About a month ago, I took a solo trip to Washington, DC. It was significant to me for a lot of reasons and I journalled about it as it was happening. In my next few posts, I'm going to do my best to recount the flavor of what was indeed a magnificent trip.
It started with my sister Kimberly, who works for TSA and attends weeklong meetings at the Pentagon periodically. Since they allow them a suite and guests are welcome, more than once she offered to take me along. This time I said yes.
Shortly before the trip, she texted me to tell me that their plans had changed and the trip was postponed. I had already gotten the time off from work, had my airline ticket booked and had the trip built up in my mind-- what I would see, where I would go. My disappointment was palpable.
In a very unLindalike gesture, I decided to go it alone. This was out of the norm for me for a couple reasons. Number 1, I had never travelled by myself. Number 2, I haven't flown since high school, when I flew from Pittsburgh to Boston to visit my grandparents. I'm afraid of flying and it literally makes me sick due to a head injury I sustained in age 13 (something about the air pressure). For me it was a real challenge to some of the boundaries I had in my life.
Luckily, by changing the flight dates, I was able to procure a hotel room with the entire package costing only a couple hundred more than the original flight itself. Perfect!
Tuesday morning, December 4. I didn't have to be up til 8, but I was out of bed at 6. Nervous energy, so I did what soothes me best-- painted. Also IMed with my friend Gerry to make plans for meeting the next day. Took an anti-anxiety drug (prescription, of course).
Kimmy drove me to the airport. It was just what I needed to calm me even further. I really needed her larger-than-life personality to distract me and I was so grateful for her generosity. My other sister Teresa and my friend Mary had also been texting me all morning offering me encouragement.
When we got to Midway, I asked Kimmy if she wanted to come into the airport with me to wait a bit. She then mentioned that she couldn't be seen there, because she had actually called off sick that day. Kimmy! I was early, of course, so I ate a burger and had a couple of Sam Adams. There was a bit of a snafu at the pre-check... I had intended on carrying on my luggage but they made me check it. I did not like being separated from my clothes one bit.
3:30 PM. Cruising altitude 39,000. Going over Lake Michigan was amazing. The sky and clouds were amazing. I had a sense of being part of something majestic, larger than myself. Oddly enough, I was very calm. 300 miles from Dulles and my world felt full of wonder.
I had a window seat, number 15, right above the wing. I ate two miniscule packages of peanuts and waited for a diet coke. I briefly considered another beer but with the atarax and two Sam Adams in my system from Chicago, I figured it was wise to keep my wits about me. I'd be a stranger in a strange land and that felt a little intimidating
I was mesmerized by the dividing line between blue sky and the flat plane of clouds. I remember wishing I knew exactly where I was. Listened to 7th Heaven on my iphone. 30 songs in 30 minutes. It got a little bumpy with turbulence, but again, surprisingly, I wasn't afraid. I remembered Kat telling me that most flights going in and out of DC have air marshals on them and I looked around a bit to try to figure out who it was. Stayed in my seat with the seatbelt firmly buckled the entire time.
With about 30 minutes left of the flight, I started thinking about my next steps. I hoped that the luggage retrieval and finding the shuttle to the hotel were easy. It was a bit daunting for a newbie, but at the same time I was giddy with the excitement of it all.
We were ready for descent. Bumpy. We'd be landing on time, despite leaving a little bit late. Moot point because no one was there waiting for me. In retrospect, I should've tried to arrange that. It would've been nice. Before the descent, we turned. It was a weird sensation-- the sun was reflecting a pink/orange color off the clouds. I kept thinking of Ronald Reagan's speech when Challenger exploded-- "they slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the hand of God." I felt that way.
As we got lower and lower, I saw patchwork fields in brown, ochre and green. It looked pretty rural. The captain said "welcome to Washington, DC," but it still felt like a farm to me. Lots of snaky rivers. Forests. Heard the landing gear come down. We're a long way from Chicago. All the turns didn't feel very nice.
Found the luggage and shuttle without incident. The shuttle bus was a trip. I assumed it would go directly to a few big hotels downtown, but it was more or less a taxi in van format. Took desolate looking roads to drop people off in neighborhoods. How very odd.
Checked into the hotel and got a warm cookie. Dumped my luggage off in the room and went exploring. The hotel had a revolving bar on the roof and I wanted to get my first glimpse of the monuments. On the elevator, I met a woman named Katie -- she's a speech therapist from Virginia who was there with her husband for business. We decided to have a drink together while she waited for her spouse, so we had a Blue Moon and talked about our lives and hopes for the trip. My first 360-degree look at the city-- Pentagon, Washington Monument, the Capitol-- was surreal.
Ordered my dinner (chicken sandwich and fries) from room service and watched "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition" on tv. Went to bed early. I had a lot to do the next day.
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