Ship shape

Yesterday, we decided to have a breakfast by the river.  There are restaurants that face the Chicago River, but aren’t quite on the riverwalk.  They do have a great view, though, and we found one called the Land and Lake Kitchen.  The portions were a little too big, but the whole thing was amazing, right down to the last crumb of the homemade biscuit.  

Once breakfast was accomplished, it was time for another adventure in big-city public transportation.  This time, it was a city bus to the Museum of Science and Industry.  That was a cool museum, but Cas and I agreed on two things walking out.  First, They needed to divide the whole place into two or three different museums.  It was too much to take in.  Second, we’re done with museums for 2023.  No knock, but after a week and a half of unfettered Smithsonian access followed by this jaunt into another spectacular museum, we may have reached maximum knowledge and culture input.  

We started out walking through an exhibit largely about modes of transportation.  There were train cars, modern and historical vehicles and airplanes from days gone by.  They took a page from the Smithsonian and hung some of the aircraft from the ceiling.  We went there on the way to an exhibit about the coal mining industry.  This one took participants on an elevator down to show what the inner workings of coal mines looked like.  There were large, heavy mining machines and other tools of the industry, and the tour guide switched them on and off for us, so we could see what the work was like.  It was interesting, but all things being equal, I will stick to my school library, thank you.  

After that, we wandered other exhibits, including the one about the farming industry and the one with the fairy castle, which is essentially a giant dollhouse that’s been in the museum since 1949.  The duration of that exhibit is a curiosity on its own, but when you go have a look, you see that it’s something interesting an unusual.  Dollhouses were never really my thing, but this one was pretty grand.  No time to linger, though, because the time for our timed-entry tickets to a very interesting exhibit were coming right up.  We were going to walk around inside the only captured WWII German U-Boat.  

When you go to see the U-505, you’re sent through a series of displays that tell you how the German boats did their job during the war and what Herculean efforts the Allies went to in fighting them off.  The Germans were having tremendous luck with their submarines, and the Allies were having real trouble fighting them off.  The story of the capture and recovery of U-505 is really museum-worthy, but the big draw is the boat.  They have a massive hall in the museum with a high ceiling and a cutout in the floor where they have parked one entire German U-boat.  I wondered how they got it in there.  They had to either build the room around it or retrofit a massive hall and tear out a wall to put the boat in.  It was impressive- shaped specifically for a ship, in fact.  

After leaving there, we hopped back on bus number 10, switched to number 29 and headed to Navy Pier.  We’re getting the most out of our $15, three-day CTA passes, I can tell you that.  I wanted to ride the giant Ferris Wheel at the Pier- seemed like a great way to look at the city, the water and the pier itself.  But first, a very late lunch.  Or was it an early dinner.  Either way, it’s a good thing breakfast was so big, because we were good and hungry by the time we got to the Harry Caray Tavern.  

Harry Caray was, of course, the closest thing to Chicago royalty.  He was the voice that accompanied televised Chicago Cubs games for a very long time, and he was quite the character.  No doubt, we will walk past the statue of him later today when we head to Wrigley Field.  Out on the Pier, though, there is a restaurant bursting at the seams with autographed memorabilia, photos and other artifacts from a lifetime of baseball.  We sat outside, and I got a Chicago-style hot dog.  Cas got what they were calling a “Holy cow” burger.  We even used the Harry Caray photo filter that lets you don his signature glasses.  And, of course, there was a spot for a cute photo right out front.  Cas and I took advantage, and just because it’s me writing and not him, I get to make the corny joke- here goes: 

Look at this handsome guy I married!  What a catch!

I know, it was a corny joke, and what’s worse, I’m not even sorry.  

Moving on…

We went from there to the end of the pier, then halfway back to the place where the giant Ferris wheel sits.  We got our own carriage and a decent amount of time to rotate around the giant metal wheel and look out at the lake, the river, the skyline and the pier.  It was pretty great, and I really do appreciate that they let each group have its own carriage, even if it’s a group of two.  

When we got down from there, we decided to take advantage of the margaritas-to-go stand near the small live music stage.  With beverages in hand, we actually did both of the things we were trying to decide between.  We wanted to stay and enjoy the weather and the pier, but we also wanted to check out a blues club.  I can only speak for myself, but I was pretty wiped out, so when it turned out that we could listen to a Chicago blues band right there at the pier without getting on a bus or a train, it was a win.  

After an evening at the Navy Pier, we were done.  It was a little early, but our hotel has a terrace, where we could order a little bit of food and enjoy the weather.  I know I am making kind of a big deal about enjoying the weather, but after the walk-through-a-raincloud feeling we had the whole time in DC, we went home to Dallas where every day has been over 100 for what seems like ages.  Today, the high here isn’t even supposed to reach 80.  

So it’s Wrigley Field today, and a ride on a tall ship this evening, then we are off to Indiana tomorrow.  Considering we’ve only been in Chicago for under 48 hours, I feel like we’ve made the most of this visit so far.  

So, before I leave you here and go off to the next bit of adventure, let’s try out the experimental photo album, shall we?  The videos aren’t playing correctly from here, but that’s a problem to work out when we get home.  No time like a quick trip to sort out the details before we go on a much longer one next spring or summer.  Regardless, here are our photos: https://tinyurl.com/DunlapChicago

Now, it’s time to play ball. 

Queenie the cutie

One of the nonsense theories I once heard about why people are how they are has to do with a person’s earliest memory.  It went a little something like this- your personality is formed, to some extent, by the first song or story you can remember from childhood.  I don’t have a clue what that means if you grew up with Cinderella as the first story you recall versus The Wheels on the Bus as the first set of song lyrics that stuck in your head.  For me, though, this whole nonsense theory has a bit more intrigue, because the first strong memories of songs or stories I have are from my mom’s mom, Grandma Alice.  First of all, she had a movie star-sounding name.  Alice Faye DuBois.  It only stopped being super-glamorous when she married Louie Cushing.  Alice Faye, though- it’s a heck of a star-power-sounding name for that era, and she was quite entertaining.  She sang songs for me and my cousins, and they were almost always very silly.  In fact, the first one I remember was Queenie the Cutie.  

It was actually a song popularized but the Andrews Sisters called Strip Polka, and you can have a listen here, but it’s all about a burlesque show where a lovely lady named Queenie removes almost everything she’s wearing for the entertainment of a crowd.  

But Heather, why the bizarre childhood memory about your eccentric (if awesomely named) grandmother?  I know, I’m getting there.  It’s a slow-start kind of morning.  Here’s why- Cas had looked up several awesome Chicago activities prior to our departure from Dallas.  One of them was a historic pub crawl, but the official tour that takes you around town from one historically significant bar to another doesn’t get rolling until next month for some reason.  However, they posted their itinerary online.  Silly, silly tour group- we can read!  So we hijacked their itinerary.  We started where they would have- the Adams Street Brewery at the Berghoff Restaurant.  This one made the tour because the Berghoff Restaurant was opened in 1898, making it the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Chicago.  It was really pretty- the place had inlaid wood features, a beautiful floor and even furniture that fit the atmosphere.  Cas and I have been trying to lay off the carbs and sugar, but since they have a brewery that makes beer and cider, we had to give it a go.  And they had a potato pancake appetizer like I haven’t seen.  The pancakes themselves were about two inches in diameter and garnished with brie cheese, apples, fig marmalade and bacon.  I mean, wow- right? 

From there, we went to The Brehon Pub.  This one was called The Mirage when it opened in 1977, and it was the ground zero for a large piece of investigative journalism about kickbacks and payoffs in the city.  Apparently, if you wanted inspectors, city officials or other power-wielding folks to look the other way, you could make that happen with money, and to end that corrupt practice, journalists had to hang out at a bar and ask questions.  Two of journalists’ favorite things, from what I can tell.  The temperature was in the mid seventies, though, so at the Brehon Pub, we sat outside.  Fresh air may have been more elusive than you’d think, though.  For our one-drink visit, we somehow sat downwind of three separate people’s cigarette breaks.  So it goes.  

Next on the agenda was the Green Door Tavern.  That’s where we get to Grandma Alice and the Andrews Sisters.  This one was built in  1872, a year after the Great Chicago Fire.  It apparently opened as a tavern in 1921, which is interesting, as I am pretty sure prohibition stretched from 1920 to 1933.  They may have served something else in the main part of the tavern at the time, but I suspect the speakeasy downstairs could have been a proper source of income for the tavern’s owners.  We had bacon wrapped figs (we kind of had a self-styled tapas dinner last night) and asked about the speakeasy, then we went down the path behind the bar and downstairs to see what the fuss was all about.  There was a “hidden” door.  Kind of hard to hide it, really, when there’s a doorknob and it’s very loud inside.  When you arrive, you are handed seven drink recipes on tarot cards, so we picked two cards, and with them, our beverage future.  The place was very cool- dark, but with its own personality, and we were really enjoying it, but they had more in store.  As we were sipping our very fancy cocktails, a song cranked up and a woman in very skimpy attire came out with two feathered fans.  She did a provocative dance with the fans, eventually revealing a little bit more as the song progressed.  Gotta say- I wasn’t expecting that.  And so, I’ve had the Strip Polka song in my head since then.  Thanks, grandma.  

The last stop on the pub tour was optional at this point.  We just saw a very enthusiastic woman do a fan-dance, for Pete’s sake.  We were nearly at flip-a-coin time for this one, but we decided to round it out and go to the Monk’s Pub.  I honestly can’t remember the reason that particular bar was significant, but it was a very cool bar.  And with that, we wrapped it all up and headed back to the hotel.  It’s time to get moving on our next adventure.  Cas has a Farmers Market in mind, and I saw a little something about a Ferris Wheel when I went digging for ideas.  We should do something cool- after all, a week from today is our seventh wedding anniversary- may as well start the celebrating now.  

As for a photo album, Cas is trying something different.  Google is wonderful, and they make a good album, but if you want to post as many things as we have, they eventually tell you you’ve used up all of your free space.  While we could easily cheat the system and use a new account when the old one gets full, he thought he’d try a new method.  I’ll post a link when he shares one.  Photo album: coming soon! 

So, that’s it for Wednesday.  See you on the other side of Thursday, and raise a glass to Queenie, the Andrews Sisters and the good people of the Chicago restaurant and bar industry.  

Airplane Wine

Surprise!  We left the house again.  School starts way too soon, and we had an opportunity to get out and go one more time before it all gets serious.  My dad is the fourth of six kids, and he meets up with the other five every year, if possible.  This time, they’re hanging out with their cousins in Indiana.  I know, I know- I am a proud Minnesotan, but the reunion is allowed to take the show in the road, and sometimes, they meet up in Indiana.  Since we had the time, we booked tickets into and out of Chicago with a rental car to carry us over state lines on the weekend.  It wasn’t too pricey, and we’re doing some cool stuff in Chicago over the next few days.  

But what, you ask, is airplane wine?  Good question.  It’s the quality level and price point you can expect from most airlines, big and small.  It’s a middle-of-the-road pocket sized bottle, served in a plastic cup.  You know.  Airplane wine.  We had airplane wine way back in row 31 of our plane today.  It wasn’t the best seat, nor was it the classiest airline, but we’re did a few crossword puzzles together, drank a glass of airplane wine each and got the heck off of row 31.  From there, we made our way on the orange line L train to our hotel for check in.  

Anyhow, we’re here with a zillion options for this evening’s food and entertainment.  We’ve unpacked the backpacks, taken a moment to regroup, and now, it’s time to get out and see what there is to see on a Wednesday night in Chicago.  

Cheers!  

Hey, Ebbitt!

We got up, packed up, cleaned up and headed for the front desk of the hotel to check out.  Our plan was to have the hotel watch our bags while we enjoyed one last day in DC.  Breakfast was actually going to be brunch, and brunch was at the Old Ebbitt Grill, right in the thick of downtown DC.  We had scoped the place out earlier after our Segway tour guide told us it was where you could get the true DC experience.  He may have been on to something, too, We walked in- and back out of the Old Ebbitt Grill after our Segway tour, in fact, because it was so crowded at lunchtime that we felt it may be best to come back later.  Today was that later time, and brunch was the best moment to visit. They make an omelette with crab and corn, and I know it sounds a bit unconventional to anyone who wasn’t raised five feet from Maryland, but go eat that as soon as you can.  

Oh.  My.  Gosh.  Omnomnomnom.  

Fun fact- the Old Ebbitt Grill is (technically) the oldest bar in DC.  Sure, it’s been open in a bunch of different places- like one spot close to the gate near Chinatown, one in a former haberdashery, and the current (former-theater) spot- but the continued operation is (according to their website) well documented.  

The restaurant and bar are large, and we were in the corner bar portion, which featured carved decoy ducks and statues of hunting dogs.  The bar in the main part of the restaurant had a bizarre collection of taxidermies.  There were heads, including a walrus and  a beast that Cas and I both supposed was a warthog.  It was absolutely bizarre.

From there we needed to find our refrigerator magnet, so it was time for a souvenir shop.  We headed to the White House gift shop- the one we skipped after our official tour on day one of the trip.  We got the perfect magnet, of course, and we spent a few moments shopping for T shirts.  Apparently, when you go to the White House gift shop, you are offered the opportunity to head around the corner and take some pretty great photos of presidential scenes.  We posed behind the fake Resolute Desk in the the fake Oval Office just before we posed behind the fake podium in the fake press briefing room.  We posed for the photos and selected the one we wanted them to print for free.  This was the winner: 

After that, we headed to the sculpture garden that was part of the National Gallery of Art.  We checked out a few sculptures until the rain got ugly, at which point, we went inside the museum.  Nothing like checking out Monet and Rodin to kill time while the storm clouds pass.  We enjoyed the art museum, but at a certain point, you can actually achieve a condition I call being “museum-ed out” and reach maximum art or culture.  

That’s when you need to call it quits and go back to the house.  We’re at that point.  We saw some great art, but when we left, we marched through the rest of the sculptures and made our way back to the Metro station so we could retrieve our luggage.  Cas said we had to make a call- a closer station with a transfer, or a farther-away station with one last view of the monuments.  We walked one last time through the space between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building.  Certainly, there’s a chance we’ll return to DC, but there’s no telling when, so I guess the order of the day is soak it in!

Back to the Metro and back to retrieve our bags, we headed for the airport.  We made our way through security and found seats at the very long bar in the center of the terminal where we shared wine, pizza and a lovely chat with a young couple who had a 14-month-old child.  Turns out, babies love Cas.  Every time. Hey- I get it- he’s pretty neat.  

But the impromptu double-date had to end.  The couple (we didn’t get their names, but the baby was named Eleanor) are headed to their destination, while Cas and I are in mid-flight as I am typing this.  I’ll post it when we get to the house, where I can switch everything off of airplane mode.  That’s it for DC, and that’s it for the big summer trip of 2023.  

When Cas and I decided to go to DC this year, we were pumped.  Our peers and colleagues asked where we were headed, expecting something on the same scale as Spain or Italy, and both of us found that, when we said DC, our cherished friends seemed disappointed on our behalf.  Allay your fears, folks- this was one for the books.  We did our DC trip correctly.  We left without regrets, and without a single thing leftover on our must-see list.  Also, that was the best Independence Day I’ve ever heard of.  Just sayin’.  

So, that’s it for this summer.  We’re done and out.  We have a few teeny tiny things to do before school starts back up, but nothing on the scale where we feel the need to write about it all.  As always, it’s been a blasty-blast.  I love to travel with this guy, and he loves that I write everything down, so the blog rides on.  Please read about all of our adventures.  We had a great time doing the things worthy of writing down.  And for one final time, here are the photos from this trip: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i5YWxcScDLHgbJqLA

I am Donelab, Libaryn

So, I work in a middle school as the school librarian, and kids are hilarious.  One day, a pair of students were late coming back from lunch, and they asked me for a hall pass to tell their teacher that they were excused.  I didn’t write one, because they shouldn’t have been excused.  One of these sweet children took it upon herself to write a pass and forge my name.  

I don’t know which kid did this, because she handed it to a substitute teacher, but that sub left it for the regular teacher, who photographed it and sent the picture to me for a laugh.  It said: 

“Librarian hall pass. -Ms. Dunlap”

Wait, that’s not entirely accurate.  It actually said:

“Libaryn hall pass. -Ms. Donelab”

I was so amused that I wasn’t even mad.  I took the image of the forged post-it photographed against the background of other papers on the art teacher’s desk and had it printed on canvas with a five dollar Groupon.  That piece of art sits behind my desk at work today, and I shall, from here on, refer to myself in my professional capacity as Donelab, Libaryn.  

Whelp, yesterday, Donelab, Libaryn went to the LIbrary of Congress.  That was the coolest thing, but it was the tail end of a very long day, so once again, let me back up.

The first thing we had scheduled today was a Segway tour.  We have done these before- so often, in fact, that they feel kind of routine.  New place in the US?  See it on a Segway.  Look like a giant dork on a Segway?  Of course you do- but you don’t live there, so who cares?  The same theory applies in DC.  Our Segway tour had a great guide and a solid two hours of information.  We rolled around and recapped what we had visited at a bunch of different points earlier in the week.  You always learn something cool or see something new on a tour, even if you’re touring a place you’ve been before.  

Any tour guide you get is an expert in a different thing.  It’s really cool.  Today’s new statue was the Vietnam War Women’s Memorial.  Lots of women served in non-combat roles during that war, including my mother.  Several of the women were nurses, and a few of them actually died serving in combat zones.  My mother served at Dover Air Force Base, so she was pretty far from the action.  That was a cool statue, though.  And we saw the US Park police, mounted on their horses.  They were riding in formation and doing drills in front of the White House.  Presumably, they wanted to be a feature in everyone’s July 6th photo albums.  

The Segway tour was supposed to wrap around noon, and with dark clouds gathering while thunderclaps sounded off in the distance, we ended pretty much on time.  Cas and I looked at weather forecasts and radar information on the phones, eventually deciding to find a nice lunch before heading to the Museum of African American History and Culture.  

Yesterday's tour guide was about the tenth person locally to tell us that particular museum was really, really good.  Fine.  We relent.  Show us your amazing museum.  The Museum of African American History and Culture is one of the two for which you’d need a timed entry ticket, but there were still a few for yesterday.  The four days after that, though, are all booked up.  

This museum goes down a few floors and up several.  The idea is to start a the bottom.  The events are set up on a timeline.  You get crammed into a dark part of the museum with a bunch of other people while you read and learn about the trans-Atlantic slave trade  You work through that, up to emancipation, then you wrestle with Jim Crow and move to the current day.  It was well constructed, if distressing and upsetting.  

For a little pick-me-up, we headed to the top floor after that and looked at the music exhibit.  That was really cool, and the soundtrack as we walked through was pretty great.  There were spectacular outfits, legendary guitars, trumpets and other artifacts, and the largest object of all, the actual mothership from George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. Actually, now that I think about it, Chuck Berry’s bright red Cadillac Eldorado convertible may have been just a little larger.  Either way, it was a very cool museum, and I am glad we made our way through the music portion.  It was very cool.  It was also just what we needed to once again hide from the storm clouds.  There has been a bit of rain while we’ve been in town, but most days, that rain has been avoidable if we just strategically visited museums or stopped somewhere for a snack or a drink.  Yesterday was no exception.  The thunder was making a lot of racket as we walked from a Metro station to the Museum of African American history and culture, but the actual precipitation waited to fall until we were well inside the building, and it wrapped up all of its action before we hit the front door.  

From there, we hit up a wine bar for a glass of Lambrusco.  Lambrusco is a sparkling red that is served cold, and the first time we had it was about a year ago in Italy, so when the wine bar we visited had that by the glass, we had to get a glass.  That, coupled with a rather unusual  “muhammara” dip, which is made with roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses.  It was a first for both of us.  That was just the right-size snack to tide us over for our scheduled visit to the LIbrary of Congress.  We apparently booked our entry on a special evening when they were open late, which was just fine by me.  It was a grand building with museum displays, but walking through some of the classic library spaces felt like being on sacred ground.  Hey, I am Donelab, libaryn, right?  

We got to see Thomas Jefferson’s library- an enormous collection by any day’s standards.  We very quietly walked through the main reading room, trying to soak it all in and leave the folks doing actual research undisturbed.  The architecture was stunning.  The decor was over the top.  And remember how I said we landed there on an open-late night?  I don’t know what kind of event we managed to crash, but there was a catering table set up selling beer, wine and snacks.  Sure, we had seen the P=Funk mothership earlier in the day, but to a librarian, the Library of Congress is the real mothership, so if they were going to let me raise a glass to my own, personal mothership, I was going to do just that.  

It was fantastic.  While we were in the reading room, Cas was talking to a librarian in a whisper, and she asked if we were librarians.  He told her that he was a teacher.  She said she could tell.  (Librarians are sharp people, you know.)  He told her that I was a school librarian.  We took the whole conversation as a complement, as I am certain it was.  

We really did take time in the Library of Congress to soak it all in.  It was pretty great.  After that, we realized just what a long day we’d had, and we headed back toward the hotel by way of a restaurant.  We needed just a little bit of dinner so we could wrap up the day and get to sleep, and a pair of tacos each sounded about right.  With tacos done and a very full day winding down, we headed back to the hotel and reflected on our trip a little.  Today is the last day we have in town, so we need to check out and have the hotel stash our bags for a while before it’s time to head to the airport.  It’s back to summer in Dallas for us, so that’s this weather plus heat minus humidity.  Honestly, as much as the summer heat in Dallas is often miserable, the humidity in DC is almost worse.  You look at the weather app on your phone here and see 89.  Your brain thinks it will actually be okay- but you fail to account for the fact that the dew point is something like 75.  Ugh.  In Dallas, when the weather app says 98, I know what to expect.  It’s not great, but I get it.  Regardless, we won’t have much of a choice.  At the end of this day, we’ll be back home, where today’s predicted high is 97.  Not great, but not out of the ordinary.  Today, I have no idea what final adventures we’ll squeeze in.  We each have a few options to present, and we will make a determination from there.  We both agreed over dinner last night that we both feel like we saw all of the things we wanted to make sure we saw.  Staying in one space for a whole vacation and really getting to see it is a new vacation style for us, and one we could certainly repeat, if a destination is robust and interesting.  But for now, it’s time for breakfast and a little pondering about our last hurrah.  

Take a gander at our photos, and we’ll see you all soon: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i5YWxcScDLHgbJqLA

Order in the court

Very close to our hotel, there is a building with an observation deck on its top floor, which rises 400 feet up in Rosslyn, Virginia.  It has floor-to-ceiling windows, and the ceilings are very tall.  Those windows curve all the way around the entire building, so you get 360 degrees of peering out at the world.  From the top, we saw the very big difference between DC itself, where the tallest things are monuments and museums, and Virginia, where office buildings are the norm and things stretch up to parallel our observation deck’s 31st floor vantage point.  

That was a cool experience.  We were there with very few other people, but we could clearly tell that there was a group planning an event in that space.  I looked, and it is available as a space you can book for corporate events, parties and weddings.  That would be pretty cool- I bet the photos are pretty great at those weddings.  

When we left the 31st floor, we headed out to see the Supreme Court building.  The plan was to head there, take a look around, then get a hot dog for lunch on the way to our next spot.  When we got into the Supreme Court, it was absolutely beautiful,  Here’s a first, too- we were in a very old-timely elevator that actually had an elevator operator.  The building itself was completed in 1937, and that is about the time period the elevators make you feel you’re visiting.  We went up to the main courtroom, where unfortunately, we were told not to take photos.  It’s a shame, too, because I don’t quite know how to express the feeling of that room.  I can’t imagine how intimidating it would be to stand there and try to persuade nine justices of any era that you are on the right side of an issue.  

We didn’t linger at the court building too long, though, as it was definitely time to locate a street vendor and have a hot dog.  We walked toward the Museum of Air and Space to the on-the-way vendor Cas had scoped out earlier, but apparently, he stayed up way too late selling hot dogs to Independence Day visitors the night before, and he decided to close yesterday.  So much for the best hot dog in DC, but fear not, there are vendors on every block.  We had a hot dog, then lined up for our timed entry to the Museum of Air and Space.  It took about a half hour of shuffling around and clearing security to get in, but we entered the museum near the time on our tickets.  Each exhibit hall was jam-packed with people, but they were all interesting.  (The exhibits were interesting, not necessarily the people). The first one (if you go around clockwise) was about the Wright brothers.  You always think of them as a unit- inseparable brothers who were always together, but Wilbur died at age 45 from typhoid, leaving Orville to carry on well into his seventies without his partner in crime.  

We made our way though several exhibits, learning about travel to the moon, different airplanes, and eventually, we visited their planetarium.  There were two half-hour shows, and we saw them both.  The second one was, of course, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.  It had started raining outside, so the plan was to stay inside until the museum threw us out.  Well, another exhibit or two after the planetarium, and they did exactly that at 5:30.  The sun had returned just in time to greet us when we left.  Unfortunately, the larger part of the museum was closed off for some kind of redesign.  It had been closed for so long that the wall maps were updated to reflect the closure.  Last time either of us were there, we got to see so much more.  In my list visit he place felt practically overflowing with airplanes hanging from the ceiling and vessels that had been outside of Earth’s atmosphere.  This time, over half of the building was off limits.  A no-fly zone, if you will.  I suspect they’ve moved a lot of stuff out to their auxiliary museum.  There are 19 Smithsonian museums in all, and three of them are outside of DC proper.  Two are in New York, and one is in Virginia.  The Virginia one is a second Air and Space museum.  That one has some very cool stuff- a real space shuttle, the Enola Gay airplane- we had considered a visit, but it is a bit off the beaten path.  

Regardless, when they Smithsonian folks threw us out, we reapplied sunscreen and headed to a metro station.  A bus driver a few days ago recommended a spot for a really nice happy hour, and we were ready for a little break.  We spent the rest of the evening wandering.  We went to happy hour, then back to the hotel to drop off our sun hats and a few things we picked up.  We did check out a gift shop or two, but we still haven’t found the perfect T shirts to commemorate this trip.   Actually found the perfect one for Cas- almost.  The color and design were exactly what he wanted, but they didn’t have it above size medium.  Probably a popular shirt.  Figures.  Neither of us is particularly fond of shopping.  

We called it quits and went to dinner.  We picked a spot in Virginia so we wouldn’t have to deal with more crowds.  Nothing like visiting one of the most popular museums in DC to make you crowd-averse.  

Today, we have the oh-so-dorky experience of a Segway tour booked.  Nobody (I mean nobody!) looks cool on a Segway.  Knowing that, we actually have done a few of these in different places, and they’re really fun.  That’s later this morning, and late this afternoon, we have timed entry tickets to the Library of Congress.  Mid-day is kind of wide open, though we’ll probably find a way to fill it up.  

So, it’s time to get Segway-ready and head out.  This should be a good recap of what we’ve seen and what we may have missed.  In the meantime, here are the photos again: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i5YWxcScDLHgbJqLA

All we missed was the apple pie

We have been starting our days at the hotel with a banana and a breakfast bar so we can get moving faster in the mornings, but since yesterday was America’s birthday, we decided to step out for a fancy breakfast.  Hey- we’re on vacation, right?  We had cappuccinos and sandwiches with eggs, meats and cheeses while sitting at window-facing spots, watching people walk by.  Not a bad way to start a morning in DC.  

After we finished our sandwiches, we made our way to the parade.  There was a pretty great July 4th parade with about a zillion high school marching bands, a half-zillion dance troupes and a whole bunch of other attractions and oddities.  It was all very wholesome.  A strange favorite moment for Cas came when the spyder riders rolled by.  These are three-wheeled motorcycles, and one rider had what was probably his grandson on the bike with him.  The grandpa stood on the foot pegs.  (Or maybe those things have floorboards?)  Anyhow, at this exact spot in the parade route, he looked right- the White House was there.  He looked left.  The Washington Monument was there.  What a spot to be!  Cas just enjoyed watching that man soak it all in.  I really enjoyed the sheer number of high school marching bands.  It was like a study on the whole range of teenagers.  We saw every kind of kid- short and tall, fat and thin, and about every ethnicity you could conjure up.  There were kids who were obviously thrilled to be there and soaking it all in, while others were clearly bored with the whole ordeal and some who were visibly nervous with each step.  At one point, we found ourselves standing next to the most enthusiastic band mom I’ve seen.  She jumped up and down and cheered, pointing at her child and shouting her encouragement.  Like I said, it was very wholesome.  

When the parade wrapped up, we had a little cool-down time before our next activity, so we found a spot to duck in and enjoy some air conditioning.  Since about half of the people in the DC area were in the main part of the city, we took a Metro ride to a stop just outside the city limits and went to a less-populated spot for a quick drink.  It was the perfect crowd-control solution.  We also employed our new favorite trick for Metro travel- if you know which way the train is coming from when you arrive at the platform, walk all the way to the space where the first or second car will arrive.  The ones at the middle and end are always way more full.  Also, while I am at it, if you are planning a visit and want to ride the Metro, know that standing still happens on the right side of the escalator.  Lots of folks (mostly locals, I assume) walk up and down the escalators, and they do that on the left side.  This concludes your DC public service announcement.  

Anyhow, we had a concert to get to that necessitated more of Cas’ confident navigation of train transfers and public transportation.  The US Navy Concert Band was doing a show in a beautiful park, and we had tickets.  Turns out, nobody checked the tickets, but no matter- the park was reasonably full, but not too crowded.  The band was extremely good, though Cas said they were more orchestral and less big band than he had expected.  

We listened to them for a while.  They had a version of the classic poem Casey at the Bat set to music, then a more patriotic march-like song, then a medley of Disney tunes with some very talented singers, followed by God bless America.  It was a good mix.  

With that wrapped up, our next event was the thing we’d both been looking forward to- watching the fireworks from a boat on the Potomac.  Apparently, any company with any floating thing was selling a similar experience, so boarding was a little chaotic, but when we got on our sightseeing vessel, it was decidedly much more calm.  There were tables and chairs, and while we were too far back in line to maintain our spots as up-front-people, we were seated on the starboard side, which we were told would be the correct spot for the best view.  I tell you what, it was a good question to ask, because we were kind of parked so that everyone on the port side came over to join us, and while the whole boat tilted a little, it wasn’t bad.  We cruised around for a while before the start of the show, watching a beautiful sunset with a heck of a view, then at exactly 9:09 pm, the fireworks started.  The people who ran this operation had been playing a mix of older rock and roll songs and very patriotic country songs, but when it was showtime, we got what we all expected, patriotic marches.  Lots of John Phillip Sousa.  Tons of rousing music that makes you want to stand and salute, although you shouldn’t, lest you block someone else’s view.  

It was, hands down, the coolest fireworks display either of us had ever seen.  A few years ago, we did a fireworks cruise in Boston, and that was pretty great, but this time, we were closer to the action, and we had the Washington monument in view while the show happened.  I don’t think you could ask for a better experience.  

With that all wrapped up, we were still a bit hungry.  We were hustling to get to the boat a little early- I didn’t know how they organized things, and I wanted a good seat.  With Independence Day traffic and a bit of a bus delay, we decided to quickly split a sandwich before departure.  We had a place all picked out for after the big show that was open late, and for extra fun, it was one that Cas marked on his area map.  When we’re headed somewhere and we get recommendations about restaurants or attractions, my very organized husband pins those places on his Google map.  This place was called Tony and Joe’s, and it was one of those map-pinned spots.  We split a meal and a little bit of Prosecco before walking to a Metro station in some pretty decent weather.  The humidity during this trip has been pretty intolerable, so last night’s walk, though humid by Dallas standards, was almost pleasant.  

Today, we have one scheduled thing to do- a trip to the Air and Space Museum.  One of our HOHO bus drivers told us that two of the Smithsonian museums are so popular that you need to go online and get timed entry tickets, and those are the Museum of African American History and Culture and the Air and Space Museum.  That was a great tip, too, because we instantly got online and booked the first tickets we could get.  Those are for 2 pm today.  We booked them on Saturday, and today is Wednesday.  Popular spot.  

We’re thinking of doing a self-guided tour of the Supreme Court in the morning and hitting the line (yes, there is a line, even with timed entry tickets) for the Air and Space Museum at 1:30.  I kind of want to have a hot dog from a street vendor for lunch.  It feels so American, and that is the whole point of our DC-on-the-4th adventure.  Because Cas is exactly who you expect him to be, he researched a little and found that the best reviewed hot dog vendor in the area is actually really close to that museum.  Serendipity!  

So, that’s our day today.  We have a few things tomorrow and absolutely nothing on the schedule for Friday except an evening flight home.  Somehow, I suspect we’ll manage to fill the day.  

An update on the Washington Monument, by the way- tickets are nearly impossible to get.  We were on the website 30 days out, as they promised you could get tickets that way.  No dice.  They release next-day tickets each day at 10 am.  We have tried every morning at 10 am, sharp, and they all go long before we can refresh the page and click the options.  It was closed yesterday, open today, closed tomorrow, and open Friday, so Friday is our last chance to go up to the Washington Monument observation deck.  If we make it, great, but if we don’t, it’s not for lack of trying.  We should know by 10:01 tomorrow morning about our desire to visit Friday.  It’s frustrating but at least we saw the view from the old post office tower.  That was very cool.  

As for now, it’s nearly time to wake up and get moving. Things to do, you know.  So here, again, is our photo album, and we’ll get back to you later with airplanes and space stuff: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i5YWxcScDLHgbJqLA