Me Time at Science Museum of Virginia

Do you ever go to another city, town, state, or country as a tourist, and leave, wishing you could have seen more? Often, I have that feeling.

It occurs to me as I’m flying out of Puerto Rico, that perhaps it’s not necessarily the location that I’m going to miss, but the activities – the museums, the parks, the long walks, the beach and pools, the mountains, hills, and valleys, the trolleys, trains, and buses, the restaurants, and the other tourists traipsing around with a look of wonder on their faces, snapping pictures as they “ooo” and “ahh.”

I love seeing places “the first time” and will probably always have an intense curiosity to experience these “out of town” sites; however, there is treasure and history right in my own back yard, as they say. Sooo… while my tourist adrenaline is still flowing, I plan to go to the (this link has audio) Science Museum of Virginia  while my children are at school. There is an exhibit there that I’ve wanted to see for a few months that will end in two weeks.

I wake up to clouds and drizzling rain; darkness that makes my sedentary gene say, “Get the kids off to school and get back in bed with a book and read all day.” Thankfully, my energetic gene tells me to keep moving toward the goal.

It is not easy. Everyday necessities and obligations have to be completed. Chores have to be decided upon. I have to tell myself that it is okay to go alone; that the school kids and seniors will be there to fill the massive space.

I keep moving; and at 12:25 p.m. I disembark and head toward the museum, arriving with enough time to renew my membership and to see the 1 o’clock IMAX feature, Born to Be Wild. It is so relaxing that I almost doze off watching the orphaned orangutans and elephants.

When the film is over, 40 minutes later, I go to my originally planned destination, the exhibit: RACE – Are We So Different?

Because I am alone, I stop at all the text I want to read and press all the buttons I choose to press to view all the short videos I want to see. There are no kids saying, “Mommy’s still over there reading. We’ll be here awhile.”

And because I am reading so much, I don’t see the entire exhibit. Maybe I’ll come back before it closes on April 29 – another Me Time afternoon!

I’ve categorized this post under a new label called “If Not Now, When?” I don’t think you need an explanation.  Just ask yourself the question the next time you have a desire to do something. And not always when contemplating big things that require big money, big time, and big plans; think about the little things that also provide pleasure. Enjoy your staycations and backyard treasures.


Do you put off things that you want to do, or make excuses for why you can’t? Or, are you satisfied with your personal amount of fulfillment? Have you seen all the treasures in your hometown! J