D.C. Yo.

Here come the last of the short drives into real days off. After D.C., we hit Philadelphia, then haul it down to Atlanta (12 hours drive). After shows in Atlanta and North Carolina, we haul it cross country to Chicago (another 12 hour drive). With load out usually ending between 4 and 5 in the morning, we aren't getting in to the next city until 5 or 6 in the evening. Day off, shot.

In the mean time, here's some of the fun stuff from the real day off we had Washington D.C. We came in from Richmond VA, only 2 hours away, which put us in the hotel in the morning.

There was a hotel change at the last minute. Instead of staying at the Four Seasons, they were putting us up at some hotel called The Madison. I was a little skeptical at first. Who wouldn't want to stay at the Four Seasons? But when I stepped into my room, I was fine.Looks like your standard hotel room. Bed, desk, TV. But wait, what's that in the corner?Is that a massage chair? Four Seasons what?

After a couple of sessions getting my back, shoulders and calves kneaded and percussed, I thought I'd step out and check out the National Geographic Museum which was around the corner from the hotel. There was an advertisement in the hotel room that the museum had an exhibit of Terra Cotta soldiers from Xian China. But if I had read closer, I would have noticed that the exhibit wouldn't be up until November.

What they did have, was a really amazing photographic exhibit of Lions and Leopards. Lots of pictures and movies, even one amazing clip of a young leopard, that killed a baboon, only to discover that it had a baby. So the leopard took the baby gently into the trees so it was away from other predators and every time it fell out of the tree, it would carry it back up. It was really amazing and touching, that I couldn't watch it anymore. I couldn't see a good ending for the baby baboon, so I walked away. I didn't take any pictures of the pictures, because frankly, that wouldn't do it any justice, the exhibit itself, from the walls to the light were just as important for the experience. But I did snap a photo of a quote that I like.You can apply that to sharks too.

And finally, I ended my evening having a couple of pints with a buddy.That's Brian. He's a high school classmate of my younger brother. He went to D.C. for school, and like myself and L.A., got a job and just ended up staying. We had late drinks because he had to play volleyball that evening, and his team won, so I guess, I can't really be mad at him for not taking me out for the steak dinner he owed me.

And that, was D.C..

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