East Coast Trip 2017 - Part 2
So now we reach for the American part of my east coast trip. This takes place August 24-27 starting from Ottawa. I spend a small amount of time around Fairfax City, VA and end it in all in Washington, DC.
I got up after 5am and got my stuff together. During check out, I had front desk call a taxi while I noticed some guys take a shuttle together back to Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. I checked in with United and went through security/customs again except this time… I was the only person there the entire time! So everything was quick and I had a different Customs official. After I was done, I returned to the same gate area and used my voucher at a Tim Horton’s express to get a couple of donuts, granola Greek yogurt with fruit, and orange juice. I later used another to buy a couple of cookies, fruit drink, and a bottle of water. The flight to DC boarded on time and I called Pat to let him know what was going on. He suggested that I ask the taxi in DC to just take me to the Best Western Fairfax which would save him a trip to Dulles but if it couldn’t be done, it wasn’t a big deal. I replied that I would look into it. The flight to DC was pleasant as it wasn’t crowded so I got my two seats to myself. We landed in DC on time and after getting my bag; I walked all the way to Terminal B. I went up to the United desk and got my taxi voucher. I then asked a taxi outside if he was willing to take me to the Best Western Fairfax and he said that as long as I didn’t go over the voucher’s limit (then I pay the difference), it didn’t matter despite it saying Dulles Airport. I then called Pat to meet me soon there. After around a half hour drive, I got dropped off at the hotel. The lobby was going through renovations so it was a very small section in the entrance. The room was kind of old and I found there was no soap so I returned to the front desk and got a couple of bars as cleaning staff forgot to replenish them. Pat came over after I called him. For the next 3-4 hours, we made bearlove. It was very relaxing after what happened last night! For dinner, he suggested the Greek restaurant that he likes called Pam Am. While I don’t care for Greek food, he says they have non-Greek dishes there too. On the way and throughout the rest of my trip, what I mentioned earlier about east coast folks not being able to drive and have poor habits was ringing truer… but hadn’t quite reached its pinnacle yet. It wasn’t far from sunset when we arrived at Pam Am. Pat had a cheeseburger while I had a chicken burger. It was a nice meal. We paid separately, not realizing I accidentally left my hotel key cards on the table as I was paying! Pat dropped me off back at the hotel and would return the next day. After he drove away, I then notice I left the cards all the way back at the restaurant so I go to front desk and they give me another one and I thank them. For the rest of the night I puttered on the computer, including uploading my entry on Dore Alley. I called my father beforehand to let him know I was in the US. After I uploaded the entry after 1am, I showered and went to bed.
Pat arrived before noon and I checked out of the hotel. It sucked I was on the hook for Wednesday night, thanks to the airlines. But it gave me more resolve to spend a little extra time in the future here. I wanted to check out a video game store in Chantilly before driving over to DC. On the way, we stopped at a McDonalds drive-thru for lunch. Pat parked near a school so we could munch. I had the new Siracha chicken sandwich which was pretty good. He then drove me to eStarland, which was around an industrial park area. It was huge and we spent over an hour there! Tons of used games and consoles! They had a few systems set up. One NES had Super C and since I own that game already, I picked it up and played to the 4th stage without dying once before pausing and browsing around. There was even a retro clone console with U.N. Squadron for SNES and Skate or Die 2 for NES inside it. I owned both those games too but chose to play Skate of Die 2 up to the third level before continuing to shop. Pat played (I think) Sonic Generations and he got kind of addicted to it. There were a few PCs that let you search for any game you wanted and see availability in store plus the price - regardless if it was in stock or not. A number of titles I looked up were not available or were too expensive. The store had a ton of great video game merchandise too and figurines. At the end, I picked up a FFVII Remake figure of Cloud Strife, which compliments the Red XIII figurine I bought back in Halifax. I was in line with two guys in front of me while Pat said he would wait in the van outside. The first guy held up the line for over 20 minutes as he was trying to sell his Xbox 360 and there was an issue with the hard drive he provided as it was not in their system! Fuckin’ hell! After the guy in front of me took around 10 minutes, I only took less than 5 before I walked out. Pat was patient but I apologized for the wait he had to go through. Pat then drove me to Washington DC, about over a half an hour drive in some rush hour traffic. On our way to the hotel I was staying at, the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, I noticed the locals driving skills and habits as the pinnacle of abysmal! Pat almost got into three accidents before parking at the hotel (to be fair, one incident would be his fault and we prolonged the drive as we didn’t understand how the area where the hotel is was set up). I found the parking is valet only so I had to pay $25 plus tax to have Pat’s van parked for the day ($40 if he left it overnight!). But since Pat drove me and we wanted some more time together, it was fair. I got my hotel room and found the room was very lovely. Spacious, modern, nice bed, and the wifi was pretty good. Pat and I made bearlove for over an hour and we watched a couple of Watchmojo.com videos on YouTube, mainly ones about UK based shows that got American remakes, for good or for ill. Pat left a little later as I wanted to go meet a Leatherdaddy at a bar soon. I geared up in my pants, combat boots, gloves, Muir cap, and biker jacket and took an Uber to the Green Lantern bar. I was told before it was pretty much hidden in an alleyway though there is room for car access. I met Leatherdaddy Maurice not far from the entrance and the bar was pleasant with a bit of a small bear crowd. We introduced and while he liked that I came in leather, he didn’t think to wear any himself which was fine by me. I found him handsome though without it. We talked over a few hours, especially when he lived in Israel for around 20 years I think but moved back to the US in 1998. I talked a lot about David as he was Jewish and we talked about religious matters. As time was going by, the bar was getting crowded and very loud with all the women and non-bears that we decided to go outside the bar for the rest of the visit. We spent nearly an hour continuing the chat outside and one other guy became a part of the conversation. Both Leatherdaddy and I eventually kissed and he kisses well. WOOF! After we had our picture taken together, we both got an Uber each. My first one cancelled on me as he couldn’t find me and I couldn’t answer the phone as I had no voice plan. I tried to call back via Skype but it goes to Uber instead so that was useless. I found I got charged $5 for that. Bullshit… anyways, I got back to my room and I checked to see if the nearby McDonalds was open late at night but found it was only open late on Saturday nights so no supper for me. No biggie. I spent some of the night downloading music and went to bed at 2am after a shower.
I slept in a bit and had lunch at McDonalds after talking to Pat. I was going to set up a session with a leatherbear I knew off Recon later that afternoon so I suggested that Pat not come this time to save himself some gas and not have to pay for parking again. He agreed. I decided I needed to see the famous monuments so I took an Uber to the Lincoln Memorial. Here are some pics:
Across from the Lincoln Memorial was the Washington Monument. I walked up past the pool toward the WWII memorial before it:
I didn’t go right around the area of the Washington Monument and later, didn’t know there was more to see behind it. But I walked on the opposite side of the pool and then prayerfully paid my respects at the Vietnam and Korean War memorials near Lincoln’s:
I returned around my original Uber location that dropped me off and took another to Pennsylvania Ave. I walked and saw the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before I saw the White House across from Lafayette Square. There wasn’t much in the way of anti-Trump protesters (thank God!) outside of a couple of silent types. I continued on toward my final goal -Capitol Building- by going south and then east on Pennsylvania Ave NW. I took various pictures of buildings and statues. Everything was very beautiful and appreciative. I even saw a building that was Canadian, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Confederation. I later found it is the Embassy of Canada. Anyways, here are pictures before Capitol Building:
One thing I was noticing on the way, there were people, mainly African Americans, wearing white. I never understood what was going on. As I got near the front of the Capitol Building, I was stopped by police because I wasn’t with the group as they were part of a private event. I politely inquired that I was going to the Capitol Building and the officer let me go on the opposite end to walk toward it. I thanked her and continued. Here are the pics I took:
A beautiful structure! Regardless of what you think of the politicians who bicker in there and run the country, the building itself was so much better to see in real life. As it was getting toward sunset, the Washington Monument was in the distance. I took the final pictures of my tour before taking an Uber back to the hotel:
I got back pretty much in time to give myself a chance to gear up for my leather buddy. He was to arrive by 8pm. He has no smart phone, just a regular cell phone so this was problematic. I wait in the lobby for an hour, wondering if he was having problems finding parking or whatever. I go back to my room wondering what happened. I then made plans to go visit a chub friend at the Eagle after chatting with Pat, who was upset that I was set up. While on my computer, I get a message from the leatherbear on Recon wondering where I was as he drove all the way from Maryland. He says he left messages on my hotel phone (I gave him the hotel number and room). I looked at the phone and noticed that the red light indicator wasn’t blinking or anything. I picked up the phone and found the messages (and the light went on then!). I listened and thought “Oh shit! Poor guy!” I message him back that I wasn’t in the room when he called earlier and when he called later, I was down waiting for him in the lobby. More importantly, I didn’t know of the messages because the damn phone has no indication for you unless you check it yourself! He understood but was still irritated. I apologized and said I would try to make it up to him. That was the end of the conversation.
I then got ready and took an Uber to the DC Eagle. I knew it moved in recent times and that it was near a bridge to the east, on Benning Rd. I was dropped off in this back lot and while the building had the name on it, I found it was the back of the building and you had to walk to the front. It was bizarre… almost like its secret. Anyways, I produced my license and went inside. It was a nice sized bar. Lots of pups were around. This one bear was cruising me and we sat together as I was waiting for the guy I was chatting with on Biggercity to arrive. I found he was there but on the opposite side of the main bar. We introduced and his name is Bob plus I met his partner too. After some chatting and him pointing out it was a sports-themed night (some guys were wearing jerseys and stuff), we went playing in the washroom stall. He sucked my cock first as he sat on the toilet and when I returned the favour; he put his shirt up revealing his harness - WOOF! I sucked his tits as he loved it. After our session, we had to part as I needed to get back to the hotel. We had our picture taken and I said goodbye to his partner too. I finally said goodbye to the bear who cruised me earlier and got his picture with him too. I then walked back to the intersection by the bridge and the Uber driver had a problem finding me that she called. This time, I answered and took the future-roaming charge as I was not going to get charged $5 again. Thankfully, she found me. On the way, we had an interesting conversation, about the difference in Obama’s and Trump’s presidency, racism, feminism, and Islam. Sadly, she was ideologically opposite of me but we were respectful to each other and as she got me back at the hotel, we shook hands and wished each other a good night. In my room, I did the majority of the packing and downloaded some more music to add to my phone. I went to bed after 2am.
Hard to believe it was already the last day of my biggest trip I ever took up to this point. I called Pat to come down to pick me up as I was checking out. By the time he arrived through the rush hour traffic, we couldn't spend extra time together. On the way, he felt sorry for what happened to me last night, getting stood up and all. I explained what happened and he understood. But my going to the Eagle was a good recompense! It took awhile and a number of bad turns, but he got me to Regan Airport on time. We said our goodbyes and thanked him for everything before he drove away. This time I was flying with Delta the whole trip and I would find that they were impressive in what they did. Security screening didn’t take long and while I was reluctant earlier to use the wifi, it turns out that if you live outside the US, you don’t need to provide an email address to access it. I continued to download more music before boarding my flight. It departed on time and landed to my transfer in Minneapolis early. I had a long walk to my Vancouver flight gate in MSP. There was a station in which I could sit with my laptop and plug it in but the wifi wasn’t working properly or wasn’t free from what I remember so that was a bummer. I sent a message to a rubber friend of mine who lives in the city and he answered that he was at a local flower show. It rained where I was but not wherever he was. Anyhoo, the flight to YVR departed on time again. About 3 of 4 hours in the flight, I completed Dragon Quest on my phone and arrived early as scheduled in YVR. I called my father who just started to leave to pick me up because I was early. I went through customs and baggage no problem and my father arrived just as I was exiting the area. He met me at departures after he left the cell phone waiting area. On the way home, I told him of my time on the east coast.
My first time travelling on the other side of the continent was certainly an eye-opener. Some cultural differences, questionable driving habits, and what-have-you certainly gave me an impression the diversity both Canada and the United States have. I do want to go again next year… perhaps visit the same places but also go more south. We’ll have to see how finances go but I want to visit more friends and revisit the ones I met. I am so grateful for the care and hospitality my two slaves and bear buddies did for me.