The Po Show

Whew

Note to self: never ever ever ever ever try and go on a weekend driving trip over Thanksgiving weekend. It took us almost 8 hours to get home. The kids were generally good about the whole thing (better than I would have expected), but the last hour and a half was pretty harrowing. They're still up now, 40 minutes past bedtime, because I promised them they could stay up late since they'd missed out on the play time they'd anticipated having after we got home. Tomorrow's going to be ugly.

But despite the return home, it was a wonderful trip. Yesterday we started off early in the morning at Eastern Market, walked down North Carolina past our old house (I called it the "Mommy and Daddy Used to Live Here Tour"), then down to the Capitol. We walked around there, then to the National Gallery (we did both buildings!). Matthew got really bored and tired, but Tessa was SO into it, excitedly recognizing a Jackson Pollack and a Piet Mondrian, thrilled by the room full of Calders, delighted by a Lichtenstein. Then we went through the Impressionists and she went around the rooms, admiring the paintings and reading ALL the titles aloud. They dragged a bit through the 17th century Italians and Dutch paintings, so we headed out. We fought our way through the crowds to have lunch at the Natural History (deciding it was way too crowded to look around), then headed outside again. We walked down to the Washington Monument (they were SOOOO impressed!), then hoofed it all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. I choked up talking about how hundreds of thousands of people lined up along the reflecting pool as Dr. Martin Luther King made his "I Have a Dream" speech, hoping Matthew could visualize it all before him. He wanted me to take a picture of the Lincoln statue, without Tessa and him in it, to capture the statue by itself.

I gotta admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did on the walk, which was over 4 miles long. They usually aren't terribly good walkers, but they did great. We hopped in a cab, decompressed at the hotel for awhile, then took the Metro to Union Station for dinner. They were so impressed that there was this huge mall in a train station :)!

This morning we left the hotel (I still can't believe I got us a room at the Westin right on Dupont Circle, with free breakfasts, for $79 a night) and went to Trader Joe's. In D.C., TJ's has wine, unlike our poor TJ's here. Then back to the Mall, where we walked around the Castle, and then to the Natural History. I think it was the high point for Matthew, even more than the Air and Space, which was so surprising to me. He was so entranced by the Hope Diamond, and the whole gems and minerals section (we've been through the gems and minerals exhibits a million times at the Museum of Natural History here in NY, but he just loved it). Then the big surprise: he was totally fascinated by the African Cultures section, and he sat through the whole film on slavery. This is the child who gets anxious and overwrought by the slightest mention of conflict on TV shows, but he sat through the whole film.

As we got into the car to leave, Matthew said, "This was an enjoyable trip!," which of course made it all worthwhile. Tessa concurred that it was a great trip, except for the fact that she didn't get to keep her "panda ticket" (her Metro card, which had a picture of pandas on it, that didn't come back out at the exit because the money had been exhausted on it). Well, I guess nothing is perfect :).

Now I'm drinking my glass of $4.99 Trader Joe's cabernet, and feeling glad to be home.