Heather and Amma's Excellent Adventure

When my mother and I go places together I drive. Mostly it's because my car has the car seats, but also if we're going outside of Rochester my mom generally prefers not to drive. When we are going someplace we have never been before, or have only been there rarely, my mom by default turns into the navigator.

This is not a good thing.

Yesterday we went to the Science Museum of Minnesota but we wanted to eat at Cossetta's (a very, very, very yummy Italian restaurant and marketplace) first. My parents printed out directions from MapQuest, but I looked up the directions myself as well. Note to self: Use your own directions in the future! Love, me.

In the morning I got the big kids ready for school and dropped them off at the front door. It was a little more hectic getting them ready as well as getting ready to take the baby on a day trip (Note to self: put more wipes in the diaper bag so you don't have to pour water to wet them.) but I managed to get them to school on time and managed to pack water and snacks for Ms. D.

We dropped M and K off and headed to pick Amma up at her house. D spent some of that time crying for some unknown reason and I started to rethink the wisdom of the trip. But her discomfort or unease was short-lived as it usually is.

The drive from Rochester to St. Paul was uneventful. I saw my mom's directions and thought of the directions I'd written down and tucked in my purse. Against my better judgement, I left my directions in my purse. Sigh.

Things seemed to be going well until the directions called for a U-turn. What? In my opinion, the only reason for a U-turn is that you missed a turn. Am I right? We drove, we turned, we drove some more. We may or may not have driven down the same street(s) several times. Eventually we made a left turn where we had previously turned right and lo and behold Cossetta's was right there.

We arrived just before the restaurant was open, but the market was open so we stocked up on our essential Italian food needs...er, wants. The plus side of having trouble finding the place (because we are idiots) was that the restaurant was open by the time we finished shopping in the market.

Once the restaurant opened it was a tough decision on what to have for lunch. I opted for mostaccoli and a slice of pizza for D and I. D approved whole-heartedly of the food and the ambiance, dancing in her seat to the stylings of Frank Sinatra et al for most of the meal.

Then it was time to head to the museum, which we had seen approximately 5 times during our quest to find Cossetta's. We found the museum without much difficulty, but the parking proved a bit more difficult. We spied a big arrow that said "parking" but apparently that wasn't enough for me. I drove past the entrance, which if I'm totally honest, was a bit obscured. When we circled around again and I spied the (admittedly) HUGE arrow pointing to the parking garage I had to laugh. When we got inside the ramp I told my mom it was a shame that they didn't have the walkways well-marked (flashing lighted "Pedestrian Walkway" sign anyone?) Apparently I need those for parking ramps too.

We were going to see the Titanic exhibit. It was interesting and sad. We saw the film in the Omnitheater (the only one of it's kind in the U.S.!) and D fussed for the first 5 minutes and slept for the remaining 40 minutes. Amazing footage. I will never comprehend how big that ship was.

The exhibit was sobering as well. We were given boarding passes as we entered and were encouraged to find out our fate at the end. My persona survived, my mom's did not. I cannot fathom the choices these people had to make. I got teary-eyed only a little bit...so, GO ME!

The thing about tragedies that happened so long ago? You're detached. Even to emotional wrecks like me. But I can assure you I thought of those mothers with their kids who were confused and scared and didn't want to leave their husbands. If I read too many of the people profiles I started to get teary again.

The exhibit was fantastic.

Then we had to leave. Honestly, my mother and I have even more issues getting home from the place than we have finding it. This visit was no exception. But we just drove and drove and drove. It was easier not having an hysterical 6 or 7 year old in the car. Eventually we found a familiar highway. And all was good.

And, as usual, an hysterical bit of commentary littered the drive. If my mother and I found our way to and from our destinations easily...well, it wouldn't be as fun.