We played another game of pinochle in the late afternoon and Dave won. We then walked to a restaurant called Busboys and Poets. It was a combination restaurant and bookstore. We each had a type of burger and I think they were the best burgers we have ever had! And they were HUGE! I could only eat half of mine so Dave and Nathaniel split my other half. We walked home and got there just in time as shortly thereafter we had a tremendous lightening and thunderstorm with lots of rain. It lasted quite a long while. We were snug in our little house though so we played another game of pinochle and I won. Nathaniel is learning quickly, but much of this game comes with strategy you pick up as you go along. He will get there eventually.
This morning we woke up to drizzle and light rain. Dave decided that he was too worn out to go with us today so he went back to bed. He probably got too tired from the heat and the walking at the zoo. Nathaniel has been tracking our steps and we walked 17,976 yesterday! Nathaniel and I set out with umbrellas in hand and went to the Natural History Museum. We saw the Hope Diamond - a natural blue stone originally weighing in at 112 carats. It has been cut several times by different owners, the most famous being Marie Antoinette. We then went to the Butterfly Pavilion. We were in an enclosure with lots of butterflies flying around us. Nathaniel and I each had one land on us, but they were too quick for a pic. Our favorite was the blue morpho. We also visited the Mammal Hall. Nathaniel was fascinated by the mammals from Australia while I enjoyed seeing the Capybara, the largest of the rodents. When we were in the Amazon jungle, there was a tame Capybara in our unit named Charlie. Every day Dave would get a handful of wrapped saltines and crinkle the wrapping. Charlie could hear that sound from anywhere in camp. He would always coming running and stop in front of Dave to get his treats. It was really quite funny. The sound they make is just like that of a guinea pig. The most interesting thing I learned in the exhibit is that all mammals descend from a small early rodent from over 200 million years ago called Morganucodon oehleri. We found the cafeteria and had salads.
Our original plan was to visit the botanical gardens, but due to the inclement weather we went to Plan B. We walked back to the American History museum and saw two exhibits that we had missed the other day. One was on food and how things have changed over the years - production and our choices. Nathaniel loved the kitchen and display on Julia Child. The other exhibit was on the immigration of Latinx peoples from early years to now and highlights of famous people who have influenced many aspects of our society.
We got home and discovered that Dave was feeling much better. I think he just got worn out yesterday. Nathaniel and I walked 14,292 steps today. Whew! My feet are smoking! I did a load of laundry and we switched it up and started a game of hand and foot. We paused the game to walk to dinner. Tonight we tried a place that was a bit further away. We carried our umbrellas, but didn't need them. We ate at Ted"s Bulletin. Dave had another burger, but said it was not nearly as good as last night's. I had breakfast for dinner which I enjoyed. Nathaniel said his dish was amazing - he had chicken cacciatore and then had an order of churros with sour cherry dipping sauce for dessert. I think he had a hollow leg! We came back to finish our card game. Nathaniel trounced us! He was declared King of Hand and Foot. We will have to try and dethrone him tomorrow.
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