The Washington, DC Trip Report
It's Saturday night in Toronto on this Hockey Day in Canada where the return of Mats Sundin also brought us a pretty good snowfall. I'm hunkered in though pounding out some memories of our trip to Washington, DC that I just didn't have time to get into words earlier this week. I'm going to recommend this Grateful Dead show from Feb 21, 1991 as I think it works nicely with the photo I was able to snap right outside of our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Washington.
My better half and I left on Friday the thirteenth which is really the day you want to have to fly. This was my first trip with some new luggage I received for Christmas, a Heys XCase, and let me tell you not having to check any bags is where it's at. We usually take the TTC to Pearson but we were running late and had to hop a cab for $45 so that sucked. Security was a breeze though and we were cleared through customs with an hour to kill. I like that fact that we can do customs first as it cuts down on any delay at the other end, but you never know how soon to show up when you factor in the check-in, customs and security lines. One day you can blow through in minutes and on others it can be a 2 hour struggle. I grabbed a foot-long Tim Horton's chicken salad sandwich and large coffee (2 cream) for less than $7. Not bad for an airport meal.
We always seem to be flying to the west coast so this little one hour hop was different. There's not a lot of time to even down a beer. Air Canada is nice to fly. Definitely one of my favourites. The individual TVs are where it's at, but it would be nice if all the features worked. Obviously on a flight that short a movie is out of the question, but the CBC news would be perfect. "Sorry. This feature is not yet available." Oh. Well maybe I'll just watch the map as I read my book. "Sorry. This feature is not yet available." Here's the thing, if it's not available don't tease me by putting the fucking button up on the screen because by doing this you are indicating that I do have that option when in fact, I don't.
We landed at Reagan International and the Washington Monument and the Capital Building are visible from the airport. DC Metro cost us $1.35 each and the Blue Line had us within step of our hotel just outside of McPherson Square station in less than 20min.
The reason for our trip was to meet up with out nephew Shaun who is training with the US National Guard just outside of Baltimore. He is from Las Vegas and had never been to the east coast before going to boot camp in North Carolina and then onto specialty training up in Maryland. He brought along three friends, Ritchie, Ronnie and Lopez from Hawaii, Missouri, and Compton respectively. None had ever been to DC and two had never really traveled outside of their home states before enlisting. This was a chance to take them around to see all these amazing places that we always see and hear about on TV and in movies and to give some them perspective.
America is a country that has been at war for more years than it has been at peace since 1776. Some have been epic and heroic wars that defended some of the most important ideals to western society. Others, not so much. But this is not the point. The point was to help them see that they are part of something bigger and they are following in the footsteps of many, many brave men before them who served with purpose beyond self. Let's face it. A lot of today's soldiers are there not out of a sense of duty, but rather because there is no where else to go. This is however, a door that can lead to specialized training, education, money, and a lifetime's worth of benefits not only for the soldier but for his family too. These were just boys, too young to drink but on their way to possibly having to do a job that has made the toughest of men break down and cry and watching them take it all in made me and I hope Azure feel really good.
We checked into the hotel. The boys were already there. Up to their room we went with a bottle of Canadian Club, some Blue Moon, Coke & Canada Dry and some chips. My theory's always been if you can take a bullet for your country you can sure as shit have a beer. Besides, they were all legal in Canada. After a few cocktails we headed out. I had been to DC before but had not seem the big ticket items at night so selfishly that was nice for me. We saw the White House, the Washington Monument, WWII memorial where everyone got their picture taken at their home state's pillar. They even had Philippines. We walked down the edge of the reflecting pool and them climbed the famous steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Wow! Amazing spot. It ended up being one day after Lincoln's 200th birthday (a date he shares with Charles Darwin).
From there we caught a cab up to Dupont Circle. It was my suggestion because I thought there was more there. It was lame and everyone was hungry. They say everything happens for a reason. Shaun was wanting Pho and I didn't think we were going to find anything like that, but sure enough as we were heading to (less lame) Georgetown we passed a Pho joint. I don't want to say watching a kid from Missouri deal with ordering and eating Vietnamese food is funny, but come on, it kinda was. We went back to the hotel and crashed. The kids stayed up in their room and watched 2 movies.
Saturday morning Azure had a restaurant in mind. I think it was called the Waffle Shop. Anyways, it was right across from Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. On the walk there I spotted the burger joint in the photo to the right and put it in the vault. More on that later. So the Waffle Shop was packed which is always a good sign. The boys and I went and did the short tour through the house where Abe was brought to die in peace after he was shot and when we done with that Azure had secured a table. I had Country Fried Steak because when I go to America that's what I do.
Our walk that day took us past the Canadian Embassy, Capitol Hill, the Air & Space Museum, the Smithsonian Castle and all the awesome and FREE museums that line the Mall. If only Toronto could get on board with offering some of its most artistic place to more folks who just can't afford ridiculous admission prices. The boys had to be back on base by 8pm that night and were scheduled on a 4:45pm bus. We made our way back to the hotel and said our goodbyes. I am glad I met those boys and I hope they were happy to meet me too.
Saturday night brought Azure & I to Georgetown. Uno Chicago Grill was our destination and it did not disappoint. I had a pint of Blue Moon and a Numero Uno Deep Dish Pizza. Fucking right! We then ended up in a sports bar called Rhino something? Whatever. We grabbed a pitcher had great seats right in front of the big screen for the NBA slam dunk contest. Azure wanted to watch so we sat through all of that from start to finish. Good times.
We slept in Sunday and didn't get out of the hotel until about 1pm. I wanted to head up to an area called Adams Morgan and thought Azure would enjoy it. We took the Metro up to Dupont Circle and walked up 18th from there. We browsed in a few shops but we were starting to get hungry. I had read that this area was noted for its soul food and was hoping we would go in that direction. We found the greatest place and probably spent close to three hours there. It's called Madam's Organ and if you do the math you can see the M is subtracted from Morgan and added to Adam and...well, I guess you get it or you don't.
So we walk in and BANG! There it is! I have been looked for the perfect logo to use in my monthly "The Finger" posts. I haven't written one yet. Not because of time, laziness, etc. It's because I wasn't happy with any of the internet images I had been able to secure. So no more excuses. William Clay Ford, your time has come.
So I'm happy already. I mean, leaving with something no matter how this meal goes. You know what's great about America? Two for one drink specials. "Hey folks. How are you? We have 241 Bloody Mary's today. Would you li..." "Yes!", I says. Can you say no to that? You can't. It's just not good value to turn that down. The lady likes 'em spicy, me not so hot. Let's go! So she brings those over to us. "Our entrees are buy one, get the second half off." You don't say? This is what I'm talking about. This is what I'm looking for. Like always. I ordered the house specialty, fried chicken with mashed and collard greens. Yes! My lady had the fish as she is un-meat. Now our food did take some time. I know I mentioned the 241 Bloodies, but there were also $3 Miller Lites. Not the greatest beer, but at $3 a bottle they compliment the Bloodies quite nicely. And there was a sax guy just playing away, walking around the place from time to time. It turns out part of the food delay was due to our waitress' pants catching on fire. Yep. I know. First time for me too. Thinking about it as I ate, based on her personality, it made sense. I say that with no disrespect. She was perfect for that place and I would recommend it to anyone (not in a hurry).
We left and spent a couple of hours listening to jazz over at Columbia Station, still in Adams Morgan. The bartender commented on my Grateful Dead shirt and mention he was catching the DC date on their tour. A little later he said he had Phish tickets for the Hampton run. I don't have ticket to the Hampton run or any other Phish show for that matter. Yeah, I happy for him and everyone else, but fuck. Shit just isn't working out for me this summer. Fucking scalpers, ticketbastard fucking fucks. And to all you phans who paid these prices, fuck you too. OK. Sorry. I digress. That was harsh. I'm just frustrated is all.
The little lady wanted to return to Georgetown to see some more danceable jazz at a club we spotted the night before. The band was pretty funky for and I though at one point they were dropping into West LA Fadeaway. I think when you listen to the Dead as much as I do you start hearing little pieces of them in everything. We peaced out after a couple of sets and ordered pizza to our hotel room. My half was just double cheese.
We were scheduled to fly out at 545pm Monday. Azure wanted to do some shopping and I wanted to see a museum or two. The Air & Space museum was my primary target. As soon as I got there I grabbed a ticket for the 12:05 showing of Fighter Pilot at the IMAX theater. I had an hour & a half to wander around and look and the old planes, satellites, missiles, a photo shoot of Saturn, evolution of flying technology and some other random stuff. They had the nose of a 747 there and you could walk right into the cockpit. One interesting display was a bin containing 1 million transistors form 20 years ago. I guess one chip from today can now process the same amount of info. Makes you wonder where were headed, eh? The movie was so-so. To be honest, what I had in my head was the last dog fight scene in Top Gun only on IMAX, twice as long and twice as loud. Apparently movies spice things up a bit. Who knew?
I wanted to see the Museum of American History and I did. Briefly. It was packed. It was President's Day so this made sense. I did go through the America at War section which was well done.
We were to meet up at the hotel at 3pm. I was starting to get hungry and time was running out. I was close to Ollie's Trolley and it was planned this way. You always need a plan. The big picture. Whatever. Yep. That's what I had. A Bacon Double Cheeseburger with Ollie's special fries and a Coke served in a Styrofoam cup no less. I had the USA Today sports section with me which is a treat. Proper college sports coverage because I don't give a shit what the third line winger on the Toronto Maple Leafs enjoys doing on an off day.
From there I hopped on the Metro, met up with Azure at the hotel and we made our way to the airport. There was a slight detour we had to take due to track construction. It involved a shuttle bus which would have sucked except for the fact that we got an up close view of Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. The flight was smooth, the TTC sucks (as usual). I think we waited as long for the bus as it took us to fly from DC to Toronto.
Overall the trip was great. I was happy to meet those boys and will keep them in my thoughts. I was sad the Capitals weren't playing. Seeing Ovetchkin play would have been awesome. You can check out more of my Washington, DC photos if you like over at Flickr.
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