Once and Always

After the debacle at the restaurant, we hopped on a trolley and headed to the Peabody Hotel.

The Child and my four-year-old niece were thrilled with the trolley ride. My son was beside himself with excitement to be going to The Peabody. We had told him the story of the ducks, how they ride the elevator down from their rooftop home and waddle the red carpet to the marble fountain in the lobby.

As it happens, the ducks get out of the fountain, waddle back down the red carpet, and go up to their house at 5:00 every afternoon.

It was almost 5:00 before we got away from the restaurant. When we rushed in the lobby, the carpet was rolled up and the miniature staircase the ducks walk down was beside the fountain and the ducks were gone.

The Child was crushed. He had been so excited about seeing these ducks swimming in a fountain. I told him I thought we could ride the elevator to the rooftop and see them. His eyes lit up.

The ducks have some pretty swanky digs on the rooftop. He and my niece squealed in delight over the ducks.



I told him we'd have to leave before much longer. I walked around the rooftop taking pictures. He wanted to stay where he was with the ducks.





When I went to round him up, I came around the corner to this:




We hated to leave and assured him that next time, we'd come see the ducks - in the lobby fountain - before we ate anywhere.