I headed to the Metro early afternoon yesterday with the thought that I'd get off at Crystal City and have lunch before getting to the airport. I had started my day early and stayed busy sending emails to different legislator's offices. It was a follow-up to visits made on Capitol Hill the day before.
Fortunately, the Metro Station was only three blocks from Eastern Market Metro. As I boarded the train, I immediately started wading through responses to emails sent earlier and was totally lost in thought. At some point, as the train surfaced above ground, I thought immediately that we were approaching the Arlington National Cemetery Metro Station.
The thing about the Metro, if your underground it is difficult to have a real frame of reference related to location.The Arlington National Cemetery Metro is only three stops before Crystal City. I was glad because I was hungry. I had not eaten or even had a cup of coffee since beginning my day.
Of course I don't always get it right. When I discovered we weren't approaching Arlington National Cemetery, I had no idea where we were. I was smart enough to figure out that I needed to get off at the next station and backtrack.
I am not colorblind. How did I mistakenly take the orange line instead of the blue line?As it turned out, I didn't have to go all the way back to where I started before I could get off the orange line and get on the blue line. The error wasn't that big of a deal. Of course, time is a precious commodity, but I thought I was still going to be okay with the time.
The next error I made was a big deal. How I failed to get off the Metro at Crystal City, I don't know. Checking email proved to be more of a distraction that I thought. The train was now above ground and I knew the Reagan National Airport was the next stop.
I decided that I probably didn't have time to go back. I would just eat lunch at the airport. Actually, I've eaten meals (using the term loosely) in lots of airport restaurants and some have been very good. I wasn't really sure that Reagan National Airport had a real restaurant. It is mostly filled with packaged food you buy off of a shelf. The restaurant I located was sort of a restaurant except that it really wasn't.
I didn't see a sign that said "Highway Robbery", but it would have been appropriate signage. When I travel, I'm frugal. I don't spend the agency's money unnecessarily.
I focused my iPhone camera on the QR and pulled up the menu. You simply add the items you want and like Turbo Tax, it makes suggestions along the way. Sure, why not add French fries to the Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato sandwich? Of course, I needed something to drink. I selected lemonade as my drink of choice.
The next suggestion related to desert. I selected a slice of peanut butter pie. I normally don't have desert, but peanut butter pie is really good. When I saw the total, with tip the lunch would be $46. I started to bolt based on principle.
I wasn't that far from Bull Feathers near the Capitol when I left for the airport. A grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of delicious Tomato Basil Soup would have cost $12 in that location.
I decided $46 was too much for lunch. I eliminated the pie and dropped the cost by $10.99. If I live to be a hundred, I won't make the mistake of having lunch at Regan National Airport again.
The flight from Washington to Atlanta was packed. When I arrived in Atlanta, I wasn't hungry. I knew it would be approaching 10:00 p.m. before I had my luggage in San Antonio, but I would wait to eat. All of the food service venues including Whataburger were closed. Before I got home, I stopped at Sonic and ordered a large Peanut Butter shake. It was delicious.
All My Best!
Don
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