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Inside The Beltway

ducks A pair of ducks swimming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at sunset

Flying

Flying into Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), from Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), is an uncomplicated experience. Both run like clockwork. Like many, I enjoy spending time at an airport before a departure flight. ORD especially so; its impressive passenger volume (5th busiest in the United States after ATL, LAX, DFW, and DEN) make it an excellent spot for people watching. Even better when accompanied by an overpriced beer at a tacky safari-themed bar.

Fortunately for myself, I've never encountered any hiccups at ORD, nor DCA for that matter, which has always been a breeze. Although for the 40th President's namesake airport I should caveat n=4, or possibly n= (if I could remember how I reached and departed the nation's capital for a particularly exciting 2012 field trip).

Now that I think about it, I've only ever broken a sweat at an airport once, entirely due to my lack of urgency to arrive at any reasonably flexible time. Nightmarish crowds at CDG caught me off guard and forced an embarrassing sprint to the gate. I suspect my subconscious wishes to miss a flight for adventure's sake.

Despite the efficient people engineering at ORD and DCA, or whatever the appropriate "—ology" suffixed name is for the field that studies and optimizes foot traffic (is this architecture?), my travel experience wasn't flawless. A reoccurring personal obstacle emerged right on queue: jitters during takeoff and landing.

I know flying is statistically about as safe as it gets when it comes to moving about in giant metal objects like buses and trains, and as a man with a career in the data industry you'd think this empirical evidence would put me at ease, but I must confess I do not care for the turbulence you're required to battle on the way to cruising altitude.

Aviation is an extraordinary feat of engineering, and I admire those who have conquered the skies and completed the coveted pilot's license side quest and I certainly enjoy their photos of the Earth's natural beauty and man's incredible cities from way up above, but fuck man. I'm not a bird, I don't belong up here, and I really dislike when that fuselage tosses around.

The cherries on top were the poor weather conditions and the tragic mid-air collision over the Potomac that took 67 lives just two weeks prior. The first commerical airline crash the United States had seen in 16 years. A thankfully-not-full flight from Wichita, Kansas, innocently attempted landing at the same notorious airstrip I'd be arriving at shortly. Business as usual interrupted by horrific disaster. This did not help the jitters.

memorial Memorial for the victims of the 2025 Potomac crash accident on the National Mall just outside the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC

Bad weather continued on the return journey home but I successfully distracted myself with some reads that calmed me like a pacifier does a baby. Sharing them here for your bookmarking pleasure:

Walking

In Washington, I stayed at a hotel in the near vincinity of the White House. Around the street corner a man was selling (counterfeit?) MAGA hats and down the block some unshaven fellas were lying on subway grates, apparently enjoying the hot air blowing from underground. On my first walk through town I witnessed a likely homeless and potentially high woman use a triangular trailer hitch as a toliet seat. Rather clever, and probably a measure more sanitary than whatever the usual method is, I cannot lie.

Beyond these charms, DC truly is an excellent city to visit. It's walkable, it's safe, and there's an abundance of things to see and do. You can swing a fulfilling trip with a minimal budget and just a few days. I enjoyed my visit immensely and recommend everyone make the American pilgrimage at some point.

Walking on and near the National Mall is a stroll I've never failed to love, even this time around in the cold rain and snow. People are dressed remarkably well out there, presumedly a result of dress codes that come with careers in politics, something I'm not used to seeing in Chicago. The buildings are so magnificent and history-bleeding it rivals the great European capitals. Shamelessly plugging one of my own tweets here:

tweet

There were a number of wholesome scenes I saw that felt almost too on the nose, like Norman Rockwell paintings come to life -- a woman playing fetch with her dog on the Washington Monument's grand snowy lawn, a father having a snowball fight with his two sons using General McPherson's statue for cover, well-groomed men in suits and ties clinking martinis in lavish hotel lobby bars, and kids playing hockey on the pedestrian streets just before the United States Treasury Building.

hockey Saturday morning roller hockey game, Treasury Building visible in the background

Perhaps a result of spending too much time online, but the town's atmosphere felt somewhat volatile. DC is a famously blue stronghold, and as we all know the political stakes shifted dramatically in November. One interesting observation was the heavy police presence, maybe not unusual due to the nature of the town's inhabitants, but certainly more pervasive than my prior visit just last spring.

I made no effort to explore beyond the central downtown area. I received the ususal recommendation to wander Georgetown, which I had seen before and had personally verified is indeed a shining beacon of Americana and elitist East Coast enchantment, but also received was a new suggestion to try the nightlife district, Adams Morgan. I'll admit a visit to a certain comedy club sounded tempting, but I wished not to spread myself too thin. My previous trip consisted of too many Uber rides and checklist-checking and I wanted to leave this episode to be of a more spontantenous manner.

Instead, I sat in beautiful hotel bars far outside my price range, larped as someone important and mysterious, and judged every eager-faced khaki-wearing newly-hired new grad for a fleeting moment before remembering that was myself just a thousand days or so ago. In fact, the only plan I had devised at all was to return to a restaurant I had dined at once before. The mussels came with a spectacular white wine sauce and absolutely hit the spot.

Working

Maybe I should touch on work, which brought me to DC in the first place, but I can't go too deep into details without sacrificing my precious anonymity. Let's start with more talk about transportation.

I rode the metro to one of the several corporate parks on the Virginia border. The local metro stations and their brutalist neoclassical designs are stunning. On one ride, I watched a flock of big-bank junior software engineers follow each other into unoccupied seats, very much in line like ducklings at a pond. They discussed strategies on how not to visibly sweat through your clothes when walking to the office come summertime.

metro Early morning commute at WMATA's McPherson Square station

Work duties included attending an all-day conference. This means listening to various panelists seated on high chairs speak to attendees seated on low chairs. Audience Q&A was peppered with questions about AI taking jobs and met with suprisingly honest answers addressing uncomfortable truths. Learnings included how important public speaking skills are (this was a not a topic, but an observation) and the personal realization that Pokémon GO was likely a ploy to crowdsource geospatial data and wrap it into a lucrative productized service. I should've saw that coming.

It was a genuine delight to hangout with my colleagues I normally only interface with virtually, and to be reminded that I do have it good, and must not complain but instead be grateful the next time I find myself frustrated about life circumstances.

Elsewhere during my adventures, I failed to get myself one of those aforementioned martinis, succeeded in giving the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin a proper visit, critiqued each and every presidential portrait, shook hands with a museum-volunteering Holocaust survivor, and laughed at a couple of Tesla Cybertrucks parked poetically close to the White House.

Happy President's Day to those who have work off on federal government holidays those who celebrate (how timely for this post!), and thanks for reading.

—JT