A/N - Some of the places in this story do not exist anymore. I tried to make their visit to our Nation's capital realistic for the time period (1953). At that time, the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were alongside the National Mall. These buildings were demolished in 1970.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Wednesday, July 1, 1953 -

William Gilligan pulled on his black shorts and tucked in his red and white striped t-shirt. He pulled on his red and black Pirates baseball cap and ran out into the kitchenette of the hotel suite.

"Is it time to go yet?" he asked, all out of breath. "Come on. The best time to see the animals is early in the morning." He was practically bouncing with excitement. He sat down at the table and fidgeted in his chair.

"Patience, William," sighed his mother, as she took his hat off and hung it on the back of his chair. "No hats at the table. Bridget is almost ready. We'll be leaving soon. Here - eat some oatmeal." She pushed a bowl toward her youngest son and ruffled her fingers through his bangs, followed by a soft kiss on the forehead to soften her words.

Patrick Gilligan, William's father, walked into the room and poured himself a cup of coffee. He, too, was sporting a Pirates baseball cap. Patting his youngest son on the shoulder enthusiastically, he asked, "What do you want to go see first?" He sat down at the table across from William.

Ellen reached over and took off his cap and hung it on the back of the chair. "No hats at the table," she repeated with a smile.

"Gorillas," Will answered with a huge grin. "Then lions."

"Okay, Buddy," he said. "You've got it."

William's brother, Danny, was the next to come into the room. Ellen passed him a bowl of oatmeal, as well. "Here, Danny. Get a little something in your stomach. I know, you're excited, too," she said.

"Not as excited as Doofus," he muttered, shoveling a spoonful of the thick, hot cereal into his mouth. He and William shoved each other back and forth, until they both broke into giggles.

Finally, Bridget came into the kitchenette. At fifteen, she was more concerned with hair perfection and which shoes to wear than she was how early she got to the zoo.

"Mom," she sighed with exasperation. "Do I have to eat oatmeal?"

"Yes," Ellen answered. "And please hurry, before your brother takes off without us. He's at the end of his patience." She grinned and winked at William.

"Yeah, Bridge, hurry up," William whined. "We'll miss the gorillas eating their breakfast."

Bridget rolled her eyes. "Just what I wanted to see first thing in the morning. A huge gorilla drooling out banana." Both boys laughed at that image.

Finally, at long last, the Gilligan family left their hotel room on their way to the National Zoo.

Patrick Gilligan had been chosen by his company to give a presentation at an international conference in Washington, DC. It had been a few years since they had taken a family vacation, so he and Ellen decided to bring the kids along and see some of the sites.

At William's request, the National Zoo was the first item on the agenda. They walked to the nearest metro station and hopped on the train. William was more excited than he had ever been. The train was getting crowded, but William spotted two empty seats. He pushed Bridget toward them, and she got in the seat near the window. William sat on the aisle. Patrick, Ellen and Danny stood by their seats, hanging onto the straps and railings. More people piled in.

William looked around and tried to take everything in. The train started to move forward, and he jostled. William scratched at his neck. He wiggled in his seat and looked around some more.

"Will, stop fidgeting," scolded Bridget. "It's so hot in here."

"Sorry, Bridge," he answered. "I'm just so excited."

"I know," she said gently.

Will reached into his pocket and pulled out his lucky rabbit's foot. It was dyed green and had a little brass chain on the end. He started to twirl it on his finger. It flew off, hit the back of the seat in front of him and fell at his feet.

Bridget sighed. "Really, Will."

"Sorry, Bridge," he answered automatically. He slid off his seat and onto his knees. As he reached under his seat to retrieve his rabbit's foot, he saw an interesting pair of shoes belonging to the man sitting behind him. They were brown loafers with little tassels on them. Even more interesting than the shoes, were the socks. They seemed out of place. They were white sports socks with a red stripe on the top. Whoever this man was, his tan pants were just a little high - just high enough for Will to see the tops of his socks.

As Will sat back in his seat, he realized that the man behind him was holding a rather large leafy plant on his lap. Some of the leaves cascaded over the top of Will's seat. As Will sat down, he craned his neck up to try to see the leaves. He took his cap off so he could see them better. He started to reach his hand up to touch them, but Bridget put her hand over his and shook her head "no".

The train slowed to a stop. The man stood up and started for the exit. Will tried to get a look at him, but the crowd was too thick. He caught a glimpse of sandy brown hair that was a little wavy and a white collared shirt, but Will couldn't see his face. As the man stepped off the train, Will leaned over Bridget's lap and watched him through the window. He tried to keep the man in sight, but soon lost him in the crowd.

Bridget shook her head. "What kind of man takes a giant fern on the metro?" she muttered.

Sitting back in his seat, he watched more shoes for the rest of the ride. When they finally came to a stop, Patrick called to his family. "All right, Gilligans. This is our stop. Let's go. Get off on the right side."

Will squeezed through the crowd. He felt Bridget behind him reach and take his hand. He held on tight so that they wouldn't get separated in the crowd. They stepped off the train and moved aside for the rest of the family to file out.

Patrick looked at the signs and pointed. "Let's go out that way," he said. "I think that's the way to the zoo."

They walked down a corridor and around a corner. Will stretched his neck up and groaned. There in front of them was the tallest escalator Will had ever seen. He didn't even know there could be one that big . . . and it was broken. Will turned his head back and looked at his father.

"Now what?" he asked.

Patrick chuckled. "Start climbing, kids," he said. He and Ellen held hands and followed their kids up the steps.

The arrived at zoo (a little hotter and sweatier than Patrick and Ellen would have liked) and bought their tickets. Will grabbed a map of the zoo and led the way.

"This way to the Gorilla House!" he shouted. The rest of the family laughed and fell into line behind him, creating a Gilligan Parade.

Several hours later, after an exhausting morning of animal viewing, picture taking and somewhat heated debating of animal facts, William followed his father and brother to the men's restroom. "But I don't have to go, Dad. Can't I wait out here?" he whined.

"Sure," Patrick answered. "Be right here by this fence, okay?"

William nodded. He sat on a patch of grass at the corner of the fence. He was close to the picnic area, and sat watching the different families eat their lunches. There was a family with two little boys who looked like twins. Across from them, was another family with five kids of various ages; they were being rather loud and a bit obnoxious. Will watched them for a few minutes, then looked around some more.

At the table behind the large family, some people had just finished their lunch. They seemed to be gathering their belongings and heading in Will's direction.

The father was turned back, looking at the little girl. Will could only see her brunette ponytail swishing on the back of her head. "Do you need the ladies' room?" the father asked.

Will thought she nodded. The mother and little girl walked by him and turned into the restrooms. Will didn't really look at them. He was busy watching a very wiggly toddler sitting in the stroller that the father was pushing. Will laughed as he watched the little boy, who was clutching a stuffed tiger and straining to get out of the stroller.

"Out," he shouted. "Dada, out - out. I walk."

"Okay, Nicholas," the father said. "But we have to stay right here and wait for Mama and Big Sissy." He bent down and unsnapped the stroller harness. The little boy crawled down and, still clutching his tiger, he ran right over to Will.

"Hi," Will said cheerfully. The little boy shoved his tiger into Will's face. Will laughed. "That's a nice tiger," he said.

"Nicholas, no," scolded the father, stepping over to intercede.

Will laughed again. "It's okay, Sir," he said with a chuckle. "I have little cousins. I'm used to it."

The father leaned against the fencepost and watched the boys with a smile.

Nicholas tossed the tiger into Will's lap. "Tiggerrrr," he hollered.

Will picked up the tiger and handed it back to the little boy. Just then Patrick and Danny came out of the men's room. Will said goodbye to the little boy and walked away with his father. He heard the door to the ladies' room open and glanced back as the mother and little girl walked out.

The mother was talking to the little girl. "What do you want to do next, MaryAnn?" she asked.

At the same time, Patrick put his arm around Will's shoulder and asked, "What were you doing with that little guy?"

Will chuckled and looked back at his father, missing the little girl once more. "Oh, just playing with his stuffed tiger."

The three Gilligan men walked back toward the lion den to meet Ellen and Bridget.

xxxxx

Thursday, July 2, 1953

The next day, it was Bridget's choice to choose their activity, and she wanted to see all the monuments around the National Mall. They hit the Washington Monument first. All of them were astounded at the view from the top. Will had never seen anything from that high up before. They were talking excitedly and racing from one window to the next, taking pictures and pointing to landmarks.

When they came back down, they started to walk down the length of the National Mall on their way to the Lincoln Monument. There seemed to be some sort of Naval Ceremony going on in front of the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings. There was a crowd on the lawn, and some men were talking into a microphone on a small wooden stage.

As the Gilligans got closer, Will watched the proceedings carefully. He wanted to join the Navy and live on the ocean when he grew up. He had ever since he was eight years old, and the family had gone on a week-long cruise. The men applauded politely, and the crowd started to break up. Will hung back from his family, hoping to get closer to the Navy men.

Patrick turned around and saw Will watching them. He whispered something to Ellen, and she continued on with the older children. Patrick came back and stood about ten feet behind Will.

Will jumped up and grabbed hold of a tree branch and hung there swinging and watching the men. Patrick didn't say anything; he just stood back and waited, watching Will watch the men and enjoying the look on his face.

There was one man in particular. He was huge - tall and wide. He was standing with his back to Will and laughing with a few other men. Will never saw his face, but was captivated by his girth and his booming laugh.

"He's most impressive, isn't he," a voice said right behind Will.

He dropped to the ground and spun around. There was an old man standing there with more medals than Will thought could fit on a uniform.

"Yes, S-Sir," Will stammered. Looking back at the big man in the distance, Will asked, "Is he an Admiral?"

The old man laughed. "No," he answered. "I'm the Admiral. My name is Admiral Darr. That man is Captain Grumby. He just got a Naval Award for special duties he performed, and he just got promoted to Captain. I see great things in his Naval future."

Will smiled. "I'm going to be in the Navy, too, Admiral, Sir," he said proudly. Then he saluted the old man and spun around.

He raced across the grass to his father. "Did you see that, Dad?" he asked excitedly. "I just met an Admiral - a real Admiral!"

Patrick put his arm around his son, and they walked together to the Lincoln Memorial to join the rest of the family. Every so often, Will would look up at his father with the proudest smile.

xxxxxx

Friday, July 3, 1953

Day 3 of the family vacation took them to The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Danny wanted to see the dinosaurs.

The entire family was captivated by the skeletons of the primitive creatures. They wandered through the rooms with their eyes wide at the mere idea of the damage these animals would have been capable of. Will and Danny stood at the base of a tyrannosaurus rex and stared at the teeth.

Danny grabbed Will by the shoulders and pushed him toward the beast. Will screeched and dug his feet into the floor. Both boys were giggling and shoving each other.

Ellen sighed and brushed her bangs back. "Okay, okay, boys," she scolded. "That's enough. What do you say we take a break and get some lunch."

"Yay! Lunch!" the boys exclaimed. They took off across the fossil room on their way to the little cafeteria.

Bridget watched them with disdain. "Mother, why are boys so annoying?" she asked.

Ellen laughed and shrugged. "That's just the way they are, Darling."

Bridget smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to the ladies' room, Mother. There's one right by the cafeteria."

By the time Ellen and Patrick reached the little cafeteria, Will and Danny had staked out a table in the corner of the room. There were several other families scattered around. Patrick got in line to order some food for the children.

Will looked around at the other people. There was a couple sitting on the other side of the room with a boy around Danny's age. He was a little taller than both Will and Danny and had red hair. He was watching Will, too. The two boys smiled and waved to each other.

Will looked over into the hallway. He saw the door to the ladies' room open and Bridget stepped out. She was walking and talking with a tall red-haired girl. They were laughing about something and nodding their heads.

The girl said something and pointed to the table where the red-haired boy was sitting. She waved to Bridget and went to sit next to him.

Bridget walked over to the table and sat next to Danny. Just in time, Patrick came back to the table with a tray of food. He had fruit cups, hot dogs and potato chips. He handed some empty cups to the boys and asked them to get some drinks over at a bar in the middle of the room.

Will and Danny each held two cups. Danny reached the dispenser first and started filling them. The red-haired boy joined them. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Will and Danny answered.

"Is that your sister?" Danny asked, checking the girl out with an appreciative glance.

The boy grimaced. "Yeah. She's a pain," he answered.

"Tell me about it," Danny replied, glancing at Bridget. "I have an older sister, too. They are SO bossy. They think they run everything."

The boy nodded as he filled his cup with coke. "Good luck with that one," he muttered as he walked away. Bridget's eyes were shooting daggers at him. "She looks dangerous," he said as he looked back at them over his shoulder.

Will chuckled and nodded. He kept laughing at the way Danny was checking out the redhead. He tried not to look, though. He thought girls were gross.

xxxxx

Later that evening, the Gilligans were walking down the sidewalk on their way back to the hotel. They were hot and tired and had had quite an exhausting day. There was a lemonade vendor with a little kiosk set up over on the grass under a large elm tree. They approached it eagerly. Fifteen minutes later, the five of them sat in the shade of the elm tree not far from the sidewalk, sipping on cold lemonade and talking about the sites they had seen that day.

Will and his mother, Ellen, sat closest to the sidewalk. As Will slurped noisily, he watched a large, black limousine pull up to the edge of the sidewalk. It was shinier than any car he had ever seen. The hub caps were blinding and the windows were tinted dark, so that he could not see in.

A man in a dark uniform with a funny little hat got out of the front and came around to the back door. The door opened and Will got a peek inside. A lady wearing long, white gloves was seated in the back. Will watched as the gloved hands handed a small, reddish poodle and a leash to the man.

"Thank you, Jeeves. Don't bring him into the sun. It's too draining today," said the lady.

"Yes, Madam," he answered.

Will watched as the man placed the poodle down on the grass and held onto the edge of the leash. Then Will snuck another peek into the limo. The woman also appeared to be wearing a big, wide-brim hat. It was hard to tell, but he thought it was soft pink. Then as he watched, she leaned forward to adjust her shoe, and Will saw blond curls peeking out from under the hat. He couldn't help smiling, but he wasn't sure why.

He looked back at the man and the poodle. The dog was done his business and was now walking around, sniffing and bouncing. He seemed happy to be out of the car and able to run around a bit. When the man wasn't paying attention, the little dog ran over to Will and Ellen. He bounced onto Will's lap and jumped up to lick his face. Ellen laughed and took a picture.

The man came over quickly. "I am so very sorry, young Sir, Madam. The little dickens got away from me."

He talked with a funny accent that made Will laugh.

"That is quite all right, Sir," Ellen answered kindly.

Movement in the limo caught Will's attention. There was a man in the back sitting with the woman. He leaned out the open door and called out. "Jeeves, do come along. We are expected at the Convention Center."

The man gathered up the little poodle and, with a small smile and a wave to Ellen and Will, he put the dog back in the limo and drove away.

Will looked up at his mother and said, "They must have more money the President, Mom. Did you see that car?"

She laughed and nodded. "You may be right, Darling," she answered.

xxxxxx

Saturday, July 4, 1953

Will and his family were sprawled out on a blanket on the grass, not far from the elm tree they had sat under the day before. Will was laying down with his head on his mother's leg, and she was playing with his bangs. It was starting to get dark, and the grounds were filling up with people.

"Dad," Danny asked. "Can me and Will go walk around?"

"Will and I," Patrick corrected.

"Yeah, you can come, too," Will joked.

Patrick chuckled. "Don't go too far, boys. It's easy to get lost in this crowd."

Bridget spied the redhead from the museum. "Mom, I'm going to go sit over there, okay."

"Sure, honey." Ellen answered. She and Patrick sat, shoulders touching, holding hands and watching their children explore the park.

Will and Danny walked through the crowds of people. They heard a brass band on a distant stage start to play God Bless America. The boys were laughing and shoving each other, trying not to trip on the people sitting on their blankets.

Will saw the Naval Captain and some other men sitting on a picnic table, drinking beer and laughing. They walked around a little more, and he saw the man from the bus standing near some older people. They were looking at a bush and talking quite excitedly about the leaves. Will shook his head and grinned as they walked by.

A little further along, he saw the family from the zoo. The little girl had her head down and was busy attaching some glow in the dark stars to her shoes. Her little brother was running around. He saw Will and ran up to him, yelling, "Tigggeeerrrrrrr". Will laughed and patted the little guy on the head. He waved to the father, and the boys moved on.

As they made their way around the edge of the park, Will poked Danny and pointed. The black limousine had pulled up and the rich couple got out. They set up little lounge chairs, and Jeeves set up a little table between them and placed some tall drink glasses out for them. The woman was still wearing her large, pink hat and the man had a fedora on.

And the band played on. They were now playing When Johnny Came Marching Home.

Will and Danny made their way around the last little group of people and back to their parents. As Will sat near his father, he saw Bridget a few blankets over laughing and talking to the redhead from the museum. He shook his head and leaned on his father's shoulder. Patrick put his arm around Will's shoulders and gave him a hug.

"Having a good time this week?" he asked.

Will smiled and nodded. "It's been a great vacation, Dad."

In the distance, the band now started playing "America The Beautiful". They heard a whistling noise, and the first of the fireworks went up into the air. It burst in a brilliant cascade of red, white and blue, and the crowd cheered.

XXXXX

A/N - What brought all the Castaways to Washington, DC during that week in July, 1953?

William Gilligan - Family trip (Father, Patrick, was making a presentation for work)

Professor Roy Hinkley - UCLA student, Internship at the U.S. Botanical Garden

Ginger Grant - The Grant family is on vacation

MaryAnn Summers - Family is travelling to visit Patty Summers' sister in Maryland - stopped for a few days in D.C.

Skipper (Jonas Grumby) - He is getting a Naval Award and being promoted to Captain

Thurston Howell, III and Eunice Wentworth Howell (Lovey) - attending a Dinner for Republican campaign contributors