Flying to the Center of the World...All Roads Lead to Washington
Tommorow, I will fly to Washington D.C for a grant meeting. A grant that I wrote was funded and all federal grant roads lead to Washington. I look forward to a few days in a city that has so much history (and free history at that) in the many landmarks, federal buildings and museums. Between Census, tribal library and grant related activities, I've been to D.C more than anywhere else besides cities in my home area. In fact, I was just there a few months ago for a few days of Census training that was basically a "rush in and rush out" thing that left no time to do anything but the business at hand. Besides, we were sequestered in a sort of isolated, distopian, suburban Disneyland of hotels and restaurants surrounded by placeless sprawl more constricting than a mine field.
I've never truly been to D.C. For pleasure. The half dozen times I've visited have always been work related and revolving around meetings, training or giving presentations. Small snatches of time during evenings, or the unused time after the arrival or before departure of a flight were always maximized to try and grab vignettes of a city that offers too much. Once, I even slept on the floor of Reagan National after an extended day and evening exploring sites. The choice was an evening flight after the meeting or an early morning without a hotel room. The key is to scout out a suitable spot in the airport and make sure you are laying on all your stuf.. A friend and I did it in Stockholm's Arlanda airport several years ago after arriving late on the train. It allows extra time for seeing and doing things and you can always catch up on sleep on the plane or when home..
This time, two of us will be staying near the Mall and the offices of the National Endowment for the Humanities to avoid commuting time. For the first time, we included an extra day to engage in that mix of work and recreation afforded those who love to dig in museums and archives as well as it being part of our job.
I've never truly been to D.C. For pleasure. The half dozen times I've visited have always been work related and revolving around meetings, training or giving presentations. Small snatches of time during evenings, or the unused time after the arrival or before departure of a flight were always maximized to try and grab vignettes of a city that offers too much. Once, I even slept on the floor of Reagan National after an extended day and evening exploring sites. The choice was an evening flight after the meeting or an early morning without a hotel room. The key is to scout out a suitable spot in the airport and make sure you are laying on all your stuf.. A friend and I did it in Stockholm's Arlanda airport several years ago after arriving late on the train. It allows extra time for seeing and doing things and you can always catch up on sleep on the plane or when home..
This time, two of us will be staying near the Mall and the offices of the National Endowment for the Humanities to avoid commuting time. For the first time, we included an extra day to engage in that mix of work and recreation afforded those who love to dig in museums and archives as well as it being part of our job.
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