101 Places to See Before You're 12 - An Inventive Place

An Inventive Place

As we share our 80th of the 101 places we've visited, I realize we're starting to "stretch" a little here.  David and the boys disagree with me.  An attempt to see a place is worth it, they say.  Especially when we have seen so many interesting places along the way.

Case in point - An Inventive Place, that ended up being closed.  Not due to poor planning on my part, I might add.  But to the U.S. Government's Sequester, of all things.

Thomas and Brennan felt like we'd been to lots of places that should qualify including The Spy Museum in D.C., The U-Boat Museum in Chicago, The Air and Space Museum in D.C., the Medical Museum in Indy, The U.S. Rocket Center in Huntsville, and Wind Farms all over the U.S. 

While we were visiting Nancy and Joe in Alexandria, VA last month, we made plans to go to the "National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum", better known as the "Patent Museum".  I knew their Saturday operating hours, but didn't consider the Sequester.

 

 

Dang. It.

Even Nancy had given up her Saturday afternoon to go with us.

 

Well, we did get to see the buildings themselves (amazing, colossal structures)

 

Even the Global Intellectual Property Academy

 

Oh, so, so sad!



 

 We'll be on the lookout for more Inventive Places to check out one day.

 

From the Book:

#78 - An Inventive Place

When asked about his hundreds of inventions, Thomas Edison famously replied that for every one that was successful, there were thousands that had failed.  The key, he said, was that each mistake helped him get closer to success.  Thanks to Edison's persistence, we now have the electric light bulb, recorded music, movie cameras, and many other things that make life easier.  Inventors are some of the most interesting people in history and the places where they developed their new ideas are cool to visit - fascinating old laboratories filled with gadgets, devices, and plans for changing the world.  Visit and inventive place - a lab, workshop, or even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Museum - to learn more about inventors and their amazing achievements.