Washington, DC - Day #1

April 10, 2012
Hello from our nation’s capital!!  I am here for the Cardiology in the Capital conference.  As usual, yes, I am doing the AV work.  They never let me present (bummer).

First off – Whew! What a day.  I left my house at 7:45 this morning for my 9:45 flight to Minneapolis, and then on to Washington from there.  Arrival at my final destination was scheduled for 4:22 pm (local time).  Well . . . I arrived at the Rochester airport on time, but there was a problem with the airplane.  Delta offered to give us ground transportation to the MSP airport, but we would’ve missed our connecting flight, so we just decided to wait for the 12:40 flight to MSP (sorry, that would be Minneapolis/St Paul – for those of you not from here).  The ticket agent rebooked our tickets and set us up for the 5:40 flight out of MSP to Washington.  Waiting in the Rochester airport isn’t SO bad, I had a book (Nook, so actually about 50 books!) and my computer to catch up on some work – plus it was now close to 11:00, so the wait wouldn’t be that long.  EXCEPT – then we got a message that our 12:40 flight was now delayed and wouldn’t take off until 1:40.  It was right then and there that I decided I would NEVER AGAIN fly on the 100th anniversary of the launch of the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

So – we finally arrived in MSP, and waited for 5:40 to roll around.  Finally!!  Did you know that it is less than 2 hours to get from MN to Washington, DC?  Who knew?!?!

I am staying at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel – otherwise known simply as The Mayflower.  The hotel was built in 1925, and is known as the Grande Dame of Washington.  The hotel is quite historic.  FDR penned the “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” speech on the same floor that I am staying on.  He was in #776, I am in #731.  President Truman stayed here for 90 days while the White House was being renovated.  The Mayflower is also famous for things it would rather not be known for.  JFK’s alleged mistress, Judith Campbell Exner was transported from here to the White House when Jackie was out of town.  Monica Lewinsky was staying here while her affair with Bill Clinton was in the news.  In fact, one of the more famous pictures of Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton was taken in this hotel.  And lastly, NY Governor, Elliot Spitzer “met” with a $1000 per hour call girl  (for 2 hours) in this hotel.  This “meeting” resulted in the scandal that led to his resignation.

So – who knows who (or what) I might see while I am here.  Oh yeah - one more thing.  There's a telephone in the bathroom.  I'm sorry, no call is THAT important.

Anyway – that’s all for now.  We set up @ 3:00 on Wednesday, so the morning is for site-seeing.  So, tomorrow, I’ll tell you what sites I see!

Be well.

JBD