A day in D.C. with Sarah and Q. Boy, we saw a lot in a short time

By Sarah Smith

Q and I had the great pleasure of exhibiting, this year, at the Washington Antiquarian Book Fair, managed by Beth Campbell and housed in the Holiday Inn Rosslyn, in Arlington, Virginia.
The hotel is located just a couple of miles from downtown D.C., and is only two blocks from the Rosslyn Metro station.  This fantastic location, and the several large conference rooms on the second floor, made the hotel an ideal spot for the book fair, which has been serving the book loving community for forty-three years.

When our travels brought us into D.C. a day earlier than anticipated, I purchased two-day passes for the Metro, and we set out to enjoy as much of the city as we could cram into a day! (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

We began our adventure at the Rosslyn Metro Station, with its bustling morning crowd and 195 foot decent to the lower platform. i put Q in what he might describe as a “chokehold” and what I would refer to as “a lifesaving grip,” as we rode the fifth longest continuous span escalator in the D.C. metro system.  We were only moments into our journey, and already I felt that I’d earned a badge of honor, when we alighted on the lower platform and found our way to the intimidating metro map, with its spaghetti-like mass of lines and stops. My death grip on Q paid off, since he was forced to stare at the map with me and saved the day by figuring out that the meatball sized dot labeled “McPherson Square” was our best bet for getting close to the White House. 

We crammed our way onto a car headed that way.  Q loved the challenge of balancing himself while the train rushed along, and I forced myself to relax my grip on his shirt a bit while I listened hard to interpret the mechanical sound of garbling coming from the train’s loudspeaker.

We finally figured out how to exit McPherson, a few minutes delayed, since I ignored my son’s protests and headed us both in the wrong direction.  The fresh air and natural lighting were so welcomed that I determined to walk as much of the rest of our way as possible, and ignore the cold drizzle that was starting to snake its way past our shirt collars.

I worked hard to remember details about the White House’s architecture and history as we headed toward those auspicious halls; I found that my memory fell dismally short, and determined to find some good books on the subject to share with Q when we got home.  One of the most precious resources of homeschooling is that great institution, the Public Library, and I was reminded, with gratitude, just how badly I was in need of its services!

From the White House, we walked past The Ellipse and took in the National Mall in its entirety, from the Lincoln Memorial to the United States Capital, visiting the many hauntingly beautiful monuments along the way. 
Q’s favorite was the Lincoln Memorial, and we spent some time exploring it and the museum located at its base. 

The World War II monument was my favorite, with its 56 pillars, triumphal arches, and fountains.

The most beautiful part of the National Mall experience for us both, though, were the many people, from all over the world, visiting alongside of us.  During our walk, we met and spoke with families from Germany, the United Kingdom, Missouri, Illinois, and Venezuela.  Each was eager to talk about their trip, and all stood and compared notes and maps with us while we worked to figure out what “must see” parts of D.C. we should fit into our day.

Our wonderful experiences with the people around us gave me added courage to venture back underground, this time into the Smithsonian Metro Station, where we hopped a train to Metro Central to grab the red line to Chinatown, where I hoped to provide us both with some by now much needed nourishment! 

At street level, we were greeted by the shouts of food truck drivers offering free samples of their wares; these tantalizing tidbits were enough to drive a hungry Q into a veritable frenzy of anticipation.  I talked him into waiting, however, for what I’d read to be the best chance for an authentic Chinese meal available outside of China. I asked a couple of people we passed for help, and eventually received directions to the nebulous heart of Chinatown.  We learned that the historic neighborhood had undergone a number of changes in recent years, beginning in the 1990s, when much of the area was torn down to make room for the Capital One Arena; as a result, the historic neighborhood, with its Chinese owned businesses, was much smaller and harder to define. 

We did find a small shop selling traditional Chinese Moon Cakes, and Q is still talking about the tasty treats!

(This shopfront, with its intriguing display of waving cats, was one of the more exciting Chinatown finds).
After humoring me by walking about twenty blocks to find that elusive treasure, a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Q confessed that he’d much rather go back to one of the food trucks that had offered him a particularly good sample.  His favorite flavors of the day came from a lamb stuffed gyro we purchased for him from a food truck located about ten steps outside of the metro station we’d emerged from so long ago.  We slipped back underground, this time with the National Zoo in mind.

What had been a steady drizzle increased, somewhat, in fervor, and by the time we made our way from the Cleveland Park stop to the to the zoo’s entrance, we were both soaked.

The more intelligent residents of this national treasure were, very sensibly, nowhere to be found.  We can only assume that they were tucked snugly into their dens, out of the freezing rain, where they probably peeked out at us and wondered about the strange habits of humans.

Our wanderings did, however, turn up a couple of hardy bison, one rodent like animal from Chile, and several seals.  I’ve since learned that the Institute cares for about 1,800 animals representing 300 species, so the six animals we actually laid eyes on were probably not the best representation of all that the zoo has to offer. 

We stopped at a charming Cakepop shop located just across the street from the zoo, with windows filled with tempting and delectable treats. The subsequent rush of sugar was enough to convince us to seek animals less likely to escape our clutches – those stuffed specimens at the Museum of Natural History.

As we made our way, in that by now ever present rain, to the Woodley Park Metro Station, Q stopped to clean up some hotdog wrappers that he noticed had been left on a bench.  We’d discussed, at the zoo, how human garbage was affecting animal habitats (this was at the start of the zoo, when I was still feeling perky and enthusiastic about the park’s conservation efforts), and he was feeling determined to make some changes.  He got some positive reinforcement when his efforts uncovered a crumpled $5 bill lying on the ground just under the mess.  He immediately suggested that we use the unexpected riches to purchase hot drinks at a nearby Starbucks; an idea that made us both feel infinitely better about our cold, wet surroundings.

The entrance escalators at Woodley Metro Station descend 102 feet, and are the longest in D.C.   I am not sure that this photograph properly conveys the terrifying reality of these escalators.  Let’s all just be thankful that I was able to get my cramping, clinched fists to release Q’s shirt at the end.

Notice Q’s relaxed pose.  By this point, he was quite confident about the metro system and a bit patronizing about my Metro-panic.

We switched trains at Metro Central and headed back to the Smithsonian Metro Station.

We both loved all the exhibits at the Natural History Museum!

This African elephant greeted us in the Rotunda. He stands 14-feet tall and weighs 12 tons. He's something of an institution there, since his debut almost 60 years ago.  The exhibit calls attention to the plight of the elephant in the modern world and the threats the species faces today. It traces the evolution of the elephant from its predecessors to three modern-day types.

Q promptly fell in love with the giant chunk of quartz we found in the GeoGallery. Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals, found all over the world. It's made of oxygen and silicon, and is colorless in its pure form. When iron creeps in, it takes on purple hue, like this one. We call it amethyst, and jewelry makers often use it in their creations.

This display was Q’s favorite; although, frankly, each new display of gems was quickly declared to be his “favorite!”  Maybe he’ll end up becoming a gemologist ;-)

The dinosaur wing was, of course, another favorite.  We could have spent hours in that wing alone, but were run out of the museum for closing time at 5:30 p.m.

Another frolic in the rain took us back to the Smithsonian Station, where we made our last train transfer to get back to Rosslyn Station and, finally, our hotel.

It took a bit of negotiating to get Q back into the rain for dinner.  Since we left Florida at around 100 degrees, the swiftly dropping temperatures in D.C. felt positively frigid.  I had a fantastic parking place for load-in the next morning, however, and there was no way that I was going to lose it over the less-than-a-mile walk to the nearest restaurant.  Q was a very good sport when we noticed, upon our soaking wet and rather dispirited return to the hotel, that the parking lot had emptied considerably and we would have our pick of parking places ;-) 

Snug in our hotel room, we were both asleep by 9 p.m.  I feel so grateful for our D. C. adventures, and for this little boy who calls me, “Mom.”  My heart is full!

Sara Smith works at Lighthouse Books, ABAA and is manager of the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.