Ashley Terry was heading to the Smithsonian Museum on Thursday afternoon.

Ashley, an eighth-grader at Sailorway Middle School in Vermilion, added a visit to the famed galleries to her schedule after she missed out on the chance to move on to the quarterfinals in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Not that she was alone.

Of the 288 spellers from the across the country who made the trip the nation’s capital, only 90 moved on after scores from the written first round and the oral second round were tallied.

Afterward, an obviously upset Ashley was trying to stay upbeat.

She said she calmed down some after she looked around and realized that there were a lot of disappointed spellers joining her as spectators.

“Even though I didn’t make it, it was still good I got to come to Washington,’’ she said.

Ashley tripped on the word tubulifloral — adding an “a’’ in the middle where there needed to be an “i.’’

But, she noted matter-of-factly that even if she’d spelled it correctly, it wouldn’t have mattered. She still would have fallen one point short of moving on to the semifinals had she gotten it right and the points been added to those from her written test.

“I had to have 20 to move on, and if I’d gotten it right, I’d have only had 19,’’ she said.

But if you tune in to ABC on Friday night to watch the finals, take a peek at the audience. Ashley said she planned to skip quarter and semifinals, but she definitely was going to attend the finals to see who ends up with this year’s spelling crown.

Contact Julie Wallace at 329-7157 or jwallace@chroniclet.com.

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