Sluggy Alone in the DC....Part 1

I am not a gal who enjoys crowds and big cities.
I doubly don't enjoy those two items when I am by myself without family or friends around.

That being said, I had an opportunity to go with Hubs to his G.A.P.C.A. conference in Washington D.C. last month.  (GAPCA stands for Group Annuity Pension Compliance Association.)
Since his company was already paying for the rental car and the lodging, I could tag along and all it would cost out of our budget would be my meal costs.

Whether to go still gave me pause since Hubs would be in meetings until 5pm-ish the two days we were there.
This meant that I either hid out in the hotel room all day or I had to get around D.C. on my own, by my lonesome.
Add into this uncomfortable-ness that from noon on Friday, when we had to check-out of the hotel,  until 5pm I would have no where to be, except out into the unknown of the mean streets of Washington.
Oh my!!!

That thought almost made me decline the invite.
I am a bold, sassy woman of "a certain age", yet when all alone in a big city, I am nervous and unsure of myself.

Yah, I am a fraud I guess, masquerading as a grown-up.  ;-)

Even though every cell in my being screamed to stay home!, I went anyway to prove to myself that I could do this.

We drove down on Wednesday morning, missing rush hour, and made good time.
Here I am after we left home.......from the look on my face you can see that I haven't yet convinced myself that this was a good idea! lolz

We hit Maryland finally.....

 

Pretty soon after that, we started hitting the big city traffic.
Hey, that I-83 Jones Falls Expressway/Baltimore sign looks very familiar.....it should!  I went to college around these parts.

I'm glad we had Viki along this trip.......Viki is our GPS.....

We nicknamed her that on the trip to Louisiana.  She liked to think for herself and take over and change our orders, much like HAL2000 or V.I.K.I from "I, Robot".

Hey!  I found the NSA........sssshhhh, don't tell them......

$1 for a bus ticket?

Yep, it's a Megabus.....the first one I've ever seen.

Before I knew it we were in D.C., working our way into the heart of the city.....

Almost there......

Valet parked the rental car and up to the 5th floor we rode.
Not a bad little room, done in navy, white and gold.  Note the pillows on the bed look like the front of a military jacket and shirt front.......

Gee, there were even pictures on the wall of relatives of my childhood friend's DH.....

Yes, the hotel was called Hotel George.
Yep, that George......

I took a selfie of me in the room to prove that I actually stayed in a hotel that cost $250+ a night...lolz


While the room was nice, the bathroom was amazeballs.....

I think it was as big as the bedroom part.  Heck, we could have held a cocktail party in the shower.....except the drinks would all get watered down. ;-)

Fancy pants soap and lotion and even a shower cap and a tiny package of Q-tips.....

Bottles of body wash, shampoo and conditioner in the marble shower....and no I didn't put them in my suitcase when we left......

If you haven't noticed yet or are new here, I have a thing for bathrooms.

The closet had a yoga mat, you know, for using in conjunction with the 24/7 private yoga channel on our big ass TV.

 

And we fought over these luxe animal print robes too.
Hubs had to settle for being the zebra while I was the leopard......rwaaar!

The mini-fridge was stocked with liquor nip bottles, as well as fancy pants waters, teas and sodas.
Then the cabinet next to the fridge was full of non-refrigerated "stuff" too....

Snacks and a bottle of wine.

Essential medical supplies.

An "intimacy" kit and more.

My ass about fell off when I took a gander at the mini-bar supply price list.
$3 for a can of coke.
$7 for a bag of M&Ms.
Great Googleymoogley!

But this was also on the counter by the evil Keurig machine......

A fresh fruit plate.....

And a freebie bottle of wine.......

And a thoughtful handwritten note welcoming us to the Hotel George......

 

 

 

Nice! 8-)

Being on the executive committee, Hubs had to bug out for a 2 hour meeting pre-conference, so I was left to my own devices until dinner time.
As we hadn't eaten since breakfast we headed down to the attached restaurant, Bistro Bis, and Hubs had a soda with me before leaving.

You could see the open kitchen from our table......

And here is my work of art on a plate.
A beet salad with exactly 11 leaves of arugula on it, $1 for each leaf.
The goat cheese on it was VERY good....

After eating, I headed back to the room, got nakid and laid down for a bit.  Of course, being the country bumpkin that I am, I forgot to close the drapes.  I bet the local hospital was inundated about 4pm that day with emergency cases of sudden onset blindness from adjoining building's residents.
hehehe

About 5pm Hubs returned and we went down to the lobby.

The hotel had a complimentary WINE HOUR each night from 5-6pm.
You know I wasn't going to miss that now, did you?

Proof I was there.....my hand and my glass of Sangria.....

Hubs talking with a fellow employee in his industry.....

Then a large group of the conference attendees walked over to Johnny's Half Shell, a seafood restaurant......

Here's my dinner, Maryland crab cakes......

And here is dessert.....

 I ordered a rice pudding with lemon....

And Hubs got a peanut butter/chocolate pie concoction.

Conference attendees and Hubs' friends.

A quick selfie on the street on the way back in the wind....

And Hubs in front of the hotel....

A little tv and then we hit the sack.

Sluggy