Swann Family Travel Blog: Friday late afternoon

So, the weather prediction for today was 64 degrees with a 20% chance of rain. What actually happened was 59 degrees and wind gusts of 20-30 mph. Which felt cold. Very cold. And I didn't bring any pants. Josie had on capris and Chaco's and a thin excuse for a hoodie jacket. We weren't in any danger of hypothermia, of course, we just felt like we were. When we started out on our adventure earlier in the morning, we had intended to go to the National Zoo. After about a block of cold, blustery, almost raining weather on the way to the Metro, we figured indoor fun would be the order for the day. And, we had achieved that for the bulk of day at the Air & Space Museum. We toured A&S for five and half hours with a short break for lunch, so their spongy brains were soaked. I wondered if they could go on much longer. I predicted meltdowns, but I was wrong.

We zipped up and braved the winds out on the mall and walked to the Capitol. They are setting up for the Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the Capitol steps (the same area where the inaugurations happen) - so that was neat to see. We were too late to get inside, but the guard said they are open on Saturday, so we may come back tomorrow for that.

We started walking back toward the mall when nature's first call rang for the eldest child and her mother. Across the way, away from the direction we were heading, were some temporary potties set up for the Memorial Day concert - how convenient! We headed that way only to realize once we got there that they were padlocked. :( So close, yet so far... Around we turned and headed once again for the mall, with unamused bladders.

The closest place with sweet relief was the National Art Museum (West building). A friendly well-meaning busybody we'd met somewhere had taken quite a shine to planning our travel agenda in DC for us, and she had suggested we avoid the art museums because they'd be 'too boring' (her words) for the kids. Well, she'd be surprised to know that the kids liked the West building quite a lot. After we'd used their restrooms, we walked through a few of the galleries just to warm up a bit. The kids did a wonderful job, as usual. They were quiet, they kept their hands to themselves, and they recognized some of the paintings and some of the artists. Mitch noticed the original of a Monet print we have at the house. Josie enjoyed seeing the Greek god sculptures and trying to guess which ones they were before looking at the titles. We weren't there very long, though, because we were getting hungry and all the art museum cafés had closed already. I think we'll be heading back before our time in DC is up. I don't have many pictures, yet, because my neurons weren't firing for lack of food. Just the one of the kids in front of the fountain.

We hauled --- through the mall to the Metro and back to our hotel during Friday afternoon rush hour (which was not nearly as bad as we thought it might be, although foot traffic going in the other direction in the Metro was far more dense than it was on our side). We went straight to the hotel restaurant and are now nestled comfortably in our room resting our tired doggies. We're opting not to push our luck with a swimming pool adventure tonight, and the kids put up no fight whatsoever. I think we'll all sleep well tonight.