Robert arrived at my building just before 2:00. I wasn’t ready, so I met him out front and brought him up to see my office while I closed down. We left at just after 2:00.
He was starving, so had some cheese balls (will they ever end???) We stopped at the Burger King at Miami and 70, and got him a Whopper Jr. for “substance.”
The ride to DC was uneventful. It was great to have a navigator to get downtown to the hotel, and Robert did a super job in spite of Mapquest.
We checked in to a parking charge of $23 a night, which didn’t thrill me. They were gracious enough to say that street parking is free all weekend, so it’s worth looking for a spot. I didn’t want to mess with it just then, as it was nearing 7, and we wanted to be at the Hyatt by 9. I’d pay one night’s parking, and find a spot in the morning before heading out to the rodeo.
We were “upgraded” to a $325-per-night corner suite, which was just stunning, and free to us on my points.
We took the subway over to the Hyatt, which was four stops away on the Red Line — from Dupont Circle to Union Station. The Hyatt was a short walk from the station, so that was all good. In fact, we arrived before they opened the ballroom for dancing.
We saw Joe, Jose, and Al in the hotel bar, but didn’t go over to join them. We bought some mints in the little store there, at highway robbery prices. We noted that the bottle of water was $2.99, but as it turned out fared pretty well since it was 32 ounces, and the regular 20 ounce bottles (or 16?) down in the ballroom were $3.50 a piece. I availed myself to the water in the water fountain.
Dancing was great, though the place really didn’t fill up until after 10:00. We did the Barn Dance at around midnight, and didn’t even make it halfway around. There were that many couples! Always great fun, though.
I met “Lannie,” the IBMer, on my way out. She was introducing “the court.” We left just after midnight, as it had been a long day, and we were both quite tired.