Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Carlton's log, DC


So here's the view we had from our hotel... if you stood in the middle of the street. Yup, just a three minute walk from our room to the rooms where most of the major decisions in the U.S. are made. Cool. From our hotel room we could see the very tip of the Capital's finial and a construction site directly below us across the street. A couple of bonuses we did not have the times previous. The construction began each day promptly at 6:00 DC time which was 3:00a.m. Thor and S'mee time. But it worked well as Thor's meetings began each day about 7a.m. so we didn't need an alarm clock, we just woke up to jack hammers and the guys' morning chatter.
The day this particular photo was taken it was obviously overcast and in the low 70's, but actually the weather was a kind of every other day schedule of a menu switching back and forth between high 80's and high 60's...never needing a coat or umbrella. Lovely.
The hotel where we stayed also had a few moments of historical (minute at best) interest. We had a visit from Ms. Clinton. Actually she was there to chat with another group, but we were told by our friendly valet man. Chronicler and I had hooked up and we had been out to the temple in the morning and when we came back for a change of camera cards there were protesters on the sidewalk and all kinds of "suits". You the kind. Very serious guys in black suits, curly wires connecting their ears to their chests, dark glasses, and the occasional talking into their armpit or shoulder. Mrs. Clinton was whisked away, however, out the back via a tunnel due to hotel security not wanting to deal with the protesters. No photo opts for us except for the "suits" and a few high ranking military gentlemen we saw rushed inside.
This was the same day Thor and his associates walked out into the front lawn of the capital to focus recognition to workers rights. With bright neon green shirts and a few large signs designating the different labour groups there was a large gathering of working men and women who hoped that the folks who make the decisions would catch the vision of good U.S. home grown labour and the need to keep work here in the U.S. and also a living wage for a quality product.
Hillary in the hotel, Thor on the Capital lawn... pretty good day.
Meanwhile, Chronicler and I were on a mission to see as much of the Smithsonian as possible. Um, well, much of the Smithsonian was still under winter wraps and unavailable for viewing. Grrr. Not to be discouraged we headed for the museums we could get to and were not disappointed...

add to sk*rt

2 comments:

Robyn said...

It was a whirlwind! I cannot believe how much is crammed into such a small amount of mileage! At least here we space it apart with a parking lot or two here and there. It was fun to see the sity with you and I'd love to go back sometime!

S'mee said...

thank you both! tons of pictures coming up...and a few more posts!