https://www.hudson2001.com/scrapbook/2007/dc0307/
So it has been pointed out to me that I didn’t explain why I was going to Washington, DC. So…I was going for a bachelorette party for one of the girls I met at the New Year’s Eve shindig in Raleigh. There were to be nine of us in attendance, all of whom I met at the NYE thing. It was a way for me to get out of the house, spend some quality time with some good (new) friends, and have some fun. Except, as you have already read, I wasn’t having much fun prepping to go.
And I have to say that my craptastic luck continued on the trip to DC.
Well, first, the drive down wasn’t bad at all—pretty much a straight shot out 24 then 40 and it took a hair less than two hours. I spent the night there with friends (the people who hosted the NYE party) and they were taking me to the train station in the morning (about a mile from their house). We ate breakfast out in the morning and it was cool.
So I get dropped off at the station at about 10am—the train was due to leave at 10:43. So tick tock, time passes, I chat with another guy whose first trip it was on the train—and as 10:43 approaches, we all go out to wait for the train. (This station is basically a whistle stop—no ticket counter or even a ticket machine and about 10 chairs in the waiting room—it’s in the same building as the DMV!) By the time I got out there, the one guy (whose brother and dad were already on the train) said his brother just called and said they were running late because—are you ready for this—the train hit a car! So they were stopped filling out paperwork and all that jazz (apparently no one was hurt, otherwise surely the trip would have been cancelled).
So by the time the train gets there to pick us up, it’s after noon. But, we figure, not a huge deal, as we’re really only 1.5 hours late. (I wasn’t too worried because our Friday night dinner was planned for 8, so arriving at 6 still gave me plenty of time to get picked up, change, and get to the restaurant.) However, being even that little bit late threw us completely off schedule, which meant we had to stop along the way (I think three times) in order to let the freight trains pass us (single track, they have precedence). Each time, we were stopped for anywhere from 15-45 minutes. So, our little 1.5 hour delay turned into…FOUR HOURS LATE!!! 88|
So I had obviously had missed my ride from the train station (I had been texting everyone with updates) and they told me not to freak out (they knew I was paranoid about traveling around DC) and that the best thing was just to grab a cab to the restaurant…so $20 later, it was almost 9:30 by the time I cabbed it to Benihana. I was a tired puppy, let me tell you. (And so much for worrying about what to pack—I went to dinner in my travel clothes. Of course no one cared, but still.) They had ordered me dinner, so I did have some food as soon as I walked in, but I missed the soup and salad…and the old waitress sucked so bad I didn’t even think about trying to order some sushi—it was all I could do to get a refill on my water.
So, aside from that MAJOR SNAFU, the weekend ended up to be quite fun. We had security knock on the door at 12:30am telling us to quiet down, we had fun shopping at Pentagon City Mall (is that the name?), trying on bras, and eating lunch at Nordstom’s:
…I had a delicious Chocolixir drink at Godiva (thanks, AmyJo), and we had the best Indian meal ever (okay, it was my first Indian meal ever, but it was soooooooooooo good!).
The only bad thing, really, about the whole weekend, was the money situation. I knew ahead of time that we’d be splitting the bills to make things easy—especially since we were all paying for the bride’s meals and drinks (which I had NO problem with)—but in my opinion it ended up VERY lopsided on my part and it was a little hard to stomach. Meaning…my $20 chicken dinner that they ordered for me at Benihana cost me $50 (everyone else ordered lobster, scallops, filet, sake, wine, etc.) so when the bill was split evenly between 12 people, that was my share. 88| And the same thing happened for our Indian dinner—I had a $20 dinner, plus maybe $10 or so for the appetizers, plus I had a half glass of the $35 wine—and my share was $70 (because “the rest of the table” shared two bottles of $45 red wine). 88| 88| That said, I totally don’t mind splitting the bill or paying for the bride—and I agree about not quibbling about $2 here or “I only had 1/3 of that bottle of wine” there….but knowing I was WAY overpaying hurt my pocketbook (I just know that if I ordered something way more expensive, I would definitely chip in a little more). Anyway, I know it will all even out over the course of my lifetime, but it certainly was a big (BIG!) surprise for those meals! By the end of the weekend, I only had $13 cash left.
But I digress… I don’t mean to be whiny about it…it was just something so out of my normal realm of daily life that it really threw me for a loop. And I am not one to make waves (me? confrontational? never!), so I would never think of saying anything (although, I did ask about how much the wine was).
The train ride home was fairly uneventful. And by that I mean we didn’t hit a car. :>> But we did manage to get off schedule (got in 30 minutes late) and I hadn’t locked my ipod in the OFF position…so I only had about an hour’s worth of charge left (when I thought I would have at least four). And I was dead tired but couldn’t sleep. So, I’m thinking even though I hate driving and I don’t want to drive to/through DC…the next trip? I think I’m driving. 😀
So, overall, I’m glad I went. I love love (LOVE!) the girls I was hanging out with—if I could, I would be hanging out with them on a weekly basis (too bad they’re not closer!). BUT, I wouldn’t be clamoring to do the same weekend again anytime soon. Meaning…visit and hang out with the girls, yes. In a New York Minute. But to do all the expensive stuff again…splitting meals completely evenly? I’d have to think about it, then would probably have to say no—only agreeing if we split the bills more fairly.