we were in WASHINGTON, for PRESIDENTS’ DAY, for god’s sake February 19, 2008
The weather here on Presidents’ Day was absolutely gorgeous. My parents are visiting (arrived last Wednesday night), and Train and I both had off work. We were having some repair work done on our furnace so I had taken a shower before the repairman arrived at 9am. After my mom’s shower, she had an idea that we should go into D.C. and walk around in the nice weather (by 10am, it was 60 degrees! heat wave!). At first I wasn’t sure…every time I think of the national mall I think of HOT, and WALKING, and HEAT, and SWEAT, and SWAMP. But there was nowhere nearby that we could spend the majority of the day outside, except our muddy, dog-poop-filled backyard. Plus, I’ve been wanting to take Sherman to the National Building Museum for a while. He could run around on the mall and people-watch. My dad passed on the trip as he’s getting over a sinus infection or something, and Train had lunch plans with his brother. We gathered up snacks, bottled water, and jackets just in case and headed into D.C.
We drove in and parked in a deck across from the Verizon Center. Sherman had slept for a little while in the car and woke up when we got in the deck. We put him in his stroller and walked the few blocks to the museum. The weather was gorgeous. My mom had on short sleeves and a light jacket. Sherman and I had on long sleeves and I had our jackets in the stroller just in case. Before we’d left the house, I asked Mom to grab Sherman’s hat. I meant his baseball cap (for the sun, because he refuses to wear sunglasses) but she grabbed his fleece/earflap hat. I left it in the car because I figured it would be too hot.
We got to the museum and had to wait about 15 minutes to get into the little kids’ exhibit (there’s a 40 person capacity). We played there for about an hour, and then walked another couple of blocks to McDonalds. The sun was bright, in Sherman’s eyes, and I was kind of sweating by the time we sat down for lunch. We finished our meals and brought Sherman’s fries with us in the stroller. We walked around our asses to get over to the closest Metro stop and I was excited because Sherman has just recently started saying “choo choo” and we thought he would get a kick out of the train.
Of course the Red Line train was leaving right as we got down to the platform and we had a 10 minute wait for the next one. I had forgotten about the major holiday weekend track work with “delays up to 30 minutes“. Even when the train arrived we sat for a good 5 minutes before it moved, with Sherman freaking out just like on an airplane. He was actually pointing at the doors like, “Let’s get the hell out of here!” We only had a couple of stops and a train change and he did okay, but I had to hold/carry him until we got to the Smithsonian station. We decided we’d walk the 10-or-so blocks back to the car when we were ready to leave since he had not enjoyed the Metro and it was running so slowly.
We came up the escalator and it was like we had been transported to a different world. It was overcast, windy, and cold, and then a raindrop fell right on my nose. “Mom,” I said, “it’s going to rain.” We shrugged it off. Surely, after we came all this way into the city, and spent the beautiful morning INSIDE at the museum, it wasn’t going to crap out on us now. But I would have loved to have Sherman’s fleece hat (as a kid visiting DC, the winds whipping between the buildings gave me an ear infection, so I always try to keep his ears covered when it’s cold like that). We crossed the mall and ended up at the Carousel which I haven’t been to in years. I forget it’s there.
The rain picked up in intensity. Mom showed Sherman the horses and asked him if he wanted to ride and he said yes. This is after the nuclear meltdown he had at a street carnival in Key West when I tried to get him to ride some of the kiddie rides. We figured I should go with him in case he freaked out. We waited for our turn with a bunch of high school kids, trying not to get wet. I picked a horse near one of the stationary bench seats so if he didn’t like it I at least wouldn’t have to stand and hold him during the ride. Of course he didn’t like it, and of course he wouldn’t sit on the horse, and even when we sat on the seat he still fussed for a while (even I was getting dizzy!). About halfway through he kind of calmed down and watched the horses go up and down, and as the ride slowed I let him pet the horse and look at it. Well, then he wanted to ride and pitched a fit when we had to get off.
By then, it was freaking pouring. People are running for the museums and the information booths, just trying to get out of the rain. We figured the only thing to do was go back to the Metro where at least it was dry. We ran back to the station on the gravel, with Sherman in the stroller. It was so damn cold. Mom was wondering if it hadn’t started sleeting, the rain felt so cold. Of course we couldn’t run the whole way because we were out of breath, so we got even wetter as we walked back to the escalator.
We immediately caught a train back towards our parking deck, but when we had to switch trains at Metro Center, everyone was on a single platform and there wasn’t a train in sight. Mom walked Sherman around in his stroller while I used my trusty map and got my bearings. We were about 5 blocks from the car and the thought of waiting around in the station for 20 minutes with a soaking wet Sherman, then crowding onto the train just to go one or two stops and still have to hike to the car was enough to make me decide that we could just walk. The station manager let Mom and I use the restroom and Sherman was doing OK in his stroller (I see kids who sit in their strollers while their moms browse or chat and I am so jealous…if the stroller isn’t moving, Sherman is FREAKING).
We got up to the top of the escalator and luckily we were still under cover because it was still raining. There was a SAM there with a huge umbrella that we were about to pay her for. Anyway, we speed-walked the 5 blocks to the Verizon Center, trying to stay under building awnings but literally weaving through people on the sidewalk. Our hair was dripping and the legs of Sherman’s jeans were too. Mom mentioned that Sherman was being awfully quiet…”probably thinking this couldn’t get any worse!” It was pouring. Mom pointed at the umbrellas through the window of the H&M.
FINALLY we got to our parking deck and ducked into the garage entrance. I peeked down at Sherman WHO WAS ASLEEP. Mom and I try to use our Sherman-napping-time very wisely. We don’t like to waste it on things like RUNNING THROUGH THE FREEZING COLD RAIN, we like to be watching Tivo or browsing at Target. We were stunned that he was asleep and at this point we were pretty much beyond hysterical from the mess of the day. Mom insisted we try to get a picture of the three of us, right there on the ramp of the garage.
We got to the car and took off Sherman’s pants and sweatshirt jacket. His shirt was dry and I put him in his carseat with a spare towel I had in the car as a blanket (of course, he woke up and didn’t go back to sleep). I put the stroller in the back of the car next to the humongous golf umbrella we always keep there.
We both needed a drink, but I would settle for a fountain Coke on ice, which always makes anything better in our family when alcohol isn’t an option. I circled around to the McDonalds where we had had lunch and Mom ran in to get some big drinks for us and milk for Sherman (he was sweetly snacking on Cheerios while we waited). Of course traffic going home was worse than my regular workday traffic and it took us almost and hour and a half to get home (including screaming at the mulch-filled dump truck who tried to cut me off in the HOV lane, and giving myself a nosebleed in the process). We considered not telling Train and my dad about our day but Sherman - with no pants on - was a dead giveaway that something was awry. Either way, it was fun to get out of the house and spend the day with Sherman. Although I could have used another day off after all of that exercise.
—————————————
Let’s kick it HollowSquirrel style and have you settle a family dispute:
Without looking it up ANYWHERE (internet, food label, book, etc.) - how would you define “toffee”? First thing off the top of your head.
