Man Lands on the Moon

[baldguy]

I was a nine-year-old kid who was allowed to stay up late that night. As Armstrong stepped on the surface and spoke his famous quote, I went out in the yard and looked up at the half-full moon and was filled with awe that men were sitting on it that very minute!

[Ronald]

I was eight years old and remember it was on television. My parents and grandparents were watching but I did't have my attention. And I think that's because I got a toy crane from my grandparents.

[apol7lo]

I do not recall exactly when, but I think I was maybe 9. If that is so, then maybe it was 68? But it was one of the reports afterward that I saw while we were at my maternal grandparents and aunts. It started to get boring for me after that one. I remember Apollo 7 and 8 quite well, too.

[kathyt51]

I was at My Grandparents' house because they had a new television set (IN COLOR)
   so we had a "Moon Landing " party there after church on that Sunday night.
   I was 18 at the time and could not believe that I actually lived to see that happen, and now 50 years later (approximately)  I still remember the moment when he came down that ladder and we stared  in awe that there was a man on the moon!!

[Rivers End]

July of 69 wasn't it? I was on a Boy Scout hiking trip in Gettysburg, PA. But remember coming home and was allowed to stay up late and watch the coverage. Seems it was real late late! I was an avid astronaut fan and we always watched all the missions! The power of that one event still is mind boggling! I must admit, I wasn't to happy to see Buzz Aldrin on Dance with the Stars! He was a hero and just couldn't see him doing that? But he still is a hero and will always be!

[Rivers End]

Ohhh! To answer the real question, I was in our suburban Maryland home upstairs in the family room watching on B and W Television! I was 9 years old!

[wooden slingshot]

This memory is dear to me.  In '69 my father was a first sergeant in the USMC infantry.  He'd been home from Viet-Nam for a couple of years and would return in a few months.  Recognizing, I suppose, that history was being made he put me and my Mom in the '67 Beetle and we drove to the air and space museum at the Smithsonian, from central PA.  I was nearly 8.  My oldest sister must have been in college.  My older sister would have been 13 and she must have been staying with a friend. 
I remember it rained in D. C.  harder than I ever saw.  We had to stop the car.  When it abated we went to gas up and when My Dad saw that they wanted fifty cents  for a gallon for gas he refused.  "Fifty cents a gallon? FIFTY CENTS? I'll walk home before I pay that. . . "
I remember seeing John Glenn's space capsule, and mummies, and so many other things that, to a young boy were the coolest.  That night we stayed at a really fancy hotel in the District and had room service and watched the lunar landing.  Kids today can't know how much the country had space fever then, but I remember all the space toys, how the kid's then viewed the astronauts as celebrities,, and I'd say the average kid then could tell you quite a bit about the LEM. 
The world has gotten so much smaller since then, and kids are so less easily impressed nowadays.  That trip to DC was a highlight of my childhood and my Dad had no way of knowing how much it impressed me (as I've been cursed with a poker face my entire life) or how much I appreciated it.  But it really was a thoughtful thing to do; and Dad I do appreciate it.
I remember the next day, driving home my Mom put her hand over my Dad's in the car and said "Can you believe it, Tony?" He just shook his head and said "No I can't.  I saw it with my own eyes, but I still can't believe it.  Fifty cents for a gallon of gas. . . "

[Rivers End]

Wooden Slingshot, Interesting story and I relate to it! I lived in suburban Maryland not to far from DC Line. I wonder what hotel you stayed at if you remember. Back then, the old air and space museum was in the old smithsonian building! The time that you were in DC was still a turbulant time for the city. The 68 riots burned much of the city and we were just starting to rebuild! DC wasn't the safest during that period with exception to the tourist areas! Great rememberance of your experience!

[wooden slingshot]

River's End, I've often wondered where we stayed.  I've stayed at The Four Seasons and the Hay Adams and they both seem like dumps compared to my rememberance of that 1969 hotel room.
My old man was famously frugal. . . with himself, but he was incredibly generous with his loved ones.  He also had an incredible intuition and almost magical competence when it came to violence.  I still have a micro . 22 that he took from inside a guy's afro (remember those?).
As an aside, am I the only one who thinks that parents today are a little uptight? To keep this on topic, I gave my three  year old daughter a glass of Tang over the weekend and my wife almost had a fit! I got it as a joke.  Sheesh.

[Ronald]

Wooden Slingshot: I wish we had Tang over here. But are parent uptight these days? Sometimes yes. But on the other side we know so much more then our parents.

I like your gallon story.