Dinner at the Crab Cake Café

Washington is also hot and sticky. Today, I intend to do touristy things, but get discouraged by the heat, humidity, and humanity. There seem to be Guiders/Scouts from all over the world filling the city centre. I glimpse the White House, skim the National Mall, and retreat.

Banking. I spend over an hour in two TD Bank branches trying to get my debit card working. In the end they issue me with a new card, but by the end of the day it’s blocked again. I need to have a US phone number, because that’s how they check on suspicious transactions and their system won’t accept international numbers.

I visit the REI Coop - purveyor of high quality camping gear. I get a rucksack, a sleeping bag, and a sun hat. I join the coop, which means I’ll be going back to the store tomorrow to spend the $20 gift card they gave me.

I’m meeting this year’s conference chair, Christina, for dinner at National Harbor. It’s 8 miles from the city and I get there by metro and bus. I’m quite noticeable on the crowded bus - the only white face - as it winds through extensive housing estates. Then there’s a casino and the resort town of National Harbor in Maryland.

The place is packed. There’s graduation ceremonies, events, and the usual Saturday night crowds. Traffic is gridlocked and the 4G Internet is saturated and unusable.

I find Christina and we head for the Crab Cake Café. Great crab cakes, interesting discussions about conference politics, and a knitted mini-Tamsen to represent the real Tamsen who can’t be with us because of her chemo.

Then to a bar, where I drink one of their weaker IPAs. Christina is running a 10k tomorrow morning - which should be over by 9am.

Getting home is a nightmare. The traffic has got worse. Uber drivers give up and go home. The TD Bank card gets rejected. The 4G keeps disconnecting. Eventually Lamin makes it through and gets me home. He’s from The Gambia and we have fun comparing its relationship with Senegal to Britain’s with Europe.

I sit in my room, AC on max, sipping cold beer. Eventually I wander into the local centre to top up my hunger with a carry out from the Amsterdam Falafel shop. Really good salad bar & crushed falafels.