Throwback Thursday Stories {3}: A trip to the Titanic

I am participating in Throwback Thursday stories with The Mom Creative. 

me and Rachel at the Titanic exhibit, June 2009

For days, the news had been promoting a traveling tour of artifacts taken from the Titanic. The sinking of the Titanic had been a point of historical interest for me since grade school--I remember ordering books from the Scholastic catalog about the disaster, watching specials on PBS about the discovery of the wreckage--and Titanic was the first movie I saw in the theater.

When I heard the exhibit was coming to town, I told Josh we haaaaaad to go. And because he loves me, he agreed.

So on a Friday evening, we drove over to Grand Prairie to have dinner and see the exhibit. The line to get into the glorified bus/trailer was ridiculously long, so we opted to eat dinner first and then get in line. It seemed the fool-proof plan, until, after enjoying our dinner and then standing in line for probably 20 minutes, we were turned away two people from the entrance because it would take us too long to get through the exhibit before it closed for the night. (Why they even allowed us in line, knowing our wait would be fruitless, is still a mystery to me.)

Aggravated but undeterred, we decided to come back the next day. Rachel was coming for a visit and decided she'd like to see it, too, so our plans were set. She arrived in the morning, and we hung out and had lunch, and then headed over to Old Navy to do a little shopping and to get in line.

Once again, the line was ridiculously long. Josh opted out and went home, where he enjoyed his afternoon playing video games and (I think) mowing the lawn. And Rachel and I waited. And waited. And cursed our decisions to wear jeans in early June. And observed the idiosyncrasies of public human behavior and discussed whether or not we should just call the whole thing off. And decided to stick it out, and waited. Rachel was getting ready to leave for Kenya in a couple of weeks, and I was about 3 months pregnant with Elaina, and there was plenty of people watching and work drama to discuss, so despite the fact that it was hot and the line was slow, we had a good time talking.

In the distance, we saw a blown up picture of the grand staircase where, as a reward for our patience, we would have our picture taken. It was sort of the pinnacle of the mountain--if we could make it to the staircase, our. wait would finally be over.

If only.

After waiting for probably two hours or more, we made it to the staircase. Jack Dawson wasn't waiting for us, but we smiled all the same and were given the names of a passenger on the ship, whose fate would be revealed at the end of our tour...and then found out we had to wind through another maze of ropes before we could finally get on the truck/bus/display. 

At this point, we wanted to quit, but the end was so close, and it would surely be worth it, right?

If only.

A half hour later, we were inside. Unlike the outside, where we'd worked up a healthy sweat standing on sunny pavement for a few hours, the inside was freezing cold. The family behind us was enthusiastic, which I can appreciate, but they didn't really respect the personal space bubble--which I didn't. And to top it off, both of us didn't make it off the ship (no surprise, since they were 3rd class passengers).

This isn't to suggest that some of the artifacts weren't interesting. They were. I remember being particularly fascinated by the hair clips and brushes enclosed in their glass cases, thinking about the woman who had used these products and wondering if she'd survived. But even better, Rachel made me laugh during this whole time--she has a way of putting into words what I'm thinking when I might be more prone to seethe quietly or roll my eyes--and always with perfect comedic timing. 

We left the tour tired, hot, and a little unsatisfied with the experience. But our time together was really what made it worthwhile, anyway. And in the end, I'm glad we stayed in line, if for no other reason than a few uninterrupted hours with my best friend.