Needing a quickie vacation from my stress-filled management job, I hastily planned a "road trip". This one though had to fit a few constraints...I had to squeeze it in over the Memorial Day weekend and I didn't have an adequate car so it had to be either by plane or train. Amtrak was running some kind of special and the airlines out of Green Airport were not, so rail it was.
I was thinking New York at first, but I'd been there several times already and I wanted to go someplace new. So I thought...Memorial Day...patriotic...of course, Washington D.C. Right up my alley too with all the history and museums. And free museums! Can't beat that!
Not having planned but a day or two in advance, I decided to take the train in and find a hotel once I got into the city. When I got to Union Station in Washington, some eight hours or so after leaving Providence, I walked around a bit and marveled at the magnificent architecture. I made my way to a pay phone and looked up area hotels. After a few calls I realized quickly that I'd made a mistake...most everything was booked up due to it being the holiday weekend. After quite a few frantic calls, I finally found one hotel in my price range that had a vacancy. I jotted down the address, located it on my map and started to walk there. But as I made my way towards the designated spot, I noticed my surroundings were changing quite dramatically.
Within a few blocks of the broad avenues and grand edifices of the train station area heading northwest, I suddenly found myself in the middle of an entirely alien landscape. To my then naive and mono-cultured white bred Rhode Island eyes, it looked like I was in the middle of a crime-ridden, run-down ghetto. And I was the only white person around. I quickly abandoned the plan to stay at the "discount" hotel and started walking rapidly southwards towards the Mall area. I found a visitor information center and began my hotel room search over, deciding I'd restrict my options to the more touristy areas.
After several more frustrated attempts, I finally found a vacancy. Since it was a Hilton it was much higher priced than what I'd budgeted, but it was nearby: a block or two from the Capitol Building. And since this was planned to be a short 1-nighter, it wouldn't be too costly.
I checked in, dropped off my backpack and headed out to see the sights.
My first stop was the Capitol. I chose to self-guide my way around, but after listening to a tour group nearby, I hung around them so I could hear what the guide was lecturing about. I didn't stay too long though, as beautiful as the Capitol Building was, I was anxious to make my way to the museums before it got too late. My train trip and the search for a hotel chewed up too much of the day as it was.
I walked over to the Air and Space Museum, toured through many of it's exhibits and had a late lunch there. I could tell from the size of this museum, if the others were on this scale, I was surely going to get a workout this weekend.
Before I knew it, it was closing time and I made my way back to my hotel. I walked to Union Station for dinner since I had noticed there was a food court there. And, they served beer.
The next morning I woke early, checked out, brought my backpack to Union Station and put it in a locker there. I planned on taking the evening train back after a power-sightseeing day. I think I hit most of what I'd wanted to see that day including the Hirshhorn Museum, the American History Museum, the Vietnam Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. Because it was a lot of walking and I was so constricted for time, I didn't visit the White House (I saw it from Constitution Avenue as I walked westward to the Lincoln Memorial though, yet it was scaffolded and covered in opaque plastic sheeting since they were renovating the exterior at the time) or the Washington Monument (being scared of heights, I didn't have much interest in going up in it anyway) or Jefferson Memorial (a bit off track...time, time, time).
As the day wore down, and my energy with it, I stopped by the Capitol's west side on my way towards Union Station and noticed a huge crowd of people gathering. A free open air concert was getting ready to start. I checked my watch, I had a little time to enjoy the festivities. I sat on the warm granite steps of the Capitol and as the concert played the stars began to shine in the evening sky and a fireworks display topped of the event...I knew I'd be staying another night.
After the serendipitous treat, I walked to Union Station, had dinner, grabbed my bag and went back to the Hilton...luckily they still had a vacancy, though it'd be a different room. No matter.
Due to a limited holiday schedule I had to take a midday train back to Providence, so I couldn't fit much more sightseeing in, though I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the National Archives and the National Gallery of Art.
All the sights and sounds of our nation's capital were awesome enough for lasting memories, but it would be one happenstance brief event that would become one of the most enduring and somewhat haunting memories of this weekend...
Once comfortably on the train, even though it was still early afternoon, I made my way to the Cafe Car for my traditional Bloody Mary. (I'd noticed years before during one of my day trips to Boston in the '80s that, in my opinion, Amtrak Cafe Cars made the best Bloody Marys, so, whenever I rode the rails, it was my drink of choice). By my 6th or 7th visit to the Cafe Car, the bartender jokingly asked me if I had a "hollow leg". I'd never heard of this saying before and she explained people who can "put them away" are said to have a hollow leg. I smiled and returned to my seat but inside, her remark kinda ticked me off. I later realized it was because it had been the first time anyone, let alone a total stranger, had ever acknowledged that I was drinking a lot.
A year later, once I had committed to sobriety, I would play the image of that Amtrak bartender asking me the hollow leg question over and over in my mind. It was a reminder of how I had unknowingly become both tolerant of larger-than-average alcohol use and ignorant of my behavior's perception to the average person. Did I see a hint of genuine concern in her expression as she made her jesting remark? Or was that what I'd hoped to see?
I was thinking New York at first, but I'd been there several times already and I wanted to go someplace new. So I thought...Memorial Day...patriotic...of course, Washington D.C. Right up my alley too with all the history and museums. And free museums! Can't beat that!
Not having planned but a day or two in advance, I decided to take the train in and find a hotel once I got into the city. When I got to Union Station in Washington, some eight hours or so after leaving Providence, I walked around a bit and marveled at the magnificent architecture. I made my way to a pay phone and looked up area hotels. After a few calls I realized quickly that I'd made a mistake...most everything was booked up due to it being the holiday weekend. After quite a few frantic calls, I finally found one hotel in my price range that had a vacancy. I jotted down the address, located it on my map and started to walk there. But as I made my way towards the designated spot, I noticed my surroundings were changing quite dramatically.
Within a few blocks of the broad avenues and grand edifices of the train station area heading northwest, I suddenly found myself in the middle of an entirely alien landscape. To my then naive and mono-cultured white bred Rhode Island eyes, it looked like I was in the middle of a crime-ridden, run-down ghetto. And I was the only white person around. I quickly abandoned the plan to stay at the "discount" hotel and started walking rapidly southwards towards the Mall area. I found a visitor information center and began my hotel room search over, deciding I'd restrict my options to the more touristy areas.
After several more frustrated attempts, I finally found a vacancy. Since it was a Hilton it was much higher priced than what I'd budgeted, but it was nearby: a block or two from the Capitol Building. And since this was planned to be a short 1-nighter, it wouldn't be too costly.
I checked in, dropped off my backpack and headed out to see the sights.
My first stop was the Capitol. I chose to self-guide my way around, but after listening to a tour group nearby, I hung around them so I could hear what the guide was lecturing about. I didn't stay too long though, as beautiful as the Capitol Building was, I was anxious to make my way to the museums before it got too late. My train trip and the search for a hotel chewed up too much of the day as it was.
I walked over to the Air and Space Museum, toured through many of it's exhibits and had a late lunch there. I could tell from the size of this museum, if the others were on this scale, I was surely going to get a workout this weekend.
Before I knew it, it was closing time and I made my way back to my hotel. I walked to Union Station for dinner since I had noticed there was a food court there. And, they served beer.
The next morning I woke early, checked out, brought my backpack to Union Station and put it in a locker there. I planned on taking the evening train back after a power-sightseeing day. I think I hit most of what I'd wanted to see that day including the Hirshhorn Museum, the American History Museum, the Vietnam Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. Because it was a lot of walking and I was so constricted for time, I didn't visit the White House (I saw it from Constitution Avenue as I walked westward to the Lincoln Memorial though, yet it was scaffolded and covered in opaque plastic sheeting since they were renovating the exterior at the time) or the Washington Monument (being scared of heights, I didn't have much interest in going up in it anyway) or Jefferson Memorial (a bit off track...time, time, time).
As the day wore down, and my energy with it, I stopped by the Capitol's west side on my way towards Union Station and noticed a huge crowd of people gathering. A free open air concert was getting ready to start. I checked my watch, I had a little time to enjoy the festivities. I sat on the warm granite steps of the Capitol and as the concert played the stars began to shine in the evening sky and a fireworks display topped of the event...I knew I'd be staying another night.
After the serendipitous treat, I walked to Union Station, had dinner, grabbed my bag and went back to the Hilton...luckily they still had a vacancy, though it'd be a different room. No matter.
Due to a limited holiday schedule I had to take a midday train back to Providence, so I couldn't fit much more sightseeing in, though I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the National Archives and the National Gallery of Art.
All the sights and sounds of our nation's capital were awesome enough for lasting memories, but it would be one happenstance brief event that would become one of the most enduring and somewhat haunting memories of this weekend...
Once comfortably on the train, even though it was still early afternoon, I made my way to the Cafe Car for my traditional Bloody Mary. (I'd noticed years before during one of my day trips to Boston in the '80s that, in my opinion, Amtrak Cafe Cars made the best Bloody Marys, so, whenever I rode the rails, it was my drink of choice). By my 6th or 7th visit to the Cafe Car, the bartender jokingly asked me if I had a "hollow leg". I'd never heard of this saying before and she explained people who can "put them away" are said to have a hollow leg. I smiled and returned to my seat but inside, her remark kinda ticked me off. I later realized it was because it had been the first time anyone, let alone a total stranger, had ever acknowledged that I was drinking a lot.
A year later, once I had committed to sobriety, I would play the image of that Amtrak bartender asking me the hollow leg question over and over in my mind. It was a reminder of how I had unknowingly become both tolerant of larger-than-average alcohol use and ignorant of my behavior's perception to the average person. Did I see a hint of genuine concern in her expression as she made her jesting remark? Or was that what I'd hoped to see?