The Stroock family has returned from Washington, thank the Many Faced God. We drove through four hours of torrential rain yesterday to arrive home about 4 PM. By dinner time we noticed a pain in our right foot. At first we thought it was soreness from walking DC and then we asked ourselves, 'Is it gout'? To ask the question is to answer it. We nuked the gout and feel fine this morning. We could hit the gym today if we wanted to. There's no need, as we walked five miles every day in DC.
The weather in Washington was not our friend and we got soaked on multiple days. We toured the universities (tuition was $90,000 $83,000 and $72,000 JFC)*, saw the sights, and were standing in front of the White House on a drizzly morning when the presidential motorcade drove past for the annual Easter Egg hunt.** We also saw a dear friend from Wesley College with whom we roomed during the late 90s in Northern Virginia.
Below are a few photos we snapped.
We also overnighted at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It's really been thinned out by covid and crime. While still more or less safe, the Inner Harbor has fewer attractions, restaurants, etc etc, meaning less people. The vibe was meh. And one smelled weed everywhere one went. The much-vaunted Baltimore aquarium underwhelmed. We won't be returning.
Our Washington skills have left us. We no longer automatically know where we're going on the Metro. We used to smolder with rage when tourists would muck things up at 8 AM in the morning. And on the Mall a man claiming to work for a charity started handing us baseball hats and asked for a donation. We gave him a fiver [sucker-Ed]. Yes, but when he asked for more, we returned the hats and got our fiver back.
Now that we're home priority one is to finish the Pancho Villa short story. We had a few ideas wandering the streets of Washington and will incorporate them today.
*One might say we had a moment thinking about tuition costs, a moment thinking, 'we have to be a more disciplined writer. We got to get more books out there, hustle and boost those sales...' The moment passed.
**We were there when the Feds closed off Pennsylvania Avenue in 1995. People were pissed. When we visited in 2016 they had those stupid black barriers in front of the fence. Now one must stay on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, where one is watched by rifle armed, tactical gear wearing Secret Service agents. It's a disgrace.
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