Saturday, March 22 - Adventures in D.C.
The Illusive Wisconsin Avenue
So, after the fun with the men's autographs and feeling like I was calling them over by the wrong names, I was ready to get my books bound and run some errands. I had 4 loose packets assembled together: one for ladies, one for men, one for pairs and one for ice dance. A picture of my favorite skater(s) in each discipline is on the cover page of each packet. And, inside each packet is the entry list, the ISU biographies including music used by each participant, results of ISU competitions for that discipline of the past year, and any photos I could find online of lesser-known participants before I left. However, I had no time to bind each packet before I left for Worlds. So, I had left the packets at my hotel on Saturday so the pieces would not get lost. And, I know these would have helped me to identify the skaters. I can be impatient, and I'm now determined to find a place to have the books bound and also get groceries to put in the portable refrigerator that was delivered to my room when I checked into the hotel. I will need some quick food items to be able to grab and go during the coming week. So, I decided to skip the ladies practice and go take care of some business.
I am a very independent person and like to be able to do and resolve things for myself. I have trouble sometimes asking for help. I found a phone book and looked up a Kinko's to get the packets bound. I also looked for a grocery store, and a Safeway was a store name I recognized. So, I wrote down some of the listed address locations and set out with my carry-on bag on wheels emptied of its original contents to help me transport back my things. It was afternoon and a nice day, and I preferred to have some time to walk, stretch my legs and look around. So, I was not interested in a taxi. I consider myself a walker anyway and able to walk for longer distances, and I was sure it couldn't be too far to a grocery store even if this was downtown. Well, I found the 'K' Street Kinko's with no problems just by deductions of the letter sequences of the streets A-Z, that crossed the number streets, 1st Street onwards. There was no waiting, so within 15 minutes my items were bound, and I was departing for phase two of my journey. Before I left, I would ask a question to the binder that I would later regret, 'Can you tell me how to get to Wisconsin Avenue?' I believe he said a few blocks down and turn right. But with such vagueness, I should never have been satisfied. So, I'm walking, and I'm not sure what constitutes two blocks - it is per every traffic light or crosswalk? The confusion was because the Kinko's was not located on a street corner, it was between streets. Additionally, there was no street name that he gave to turn right. So, if I turn right at some point soon, I'm bound to find it, right? In the meantime, there were masses of cops on motorcycles and in police cars and just standing around in the couple of small parks I had passed. It looked like some roads may have been blocked off for something. There were a lot of sirens, too. It was an active Saturday afternoon. It was still very light outside, so I was sure I had plenty of time to find the store.
Well, I found myself arriving at Dupont Circle, which is a literal circle where several roads meet. There was a man that took me off guard dressed in a uniform type suit. 'You look lost. Can I help you find something?' He asked. I must have had that perplexed look again. I looked at his nametag and it said some type of ambassador on it. I wondered if this was a guide that stands in the area and directs people to promote goodwill. So, I asked for Wisconsin Avenue, and he did allude that it is probably a ways to walk. And, he saw me with the bag on wheels. But, stubborn and determined me thinks a ways to walk probably is not as far as he would think. After some deliberating between us as to whether I should attempt to walk or go in the nearby Metro station and take a train, I decided to try the walk. 'Where is it again?' I asked. He said it was up and to the left. But, finding the left of that circle is not as easy as one would think. So, I was walking through the neighborhoods. And, I even saw some 7-11 type convenience stores on the way, but I wanted a real grocery store. I wound up taking a tour of what must have been the whole embassy row. I mean I saw South America, England and even Asia. I didn't see any more Metro stations, but there were people jogging and biking about the area. As I approached the embassy of Japan, I looked through the gate briefly from the sidewalk and realized I was probably lost. A security guard came from around the trees and asked me if I needed to get to Japan and go to the embassy. I was like, 'Not at the moment, I'm looking for Wisconsin Avenue, a Safeway.' He behaved as though it was right up the hilltop of that road, in sight distance, and a turn to the left. He even showed familiarity with the mention of Safeway. So, I kept going, just sure I was almost there. But, I wound up going way past sight distance and up two or three hilltops of that road. And, every crossroad sign that came into view never turned out to be Wisconsin. They are lying to me, I thought. There is no Wisconsin Avenue this way. So, I finally stopped at a Metro bus stop. I had no idea if I could flag down a taxi by a hand signal here like they do in New York or if any would drive by. Of course, I had no cell phone or any technology with me. To my luck, a bus was there within ten minutes. I rode it to a Metro station where I then asked to try another Safeway, certainly not the Wisconsin route. By the time I found the other one, it was dark, and I was probably not in the best neighborhood on a Saturday night. But, I was never very scared or anything. I got the groceries I needed, and as I was arranging them outside the store, a man asked me three times if he could help me to my car. And, I said 'no thank you' each time. 'Are you sure?' He kept asking. 'No thank you,' was my reply. So, I made it back to the hotel finally and decided next time I should just take a taxi from the start and forget about trying to get some walking in and sightseeing in this manner.
I had run out of exposures in the one roll of film I had in my camera at the end of the morning ice dance practice. The remaining stock of film rolls I had were at the hotel. Once I got back to the hotel and learned to pack additional film rolls with me at all times, I also learned that the roll I had used that morning was in black and white. I had not even taken color photos! The black and white roll of film had been included as a special addition to the four pack of 800 speed color film that I had bought. I had not even noticed the small writing on the package that indicated one black and white 400 speed roll was part of the deal.
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