Boston and Washington - Spring 2016 - Day 10 (Natural History Museum & Shopping)

[Guest]

This is my first trippie (please be gentle)...


Trippie Index Here


Day 9 Here




What:


Boston, Washington D.C. and Baltimore


When:


Spring 2016


Who:


Me (April) Target! Target! Target!

DH (R.C.) London Calling

DS (Pooter) Aged 9, Became a Fossil at the Museum of Natural History



Day 10 - National Museum of Natural History, R.C.’s Flight to London, Shopping



A shorter report today - nothing too funny or exciting happened, but we still enjoyed ourselves.



Today R.C. flew home to London. Poot really wanted to show him around the Natural History Museum before he had to go.


Breakfast was much like yesterday’s. I found the kind young lady and asked her for plain yogurt again. Poot tried for the second time to eat his own weight in English muffins.


We were straight away off to the Museum of Natural History. Again, this is a national museum - so it’s free!


Poot wanted to show R.C. a few of the exhibits (Did you guess meteorites? You’d be right.) that we saw yesterday.

We explored most of the museum, with Poot especially enjoying the interactive game that turned him into a fossil.

The museum includes an (indoor) insect zoo (sponsored by - ORKIN - a firm of exterminators!)...

...and a small(ish) walk-through butterfly exhibit. The butterflies are free on the first Wednesday of the month (normally $7, I think?).

Now we happened to BE THERE on the first Wednesday, but by the time we found ourselves in that section of the museum - all the tickets for the day had gone.


In the insect zoo, Poot got to hold a Madagascan hissing cockroach.

The docent then asked me if I would like to hold it...


No, not really - but when Poot was little I told myself that I would try not to demonstrate irrational fears in front of him...


So I held the cockroach - and I thought I was looking all brave and cool. Clearly not, though - as the docent (a man), R.C. and Poot all started to tease me and poke fun at my (terrified and revolted) facial expressions!


After a minute or so, I suggested that the docent might like to take the roach back.


There were also millipedes and walking sticks to hold - much like at Regent’s Park Zoo or Butterfly World.


If your boys like creepy crawlies - the insect zoo is good fun, and aside from the butterfly tunnel, it’s all free.


Weirdly, there is a small exhibit about ancient Egypt just outside the insect zoo…

For those of you who are familiar with the Natural History Museum in London - there are still a few “stuffed animal halls” here, too. We spent a goodly while wandering around the mammal hall and then watched a film about evolution in the adjacent theatre.


By now it was time for R.C. to go.

We went back to the hotel with him to collect his bags. We would then all ride the Silver Line together as far as L’Enfant Plaza - where we would change lines. He would take the Silver Line all the way to its current termination point at Wiehle-Reston and then change for the bus to Dulles.


R.C.’s journey from Dulles to Heathrow:


Apparently, the journey was “fine”. R.C. isn’t one to pay attention to the little things…


He was pleased to tell me that he (for the first time EVER!) figured out the seat controls - and so was able to make the seat into a bed and sleep for a few hours.


Everything was on time, and he landed at LHR around 6:00 AM. We live just north of London, so Heathrow is MUCH more convenient for us than Gatwick.


A friend of ours who has a car service picked him up and brought him home. He had a bath, and was in the office by 10:00 AM. Show-off!




Meanwhile...



Back when we first checked in to the hotel, I had asked the concierge if there was a Target nearby.


Now the concierge that day was a young African American gal, and she looked at me and paused for a while before answering.


Her: There’s a Target up in Columbia Heights. I can show you how to get there.


Me: Great! I live in Europe, and I really miss Target.


Her: One thing, though.


Me: Oh?


Her: You’ll be the only white people there. Just so you know.


Me: Um...OK? I'm not sure I understand - will there be problems?


Her: Probably not.


Hmm…


She was obviously hinting at SOMETHING, but I didn’t really get what it was until tomorrow in Baltimore...


But no SOMETHING today. After we left R.C. on the Silver Line, we changed for the Green Line and got off at Columbia Heights Station.


The concierge’s tone had planted a little concern in my mind about the neighbourhood, but the little area around the station seemed busy and very safe (granted, it was broad daylight on a Wednesday, so who knows?).


I grew up in a big city, I live just outside London now - maybe the concierge “warns” everybody in case some come from small, racially homogenous towns...I have no idea...


The station exit is across the street from an urban mall - there’s Target, Marshalls, Best Buy, Staples - and a bunch of restaurants.

I saw Chick-fil-A. That was lunch sorted, then.

Poot and I almost always share a meal in America. And we did here, too. We got a chicken sandwich and some waffle fries (Poot’s favourite). I had a glass of their lovely (still) lemonade (Poot had water). We also shared a cookie, which the sweet girl behind the counter gave us because we had to wait for our food.


Poot had a long chat with a DC policewoman while I was waiting for our food. He was excited to show her that they had the same patch. This same patch will cause LOTS of problems tomorrow…

Target:


After our late lunch, we headed over to Target. I knew that I was going to have to be judicious in my “back to England” purchases as we were travelling hand luggage only.


However, our room at the Residence Inn had a proper kitchen (everything but an oven) - and I wanted to buy some American groceries that we could enjoy while in DC.


We picked up some potstickers (oh, I LOVE these) to have for dinner one night,

and also got some Black Forest ham and sliced Havarti.

To go with the deli bits, I got of box of Flipsides. These are pretzel on one side and Town House cracker on the other.

They are SO GOOD!

We got some other food as well - mostly salad-y bits and hummus.


We also got a pack of Poot’s favourite - cookie dough.

I am DEFINITELY not the sort of mother who would let her kid eat raw cookie dough...oh, wait, I am...


Poot bought himself a book (surprise!) about animal attacks.


We were going to the Washington Nationals game on Sunday, so I wanted to find a Nats shirt for Poot. There were a few, but they were both EXPENSIVE and POORLY MADE.

I had seen a Marshalls on the way in to Target - we decided to look there instead.


It had been a relatively quick (and cheap!) visit to Target, but we both enjoyed walking around and looking at all the lovely American bits and pieces. Poot couldn't get over all the varieties of Pop Tarts and Oreos!


Marshalls:


We did find a Nats shirt here. It wasn’t SUPER quality, but it was half the price of the Target one (and a QUARTER of the price of the ones at the stadium).


CVS:


Across the street from Target was a big CVS (these are like Walgreens). I had picked up some marked-down Easter candy at a CVS in Boston, but THIS CVS still had MOUNTAINS of candy - all 75% off.


We grabbed all of Poot’s favourites, and a bag of malted milk M&Ms to take to the baseball game tomorrow.

Southwest Library:


On our way back to the hotel, we walked past a DC branch library - we always duck in when we walk past (American) libraries to see if they have a little sale corner.

Score! We picked out three kids’ historical novels for Poot, took them up to the counter - and were told that the kids’ books were free to children.


Dinner:


Tonight’s hotel dinner wasn’t a “free” one like Monday and Tuesday’s had been. Rather, a food truck (Peruvian food from DC Pollo) had pulled up outside the hotel.

People could purchase from the truck - and then go to the dining area, where an assortment of free cold drinks had been spread out.


The food looked good (we like Peruvian food, and normally have to go up to London to get it) - but it was all chicken. It had been chicken for lunch, and chicken for lunch yesterday, too - so we decided instead to go up to our room and eat some of our Target bounty.


I asked if we could take a couple of the cold drinks with us - even though we were not eating in the dining area. Yes, we could. I grabbed a pop and a bottle of water.


We had ham, cheese, hummus, crudite (I CANNOT get the accent marks to work on my laptop) and my beloved Flipsides.

We *may* also have opened some of the Easter candy.


We ate in front of one of Poot’s favourite Weather Channel programs - The Strangest Weather on Earth.

Channel 5 is now broadcasting this here under a different name:

Annoyingly, they have dubbed it. We all speak English, what does it matter what accent we have? Does America get Doctor Who and Upstairs, Downstairs dubbed into New Jersey English?


An early night - we were off to Baltimore in the morning!


Poot's Day 10 memories to follow

[Guest]

continued from previous post


Poot's Memories of Day 10:


Poot is 9...


We went to the Natural History Museum this morning. There I showed Dad the meteorites. Even he was impressed!


Then I showed Dad the block of lava from Mount Unzen. We also saw a chunk of lava from the Puy de Dome (an extinct volcano in France).


After that, we went through the Rocks and Minerals hall. In the hall, we saw a large chunk of naturally magnetic rock. It was covered in paper clips that you could experiment with sticking to it. We did this for quite a while. You could make chains of paper clips that stretched quite a few inches away from the rock.

Then we went to the ORKIN PEST CONTROL Insect Zoo. I found this hugely amusing.


In the zoo, I held a cockroach and saw many other insects and arachnids, including several rose tarantulas. Mother DID NOT like holding the cockroach.


We found a game where you could turn yourself into a fossil. I was a jellyfish fossil. Nearby there was a little movie about how wildebeest food becomes wildebeest poo.

Then we saw an exhibit about what life was like after the dinosaurs’ extinction.


Then we went to the Evolution Hall, inside there was a movie about the evolution of mammals and reptiles.


Then we bought a postcard of the Hope Diamond.

We went back to our hotel so that Dad could pick up his luggage. We rode the Metro to L’Enfant Plaza, where we had to change, but Dad had to ride a-l-l the way to the end of the line (Wiehle-Reston Station).


We meanwhile were off to Target.


First, before we went to Target, we ate at Chick-fil-A. We had to wait a long time so a nice waitress gave me a cookie.


Then we got our cart and went into Target. At Target the first things we bought were normal groceries (veg). We then proceeded to buy ham.


This was a two-story Target. How would we get our cart upstairs where the books were? The answer came in an unexpected form - a special “cart escalator”. While the people rode on either side, the cart rode in the middle.

I found this extremely interesting. Whoever invented it should be given the Nobel Prize!

April interrupting here:


Then I picked out “I Survived: Nature Attacks”. This is a great book for 8-12 year olds - it tells four true stories of kids caught up in disasters.


After we checked out, we went to Marshalls and CVS (where we got a large quantity of cheap Easter candy. My favourites were the “Birthday Peeps”, which tasted positively delicious).

Then we went to the library (it was a long walk) and we got three books.


Then we watched the Weather Channel and went to sleep. The End.


Day 11 Here

[Melbatb]

You son is amazing - I love his tales of the day!

Interested to hear what happened in Baltimore ...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

You son is amazing - I love his tales of the day!

Interested to hear what happened in Baltimore ...

See more...

Aw, thanks.

I laughed out loud when I read the bit about the Nobel Prize. (I let Poot take the laptop into my husband's office and type up "his day" in private) It has been great to see what he thought was important/interesting/funny.

I'm doing Baltimore today...

Thanks so much for reading along.

[Glee Fan]

Loving the Target haul! Poot's input always makes me smile.

Finding myself concerned as to what's about to happen in Baltimore...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Glee Fan

Loving the Target haul! Poot's input always makes me smile.

Finding myself concerned as to what's about to happen in Baltimore...

See more...

Target is the store I most wish we had here. Poot was SERIOUSLY impressed by the cart-lifting machine...

Baltimore was...interesting.

[BevS97]

I love that cart escalator, that was the most interesting bit and you missed it

I like you little hints, I'm going to have to read about Baltimore now!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by BevS97

I love that cart escalator, that was the most interesting bit and you missed it

I like you little hints, I'm going to have to read about Baltimore now!

See more...

Thanks very much.

I have been SERIOUSLY entertained by Poot's memorable moments...I should find out who invented the cart escalator and send them Poot's opinion re: the Nobel Prize...lol.

This is my first trippie - and I thought about having each day be "self-contained", but it felt inorganic. I am trying to write the same way that I talk (hence all the forward and backward references)...

[disney owl]

another good report

[Guest]

Originally Posted by disney owl

another good report

See more...

So glad you're hanging in there with us, disney owl!

Poot was just reminding me the other day of the time I held the cockroach - bleurgh...