The first thing we did at the museum was touch a four-billion-year-old moon rock.
“Is this really and truly from the moon?” I asked.
“Yes, it is,” replied Daddy.
“How many birthdays is four billion?” asked Andrew.
“A lot,” said Daddy.
He led us to the Skylab exhibit next. Skylab was a space station that orbited Earth in the 1970s. We got to see what it was like to live in space.
“Karen Brewer calling ground control. Ground control, do you read me?” I said in my official astronaut voice.
“Reading you loud and clear,” replied David Michael. “Please bring back a large supply of moon pies for dessert.”
“Moon pies coming right up!” I said.
Space travel was fun. And educational. Maybe if I were President, I could send every American citizen to the moon. No. That would cost a lot of money. Anyway, most people are too busy for a long trip. I needed another idea.
Next we saw the Wright brothers’ airplane. It is called the Flyer. In 1903 it became the first plane to fly under its own power. Then we saw Amelia Earhart’s plane. She flew all by herself across the Atlantic Ocean. That was very brave.
Inside a huge theater, we saw a movie about flight.
Then, in honor of the Wright brothers, we had lunch at a very nice restaurant called Wright Place.
I liked the Air and Space Museum a lot. But I left without an idea for my assignment.
“Next stop, Museum of Natural History,” said Daddy.
Andrew became excited as soon as we entered the building.
“Look at that elephant!” he said.
“This is just like the museum in New York,” said David Michael.
“It is very much like the one in New York,” said Daddy. “But each museum has things that are special. One of the most special exhibits here is in the Gems and Minerals room. Come, I will show you.”
Daddy showed us the world’s largest crystal ball. (In a book I had just read called The Gator Girls, two friends visit a fortune-teller named Madame Lulu. If Madame Lulu had had a crystal ball that big, she could have seen lots of things.)
I wished the crystal ball had the answer to my school-assignment problem. I gazed into it, but I did not see any messages.
“Karen, we are over here,” called Daddy.
He was standing in front of a case with a huge diamond inside it.
“Kids, this is the Hope Diamond. It is the largest blue diamond in the world,” said Daddy.
“It is beautiful,” I said. “But I do not think such a big diamond would be very comfortable to wear.”
“You are right. It is also supposed to bring bad luck to the wearer,” said Daddy.
I stepped back. I do not like things that bring bad luck. Who would? That gave me an idea. If I were President, I could order the Hope Diamond to be moved out of Washington, D.C. That would keep me, the President of the United States, safe. That would be important to the country and the world.
I was about to tell my idea to Daddy when I thought of something. If I moved the diamond someplace else, the people who lived in that place would be mad at me. Also I did not think Ms. Colman would like the idea. Moving a diamond did not seem like a very good use of my presidential powers.
Boo. I had wasted five minutes thinking about the diamond. That was bad luck, and I was not even wearing the diamond.
Sam I Am!
Guess who we ran into when we left the Natural History Museum? Sam and Charlie. After they had finished visiting the National Museum of American History with Elizabeth and Kristy, they had gone exploring on their own.
“We were going to sit down somewhere for hot chocolate,” said Daddy. “Would you like to join us?”
“Sure,” said Charlie. “Thanks.”
It was a cold and damp Washington day. Hot chocolate was just what we needed. We sat in a coffee-and-bookshop. It was very cozy.
“We saw some great things at the National Museum of American History,” said Sam. “I even came up with a few ideas for my campaign.”
“I did not have any ideas for my school assignment,” I said.
“Maybe you should go to the National Museum of American History tomorrow. You might be inspired,” said Charlie.
“Look at the button I bought,” said Sam. “It is a copy of one from Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential campaign.”
He held up a red, white, and blue button that said, I LIKE IKE.
“Ike is the nickname Dwight Eisenhower was given when he was a boy. It made a very catchy campaign slogan,” said Charlie.
“I need a catchy slogan too,” said Sam.
“I have an idea!” I said. “Your slogan could be Sam I Am!”
It was a lot easier helping with someone else’s assignment than it was doing my own.
“That is not bad,” said Sam. “I will think about it.”
“If you do not like that one, you could try Bam! Vote for Sam! Or, In a Jam? Vote for Sam!” I said.
“I think I like Sam I Am! best. Thank you, Karen,” said Sam.
“You are welcome,” I replied.
“Where else did you go today?” asked Daddy.
“We went into the Capitol,” replied Charlie. “It is an amazing place. It is the second-oldest building in Washington.”
While he was there Charlie learned about some bills that had been passed recently. Sam told us about the progress he was making on his assignment. Andrew had traced the Lincoln Memorial from a penny for show-and-tell. And David Michael was going to make a space-walk diorama to share with his class.
That left me. I still did not know what I would do if I were President. If I could not think of something, maybe I would be impeached. (That is when someone important in government is fired. I learned that from Sam at dinner the night before.) I did not want to be impeached. It sounded very embarrassing.
The President’s Schedule
The six of us went back to the hotel after our hot-chocolate break. Elizabeth and Kristy were already there.
“You will not believe who we just missed seeing again!” said Kristy.
“You mean you almost saw the President?” I asked.
“Yup. We heard that he led a group of schoolchildren through the Library of Congress just before we arrived.”
“I wish I could have been there!” I said.
“Do not feel too bad,” said Elizabeth. “You are going to do something exciting the day after tomorrow. Marsha has set up our private tour for Wednesday afternoon.”
“Really? Will the President be there that day?” I asked. “I know I cannot meet with him. But maybe I could just see him.”
“Marsha did not say she was meeting with the President on Wednesday. I am not sure if he will be around,” said Elizabeth.
“Can you call her and ask her? Please?” I said.
“I am sorry, Karen. I do not want to bother Marsha. It is very nice of her to go to the trouble of setting up this special tour,” said Elizabeth. “We should not ask her for anything more.”
“I have an idea,” said Daddy. “If we look in the newspaper, we might be able to find out about the President’s schedule. It might say something about his being at the White House on Wednesday.”
“Can we go buy the newspaper now?” I asked.
“We should get ready for dinner now. On the way out, we can stop at the newsstand and pick up a copy of the paper,” said Daddy.
“But the newsstand may be all out of newspapers by then. It may even be closed,” I said.
“If it is okay with you, I will take Karen down for the paper now,” Kristy said to Daddy. “We cannot all shower at the same time anyway.”
“Okay,” said Elizabeth. “That is a good idea.”
Kristy and I hurried down to the hotel newsstand. On the way, we passed the gift shop. I noticed some excellent gifts in the window. I saw a Washington, D.C., place mat that would be perfect for Emily Michelle. (She could spill her chocolate milk on lots of
important places.) There was a navy blue drinking mug for Nannie with a picture of the White House on it. And there was a gigundoly gorgeous American flag hair barrette. That would be perfect for Hannie, Nancy, and me. I had brought some money with me to Washington. If the gifts were not too expensive, I could buy them all.
When we found the newsstand, I saw that we were in luck. It was open and the paper was there.
“I hope there is something in it about the President’s schedule,” said Kristy.
She bought a copy of The Washington Post. We took it upstairs and handed it to Daddy. We thought he could find what we needed faster than we could.
Daddy turned one page after another. He did not say a word. Then he stopped turning and started reading.
“Here it is,” he said. “There is an article about the President’s schedule. He will be meeting with the Vice President and Secretary of State at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.”
I was so excited I could hardly stand it!
“What time are we going to be there?” I asked.
“Our tour is scheduled for three o’clock,” said Elizabeth.
“Yippee! The President will be at the White House,” I said. “And I will be there too.”
Oh, Say Can You See!
I decided Tuesday was definitely the day I would have an idea for my school assignment. After all, we were going to the National Museum of American History. That is where Sam got ideas for his campaign.
Before we left, I put a pad and pencil in my backpack. That way I could write down my ideas and not forget them.
But as soon as we reached the museum, my assignment flew out of my brain. There was too much else to think about.
“We have arrived at just the right time,” said Kristy. (She had come back to the museum with us to do more research on the First Ladies.) “If we hurry, we can see the flag! They show it every hour, and it is just ten o’clock now.”
She led us to a place where a curtain was being opened. Behind the curtain was a gigantic flag with stars and stripes. It looked like the flag at school, but there were not as many stars.
“That is the very flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ ” said Daddy. “It had fifteen stars for fifteen states.”
The flag did not stay out very long.
“Why are they hiding it?” asked Andrew.
“They are not hiding it. They are protecting it,” said Kristy. “It is very old and not too strong.”
“That was neat,” said David Michael. “What is next?”
“Follow me,” said Kristy.
I was glad my big sister had been to the museum the day before. She knew all the best things to see. This time she took us to a big gold ball that was swinging back and forth.
“This is a Foucault pendulum,” said Daddy. “It is a copy of a pendulum that was on view in France in the 1800s.”
“What is a pendala?” asked Andrew.
“A pendulum is an object that swings back and forth while the earth turns beneath it,” said Daddy.
Andrew looked confused. I was a little confused too. But I still liked watching the pendulum. Back and forth. Back and forth. I started swaying with it. Then I had to shake myself awake so I would not be hypnotized.
“I would like to go to the First Ladies exhibit now,” said Kristy. “Will you come with me?”
We were happy to go. On the way we saw the ruby slippers Dorothy wore in The Wizard of Oz.
“They look just my size!” I said.
Andrew was excited to see Mister Rogers’s sweater.
Finally we made it to the First Ladies exhibit. Kristy took out her pad and pencil and started writing notes.
We saw the gowns the First Ladies wore to important events. They were gigundoly beautiful. And we read about important things First Ladies have done.
Mrs. Eisenhower liked children. She brought the Easter Egg Roll back to the White House. (It had been stopped because of a war.) Mrs. Nixon encouraged people to volunteer to help others. And Mrs. Reagan led a campaign for kids and grown-ups to “just say no” to drugs.
First Ladies did a lot of good things. But it was not time to think about being a First Lady. I had to think about being President. What I would do? I still did not know.
Read All About It
We had planned to meet back at the hotel for lunch.
“Daddy, will you buy the newspaper again today?” I asked. “I want to be sure the President’s schedule has not changed.”
“Sure. I would like to read the paper anyway,” replied Daddy.
He stopped at the newsstand in the hotel. We sat and read the newspaper in the lobby while we waited for Elizabeth, Sam, and Charlie to return.
“There is good news on page five,” said Daddy. “The President is still scheduled to have his meeting at the White House tomorrow afternoon.”
“Excellent!” I said. “Now all we have to do is be in the exact right place at the exact right time.”
“Do not get your hopes too high,” said Daddy. “It is not likely that you will get to see the President, even if he is there. The White House is a big place, and there are lots of closed doors.”
“Can we open them?” I asked.
“Absolutely not! We must remember that we are guests,” said Daddy. “Now, would you like to read about the meeting yourself?”
“Okay,” I replied.
I took the newspaper and read all about the President’s meeting. He was going to talk with the Vice President and the Secretary of State about some faraway countries that were having trouble getting along. The President was going to try to help them make peace. That sounded like a very good thing for a President to do.
I turned the page to read some more. I could hardly believe it. I had learned so much in Washington that now I liked reading the news. I felt very grown-up reading The Washington Post in the lobby of a fancy hotel.
The next article I read was about Presidents’ Day and how people were going to observe it. The President and the First Lady were going to Arlington Cemetery. (I remembered seeing the cemetery from the Washington Monument.) Then the First Lady was going to visit a children’s hospital. She was going to read to the children at the hospital library.
“First Ladies do a lot of nice things,” I said.
The minute I said it, I knew that was it! I had the idea I needed for my assignment. And I loved it!
Just then Elizabeth, Sam, and Charlie showed up.
“Listen to my idea!” I said. “If I were President, I would declare a holiday in honor of First Ladies. That is because they do so many good things.”
“That sounds terrific,” said Elizabeth.
“No, wait! I have an even better idea. I would declare a holiday for Presidents’ Partners,” I said. “Then if I were President and had a husband, it would be his holiday too.”
“Bravo, Karen Brewer!” said Daddy.
I stood up and took a bow. Then I sat down in my chair again. What a relief. It was Tuesday, and I had the idea for my assignment, just like I had planned.
At the Zoo
On Wednesday morning we went to the National Zoo. We decided to stay together because it was the day of our visit to the White House.
I love animals. But I was too excited to have a very good visit.
“Hello, Hsing-Hsing!” I called. “I am going to the White House this afternoon!”
Hsing-Hsing did not look too interested in my news. That is because it was his feeding time. Hsing-Hsing is a giant panda who was a gift from China. He eats bamboo. A sign said that he eats thirty pounds of bamboo a day. Chomp, chomp, chomp. Pandas are very cute. And this one was very hungry.
Next we saw some elephants. I told them my news.
“I am going to the White House this afternoon!” I said.
Two of the elephants trumpeted. I think they were telling me to have a good time.
“Thank you!” I replied.
We saw kangar
oos, camels, antelopes, hippos, rhinos, giraffes. It was a sunny day and the animals were out in open spaces. It was the perfect day for a visit to the zoo. I tried my best to concentrate.
Roar! That got my attention.
A group of lions was out grazing. I watched the one lion who was doing all the roaring. I could tell he was in charge. He was probably the president lion.
“Can we go back to the hotel soon? We need to get ready,” I said.
“Karen, it is eleven-thirty. We are not due at the White House until three,” said Daddy.
“But I need time to get dressed. I want to look nice when I see the President,” I said.
“We promise to leave enough time for you to get ready,” said Elizabeth. “But it would be silly to go back now and waste such a beautiful morning indoors.”
Right after Elizabeth said that, we headed inside the bat cave. It was very dark. But we did not stay long because Andrew was scared.
Our next stop was at the wetlands exhibit. We saw beautiful birds there. We watched a brown pelican flying above the water.
“He is going after his meal,” said Sam.
The pelican looked at the water, then swooped down.
“He sees his lunch!” said Charlie.
The pelican dipped down and came up with a fish. It disappeared down his long bill.
“I think it is time for our lunch too,” said Elizabeth. “If we eat now, Karen, there will be plenty of time for you to get ready.”
“Good-bye, National Zoo!” I said. “I am sorry it was such a short visit. But I have places to go and an Important Person to meet!”
The White House Tour
At 1:35 on Wednesday afternoon I was putting my new American flag barrette into my hair. Daddy had let me stop at the hotel gift shop to buy it. It was just what I needed to complete my red, white, and blue White House Visiting Day outfit.
“You look wonderful, Karen,” said Kristy.
“Thank you. You do too,” I replied.