city code, and it was between 1943 and 1963. Five digits, and it was after 1963. I found that neat.

I also enjoyed watching a battle. As we walked in it was just about to happen, so I snagged a spot to watch the action.

A picture I found funny:

A picture I found poignant (in the background they are reenacting putting the flag into the ground at Iwo Jima):

This is definitely an event that is dependent on lovely weather. Fortunately the two times we have attended we have had nice weather.