The Queen City

Edmund and the Jellyfish

After working ridiculous hours for nine days straight, Steven was blessed with five days off. We took advantage of this rare opportunity and took a trip to Charlotte, NC. It was far enough away to be considered a real getaway, but close enough, the drive with Edmund wouldn't be torturous. Our trip was a story of adventure, stardom, and loss, and will not soon be forgotten.

Like we did on our trip to Boone last year, we decided to make the drive more bearable with a stop in Greensboro,NC. Our first stop was the Greensboro Science Center. It was a lot like the Museum of Life and Science in our great city of Durham, but had much more animal viewing outside. Oddly enough, this seemed to be more of a bonus for mom and dad. We were having a grand time watching some gibbons swing from their ropes, when our young tour guide (Edmund) informed us "we have to move on." The museum had a petting zoo with your typical goats and sheep, but I was in heaven when I discovered the alpacas. I don't know what it is, but I am in awe of these creatures. Again the tour guide let us know we must press forward, but Steven pointed out that this animal was one of my favorites. I suppose you can't argue with that.

The outside viewing area also had otters, wolves, a giant anteater, and another of my personal favorites, meerkats. You had the choice of viewing the meerkats through a tunnel which you could crawl though, making this viewing experience even more pleasurable. But forget the animals, Edmund was all about the jumping fountains he saw while we were making the outdoor rounds. Who needs wildlife when you can get wet? Not Edmund.

After lunch and exploring the dinosaur and health exhibits inside, we decided to hit the road. Edmund slept almost the entire way to the hotel in Charlotte, which was a blessing. Edmund was incredibly excited to arrive at the hotel. I was in awe. Steven stepped it up for this trip. There was a flowing fountain in the lobby and an entrance guarded by lion statues. If you know how we usually roll, the lions were a big deal. That night we hung out in our room and went swimming in the unbearably cold pool, yet had a relaxing time nonetheless.

The following morning, we got up bright and early (read 8 am) and had a delicious complimentary breakfast. With tummies full, we headed into downtown Charlotte, to check out the big children's museum, Discovery Place. Being Sunday, the museum didn't open until 12, so we took a leisurely stroll around the city. Edmund and I walked through the Settler's Cemetery while Steven parked the car. This led to a conversation about respect and death, a very difficult concept to explain to a 3 year old. We still have some work to do, since Edmund informed me, he wants to "live" in a cemetery when he gets old. At least I haven't scarred him.

Finally, opening time arrived. The museum is incredible, and free to members of the Museum of Life and Science (score!). We checked out exhibits on building and design, where we built a shelter, and Edmund designed a football field. While Daddy was working on a skyscraper, Edmund and I wandered off to catch a show nearby, entitled, "Will it Glow?". When asked for volunteers, Edmund enthusiastically raised his hand and was called on to be the second volunteer. When asked his name, he said "Edmund" giddily into the microphone. Steven recognized the squeaky little voice, and made it to the show in time for Edmund's big star turn. Unfortunately, we didn't get much video, but Edmund was definitely a pro. When asked what the item was he uncovered, Edmund confidently said "rock." Then when asked if it would glow under the black light Edmund jumped around enthusiastically chanting "yes." He really got the crowd going. Edmund's guess was correct. The rock was phosphorescent. Now, Edmund may have simply been saying yes to anything, but I'd like to think it was all that learning we did at the museum the day before, where we had also seen phosphorescent rocks. I'm sticking with my genius theory.

There were many other neat exhibits, but the big hit after lunch was the early childhood exhibit, KidScience. Edmund, er mommy, was enamored with a giant Light Bright. I think Edmund's favorite thing here may have been the build your own car and racetrack. He didn't care who won as long as car was "super fast." Since we were pressing on without naptime, we decided to hit Discovery Place's small aquarium before pushing our luck. For those of you who don't know, Edmund is beyond fascinated with jelly fish. He lovingly draws us pictures of them nearly every day at school, and knows more factoids on jellyfish than I can count. So we can't pass up any opportunity to see them up close and personal. Edmund saw some at the Fort Fisher aquarium, and several that had met their demise on the beach, but here he was able to look uninterrupted. We also got an incredible photo of Edmund with the jellyfish and the glow bracelet he got for volunteering earlier in the day. After our short visit to the sea, pre-meltdown whines began, so we wrapped up our visit. We finished with a trip to the gift shop, where Edmund finally got his very own jellyfish (pretend of course).

We spent the rest of our evening relaxing and meandering in the hotel. The next morning we hopped to it at 7:30 am sharp. We packed up and headed to the town of Spencer to visit the NC Transportation museum. The Museum of Life and Science membership again came in handy. We got in here free too. We arrived just in time for a ride on a train pulled by a steam locomotive. Edmund wasn't sure about this at first, because he's a little wary of tunnels, but after telling him it would be just like a monorail, he got on board, literally. We took a short ride to the roundhouse. This is one of the few still operational roundhouses around today. We even got to take a ride on the turntable, just like Thomas.

We learned more about the differences between steam engines and diesels, as well as why roundhouses began to be phased out when diesel engines came on the scene. For the reason, you can contact Edmund. The rest of the morning we toured the roundhouse where we saw a variety of steam and diesel engines, train cars, and cabooses. There was more information than I could take in our short visit, so I resigned to taking part in Edmund's production of "Mommy and Daddy Ride the Caboose." Even though I couldn't read everything, I still felt like I learned more about trains than I did, and Edmund felt like he had stepped into an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine.

We ended our short getaway and got home with enough time to play that evening. However, it was at bedtime that we discovered our loss. "Polar Bear", one of Edmund's favorite stuffed toys, and who is known to eat "mummus" (a spicy applesauce), was nowhere to be found. We called the hotel and the Olive Garden, to see if they had seen Polar Bear. Unfortunately, no one had seen him. We are 99.9% sure that Polar Bear is still in the hotel room, perhaps stuck inside the pull-out sofa, but I guess we'll never know. I have to admit I shed a few tears over the missing bear. However, yesterday afternoon when I finally told Edmund the news, he was perfectly fine. In fact, I think he was a little envious Polar Bear was still living it up at Embassy Suites. Since the loss of Polar Bear was no fault of Edmund's, he is now excited about choosing a new stuffed friend who can correspond with Polar Bear in Charlotte. Although my view is often clouded by 3 year old chaos, I have to say the kid has some imagination and an incredible outlook on life. Thanks Edmund for making this trip another great one.