Belknap Turners visit Washington DC

With Jason and Ahni's uncertain U.S. residency status for next year, Tiffani and I thought it was a good opportunity to visit the nation's capital. We called and got the OK from our hosts, mapped our route, gassed and loaded the van, and took off about midday on Saturday, August 12. We drove to Somerset, Pennsylvania, and checked into a Knights Inn, not altogether a complete dump. Note Tiff and I at a rest area on Sunday, ready to be there already, photo courtesy of Cori.



We luckily coincided our arrival in Springfield, Virginia with Jason and Ahni's return from a camping trip in Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech, so we unpacked and stretched our legs, and then gladly took off for the local pool. Sophie excitedly chose to ride bikes with Ahni and the Virginia Turners, while the rest of us piled in the van.



Here we are on our first day, having just stepped off the Metro and walked the block or so to the Mall. The Mall is visually very impressive for first-timers like us, considering the range of attractions, from the Capital at one end, to the Washington Monument towering in the distance at the opposite end. For some reason, as I don't recall any particular darkness to my mood, I never smiled in any of these photos (there were 3), so this is the best one with the kids all having their eyes open, bag of carrots and all.



Our first day took us, indecisively, to the National Gallery of Art, just a short walk across the Mall from where that picture of all of us, above, was taken. Once inside, it was refreshingly cool to be out of the sun, and the fountain is what enticingly greets visitors at the front entrance.



The kids made sport of the statue's jaunty, thrusting pose, and Seamus, as usual, had a bottle in his mouth. The NGA was a good initiation into touring Washington, where even the kids were asked for, and elicited reactions to the art. Ahni was gracious enough to trot off with the little'uns while we enjoyed the west gallery, and Tiff, Meg, Nick, Cori, Garrett, and myself caught up with them pretty quickly. We could not leave the museum, though, without a Seamus incident: queueing for the elevator, our imp trotted over to an expanse of canvas or fabric on the wall and stroked it lovingly. The security guard informed us of the work of art's $15 million value shortly after yelling at us to control our child.



Next stop was the National Air and Space museum, and a late lunch at the McDonald's located there. I knew the Washington area was supposed to have a higher cost of living, but I was quite taken aback by the cost of our $32 lunch for our family of 6. On the other hand, this McDonald's was quite innovative, in that you order at a kiosk, and step forward to the kitchen to retrieve your tray of food rather immediately. As Meg said, it's the world's fastest McDonald's.



The National Air and Space Museum was really a worthy, informative, eye-catching visit, but the museum lost the Turner clan, as it was the witching hour for the little kids. Further, the crowds were unbelievable: apparently, it's the most visited museum in the world. We found ourselves outside, with babes asleep in our great jogging stroller, so we headed uphill towards the Capital.






How about this drinking fountain?





After visiting the outside of the Capital, and visiting with the heavily-armed yet pleasant Capitol Police, we pressed downhill towards our Metro station, but happened into the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory en route. This picture was taken in the Children's Garden, and you can see how popular the fountain was in the humid hot-house with the red-faced children.

With a clarified idea of the mall, and what we wanted to see, Tuesday had us travelling to the granddaddy of museums for us, the National Museum of Natural History. The train ride proved to be eventful, as the kids were clambering all over. Actually, let's say that only the boys were, our youngest included. Call it bad parenting, or call it a lesson learned, but despite admonitions warning Seamus of the peril of riding a train while standing, and despite repeated forced sit-downs on our part, he got conked. As we rolled into a station and slowed down, he was unable to stall his momentum with his hands, only his face broke his encounter with the pole. Much crying, and I am sure the Metro riders on that particular train wished that that noisy kids' parents were much more interactive with him before the event.



The National Museum of Natural History is a big kid-pleaser, considering all the dinosaurs and fossils and elephants. But that also means that half of the Washington DC tourists were there when we were visiting, while the other half were across the Mall at the National Air and Space Museum. Apparently, I'm roaring like a Woolly Mammoth would do in this photo, probably in an attempt to soothe the savage beast in my arms.



This photo of Sophia and her new best friend was taken in the Hall of Mammals Theater, where we watched a compelling short film on evolution. Note Nick's usual countenance: mouth agape. The movie provided a good opportunity for us to sit and relax for a moment, so we ended up watching the movie, in pieces, about 3 times.



Wednesday was National Zoo day for all the Turners, and we were going to our destination via car, our first time driving into the city. Ahni had been accompanying us into town each day, but due to Garrett's football practice schedule, she would leave early with him to prepare for dinner and practice. Thus, we drove separately, and quickly lost each other's cars near George Washington University. Lost we were, and without map, unprepared we were as well. After some fuss, and asking for directions a few times, we finally arrived at the zoo, reconnected with the other Turners, had lunch, and were on our way to the Petting Zoo. You can see from the photo that Sophia loves animals.



At only two and a half years old, Seamus seems to have struck some sort of communicative balance with this goat, seeing eye to eye, a meeting of the minds. Perhaps he's got animal husbandry or veterinary science in his future?



It was a hot day at the zoo, and we wanted to take a break and reward the kids with some ice cream, so we walked out the entrance to a (somewhat) nearby custard stand; Meg took this great picture with her new digital camera. Obviously, a lot of these DC pics that involve the stroller show one or both of the kids zonked out.



Another Meg photo in Uncle Jason's dead dark continent animal room.









And still another great picture contributed by Meg. Thanks Meg!






On Thursday we had lunch and a tour at the Pentagon. This is, of course, the Congressional Medal of Honor room. It's very humbling to stand in the room and read the names from all the various engagments, some less conspicuous than others, like the fin de siecle Phillippine Insurrection or the various Haiti campaigns of the early 20th century.



Gaining entry into the Pentagon was methodical, and not unlike boarding a plane, what with the interviews and detecting machines. After some minor scolding from the guard at the detector -- don't stand on her carpet until she asks you to do so -- we made it in, received our temporary IDs, met up with Jason and were whisked off for lunch. We walked only a fraction of the estimated 17.5 miles of corridors, saw Jason's office door, breezed through the courtyard, went by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office, and happened by both a 1-star and a 3-star general.