Ups and Downs

Location, location, location. The JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue is one of my all-time favorite hotels. It is a nice hotel as hotels go, but it is the location that gets me all excited. It is just a football field or so away from the White House and just down the street from the Capitol. I can just step out the door to run on the Mall and my friend Old Ebbitt is just around the corner.

I do not get to stay here too often and it has been quite awhile since my last visit. I do stay in Marriotts as often as I can so I was not expecting any big surprises. But when I rolled my luggage away from the check-in counter and headed to the elevators I was suddenly very confused. Instead of the basic up or down buttons at the elevators, there was a whole command board between every two elevators. It looked similar to the dashboard of a 747. I initially thought that must be something the maintenance people must use so I ignored it and walked into the first open doors. Except when I got in I realized that there were no buttons inside the elevator. I walked back out, stared at the buttons for a bit and then typed in my floor number. The board then directed me to wait at a specific elevator to take me to my floor. Once inside the elevator, all I had to do was watch one of the two TVs on the walls as I rode to my floor. It is a little disconcerting that if the elevator were to stop on some floor, there would be no buttons for me to punch at in hopes of moving along. I have only been stuck in an elevator once, about 25 years ago, and punching at the buttons didn't help, but it was still somewhat comforting. But at least in these elevators I could watch TV if I were stuck.

So far, I have not been stuck in any elevators here, and I caught on to the modern system. I have made my way in and out many times. Last night I went out to dinner, and on the way back I decided to cross another item off of my to-do list and get myself up to the roof of the Hotel Washington. The bar up there is similar to the Top of the Hub in Boston, except that it does not rotate. But the view is spectacular. Spectacular. The bartender at Ebbitt's suggested that I have a glass of wine or two at Ebbitt's first, and then walk over to the Hotel Washington because the value of the view is added to the price of the beverage. He was right but it was worth it.

It was a process to get up there. I had to wait in a waiting line at the one elevator that went to the roof. Apparently they only allow so many people up there at a time, or else they just like to make it look like you have to be approved before you can ride up to the top. I did get up there, enjoyed the view and posted many pics from my phone to FB.

When I came back down, the velvet line guards seemed to have me trapped. When I attempted to step over the lines to get out the door, I proceeded to pull the whole line down in a great crash. Thankfully, I did not fall so my dignity remained mostly intact. Tonight I will take the Metro out to Alexandria, and except for the fancy elevators here at my hotel, I will stick mostly to ground level activities.

OOB to DC

Yesterday morning I did a quick run through the center of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, attempting to sweat out the many toxins that I had ingested over the fabulously fun weekend at the beach, and officially begin my training for the IMG Hartford Half-Marathon that I foolishly committed myself to do in 10 weeks.

By 6:30 pm EST, I was checked into my hotel just a couple blocks from the White House. Just 48 hours ago Kimberly and I were listening to the band Tickle at the Brunswick at OOB, and last night I was eating Oysters at Old Ebbitt Grill. Next week I will be in Oklahoma City. Six months ago I could have never imagined that I would be living such a life.

I am now working as the Program Manager for Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS). I am contracted through the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training to coordinate DDACTS workshops for law enforcement agencies around the country. If a job could have ever been custom-made for me, this is it. Data, data and more data. I love data and now I am paid to travel the country and turn others on to data, too. Crime and crash data. It doesn't get better than that.