Reese’s Birthday Trip – Day 5

Today’s Reese’s 10th birthday. Where did the time go?

We got up early because we needed to be at the museum by 9:00 so that we could be sure to have a spot on the Y12 bus tour. Once we were awake I gave Reese his birthday present, a [amazon_link id=”B0050SVMYA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Nintendo 3DS[/amazon_link]. He’s been wanting one for a while and has really done a good job with his reading and school work, so there was no reason not to. He was pretty excited, which was good because we had a long drive to get out to Oak Ridge.

Once we got out there, we bought our admission tickets to the American Museum of Science and Energy and got signed up for the Oak Ridge/Y12 bus tour. We were the third and fourth people on the list, so our cunning plan worked out. Since we had some time to burn, we grabbed some breakfast then went back to the museum to do some exploring. About the time we finished up, the bus tour was ready to leave, so we hopped on and headed over to the labs. The tour was great, with lots of stops at historically significant sites. We even got to go in to the original Graphite Reactor that was used during the Manhattan Project (that was definitely the highlight of the tour for both of us).

The Graphite Reactor

Reese and I at the Graphite Reactor in Oak Ridge

Once we finished the tour, we headed back to the lake, stopping at Calhoun’s again for dinner where Reese polished off a 1/2 pound burger in no time flat. Something tells me he’s getting ready for a growth spurt. We then did a round of putt-putt, where I got soundly trounced. Then headed back to the lake and set off some of the fireworks, including a few mortar shells.