Not mentioned in the story (or comments yet): You can see the SR-71 at the Smithsonian out by Dulles Airport, along with a shuttle and a huge array of other hardware. Very cool if you're into that sort of thing.
http://www.museumofflight.org/exhibits/blackbird
I also highly recommend people book a tour for the Boeing factory in Everett (about an hour just north of Seattle) where you can see 747s, 787s, 777s, etc. being manufactured in the world's largest building (by volume).
There are about 20 SR-71s in museums (plus an SR-71 cockpit at the Museum of Flight, which you can sit in.)
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird#Accide... plus personal knowledge as a former Museum of Flight employee
At one point you can swing a left and see a jet, which looks decent sized but not particularly special compared to planes around it, until realize that it's a full sized 707 jetliner...
I pointed to the shuttle there and said "look at that! it's a space ship!" Another visitor looked over at me and said "no that's just a...." eyes widened in sudden awareness, "I guess...I guess it is a space ship!"
My brother-in-law excitedly asked "this is a great model, where's the real thing?"
"That's the real thing, you're 5 feet from an actual, real space ship."
Mind blown, we next walked over to the actual Enola Gay...which sits not too far from an actual Concord.
It's an absolutely mind-blowing awe inspiring place.
edit BTW, the shuttle flew at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) so fast you could see the sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. That's Mach 22.
If the Shuttle were flying at sea level, yes. But of course it isn't. Mach number is meaningless in orbit.
(During reentry, once the atmosphere is thick enough for Mach number to be meaningful, I believe the highest readings seen are Mach 25 to 26, since the speed of sound is lower at high altitude.)
The Cosmosphere is one of my favorite places. It has the largest collection of American space hardware outside of the Smithsonian in DC, and the largest collection of Russian space hardware outside of Russia. Definitely worth a visit.
Unfortunately, it's in kinda rough shape right now. It's been outside for years and the paint is starting to fade.
It took a while for planes to become big tubes with wings on them, with the jet engines in pods. Economics is the thing, it is down to cost per mile, that is it for passengers and freight (fresh vegetables). The era of experimentation is over. Tilt-rotors, Spruce Gooses, Harrier Jump Jets, Concordes, twin-boom P38s - history.
For anyone who happens to come to the Coliseum in LA for USC football game, you should check it out.
I've been there a couple of times. There's a path that snakes under, and the engines are about 12 feet above ground. There's a little higher path in the rear, where you can look more evenly, and you're about 8 feet behind. It's in very good shape and very impressive.