We walked from 16th street to the Museum of Natural History in Washington DC on a cool afternoon, wondering if it was worth it to try to go to a museum at 3pm. Common sense said no, but hey, we had no plans. Even an hour in a free museum is still free.

Famous last words.

The line on the mall side of the museum was long, so we walked around the building, through the butterfly garden, and onto Constitution Avenue, where we negotiated a variety of curbs, construction fences, and sidewalks that suddenly dumped you onto the street before gaining the wheelchair entrance. Not easy at all, but shorter lines. A sign outside said the museum would be open until 7:30 pm that evening.

Once inside, we found the elevator and headed up to the dinosaurs - which was pretty crowded. We were surprised that she liked some of the fossils as much as she did. She had no time for the other mammals exhibits, but that might also have been the crowds. The hit was in the insect area, with live critters behind glass magnifiers, and a large red anthill that was perfect for crawling through.

Leaving the anthill, we realized it was probably time for a snack - given the tantrum-hurricane that had replaced our daughter. So we took the elevator back down to the basement, and headed for the cafe. He ran for a table, I grabbed a tray and quickly grabbed what I thought she'd eat. Two sandwiches, a banana, and a slice of pizza later, I was $35(!) poorer, and we realized that little of this fare was actually edible. I was surprised, as we'd had great meals at other Smithsonian cafes in the past, but looking around I saw we weren't the only ones left wanting by the meal. I wish we'd picked up a few wraps at the grocery store or Starbucks before setting out.