Ayatollah before but you never asked: Washington tour

My flight to DC included a very rude woman sitting in front of me. She absolutely could not live without having her purse under the seat, despite that being against the rules as you are supposed to put your carry on under the seat in front of you. Since she was in row 1, there was no seat in front of her. She was told by the flight attendant not to leave her purse lying on the empty seat beside her, so her solution was to take up the space under the seat, leaving the lady beside me with not much room to place her bag. I argued with the old hag and she refused to put her purse up in the overhead bin. Finally I suggested she not pick row 1 in the future. I almost took her purse and snuck it behind another seat to teach her a lesson, but I'm not that much of a mean bitch. I don't know why she was so obsessed about it, I certainly wouldn't trust people behind me not to go through my stuff, but I'd notice if the overhead bin right above my head was open. Anyway, she was an old rude hag who refused to follow the rules. I hate it when people make their own rules, especially when flying. We all have limited space... stick to yours.

I arrived and got a cab with a crazy cab driver who tried to sell me his poetry book. He also had this habit of repeating what he was saying at least 10 times... after a while I was thinking, buddy, get over the fact that my jacket matches my suitcase. He kept going on and on about how his eyes popped out when he saw I was color co-ordinated. The kicker was when I got out my wallet, which is also pink. He really flipped then. Didn't have the energy to tell him my favorite color was actually purple.

The hotel cost a fortune even after the deal our supplier worked out for the meeting attendees. It was the Grand Washington Hyatt in downtown DC, so I didn't expect it to be cheap, but I did expect my tub to drain and the electrical outlets to work. I wasn't impressed in the least.

I spent Thursday afternoon touring around DC. I opted to take a trolley tour, where I could hop on & off for the day. I got to see the main highlights, so I think I did pretty well for not having much time there. I've put some pics below. I think the highlight for me was the Lincoln Memorial. It was just really impressive. I saw it during the day and evening, and it was equally as impressive. I also made a stop at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and while there I bought an activity set of rocks for my nephew for his birthday.

Thursday night our meeting group met for dinner at Jaleo, a tapas restaurant. If you have never heard of a tapas restaurant (I hadn't), it's basically a bunch of small Spanish dishes served as a meal. Sort of like ordering a whole bunch of appetizers and sharing amongst everyone at the table. I really liked the concept, but I wasn't much of a fan of authentic Spanish food. I did try a bunch of things, but it's not something I am likely to try again without looking over the menu first.

To be honest, I didn't think I was going to like Washington, but I did. There is so much to see and do, you need at least a week to get through things of interest. I would like to go back some day, with John, and get to more of the museums and revisit the memorials. I expected it to be stinkin' hot, but I was told it was two of the coldest days they'd had in a while. It actually ended up being comfortable for touring around, so it worked out well.

I had lunch here on my first day. They only serve burgers and fries, and always use fresh ground beef. It was pretty good. I read a comment from someone who called it the In-N-Out Burger of the East Coast. I will have to compare. Had lunch with guys in suits wearing backpacks. Expected to see Bradley Whitford with them; felt like I was on lunchbreak in an episode of The West Wing. :)