D.C. - G - T(total)
20hrs and 5 states after leaving Lake Wales I arrived in Washington DC. I was knackered, but felt I should do something. Murphey (G's roommate) who is an assistant General Manager at one of the big hotels got me a free ticket on a tram around town. I think it was the cold more than anything that kept me awake. It was a great tour which took in all the main sites, but it was freezing cold, and my blood had gone thin from spending too much time in the warm Florida sunshine.
After the tour and once night had fallen, I actually felt less tired. I met up with G in his bar at the Jury's Hotel in DuPont Square. He's the bar manager there and after spending so much time in SCUBA gear and on the beach in Oz, it was weird seeing him in a suit. It struck me this is the same holiday for me but now it's normal life for him. He introduced me to his brother Matt who worked behind the bar and the first of many pints of Vodka Lemonade appeared in front of me...
By around 4am I was pretty wasted but still with it so we all ended up at Matt's flat with some of the bar staff. I remember G calling me a 'Warrior' for being there till then after a long day that ultimately started yesterday. And that's a high complement for someone ranked as 'the fastest man in the world to the bar' I think I passed out on the couch a short time later.
Waking up about 2-3pm back at G's flat the next day I felt crappy. It wasn't so much from the vodka as from the fact I only had a few days here and I didn't want to waste them. Washington D.C. isn't a place I'd come on holiday, but its great for a backpacker. Its the kind of place to have a true educational visit. Knowing tomorrow I was heading to Philadelphia to go drinking and watch the 'Eagles,' I wanted to see a bit of the place. As he was going to work, I borrowed G's mountain bike and spent a couple of hours riding around DC as the sun went down.
It was a gorgeous evening to be out on a bike. The cold from yesterday had gone and I felt energised to be in the heart of the US in such beautiful surroundings. I was in the Abraham Lincoln Memorial reading the stirring speeches and emotions of some the major figures in history as the sun went down. I walked along the Vietnam war memorial once the sun had set which felt quite eerie in the dark, and in light of recent events in Iraq.
Overall I was feeling much better though. Washington DC is a beautiful place and as worthy a Capital as any nation could ask for. It actually reminded me of Central London with all its impressively titled low rise buildings mixed with historical architecture and monuments of past glories.
I decided not to meet G at the bar that night as I knew it'd be another early morning finish. Something inside me was making me feel uneasy. I've hardly been drinking over the last two months and I've felt all the better for it. I'm thinking clearer, feeling fitter, spending less money and thats a very good thing at the moment. I didn't really party much at John and Sandi's in Naples and when I was skydiving, a hangover meant a bad jump. Even my leaving drinks at Lake Wales were more whimper than bang. That night as I went to bed early, I forgot the Rugby was on so I didn't see it. Sorry Simon.
Next day I went out to the National Geographic Building which had an amazing free exhibition about 'The Cosmos and Us.' There was geeky stuff everywhere from ordering a telescope to take pictures of Orion for me, to this Star Trek-esque galaxy navigator.
Then there was the watery solution which made atoms traveling through space (and me and the walls) show a trail for a few brief seconds as a jagged line in the solution before dissipating. Apparently they think some of the tails might be dark matter which apparently makes up more of the galaxy than we can see visibly and travels through all of us and everything each and every day... Fascinating.
That afternoon when G got up, we started the two and a bit hour drive to Philadelphia. We checked into the Embassy Suites in the center of town, it turns out G's old man is a high up in a large hotel management company so we got a suite on the 23rd floor for $25 a night each! They also did free breakfast and free cocktails between 5.30 - 7.30 pm.
It was Saturday night and G wanted to cross the bridge out of Phily and into New Jersey to see his old school and football mates in New Jersey. We went down to the bar first and my thoughts about possibly keeping off the drink were weighing heavy on my mind. I haven't been getting happy drunk recently. Just drunk. And thats not good. But what does that mean for me? If I'm not enjoying it, shouldn't I stop doing it? I know T-totalers and they're perfectly nice people, they don't quite have that edge but isn't that a good thing? Being Pure? I know in myself I've been quieter just recently. Should I give up on the beer?
In hindsight, the correct answer is 'Yes.' The barman asked what I wanted and I suppose it was the backpacker in me that thought 'get as much as possible' so I went for old faithful. The 'free' cocktail almost guaranteed to be the most expensive and also pretty bloody good...
A Vodka Martini.