Because the best things in life are free.

 
Curiously, the restaurant went out of business so instead I went to a place called Fado, and Irish pub. I had corned beef n’ cabbage and met a woman named Sandra Smith. She was with another guy, and relax, she was married. Nevertheless, the bar was a total experience with the interior made to look like a real Irish country pub down to fake wells in he dining rooms. I ate at the bar and listened to trivia night and when it was over I retired back to Alexandria, which was beginning to be a real drag.
I woke up late and failed to make my tour for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I did make it to Capitol Hill in time to have Sarah Cockerhill of Dave Dreier’s office give me a staff-assisted tour. The tours at the Capitol have been eviscerated and you see barely anything. However, since Sarah only had to guide me, it was nice to get special treatment. In addition, I got to see Dreier’s office which is right next to Denny Hastert’s (the Speaker of the House). Sarah recommended Cosi for lunch and I dutifully obeyed.
Once I finished lunch, I sauntered over to the Supreme Court. Although it is the stuff of myth, the room looks like any federal appeals court. I got the standard tour and then walked downstairs. I ran into an intern from the University of Utah named Laurie. We had lots of good jabs at Mormons (since she was a Presbyterian) and when I said, where do you recommend for dinner? She said “go a couple blocks north to this place called the Monocle. It’s the old hang out for Capitol Hill types.”
Of course, at this time it was only 3pm so I elected to visit the Smithsonain’s American History museum. I spent a while looking at the Japanese internment exhibit, and the one on West Point. From there I poked my head around at the New Mexico exhibit and the like. I walked around the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial and then back to the Metro headed for Union Station. I was worried I would stick out like a sore thumb since I wasn’t wearing a suit, although the Monocle owner assured me I was in dress code. The food was good, not great, but the best part had to be looking across the room and seeing Russ Feingold [D] having yuks with his female staffers. Did I introduce myself to him? But of course not. I left him alone, just as he would have wanted.
I elected that night to take the bus home from the King Street Metro. I waited almost twenty minutes and overheard a conversation between a young man and an older woman. He was talking about his awful life in Hawaii. Namely he said “once you live there for three month you find there is nothing to do there.” I boarded the bus without talking to him, but at least I knew he was telling the truth.
I got up too late to get to the “constituent breakfast” for Dianne Feinstein. It was quite a shock however to find out that it was not an intimate affair at all but about 70 people who sit in a conference room eating bagels. The Q and A session had her repudiate the war on Iraq and say that she had no idea why California gas prices are so high. I nice perk was tickets to see the Congress in session, which I will hope to use later. Also, I was happy to see that Feinstein was eager to close the SUV loophole which was essentially something I thought was long over do. Nevertheless, I left the Hart Senate building sad to be leaving DC since I realize I really enjoyed myself.

posted by Thomas at 12:58 PM 0 comments