The beach thing wasn't working out for this summer, so we decided to go the city route instead. Then when Daddy Mac spied the Real Pirates Exhibit on display at the Franklin Institute, we were sold on Philly. We stayed in a two bedroom suite at the Marriott Residence Inn at the Airport which worked out really well, except for one little thing. I must sheepishly admit we haven't gotten Sam out of the crib yet at home, and he is way too big for the pac 'n' play delivered to the room. Daddy Mac got him all situated on the bed surrounded by pillows, but Sam didn't lie still for long, jumping up every few minutes, exclaiming, "I waked up! I waked up!" Nifty trick, huh? These antics inspired Daddy Mac to mutter, "This is why we are going to keep him in a crib until he is 16." The best part-- or worst, depending how you look at it -- was Sam bursting into our room one morning (evening?) at 2 AM, shrieking, "I waked up!" He was so proud of himself I didn't know whether to laugh or throw a pillow at his perky little head. Suddenly home and the bars of his crib never looked so good.
I won't mince words about the drive up there -- hellish. It all started with Sam asking, "Are we here?" when we were barely a mile down Midlothian Turnpike, just a mile from the house. Then he announced, "I want to turn my ear off." Not good, not good at all -- that is his own special way of saying he has an earache. Beware of the Ides of July! As for the trip itself, MapQuest had it at 4 hours. Please insert maniacal Joker laugh right here.
With typical Northern Virginia traffic (really Southern Northern Virginia, from Fredericksburg north to Potomac Thrills), lame directions, and then rush hour in Baltimore, it was more like 6 1/2 hours, give or take a lobotomy or two. Who knew that so many people live in Baltimore? I suppose the Orioles game that night didn't help one bit. By the time we got to the hotel, Sam was asking, "What mistake did we make now? Do we need to turn around again? Are we
here?" And he seemed to be getting a cold, too. Right-o.
After a 5 Am wake-up from the newly emancipated Saminator, the next morning we headed downtown to the Franklin Institute for the Real Pirate Exhibit, the first of its kind in the whole wide world. I hadn't bought the tickets ahead of time, so I was really sweating it? What if we drove all the way up here and they were sold out? Thank God that dreadful scenario was the farthest thing from what really happened. We got tickets for the 9-9:30 window and were the only ones there, except for one other family with two small pirates, I mean, boys.
The exhibit was truly amazing in every sense of the word. First we saw a four minute movie, during the second of which Sam announced, " I am done with this movie." They traced the history of a real pirate ship called the Whydah from its days as a sailing ship until it pillaged 50 ships in one year. Then (spoiler alert!) a Nor'easter off of Cape Cod sunk it to the bottom of the ocean, only to be discovered recently through the dogged determination of a pirate enthusiast. In the exhibit itself, you actually get to walk through the various rooms on the ship, which just blew me away. AND they had real pirate booty -- gold coins-- that you could touch. The gift shop at the end was to die for -- hundred of cool pirate things to buy. I succumbed to buying a pirate necklace, complete with a Jolly Roger on it. Maybe I'll start a trend in pirate-wear in Richmond. Maybe not.
So it took us about seven minutes to get through the exhibit, one minute for each hour spent in the car yesterday. Let's not focus on that or I will poke my eyes out. The museum had so much more -- a really neat steam train within the museum that Daddy Mac remembered from when he was a little boy. And Sam got to "drive" from the cockpit an Air Force airplane - really! I must admit that I was mighty jealous of the people lined up to see the Dark Knight at the IMAX theatre.
After nap Daddy Mac and I wanted to go see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc. However, Sam had other plans for us. He was obsessed with riding on the subway, so we did. There was some irony (OK, lots) that we paid $20 to park and then bypassed the Liberty Bell to ride on a grimy inner-city train in 100 degree weather. It must be love or Joker-type insanity. Sam looked like he couldn't decide if he was scared or thrilled. I think it was the former. By then Sam was tired and still not feeling well, so we aborted ship and sat in the car in rush hour traffic (I see a pattern here) rather than wander around in the sweltering head with a sick kid.
Thankfully our hotel let us check out a day early. On Sunday morning I took Sam to the doctor who informed me that Sam has Fifth's Disease, a virus that makes you achey, congested, have an earache temporarily, etc. "Don't worry, though, it is in its final stages. It was at its worst for the last five days or so." AAAAARGH! I now know what it feels like to be a Pirate Mommy, just look at my necklace!
LibbY
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