Washington

Nov 1st - Nov 5th 2008

Saturday 1st November 2008

Home to Washington

Up at 6.45 for some last minute packing - all went very smoothly thanks to Nikki doing it all the night before!

Left Calvert at around 07.50 and headed to Heathrow. Met Stuart at the Crowne Plaza before heading over to the airport. Met by Purple Parking and went to check in. Tulika already there so we went to the Premium desk to get started on the great upgrade blag scam. It failed. However we did manage to sneak through the Upper Class security channel. I think people at Heathrow must be colour blind today as I flashed my silver card at them and they let us through.

Then we decided to give the lounge a go. Again a flash of my silver card and we were in! Amazing.

Had some breakfast, Stuart had a haircut and then a latte while doing this blog! More later.

Boarded the plane with no real problems and found our seats. We were in Premium next to the bulkhead so decent leg room. However the film system was one of the oldest I've ever seen. It had 8 movies but they were all shown on one loop. Stuart's screen wouldn't stay up so he put it to the cabin supervisor that that was unacceptable and therefore we should be moved - towards the front of the plane. That failed so he asked for the most senior person on board. Sadly that failed as well so we were left with tape around his screen to keep it vertical! Watched Tropic Thunder (rubbish, with a few funny bits) and then Mama Mia (rubbish, with some good songs). Lunch was very good - risotto!

Landed at Dulles around 16.00 and braced ourselves for the long delays that Dulles is famous for. They have these odd "mobile lounges" which take you from Terminal B to the main Terminal building. Packed in like sardines. Immigration was quite quick. The officer asked me, "Have you ever lived in the US before?" When I said no he put a big C on my customs form. I thought, here we go again. I'm going to be held for the next 4 hours. Got to customs and was told to go into this screened off area and waited at Desk C. One person ahead of me and when I went to the counter, the customs guys said, "We've already investigated the hell outta you" and stamped my form! I was free!

And that was it - we were out and through within the hour - amazing. Tulika got her bag and came through and we headed off for a cab into DC. $60 trip with quite a bit of traffic but no issues. Loads of Obama ’08 bumper stickers on the journey with a few McCain/Palin ones as well. Based on the Beltway, it should be a win for Obama.

Hotel good - very Holiday Inn but with quite a few amenities in the lobby. ATM, bar, 2 restaurants, Deli and a Starbucks! That's me sorted. Stuart got upgraded to a one bedroom suite but one that overlooks the railway tracks at the back of the hotel. Mine overlooks the road at the front. We'll see how long it is before he gets a 4 bedroom suite at the front of the building!

Unpacked and headed out for some tea. Grabbed a cab up to Union Station to the food court. Seriously good. Walked around and checked out each outlet. Settled on a salad and a burger, which really doesn't do justice to what we had. Huge salad, tossed in a bowl. Lettuce, onion, cheese, croutons, tomato, cucumber, ranch dressing etc. Fabulous. Then a separate outlet with a veggie burger for me. Then coffee and a doughnut from a third place.

Walked over to Capitol Hill. Very quiet. Not a huge amount of traffic or people around. Quite a few police cars and fire trucks rushing past but hey, that's the US! Took some pictures and Tulika did the first part of her video blog before heading back to the hotel.

I'm in a room with 2 beds, so figured one for sleeping and one for watching TV. Started watching Saturday Night Live before falling asleep on the "watching TV bed". Moved to the "sleeping" bed and used it for the purpose it had been designed - exhausted.

Sunday 2nd November 2008

Washington

What an amazing day! Woke up around 06.00, drank room coffee and watched some news before venturing downstairs for a Starbucks at about 07.30

Bumped into Tulika so offered to help with her video blog. Got that edited and uploaded before food beckoned. The breakfast in the hotel isn't half bad - loads of choice and pretty good food. Lingered awhile while planning the day ahead. Decided the best plan would be an open top bus tour, lunch, then pick up the car before heading for Hillary-Land in Virginia.

And lo it came to pass. Three wise-(wo)men from the east did venture far and wide in search of the mythical bus. And then they found it. But it was the wrong one. But they only found that out when they'd got on it. The inn-keeper (bus-woman) decreed that the three wise-(wo)men could ride this mighty chariot until the next stop and then bugger off. But lo, the three gits then decided they liked this bus so stumped up the dosh. And then they got given a map which proved it was the wrong bus. So they asked for their money back from the inn-keeper (bus-woman) and she smote them with a withering glance and much sighing and gnashing of teeth...and shit.

So here we were at Union Station. Imagine our dismay...

We then went and found the right bus but they didn't have tickets so we had to go into Union Station to buy tickets. And when we came out, the bus had gone.

Well eventually we got on a bus which took us nicely down to the Lincoln Memorial. Had a look round there for 4 score years and ten and then got back on the bus to go to the White House.

Walked round the front of the White House and the path was closed off. I asked the guard why and he said it would re-open "...once the helicopter has landed". The helicopter in question was Marine 1 bringing George W Bush back from Camp David. Amazing sight as three helicopters swooped around the Washington Monument and passed just feet over our heads. The first two were the decoys and the third landed on the lawn. We got chatting to the senior protection officer there who was a bit of an Anglophile. He has friends in Surrey so comes over quite a bit on holiday. He's been doing his job since President Reagan. Said Reagan was his favourite but he also admired Clinton. Didn't comment on the current President! He's got 20 months to retire so will still be there when President McCain/Obama takes office. Fascinating bloke and really friendly. They then re-opened the path and we walked around by the railings. As we knew where we were going we were the only people by the railings for a bit with dozens of others held back by the barricades wondering who the hell we were.

Wandered round the back of the White House for pictures and then got a cab to Reagan to get the car. Very uneventful and quick pick-up and we were on our way with possibly the most annoying Sat Nav in history. Kind of like Stephen Hawkins and Vikki Pollard rolled into one.

Stopped on our 18 mile road trip to get some lunch and came across a place called Angie's in a strip-mall on the outskirts of Fairfax. Massively forgettable lunch.

Got to George Mason University and no-one seemed to know what was going on or where we should go. We stopped at the sports complex for a comfort break and directions and then found the right place. It was in an area between some buildings - there were huge queues so we strode straight to the front, jumped over some taped off areas and made our presence known. The initial idea was for me and Stuart to find someone and whisper in a deep voice "We’ve come for that bitch Hillary" - but we decided against that what with the people with all the guns and stuff.

US colleges are amazing - they literally are small towns. The central area had a Starbucks, food court, reception area - very impressive. BUT there is absolutely NO security. When we stopped at the sports hall for directions, there were around 80 children playing basketball, plus teachers, students, staff etc and we just walked straight in and no-one asked us anything. Later on we ended up in an office area and could have done anything. All doors were open - no keycards or key pads. Bear in mind this is about 50 miles from Virginia Tech and the former First Lady of the US was coming to speak. At no point did anyone challenge us or even search us. Joking aside, if we'd wanted Hillary dead, then she'd now be dead. I had a big coat on with deep pockets and it was full of bulging things like my camera, tripod, sunglasses case. And at one point Tulika was face-to-face with Hillary. I genuinely hope tomorrow's Obama rally is better on security

Loads of people rushing around with clipboards, but no-one seemed to know where the press should go. Eventually this guy came up who seemed to be organising the event and showed us where to go - really friendly and later on he was the guy who introduced Hillary on stage.

Signed in and went into press area and staked out our positions before giving up and going off to the loo. Now earlier, at Angie's where we had the very forgettable lunch, I'd had 3 Sprites and a coffee. And outside, in the press area it was cold. And I'd had 3 Sprites and a coffee. And I'm not as young as I once was. You get the idea. A few more trips to the loo later and we were ready. We were told that Hillary would be "hitting the mic around 17:30 to be in time for the evening news". 17:30 came and went - eventually just before 18:00 the organiser chap started things off and was followed by local candidate Gerry Connolly, who was very good. Kept everything coming back to "Change is a-comin'" which gave the crowd something to shout out. He did look a bit like a wide-boy though. Then there was another break. Stuart heard someone say we were operating on Hillary-Time so it seems she's known for being late. She arrived on stage around 18:20.

Very charismatic, dressed in a blue pants-suit she took the applause for a while before getting into the theme of her speech. Certainly sounded very pro-Obama. Made some good digs at McCain/Palin. It used to be "It took a Clinton to clear up the mess from the last Bush", now it's the word Democrat instead of Clinton.

Tulika managed to get on a riser right next to the stage - me and Stuart sloped off for a comfort break and when we got back she'd finished. Wondered how we'd find Tulika - and then saw she was on stage next to Hillary's podium as Hillary worked the crowd below. Naturally we blagged our way up there and took some shots of (as opposed to shots at) Hillary as she worked the crowd. Everyone just wanted to touch her. She even had a baby thrust at her at one point.

Once Hillary had left we made our way back to the car clutching my Obama poster! Uneventful drive back to DC and we decided to try Union Station for dinner. It was closed so we drove up to Dupont Circle. Didn't fancy anything. Drove back into town and found a restaurant next to a hotel call Harriets. Veggie burger eaten in a state of excessive torpor and then back to the hotel. Quick argument with the guy at the Holiday Inn garage as we tried to park the car and that was that.

An amazing day - it seems our luck is really holding for this trip. We now need it to hold for Monday for the Obama rally.

Was woken up by the people in the next room at 03.00 yelling and shouting. Banged on the wall but they didn't get any quieter for about half-an-hour.

As I write this at 07.00 Monday morning - I've already called their room 8 times and asked for Doreen. 

Monday 3rd November 2008

Washington

Well our luck couldn't last - Monday will go down as the day of queues, and then some!

Got up around 06.30 and started calling the room next door. Well they'd been noisy and I wasn't happy! I also took their Please Do Not Disturb off their door.

Had breakfast in the hotel and did some editing of Tulika's video. Gave up after a while and uploaded the raw stuff to the website for other people to edit in the UK.

Decided that we needed a foot massage after all the standing around at Hillary's rally so headed off to DuPont Circle where we'd booked a session. Lovely. One hour of foot massage later and feeling returned to my feet.

Then lunch at Union Station before heading back to the hotel for a nap!

So 18.00 was our departure time from the hotel to Manassas to see Obama speak. Got about half a mile before we hit the queues of people going home from work. Luckily we had 3 people in our car so we could use the High Occupancy lane. Made decent time to Manassas - were on course for an arrival of 19.20. Spirits were high.

We then came across the queue for the Obama rally. It was due to start at 21.00 and they were expecting 40,000 people. Once in the queue, spirits started to flag - but we figured we'd stick with it.

We then travelled 0.4 miles in one hour. People were abandoning their cars on the central reservation of the dual carriageway, never mind the verge. Basically we were stuck along with a LOT more people. We later found out that there were over 100,000 people heading in!

We had 2 miles to go and it was less than 0.5 mile an hour. Got near the turnoff for the Prince William Showground by 21.30 and then it seemed parking was an issue. We discussed it and figured that 100,000 people leaving would mean cars wouldn't get out until the early hours of the morning - later found out that Obama himself didn't manage to get out until 02.30 so you can imagine what us normal punters would have faced!

We gave up, swung a U-Turn and left!

We heard the speech on C-SPAN radio as we drove back - Obama hitting the stage 2 hours late as he had to queue to get in from Dulles Airport. Oh well, we can drop the car off and get some dinner.

Sadly not. We tried to find Reagan Airport but our Sat Nav had other ideas. Eventually we gave up on it - pile of rubbish. Got to the parking lot and dropped the car off with Avis - after a row with them. Stormed out and got a cab back to the hotel and decided to eat at the hotel bar. Then Avis rang and asked if I'd still got the car keys!!! Sadly, I did. I was going to send them back but they kindly offered to come and pick them up!

No dinner, just cheesecake and coffee and bed.

Hope Election Day, our luck will return!

Tuesday 4th November 2008

Washington

 

Started election day feeling like I'd be shot through the head! I'm going to need a holiday to get over this.

Had a later than usual breakfast and headed up to Union Station. I'd seen a traditional barbers there and fancied a proper wet-shave. Sadly they hadn't got their licence yet so that was a no.

Walked down to the Newseum - DC's newest museum and totally dedicated to NEWS!

Started in the coffee shop where we were chatting with some people in the queue for coffee. Turned out one was the Deputy Director of Media Relations so she came back with a Media Pack and offered to take us behind the scenes after we'd done front-of-house.

The Newseum is amazing. 9/11 exhibits, journalists memorial, all the day's front pages - just spectacular.

Called our new friend and this time the Director called Tina came down and showed us around the TV studios, control rooms etc.

Had some lunch and headed back to the hotel for a rest ahead of the night's activities!

Stuart came to the room so we could decide where to go to eat. Tulika had gone to watch some people vote. Went to Union Station and had a great meal at Pizza Uno - really friendly waiter and great food.

Then it was off to the Hyatt Regency for the Democratic Party Election Night Watch Party.

It was rammed. That scene from In The Line Of Fire in the hotel function room kinda summed it up. One room with a podium and a huge screen each side and a press riser in the middle, the other room for the press with Wi-Fi, snacks etc.

At first I thought we were going to be bored stuck in the quiet press room but then worked out we could actually go anywhere. Wandered around, up onto the riser, into the crowd and then back up to the street to see what was happening there. As we got there Secret Service pushed us to the side and three black SUV's pulled up and out got the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. She was whisked in and up to a suite. She later joined the rest of the Democratic Party leadership on the podium.

Obviously we were watching the TVs like everyone and we were there when, at around 22.40 CNN called the election for Obama. The place went wild - people were screaming, crying, hugging each other. I was stood by a black female reporter on the stage and she had tears streaming down her face.

McCain then conceded on the big screen and was greeted with applause in the room - right up to the point he thanked Palin. That got some serious booing!

Then just on the stroke of Midnight we got Barack on the big screen from Chicago. Whatever you think about him politically, that man can speak. It was so uplifting - and to be in the room with the leadership of the Democratic Party was amazing. Again everyone seemed to be in tears - men and women.

As soon as he finished the ballroom started to empty and we headed out - hopefully to get a cab. Sadly not! We started walking and ended up on the National Mall. Loads of people were around celebrating and cars were driving around sounding their horns - it was the kind of thing you expect in Rome after Italy wins the World Cup.

Got back to the hotel on foot - absolutely knackered!!!!! But what a night!!!!

Wednesday 5th November 2008

Washington to Home

OK there's no two ways about it. The morning after an Obama election victory feels like hell!

Woke up convinced someone had snuck in during the night and sand-papered my eyes and then glued them shut for a laugh. Much coffee later it had improved to feeling like I'd been shot through the head.

Breakfast in the deli next to the hotel - bagel and cream cheese and lots more coffee. Just what the doctor ordered. Everyone was talking about the previous night, not surprisingly.

Decided retail therapy was needed to got the subway to Pentagon City. Now I was convinced this was miles away - turned out to be 2 stops. Place was deserted. Looked round Abercrombie & Fitch before hitting Macy's. Got a shirt and a t-shirt and that was that. Back to the hotel for a nap!

Woke about 14.00 ready for a 15.00 check-out. Had some lunch in the hotel and packed up our cases and bade our farewells to DC.

Car to the airport was fine - dropped me and Stuart off first before dropping Tulika off at the Domestic part of the terminal.

Checked in and went through security and found a restaurant where we just crashed out until our plane was called. Guess what - it was the same crappy plane we came out on. Watched "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" - rubbish. And then watched some of the Love Guru - not bad. Not much sleep.

Got to Heathrow and was amazed. Doors to the plane opened at 07.20 and I was in my car by 07.50 - not bad going at all!

And so ends another trip. This was truly superb - to be in Washington as a new President is elected was stunning - to get to go to a rally, the DNC Party, behind the scenes at the Newseum etc etc was the cherry on top.

Amazing time! Now about those Inauguration tickets.....