Summer Fun #4

Another day, another adventure.  Thursday was even hotter than the day before, 

so we were in the market for some indoor fun.  And, thanks to my favorite DC blog, KidFriendly DC, we found the perfect destination, the National Capital Trolley Museum.  

The museum is small, but chock full of all manner of trolley (not to be confused with cable) car related stuff.

Immediately after arriving, we boarded this 1951 trolley for a ride around the museum. 

And the we did it again.

This trolley is actually from Canada and was used until 1995 before coming to reside at the museum.

After our trolley rides we went inside to listen to a story called Stormy's Hat about a train conductor and his quest for the perfect hat.  He found one, by the way, but only after he and his wife invented it.

Then, the boys made trolley conductor hats of their own and proceeded to wear them the rest of the day.

Next we went to the car barn and saw the very impressive collection of trolley cars.  This one is from Germany.

This car used to run on the streets of Washington, DC.  It is over 100 years old and it still works.

This car is from a seaside town in England and is made to look like a boat...presumably so it could blend in.

Caleb's favorite car is this one, from Belgium.

In addition to the collection of cars, there were lots of interactive displays, exhibits devoted to the history of the trolley car in and around Washington, DC, and this, a miniature cityscape with a working trolley car controlled by a switch just like the ones found on the actual cars themselves.  The boys loved turning the switch and sending the tiny car off on its route.

Our last stop was the "movie" room where they played a continuous loop of clips from Harold Lloyd silent films which featured trolley cars.  In the clip pictured, which ran for 22 minutes and was all about a man climbing up the outside of a building trying to escape a policeman, the trolley cars were just part of the background scenery and never actually factored into the film.  But, the boys had never seen a silent film before and enjoyed it despite the peripheral usage of trolley cars.

  It seemed impossible when we arrived, but we spent almost 3 hours at this little museum and were the last to leave before closing.  Ultimately, it proved to be an unexpectedly diverting and cool place to pass a sweltering summer day.