We got up at around 10:00, and went out for breakfast at the Dupont Grille. The food was good, but pretty expensive. It turned out to be just over $30 for breakfast. And that wasn’t even the buffet. The coffee was $3 a cup. Ridiculous. The service was not very good at all. We were one of the last patrons to be served breakfast, and ended up having to walk up to the bar to pay our bill as our waitress hadn’t returned to our table in ages.
On the way back to the hotel, Robert stopped at CVS to buy some Sudafed, and I went back to request our car since they said to allow 10 minutes for them to retrieve it. While I was standing there waiting for it, a car right across the street pulled out of its spot.
I anxiously awaited my car while I eyed every car passing to see if they were going to take that spot. The car came, and I zipped into it. Perfect. Right in front of our hotel, and free! 🙂
We took the Red Line up to Shady Grove, which turned out to be a long ride. In two or three places, they were “single tracking,” and we had to wait while other trains used the track. There was a very butch Lesbian sitting across from us on the train, and she was getting very perturbed. She had leather chaps on over her jeans, a white, button-down shirt, and a red bandanna tied around her neck. Her hair was as short, if not shorter, than mine.
We chatted with her a little getting off the train, and she turned out to not be an angry Lesbian at all. 🙂 She was from NYC, and had come to the rodeo to shine shoes. In fact, she was the “shoe shine guy” we’d seen last night at the dance. I had assumed she was a guy.
Upon exiting the subway, I asked an attendant where the shuttle bus to the fairgrounds was, as last year I went to the wrong side and never hooked up with it, ending up taking the city bus, which took forever.
She pointed us out to the opposite side, and said, “the yellow bus.” That helped tremendously, and we got right on it. There were about 8 other people on the bus. During the ride to the fairgrounds, Paul N. called me to learn my whereabouts. We agreed that I’d call him as soon as we got there.
Once inside, I called Paul, and said, “We’re on the premises.” The place is not big, but we kept saying we each were right in front of the same landmarks, but we couldn’t see each other. Ridiculous! “Can you see me now? Can you see me now?”
We finally connected, and had introductions all around. His partner’s name is Ben, and Jay was right, they are both very, very sweet. We hung out on and off during the day, watched a few events together, and they saw us do one dance. The events were interesting; I watched more this year than I did last year.
Robert and I had barbecue sandwiches and slaw for lunch. We hung out until about 5:00, and then headed back to the hotel. The ride back was quicker than out, so that was good.
We got about an hour nap in, and then walked over to Dupont Circle, and had dinner at Wrapworks. I had a delicious marinated chicken and feta wrap, and Robert loved the salad he got with grilled chicken and fruit in it.
We stopped at the corner store across the street where I bought a half gallon bottle of Canadian Club, a 2-liter bottle of diet coke, one Reese’s Cup candy bar to split with Robert for dessert, and some Dentyne Ice gum. Set for the night.
Back at the room, we had a couple of cocktails, and left at about 9:30 for the Hyatt. Since we knew the drill already, we took the pace a little more leisurely tonight.
We danced until about 1:15. The 2nd to the last dance, Robert and I did the Mambo Shuffle to, while everyone else did some other line dance. Then they announced that the next dance would be the Mambo Shuffle. So, we did it again.
We both really got into it, and I enjoyed watching Robert’s free spirit as he reached the place with this dance where he didn’t have to think of the steps but just lost himself in the music and the feeling. That is so his spirit, and he wears it well. It made me smile.
Back at the hotel, we put the do not disturb sign on the door, which said, “Sorry, I can’t come to the door right now… I’m in heaven.”