Sun Up - Sun Down
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Day 2: October 4, 2014 Sun Up - Sun Down Comment via blog |
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6:00 AM, when the car rental counters reopened, had been my target time
when I decided to wait out the night. The station started waking up an
hour or so before that as commuter and other traffic increased. In
addition to Amtrak, Union Station is served by the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority and Maryland Regional Commuter trains along with
several bus lines including Greyhound and BoltBus. I went to the Alamo
counter shortly after 6:00 but had already decided not to get a car just
yet. With my Amtrak arrival time no longer a factor, I considered my
rental needs from the other end of the window. By picking up a car 24
hours before a reasonable return time, I would need a car for just one day
rather than the two I had originally reserved. Something in the vicinity
of noon seemed about right.
Of course, that meant I had to burn some more time at the station. I walked across the street to the Columbus monument and took a picture of the awakening station in the dim light. I turned around for a shot of the capitol dome over a part of the monument then walked a little farther to get a picture of the monument itself and one of the monument backed by the station. The rain that had kept me under the station's arches for most of the night had stopped but dark clouds remained. |
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Lugging around my duffel was limiting my mobility or at least discouraging
me from walking any distance. I temporarily checked it for a walk to the
capitol where a major restoration is in progress. Note that a speck of
blue is visible through the clouds.
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Breakfasting pigeons greeted me when I returned to the station and passed
through last night's accommodations. The plaster ceiling of the station's
main waiting room was damaged by the 2011 earthquake and repairs are
ongoing. A purpose built rolling scaffold provides access to the ceiling.
The last picture is of the long Amtrak counter. For comparison,
here is a crappy picture of the Cincinnati
version that I took Friday. Washington's Union Station is beautiful and
bustling with travelers. Cincinnati's Union Terminal is beautiful.
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I picked up the car a little before noon and drove to Laurel, Maryland,
where I had a motel reservation. To my delight, I was able to check in
early. I hit the bed almost immediately but amazingly managed only another
hour and a half burst of sleep. What's up with that? I completed Friday's
journal entry and made it to
Edith May's Paradise in plenty of time.
Owner Georgie Jessup started things off on piano but switched between it and guitar through a half dozen or so songs. Christina Van Norman joined her for a few and the two really sounded good together. Georgie sounds plenty good alone but adding Christina moves it up a notch. |
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Dirk came on
around 9:00. I know I should have taken some notes about how many songs
were played and what they were but I was too busy listening. The only
"notes" I took were with the camera. I do know that he did
"Billboard on the Moon" in response to a request and declined,
with a smile, a request to do "Black Dog Blues". "I'd like
this to be the first show in fifteen years where I don't play 'Black Dog
Blues'", he said. Not even the requester was upset. I also know that
three songs were played for the first time before an audience tonight but
I don't recall the name of any of them. It was a great evening filled with
music, stories, and general fun and I'd have loved to hung around longer
but the lack of sleep was catching up with me. I bid Dirk adieu and
headed to my motel within a half hour of the concert's end.
I'm sure it was anticipation that wouldn't let me sleep for more than ninety minutes Thursday night and earlier in the day I guess I was, as Dirk said in the title of his 1990 CD, Too Tired to Sleep, but not now. I hit the bed with a smile and awoke about seven hours later with a bigger one. |
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