DC in a Night

And oh what a night it was.

I was back in DC earlier this week for a last minute call-back interview with a firm. In a very persuasive effort to woo us potential candidates to the cause, I was given a room in the illustrious Hay-Adams Hotel. Where, as I quickly discovered, "nothing is overlooked but the White House." My top floor room was probably its simplest offering, but it was still by leaps and bounds the nicest place I've ever slept.

Impeccable service in general overwhelms me. I am not accustomed to other people being at my beck and call, opening all doors, and wheeling my very manageable roller bag for me. In fact, I sometimes find it stressful worrying about when and how much to tip or how to politely decline services without being rude and accept them without feeling overly self-important. But they took my inexperience with luxury in stride, always smiling and gently pointing me towards the main hall when I accidentally attempted to take the freight elevator.

The weather in DC was also much more amenable. I walked around the hotel a great deal when I first arrived, cursing CVS for closing every store in reach by 6pm on a Sunday. I realized rather at the last minute that my chipped red fingernail polish would look very unprofessional. But thankfully a friend was able to meet me for dinner and lead me to Dupont Circle where the streets are lively outside of business hours and the CVS's are open until a more reasonable time.

I was also able to talk a long walk later that night around the White House and accompanying monuments. The more time I spend in DC, the more I want to try living there for a while. I don't know the right way to describe it. Everything is infused with politics and government and bureaucracy, but flowing through it all is very raw sense of patriotism, sincere and unadulterated. Maybe I'm just naive, but I'm curious to find out. What I do know is that I can't wait to be at the center of all the action this summer.