Chapter 13 – North Carolina – June 2026

Charlotte, Discovery Place

"How about a southern tour for the family fifty-states bucket list?" Tony suggested to Ziva as they were winding down for the night in their room.

Ziva rolled into his side, "Which states are you considering?"

"From home, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and then back up the Blue Ridge Parkway towards home," he showed her the route he'd tentatively laid out on his tablet. "We knock another nine off the list this way, including our home state, with a two-week road trip."

She considered the trip route carefully, "It looks very plausible as a family trip. And getting nine states for one trip may gain some lost time from all of the broken bones and injuries from Christmas."

He snickered, "The DiNozzo Disaster… we'll be talking about last Christmas when we are old and in the nursing home."

~North Carolina~

On the morning of Fathers' Day, the family had a filling breakfast, said goodbye to the dogs and cats, and loaded into the minivan. Tony headed to I-95 south and the six-hour - plus stops - road trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. Traffic slowed in a few places in and around Richmond, but nothing too bad. At Petersburg, he exited to I-85 south. In South Hill, Virginia, he stopped for a break for everyone, including lunch.

Ziva drove the next leg of the trip, almost all in North Carolina, arriving at their hotel near Charlotte around 1530. After checking in, the kids wanted to go to the pool, so the entire family spent some time relaxing and unwinding poolside.

The following morning, after packing their luggage back in the cargo area of the van and a large breakfast at a national breakfast chain, Tony drove the city streets to Discovery Place Science in uptown Charlotte. He found a parking spot not all that far from the main entrance on North Tryon Street in a secured, pay-to-park lot.

Ziva retrieved the confirmation email for the family's reservations for entrance that day. The greeter at the entry desk scanned the QR code and printed wristbands for each of the seven DiNozzos. She also gave the adults printed maps of the displays at the three-story science museum and circled the website URL for the companion interactive map.

LJ spotted the Project Build activity area, "Look Ima! We can build things. Are we going there first?"

"Just a minute, let Abba and me look over the activities and exhibits on the brochure and interactive map on the app. Then we will decide how we will go through the museum," Ziva moved around to the large bench behind the entrance kiosk.

Tony noted the three floors and how they interconnected, "I think we should start down on the first floor and work our way to the back by the IMAX, then go up to the third-floor areas, and finally back to this floor and work our way forward."

Tali was studying the interactive museum map on her phone, "That would make the building area last, or next to last if we do things near the entrance last. We could also see the Rainforest as the last activity."

Ziva showed the interactive maps to the three youngest DiNozzos, "I think we should do the Project Build last with the Rainforest upper level before that. If we go down the stairs to our left, we can get to the lower level."

"Oh, okay," LJ sighed. He really wanted to play with the large building toys now.

Tony led the family downstairs and to the first of the exhibits. The aquarium area was similar to many other aquariums the family had visited, but on a much smaller scale. The kids were more interested in the adjoining World Alive area with live starfish and other sea life that could be seen up close.

Riv got to touch the starfish in the touch tank, "It's really cool, with the bumpy surfaces." She giggled when the starfish moved its arms in reaction to her stroking the surface.

From there, the kids were excited to see the Nose-to-Nose sign for a live animal encounter, but were disappointed when they learned that the show only ran on certain days and times. It was partially rectified with the interactive Explore More Life lab where they got to learn about biodiversity and explore how animals, plants, and humans interact in our world.

From the lab, Ziva led the family to the ground floor of the Rainforest exhibit. They could hear the sounds of the indoor waterfall and the birds chirping in the trees. On the ground level, there were frogs, turtles, snakes, and more among the lush plants of the typical rainforest.

Tali noted the humidity to her siblings, "This is like a summer day before a thunderstorm at home."

"But warmer, I think," Anthony added. "This is so cool." He pointed to the rope and plank bridge above them, "Are we going to go on that bridge too?"

"When we get to the second-floor area for the Rainforest," Ziva nodded. "I agree with Tali; this place is very interesting." She watched one of the turtles ease into the shallow water and swim to another sandy area.

Beth wandered towards the exit into the main area of the first floor; she spotted one of the large snakes in a low tree and stifled a scream, "I'm outta here!" The six-year-old left the Rainforest quickly, and Anthony followed her to make sure she was okay.

"It won't come out of the exhibit, Beth," he tried to comfort his sister. "We were okay on the walkway. The glass and railing kept the snakes and other creatures in the exhibit you know." He put an arm around her shoulders.

"I don't care that the dumb snake couldn't get out, Anthony. It. Was. A. Snake. I hate snakes," she shuddered.

The others exited soon after, and the family checked out the Explore More Collections lab space. LJ and Tali sorted through the rocks and minerals native to North Carolina, while Beth and Rivka were fascinated with the butterflies and moths in display cases.

Anthony gave the over 3,000 liquid preserved spiders, collected in North Carolina, wide berth. He hated spiders; they could leave permanently for all he cared. Beth squeezed her big brother's hand in sympathy when he turned his head so he didn't have to even look at the display. He was much more interested in the pelts, skeletons, and taxidermy animals that are native to North Carolina and surrounding states.

Tony did check out the spiders and other insects in the display cases, while Ziva was entranced by the display of native tress and flora. The cross-sections of tree trunks fascinated her, and she ran her fingers over the preserved wood.

As the family passed by the Kidscience area, where children under ten could play, explore, tinker, and test with scientific principles, a group of kids and adults entered the space. They seemed to be from a daycare or summer camp, as all had on matching t-shirts.

"I think we should skip this one," Tony suggested to his wife. "What's next?"

Ziva agreed, "Yes; our five do not need to be in that noisy bunch of children. I think the Fantastic Frogs are the next exhibit, by the IMAX theater entrance." She pointed towards a colorful poster of a frog.

After viewing the frogs, the family climbed the stairs to the third floor, which was only on the side of the IMAX theater. The Think It Up exhibit and Thinker Space labs allowed all of the DiNozzos to experiment with designing, creating, and innovating.

The two activities that every one of them wanted to try were closed for maintenance. Tony was very bummed that the walk on light sensors that make a sound when touched wasn't operating. He and Tali had wanted to collaborate to make music. The activity that allowed you to create your own visual art piece by touching and turning dials on a large LED light display was also being serviced and LJ pouted when he and Ziva learned it wasn't running that day. The virtual activities included woodworking, sewing, and soldering.

"Too bad we didn't come on a day when the lab had live activities," Ziva noted to her family. "Perhaps if we visit again, we can try to attend a family invention workshop. I think that would be fun."

"Way cool, Ima," LJ was not as impressed by the virtual activities after helping his Grandpa with woodworking.

Riv agreed as well, "We get real hands-on at Grandpa's house. That is more fun than on a dumb computer if you ask me."

Tony shrugged, "I was kind of a dud. Let's go back down to the second floor and see what's there." He led the way down the flight of stairs to the street-level floor.

First up on the back of the second floor was the Cool Stuff exhibition. Tali read from the interactive map on her phone, "Discover the strange and eccentric world of physical phenomena. Guests of all ages can experience the extraordinary, strange, and super cool science principles that govern the workings of our everyday world.

"Witness strange motion and weird happenings that delight the mind and senses. See the invisible with thermography cameras. Be lifted by air in the vacuum-powered Air Chair. Lie across a bed of 5,000 nails unharmed. Defy gravity with gyroscopic technology and electromagnetism.

"Engage the fundamental – and fun – principle of "What goes up, must come down" as you explore the physics of lifting. Launch objects by the explosive force of a chemical reaction or pull yourself to new heights using a pulley system. Work together on the Gizmotron to scoop, fill and turn the wheels of this giant contraption.

"Perform amazing feats of strength such as crushing a garbage can or winning a seemingly impossible tug-of-war match. Flex your superhuman muscles for a round of hydraulic arm wrestling. Harness the power of the wind to steer a sailboat or spin a wind turbine.

"It's not magic. It's really cool science!" {from Discovery Place Science website}

"We gotta try them all," Rivka declared as the family spread out in the exhibit area, trying and testing things and discovering scientific principles.

"This is so cool!" Beth grinned as she used the Air Chair to rise above the floor.

Anthony and Tony spied the bed of nails, "I dare you Abba." The son and father exchanged looks and nodded in silent agreement that each would take a turn.

Tony lay down on the nails, and grinned with a thumbs' up as Anthony snapped several pictures.

"Hey, Zi… look at me!" he called out to his better half. Ziva looked up from the windmill activity with a bemused look. She shook her head and laughed; only her crazy Tony!

Anthony took a turn next and grinned as Tony got multiple pictures of his son. Ziva watched the two; sometimes her older son was so like his father, it was unreal how alike the two were. Her crazy boys, she often thought as they pulled off some crazy stunt or antic.

Tali and Beth laughed at the robotic arm wrestling and each won a match. LJ was enthralled by the pulleys and the launching objects activities. When each had tried all that they wanted, the family moved on to the Being Me area.

"Is this what Uncle Jimmy sees every day?" a curious Beth asked her mother at the display with the opened torso of a human body. She and Ziva removed the internal organs and parts as they explored gross anatomy of the human body.

"Yes, yaldati, only sometimes the bodies he has on his morgue table are injured," Ziva tried to explain to the six-year-old in a way that the girl would understand, but not be worried about the nature of the injuries and devastation that Jimmy often witnessed.

"Oh, so they may not be all nicely arranged like this one?" Riv had wandered over to see what her twin was doing.

Ziva hesitated, then answered, "Remember that your Uncle Jimmy has to deal with people who may have died in unnatural ways. His job is to determine how and why they died many times. That is the medical examiner's job."

The Explore More Me lab was open for the family to wander, but no actual labs were taking place that day. LJ was more interested in the model of the human eye than the lab itself.

"Abba, this is very interesting," he pointed to the parts of the eye and the way they moved when different amounts of light were projected on them. "I think it's cool how the image is upside down on the back of the eye and our brains figure it out!"

The penultimate stop on the second floor was the upper level of the Rainforest. From the rope and plank walkway, the family viewed the treetops and the birds and animals in the branches. The top of the waterfall was also visible and the sounds from the birds was louder than at ground level. Beth averted her eyes as a snake slithered on the branches just below the walk. Anthony held her and led her past the snake.

The final stop, the Project Build area, was a favorite of every DiNozzo. Tony and the twins built a sandcastle with the special sand in the walled table. Ziva, Tali, and LJ built a fort with the giant wood blocks and draped it with the camouflage netting. Anthony found the computer with the design programs and spent his entire time in the area designing on the screen.

A stop at the gift shop before heading to the van, then a run through the drive-thru at a fast-food place, and the DiNozzo family was back on I-85 south headed to South Carolina.