After a year and a half of planning and anticipaction it finally began with a five-hour, red-eye flight with bulkhead seat that wouldn't tilt back and a fussy baby in the seat next to me. I was already tired from the excitement which had denied me a resitve sleep for the previous week or so.
I had a two-hour layover in Newark, an hour flight to Baltimore, and a 30 minute train to DC. Exhausted but still wired from the excitement, I decided to walk the 11 blocks to the hostel in the heat and high humidity. I was sweating profusely and marveling at how heavy the pack felt at the moment when I realized that I had walked 5 blocks NE instead of the NW direction of the hostel. The first of many mistakes to come I am sure. Lucky for me the city is riddled with small parks and public buildings that provide grassy shade to collapse on.
The busy, seven-story hostel is only four blocks from the white house. My dorm room is the normal bunk bed affair with lockers for packs, linens and towels provided for $27/night. All I cared about was sleep at that point and collapsed in bunk #5. I got up briefly to go buy some water at the mini-mart down the street and went right back to sleep. Seeing the sights could wait. Almost twelve hours, two cups of coffee, juice, and a bagel later, I am writing this before I head over the white house.
Costs:
Airfaire $170
Train $6
Room $27/night
Food so far $13
Learning experiences:
Ear plugs and eye mask make all of the difference when you are sleeping in a hostel. People came and went and the light was on the whole time, yet I heard almost nothing and the light was on all night.
Hostel breakfasts are not all the same. The Seattle hostel put out a great continental for free and this one charged $1.65 for a dry bagel and a juice.
