I was in DC from Tuesday August fifth through Sunday the tenth. On the sixth and seventh I was in training for my job; NIDA is in DC so they do their Clinical Trials Network (CTN) training there. The training was boring and hardly anything that could not have done by webcast, but I was happy to go to DC.
We were in a trashy Hilton in a place called Rockville. My room smelled funny, the shower curtain was mildewed, and the decor was as horrible as I would expect but that at least is something they intended. I would realize that I did not like the room at night when I went to bed and in the morning when I woke up, but I was always in a hurry so I did not change rooms the two nights I stayed. All the employees were programmed to wear this button about a survey and to talk to people checking in about giving the hotel a perfect score, and then in my room the housekeeping left the paperwork encouraging guests to take the survey but did not leave the survey on the writing desk. That at least made me happy, because it showed that the employees felt empowered not to do their work and to hide the evidence that would show that they felt that way.
From there I went to Capitol City Hostel at 2411 Benning Road NE, which I found to be a lot more to my taste. It truly was cleaner and the attitude was better. I read reviews online and they said that it was in a dangerous neighborhood, and when I got there I saw that this meant it was in a lower-income black neighborhood. I would rather stay in a place where people stay up late sitting on the hoods of cars drinking with friends than a place that was either abandoned or had quiet vagrants.
DC in the summer is hot but I got around. The Smithsonian causes museum burnout and I did not even want to get involved, so I spent about five hours in the National At Gallery and did not go to anything else. I found that the organizational system they use there really pales in comparison to the ones I saw in London- quite frequently I wanted more information about exhibits and could not find it due to the exhibits being posted without proper curation.
I went on a tour of the Capitol and the Library of Congress. I got a library card there; it makes me feel powerful. I went to the Philips Gallery and Embassy Row and a protest against the Chinese hosting of the Olympics. I went to the Episcopalian National Cathedral and the Catholic National Shrine. I saw pandas at the zoo. I found all kinds of government buildings but could not go inside – IRS, EPA, FCC, FTC, FBI, others. I saw a church group exorcise the Supreme Court over abortion issues. I met some foreign kids – I did not meet any American tourists there.
I always have fun going to any new place.