Capital odyssey, part 3: museum day

On Wednesday we had breakfast in and a bit of school time before we went out.  Caleb worked on letter magnets; Liz had a reading lesson; Jed and Ada did math.

FaceTiming with Daddy

As the day was rainy, we used our new skills to ride the Metro again, adding in the additional challenge of managing umbrellas--a very tall order indeed.  

Open umbrellas take up a lot more space on a sidewalk (or escalator) than just a little person; it's impossible to hold hands with umbrellas; it's all too tempting and easy to poke our neighbor in the eye with our umbrella; the umbrella cuts off a major part of our field of vision when we need to cross a street; and as often as not, the umbrella is used merely to collect rainwater that is then tipped down someone else's back.

How thankful I was that it only rained one day.

The main destination on this rainy day was the National Museum of American History.

1989 Batmobile

We started with the first ladies' dresses, so Jeddy could get that out of the way.  Then we visited "The American Presidency," where we saw Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hat.

We saw the Gunboat Philadelphia, which was sunk during the Revolutionary War and recovered 159 years later to put on display.  It was looking a little worse for wear.


We also saw the gigantic flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner"; it also looks a little worse for wear.  You can tell it's been through a perilous fight with bombs bursting in air.


Last stop before lunch was "Within These Walls," a reconstructed home displaying how its various inhabitants lived over a span of nearly 200 years.  The kids were astonished at the 1940's kitchen, that their grandpa was born into a home like that.


We lunched at the museum's Jazz Cafe--very sophisticated, and quite yummy.


After lunch we found the John Bull steam locomotive, which was only the beginning of the museum's transportation wing.

Caleb was ecstatic.

In the afternoon, we rode the Metro again to go see the Library of Congress.  Walking from the Metro stop, we passed a lot of restricted government parking lots, with serious, tire-stabby roadblocks.  Caleb kept asking if we could go in there and I kept having to say, "No, you have to be special to go in there."  He finally asked in a sad little bewildered voice, "Are we not special?"


First priority in the LoC was to find a snack.  We merely glimpsed a soaring, glorious entryway, before following directions to the sketchy underground tunnels where there was a coffee shop deep in the Congressional bowels.  But, desperate times.


We took a guided tour, during which I discovered that I don't actually know how to turn off the flash on my camera, so rather than get thrown in international prison for flashing the words right off the pages of the Gutenberg Bible, I resorted to using my phone camera.

By the end, Caleb was so very, very tired.

He did comment later that the Library of Congress has a "fancy ceiling," which knowledge may probably be imputed to him lying flat on his back on the priceless Italian mosaic floor.

Our day of touring ended, we had only to return via Metro, during (c)rush hour...with umbrellas.

I was so thankful for our posh pad and dinner in.  Ada washed and peeled vegetables, Lizzy set the table, Jed found the area of a bunch of trapezoids, and Caleb retired to his room to play cars while I baked chicken. 

After dinner we cleaned up and got ready for an early bedtime for everyone.  I had just time enough to be annoyed that someone was playing some kind of brass instrument on the street corner that sounded like Mardi Gras going on, before I was out like a light for my best sleep all week.