Washington DC and the environs (March 1st - 9th 2013)

I love Washington D.C.  I have been there a few times in the past three years always on business but every time I am there I fall in love with the city over again.  I have yet to visit when the weather is perfect but regardless the city has a great feel with plenty to see, a great mix of people, a mild climate and great public transit.  Those things are all winners in my book and getting lost in the city and seeing new places are always things that I enjoy when away from home.

I was scheduled to attend a training class for work out near Warrenton, VA from Tuesday through Friday but I took leave on the front side of my trip and flew out on the Friday before so I could have the weekend to hang out and see the city and spend time catching up with my friends.  I returned for San Diego the Saturday afternoon following my class so there was no need to rush and catch a flight and it gave me a chance to ease back into D.C. for a day of meeting new faces at headquarters downtown and fostering some of the relationships I had built during my time in the leadership program I was in a couple years ago.

Most of the time when I am in D.C. I stay with one of best friends Travis and his girl Simone but do to a scheduling conflict I ended up staying with Scott and Rohan.  I usually only see them on my annual trip to Puerto Vallarta but after the fun I had on this trip I think Eva and I will have to put D.C. on our list of recurring trips much like New Orleans, Austin, Minneapolis, Puerto Vallarta, S.F. and Hungary.  Scott and Rohan have an amazing place located in the heart of D.C. adjacent to the convention center with the Mt. Vernon metro stop a couple blocks away.  Thanks again guys for the hospitality...it was so great seeing you!!

Friday

I had a quick connection in ATL on my way to DCA and thankfully after being so loyal to Delta I was rewarded (after averaging 30,000 miles a year I should get something) with a first class upgrade (on the way up and on all legs back to SAN) which always makes traveling so much nicer!  Upon my arrival I took the metro from DCA to Scott's place and met him at the metro stop near his house.  It was 80 degrees and sunny when I left SD and it was in the 50's with a piercing north wind that made it feel like the high 20's when we came up the elevator and onto the street.  Thankfully I packed the biggest coat I could find and a few scarves but no luck on a hat considering the remodel it was hard enough finding the little winter gear I found. 

After dropping my stuff off and seeing Scott and Rohan's condo and visiting with the pets (Grady and Cody) we headed out for happy hour.  Scott had to work early on Saturday so no reason to make a big night out of it or anything (at least that what we had planned) so just meet some friends get some food and head home...or not!  We went to number 9 website which has one of the best happy hour's I have seen anywhere much less in D.C. ...which can get pricey in a hurry!  Their drinks are 2 for 1 but the way they do it is different, after you pay they give you a receipt for another drink similar to a credit card receipt and you turn it in at the bar for another drink.  A great place for people watching and across the street from Whole Foods so a perfect place to stop and then pick up some groceries :)  Somehow the plan turned into "let's go get something to eat and then let's go dancing"  it was not my town and I was just there to soak it all in.  The guys had been telling me about a great place called Tsunami website to get sushi and after my visit I could not agree more.  They had great sushi rolls, a fun staff, a good atmosphere, and best of all a decent price!  I never did go downstairs but they have a dining area in the front a big sushi bar in the back and an upstairs lounge area above the bar that is kind of cool.  The staff is very fun and eclectic to say the least.  After we decided to head out for some dancing at a place called Cobalt website which was three floors and at least that many different rooms full of house music and people dancing and living it up.  We had a great time and decided to call it a night...after all Scott did have to work in the morning. 

Saturday

Slept in and had a late breakfast which was nice since back in SD the construction was going into it's 5th week on the master bath remodel.  For lunch Rohan and I decided to walk to China Town and grab some tapas and tea to stay warm.  They live really close to everything but with the cool temperatures and non stop wind we opted for a sightseeing tour of the city via Honda Accord :)  He took me around the waterfront over to the new ballpark and we finished our tour in Georgetown and picked Scott up from work (second job at Crate and Barrel...for fun) and head home to rest and relax before going and grabbing some dinner at Busboy and Poets website at 14th and V.  This area was full of  hipsters and crowds of people out enjoying the weekend.  The weather was no excuse because we waited 45 minutes for a table but the manager was nice enough to compensate us on a round of drinks with dinner.  The food was home style cooking in a very relaxed atmosphere that shares its locale with a very liberal bookstore.  It seemed like this was the neighborhood to be in on the weekend but beware you may encounter a wait for dinner.  We finished off the night at a very trendy "speakeasy" called The Gibson website there was no sign but just a door which seemed to lead to nowhere jammed in the middle of two places on a busy street.  The hostess checked if there was room for us and escorted us upstairs to the bar area and sat us very specifically.  Kind of like..."hey, follow me and don't ask questions...but in a very subtle tone"  We had a drink in the dark but newly rustic decorated style place and called it a day.

Sunday

Scott kept telling me about a great "drag brunch" at a sports bar called Nellies website close to his house and I was excited to see what all the talk was about.  Needless to say I was surprised to say the least.  It was a typical sports bar and the brunch was buffet style with a ton of options and decent food but the servers were all dressed in drag.  It was a must see affair and the patrons ALL had a show with the girls doing their favorite impersonations and singing including Beyonce!  We enjoyed it so much we ended up staying for both shows and made quite a rapport with the staff.  Be sure to make reservations if you decide to go or you may not get in.  People had driven from all over just to check it out and have brunch.  We left and headed over to a couple places and ended up meeting up with Travis and Simone in Dupont Circle.  I had been in D.C. since Friday and Travis had been working so this was our first chance to meet up and I could finally introduce the two couples to each other.  I have found you can never have enough good friends.  Travis, Simone and myself headed over to Old Ebbitt Grill website which is steps to the white house which makes it kind of a tourist trap but a great atmosphere nonetheless.  It was late maybe 9ish and we sat at the bar had some appetizers and drinks and the best part was the people watching...even late on a Sunday night there was a crowd and you could sense the politics that surrounded us past, present and future.  I would say stop here for a drink and check the place out but as I mentioned be prepared to pay tourist prices.  We retired back to Travis's place and stayed up telling stories and catching up on life.

Class for the week

I picked up the rental car on Monday and headed out to Falls Church, VA for my class that would be Tuesday-Friday.  I have never been to the outskirts of D.C. before but it's farm country!  I had already pre-coordinated to meet up with another friend named Scott whom I met in OKC on my last trip that was also attending the same class.  We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Gainesville and even though the location is great because of the adjacent shopping center and eateries there is a train that comes through a few times a night and the whistle on that thing is loud.  It was scheduled to snow on Wednesday and that is exactly what happened starting on Tuesday evening.  Scott and I went to shoot pool at a place adjacent to our hotel and we saw the snow as it started to fall.  Scott is from Montana and lives in Denver and as we were coming out from dinner he looked at the sky and said it was definitely going to snow.  We had a feeling there would be no class the next day and sure enough when we woke up and called to verify they had cancelled class.  We were confined to our hotel most of the day and stepped out later to eat a late lunch at Chili's and play catch inside the Sports Authority located in the shopping center.  Because everyone had been told to stay inside we had the whole area to ourselves.  There was not much to do but watch the army or snowplows and people shoveling the sidewalks as fast as they could.  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings on almost a daily basis and another place called the Grafton Street website which is somewhat of an upscale place and probably the only place around that has a good menu and atmosphere.  We were somewhat limited on our options considering location but Scott and I made the most of it I think.  We even ventured off to Centerville on our last night with a classmate Willie to check out a couple places people told us about.  Either way it was a work trip and even though the weather was bleak the area was a "bedroom" community for the D.C. workers, Scott and I found a a way to make the most of it! 



Class broke mid morning on Friday and I headed back to D.C. and the others went their ways as well.  After dropping off my rental car I headed over to HQ to meet with some ex coworkers that transferred to D.C. and took time to network and visit.  Everything in life is about who you know and the older I get the more I realize this saying is so true.  I am a people person and instead of trying to forge new relationships I have taken a step back and pushed to develop the existing relationships I have made not just in my work life but also in my personal life.

Memories

 I had mid afternoon flight out on Saturday and that gave me a chance to hang with the guys one last night and sleep in and relax before catching my flight back home.  It was a good trip for networking and getting to "play" in the snow.  I use a smart phone and I have an application called "Shazam" that identifies songs via a database when music is playing in the background and essentially creates a play list.  Needless to say when I returned to SD I made a play list of the songs I heard on my trip to create a form of nostalgia if you will to think back about my time.  Life is very short but creating long lasting memories is something I cherish and to me nothing brings back a memory like a song you haven't heard in years playing on the radio...make a memory and enjoy life for what it brings....



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