Some of you may be wondering why my presence at Steemit has been a bit scant this week. I had to run to DC for meetings, and that usually spills over into lunch, dinner and...inevitably, drinks. After working a full day, networking a full evening, you find it is time to go to bed only to start the vicious cycle over again the next day. So, since I've been gone, I thought I would throw out a quick recap of my trip. Hopefully it won't bore you to tears.
I stayed at the Marriott Gateway Crystal City. It is a fairly nice hotel located very close to the city. There are underground tunnels that have a variety of shops, restaurants and even a Metro stop for quick access to other parts of the city. I have stayed at numerous hotels around DC, both in the city as well as the outskirts. The Gateway is one of my favorites. Aside from staff that are friendly and attentive, the rooms were all redone in the past few years, offering a relaxing, comfortable environment for the brief periods I actually spent in my room. Below is a photo of the room I stayed in on this visit. I usually request a King, but they don't always have that available when I check in early. I checked in at noon o on this trip.
My room overlooked Crystal City, with a microscopic sliver of the Potomac visible between the buildings. I was on a high floor, but there are enough tall buildings nearby to obstruct whatever view might be there. I wasn't pining away at my window, so no biggie. As a Marriott Platinum member, there is one perk above all others. The concierge lounge. The Gateway has an "M Lounge" which generally tend to be the nicer lounges. No exception here. The lounge is nicely appointed and opened most of the day. There is always coffee and drinks available, as well as an assortment of snacks. But the best part is breakfast. They have a full breakfast buffet that includes bacon, sausage, eggs, eggs to order, fruit, breads, muffins, salmon...did I say bacon? They have bacon, too. Good bacon. Breakfast at the M Lounge is free for Gold or Platinum members.
The best restaurants are in the city. However, on this trip, it seems I was limited to eating around Crystal City. A bit disappointing. One of the top rated restaurants is Epic Smokehouse located on Fern. It was forgettable. Probably the worst brisket I have had in my life. The restaurant is overpriced and the food just wasn't good. I can't believe this place is rated so high. I had lunch at Urban Thai on 23rd and it was amazing. I love that place. They have the world's best Tom Yum soup. I hit Potbelly's for a sandwich, which was delicious. I also hit a Mediterranean restaurant that was decent enough. Nothing special. Eating in DC is a foodies mecca. Unfortunately, I didn't hit any of the exceptional places on this brief trip.
During the day, I worked from a building near the Pentagon. My office was on a low floor, with a decent, partially obstructed view of the Potomac. But my buddy has an office on a higher floor with an exceptional view. His office faces the side of the Pentagon that was hit on 9/11. You can see all of the major landmarks along the Potomac, which I had to snap a few photos of. The first is a the top of this post, with two more below.
Last night was particularly fun. With a morning plane to catch, I managed to end up at a friend's house. We stayed out too late. I guess I should have seen that coming. When your buddy collects bourbon as a well financed hobby, you are going to pay the price for sampling. I keep my drinking in check. I don't do drunk. But I had to sample some of the rate finds. I had some 15 and 16 year George Staggs, 10 year Van Winkle (no pappys...or he was hiding it...), Blanton's, Buffalo Trace and some special blend Crown Royal. I didn't try all of these, trust me. As tempting as it might be. But I should have gone back to my hotel long before I did!
Now that I'm back, hopefully I can knock out the overview of my China trip I have been planning to do, catch everyone up on the beer-making process (getting ready to move it to secondary fermentation) and catch up on watching/reviewing some movies. Hope you enjoyed the reader's digest version of my trip!