recreational eating
I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that travel constipation and Thanksgiving Weekend are two events that, combined, can only lead to a certain and early death. Friday morning, after at 8AM breakfast following a dinner that lasted until 11 the night before, I was certain I'd meet my doom. So Justin and I ate the coarsest thing on that damned hotel restaurant menu-- even though I really WANTED the lox bagel-- drank a pot of breakfast tea, downed 3500mg of vitamin C, and waited.

I have survived, returned from a strange world where $500 cashmere and $1200 dinner bills pass by the unfazed gazes of a class higher, mightier and better invested than I. I dined at tables with a waitstaff so attentive they would have surely knelt to lick food from my stocking were it to have been soiled. I drank pear brandy from a special carafe, wine more expensive than I care to imagine, and cocktails I can no longer remember the name. I nibbled on pate, crab, venison, veal, lamb and maine lobster. [MMMMMMMEAT!!!!] And when the invitation came from Justin's well-to-do twenty-something cousin to attend a Georgetown lounge party RSVPed by 750 of DC's finest, we tut-tutted, yawned, and retired to our room to chat in murmured tones until we fell asleep.

We had our share of mishaps too. I think I gained myself an FBI profile by jokingly asking Whitehouse security what exactly would happen to someone who jumped the rather unimpressive lawn fence. Post Turkey Day dinner, Justin ended up with one arm locked in a not-so-fake handcuff, thanks to the mischief of a nine-year-old boy, and had to have it removed with hammer and screwdriver.

It was, frankly, a bit much at times. I feel strangely rested and exhausted at once. It wasn't all the high-life. Even staying at the Park Hyatt, we felt the need to sleep late (yes, jet lag!) and lounge about in our underwear until room service came to pester us. Then we left the room to wander Georgetown and along the Potomac, until I came to discover for myself how absolutely unimpressive most of the political monuments and museums really are. (At least, from a photo-centric perspective.)

On the last night, after everyone but us had flown home from Reagan Nat'l Airport, we called the sightseeing quits. Back in our humble hotel room, we ordered Chinese takeout and a direct TV movie and watched Alien vs. Predator while eating in bed.

That brings me to today, wherein I got up at 3:30AM (PST) and spent 9 hours in an out of airports. It's good to be back.

And the $85 in cash we found under the hotel bed as we were packing this morning ain't bad either.