Eric’s Dream

Washington D.C….monuments and a sprint.

The weather is warming up again. Last night while sleeping in the hotel parking lot in Dover, I didn’t have to turn the heat on at all.  As a matter of fact, I rolled the windows down to cool off.

I longed for the cold winters after being in Florida for the last eight years without traveling north, but I think the last month of experiencing a northern November has cured me of that desire.  I’m ready for the mild Florida winters once again, but first I have a few more places to visit.

The Bay Bridge crossing Chesapeake Bay is definitely one that will scare people with bridge phobias. My mother came to mind the entire trip across it. I know she wouldn’t have approved of this route because of her distaste for old, large bridges.  I rather enjoyed it. The high winds and slight fear that it put into me when I visualized the worst possible scenario was enough to create a little uneasiness, but not enough to worry me.

Baltimore Raven's Stadium

The day began with a trip to the Baltimore Ravens stadium. I drove up to the stadium, put my hazard lights on, and jumped out to grab some quick pictures.  A security guard saw me and cranked up the horsepower on her golf cart to chase me down.  “You can’t park here” she told me with such authoritative control in her voice. I explained to her my trip and how I only needed a few minutes to grab a couple pictures of the stadium.  She lightened up and told me I could leave my car in its place for as much as 20 minutes if I needed to.  “Thanks,” I told her and began my walk around the stadium.

I walked by the ticket office, but wasn’t in the mood to give them my usual pitch about getting in the stadium for pictures. The financial strains this trip is starting to incur is wearing on my optimism. The trip as of late has become a balancing act between enjoying an opportunity of a lifetime and racing back to Tampa to start working.

I had completely circled the stadium and was at my car when it hit me, I may never be here again.  In that moment of realization, I turned around, negative attitude and all, headed back to the offices to give them a half-hearted pitch on “why they should let me in the stadium.” After all, I would knew I would feel better about trying and failing than not trying at all.

Much to my surprise, they were ok with my story.  Of course, they had to check with each other and debate on whether or not I was crazy, but they eventually let me in and showed me around.

There was an older gentleman that made the final approval for me to enter.  He didn’t seem to thrilled, but was polite.  As we walked through the back offices, he mentioned that I could explore the stadium under one condition. “What is that?” I asked him.  He told me I needed to wear a Ravens hat for the pictures.  I laughed and jokingly said he needed to give me one for that to happen, so that’s exactly what he did.  He not only gave me a hat, but gave me a Raven’s yearbook, a media guide, and some other miscellaneous information.  It was a nice gesture that had only been seen by one other team on this entire trip, the Tennessee Titans.

Capitol Hill

While downtown Baltimore, I saw a sign for Edgar Allen Poe’s house.  I would normally visit something like that, especially considering I’m fan of Poe’s work.  Since a young age, I have found his poems and stories intriguing. Even at an age when poetry was the last thing I wanted to be reading, he caught my attention.  Maybe it’s because his work was so much different than other literature we read in elementary school.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to visit his place today because I need to get through Washington D.C. with the 7 hours of daylight I have left

Seeing the neoclassical designs of the monuments, museums, and governmental buildings in downtown Washington DC was amazing.  I’ve seen these buildings on TV all of my life, but as with everything, it’s different seeing it in person.  There is an aura that radiates from the power that these building hold. I would love to tour every building downtown D.C., but it obviously wouldn’t be happening on this day.

I drove down Constitution Ave. You can see the Capitol Building perched on top of a hill at the edge of the avenue. I had to park and get out and walk.  There was so much to see and messing around with traffic for an hour wasn’t going to be effective.

I must have parked about three blocks away from the Capitol.  I have gotten very used to walking around city centers on this trip and actually enjoy it much more than riding around in a car, so I welcomed the open parking meter and jumped out.

White House?

The Capitol lawn had a large group of singers performing in front of the construction crews preparing for the presidential inauguration. This group looked very familiar. It appeared to be the same group of Asian youths I saw in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia yesterday.

A couple of them were standing on the sidewalk in front of the lawn, so I asked if they were in Philly yesterday.  Sure enough, it was them.  The only difference between this time and the day before in Philly was the persistent, unyielding attempts to save me on the Capitol’s lawn for all the tourist to see.

I kindly mentioned that my relationship with God is fine and personal. I don’t need to be saved at the moment, but thanked them anyways. They were relentless and I had to walk away.  I don’t think they were going about their mission in the best manner, but who am I to say?

I walked around the Capitol Building’s backside. It was a strange to see guards patrolling around the building with automatic weapons. This is the first time in my life that I have ever seen a public place patrolled by “non military uniformed” people with automatic weapons. I guess it’s a sign of the times, but it seemed to belong more in the Hollywood Scripts than my reality.

I checked out the Supreme Court building and the Library of Congress before making my way back to the front of the Capitol to start my trip towards the Washington Monument.

While making the walk from Capitol Hill to towards the Washington Monument, I mentally transcended the empty lawn that surrounded me by visualizing the mob packed lawn that awaits an inauguration on Jan. 20th.  It’s amazing to think how much has taken place in this very area in which I walked.

Would have been nicer on a clear, sunny day

I realized that the clock was ticking on, not only my daylight, but my parking meter too.  I walked two blocks off of course back to my car to pop more coins in the meter.

With daylight starting to tire, I kicked in my “Power Walking” pace.

This big guy was now walking at pace nearly out of control.  I should have had a shirt that read “Get out of the way, big man locomotion in progress.” People took notice, but didn’t seem to feel threatened, which was good. I arrived at the Washington Monument only to realize I could see the Lincoln Memorial too.  The Washington Monument must have marked the half-way point between the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial.  After admiring the monument and peering off at the White House, it was time to turn on the afterburners again.

I made it to the Lincoln Memorial, then quickly walked over to get a better view of Jefferson’s Memorial before back tracking through the Korean War Memorial and heading over to the White House. A lot of time was spent in the area of the Lincoln Memorial because there were so many other memorials near by.  The funny thing about Lincoln up on his chair is that it didn’t provoke any deep, philosophical feelings and thoughts like so many other sites had done before this one.  I couldn’t get the scene from “Planet of the Apes” out of my head. That movie may have ruined for me one of the coolest American Monuments ever made.

For those of you not familiar with Planet of the Apes, I won’t go into it too much, but lets just say that the movie has a scene with an ape on a chair instead of Lincoln.

Either way, I chuckled at how pathetically corrupted my mind has become because of that movie.

"...four score and seven years ago...."

By the time I made it to the White House Lawn, it was nearly dark. I saw the White House Christmas trees lit up and the lights from the White House.  I’m sure it would have made for better pictures if I would have been there on a sunny afternoon with bright blue skies, but it was an overcast day that quickly been swallowed by night.  It was still quite impressive viewing the White House.

I supposed I better get going since my meter was about to run out again.  I began my power walk from Pennsylvania Ave to Constitution Ave.

When I arrived at Constitution Avenue with my sore legs and perspiring skin, I noticed something different.  Sure, it was dark, but it was something else.

The street that had been lined bumper to bumper with parked cars on both sides of it was now moving full speed. The parking lanes were now driving lanes and tow truck lights bounced off of the buildings as they dragged rebellious cars away.

I stood in perplexity on the street corner trying to piece everything together.  What had I done, did I miss something that warned of cars being towed?  YES, it began to come back.  There was a small sign on the meter that mentioned no parking between 4:30 and 6:00.  I don’t even remember thinking about it when I paid the meter and I sure didn’t think about it while I was staring at the Smithsonian, but I am recalling reading the red lettered warning now.

The sprint down Constitution Avenue during rush hour has begun.

As if filming a drama set in D.C., I was running at full speed from one corner to the next. The only thing missing was a trench coat and a brief case. I was running full speed against rush hour traffic in an attempt to catch my car before it was dragged away by the tow truck armada.

Each block seemed to bring a stop-light for me. It was nice to stop running without guilt, but it didn’t slow down my racing heart. After about six block, I still saw no cars on the side of the street.  My car appeared to be gone.  Completely dejected and feeling hopeless, I asked a patrolling security guard how to get my car back.  He gave me a 311 number to call. While walking and waiting for the automated garbage that graces the end of every phone call these days, I saw a white car off in the distance.  My car was still there!!   I hung up the phone and began the spring again.

After sprinting slightly more than 1.5 miles, only interrupted by the occasional mistimed red light, I arrived at my car.  Sure, I may have had burning lungs, sweat-drenched clothing, and a heart that seemed to be pounding its way out from the inside with a jackhammer, but I beat the tow truck.

Unfortunately, I still received a $100 ticket, but I had to be somewhat thankful that I still had a car to drive.  I never thought in a million years I’d be happy for $100 parking ticket, but at this time and place, I was.

Later that night, the reality of receiving a $100 ticket in my financial despair hit me.  It was a little depressing, but I kept reminding myself of how fortunate I was to get to my car before the tow truck.  After all, the ticket said to tow it.

I camped out in my car again, this time in North Carolina. Tomorrow, I will visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

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