The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, OR, is about an hour off the beaten interstate track, but it’s well worth the trip. It is the home not only of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose, but also a remarkable collection of vintage airplanes and spacecraft, including V2 and Gemini Titan rockets. The Spruce Goose, in particular, has to be seen to be believed, resembling in its giant exhibit hangar nothing so much as a whale surrounded by guppies. I have been to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museums on the Mall and at Dulles Airport, and this place gives them a serious run for their money. And if you get tired of looking at airplanes, you can always get back in your car and wander though some of the best wine country on the planet.
– Chuck Strom
