With looming temporary closures if the continues, D.C. residents and tourists enjoyed the beautiful weather at the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo on Sunday.
The through Saturday, October 11.
However, beyond that date, they will close on October 12.
“We have two young kids – one three, one three months old. We are D.C. residents, so we take advantage of the city. That’s a large part of why we moved here. We are going to the zoo, largely, because we don’t know when we are going to get to go back,” said Aditi Fruitwala. “A lot of are lives are in museums or in these festivals, or in theaters, things that are funded by the federal government. One of our best friends from [Los Angeles] is actually visiting. We had tickets this week to Ford’s Theatre that got canceled because it’s closed. It’s a really big disruption on our lives.”
The potential closures had tourists scrambling to fit in more activities on an abbreviated schedule.
“We’re only here for a couple of days,” said Zita Burnheimer, who visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sunday. “There’s a lot of limitations on where we can go.”
Bob Dantine added, “I thought we better change the plans. It didn’t cost anything to change it, so we decided to come here on Sunday instead,” said Bob Dantine.
Tourists have also already had to , while lawmakers work to fund the federal government.
“It’s my first time in Washington, D.C., a trip of a lifetime. I’ve always wanted to come here,” Dantine said. “We actually had a Capitol tour on Monday, and that, of course, got canceled, so I’m kind of disappointed about that.”
Residents and tourists told 7News closures of museums and the zoo could hit them in their pockets.
The Smithsonian museums and National Zoo are free.
“Free museums, very educational, and when you have small children, that’s what you want to see. There are other outdoor things to do, but without the Smithsonian’s open, that’s going to be a real strain on families,” Burnheimer said.
Fruitwala added: “We would just likely end up having to spend more money doing private things, which we haven’t budgeted for, stay home a lot more. It really interrupts the flow of our life and the stuff we normally do.”
Members of Congress are still working on coming to an agreement to .
In the meantime, zoo and museum visitors told 7News they are frustrated that political gamesmanship could cause disruption in their lives.
“Generally, it’s frustrating as a D.C. resident to have our life be interrupted and controlled by the federal government budget. That feels really unfair that we have to change our lives because there’s some political fighting happening,” Fruitwala said.
Burnheimer added: “I hope they can get it together and figure it out, and be adults about it, and look at the whole picture.”