They came. They saw. They left disappointed.
One family after another arrived at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday morning to find an empty parking lot, locked doors, and signs that said it was closed due to “the shutdown of the federal government. Please visit usa.gov.’’
“I don’t believe it. That’s a bummer,’’ said Kirk Sanger, 43, of Northampton.
His wife, Karyn Nelson, 40, laughed and made an exasperated sigh while their three sons stared through the windows.
“Just the idea [that] parts of your culture are run by the government,’’ Nelson said. “I didn’t realize that this would be a part of that.’’
The visit was a surprise for their youngest, 11-year-old Finn Nelson-Sanger. The fifth-grader is fascinated by US presidents, so his parents thought it would be nice to make the nearly two-hour drive and bring him to the JFK library. They had even called ahead Thursday to make sure it would be open.
“I hate Donald Trump now,’’ Finn said with a small pout. “I’m going for Bernie Sanders.’’
Finn now wants to run for president, he said, so he can prevent future government shutdowns.
In Charlestown, a sign was posted on the fence surrounding the USS Constitution visitors center.
“Due to the lapse in federal appropriations,’’ it explained, “the National Park Service (NPS) is uable to fully staff the properties under its management.’’ An adjacent sign listed historic sites that remain open, which, fortunately for visitors, included Old Ironsides and the nearby USS Constitution Museum.
Late Sunday morning, Kelly Selander, 32, leaned forward and read the sign closely. She and Matt Oteri 36, were in Boston from New Britain, Conn., and the Navy Yard was their second stop, they explained.
“The first place we went was Bunker Hill, and we were maybe going to go to the museum, and it was closed,’’ Selander said.
“I just went to go use the trash, and the trash can was locked’’ because of the shutdown, Oteri said, “I said, ‘Of course the trash is locked. There’s no one to change the trash.’ ’’
Selander and Oteri said they are tired of congressional gridlock.
“It feels like this past year went by without anything really happening at all,’’ Selander said.
Norwegian residents Rita Le Bruyn Johansen, 68, and her husband, Jan Johansen, 64, said they arrived in Boston on a business trip Friday — just in time for the government shutdown.
So far it hadn’t affected them, they said, but they are concerned about a Monday meeting with Army officials.
“It could be that it will not happen,’’ Le Bruyn Johansen said. “We are really hoping for it and trying to prepare for it.’’
Johansen owns a clothing company, Aclima, which makes specialty garments for extreme conditions, and Le Bruyn Johansen heads its military sales division. They keep a close eye on world politics, they said, and took note when news outlets reported that Trump had suggested in an Oval Office meeting that more Norwegians should immigrate to the United States.
“I think it was because he had a nice chat with our prime minister’’ the day before that meeting, Johansen said. Later, he mused that perhaps Trump “wants immigrants from rich countries and not poor countries.’’
Le Bruyn Johansen added, “I think sometimes you don’t have to say all the things you feel.’’
Erich Kahler, 37, of Woburn, was visiting the Constitution with relatives from Brookline and from Stamford, Conn., and had been glad to find it open.
“My expectation was that it would be available, like the gates would be open, but the actual museum and the ship itself would be unstaffed,’’ Kahler said as he stood on the ship’s deck.
He is frustrated with the “dysfunction’’ in Washington, he said, even as Republicans control the presidency and both houses of Congress, but don’t “believe it’s their responsibility to reach out across the aisle.’’
Kahler expressed particular frustration with congressional haggling over the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program that delays deportation for people brought illegally to the United States as children.
“Children’s health care and the ‘dreamers’ are not bargaining chips,’’ he said.
Elsewhere around the state, the Lowell National Historical Park and Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord were closed, according to their websites.
At the JFK Library, two San Francisco sisters said its closure was a let-down.
“We’re really, really disappointed,’’ Jorden Meneghetti, 23, said. “We planned our whole day around this. It’s part of my bucket list to go to all the presidential libraries.’’
Meneghetti has been to five, she said. She was looking forward to receiving a commemorative stamp in a special booklet, “Passport to Presidential Libraries.’’
Jens and Ursula Dill of Switzerland said they thought the library might be closed, but tried to visit anyway.
“This is not the first time,’’ Dill said of the shutdown. “You had this situation with Obama as well. Well, now we know where the museum is.’’
Three friends from China just laughed before taking pictures of the library’s sign.
“I think it is really a pity,’’ said Kevin Wang, 20, a physics major at MIT. “I hope the government can restore itself so the museum can open again.
At the Bunker Hill Monument, Jessica Martinez, 25, of Orange County, Calif., summarized her shutdown experience concisely: “It sucks.’’
She was on vacation with her sister and friends. The monument was their Sunday plan.
“You can’t go up,’’ she said. “I’ve been before to see a view of the whole city.’’
Her advice for politicians?
“It’s not that hard,’’ she said. “Come on.’’
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Cristela Guerra can be reached at cristela.guerra@globe.com.
