Washington DC... Softball Can Be Your Alibi!

Friday after work, I jumped into the jeep and headed south on I-95 towards Washington DC, leaving behind my consternation regarding the Very Hairy Man. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling very well. I had an 11:30 meeting that day, and during the meeting, I got a headache. I thought I needed something to eat, but a panini at the Mean Bean didn't do much for me. And it just got worse as the day went on. And on the road, it got much worse. Like, one of the worst headaches I've ever had. Pounding. Throbbing. Bringing tears to my eyes.

It was so bad that when I stopped at a "welcome center" in Delaware to get a Starbucks, I left without my Starbucks. I just couldn't bear the thought of a pumpkin spice latté. That's how bad it was. I did pick up some Advil and took two of them. But they didn't seem to kick in. But they did give me a pretty sour stomach.

As I was heading past exits reading Christiana, Delaware, the Baron's home town, I thought about stopping off and begging the Baron to take me in, giving me the corner of a dark room to curl up in. But I kept on going. On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I pulled over for $2.15-a-gallon gas and to see if I could bring something up to settle my stomach. At a well appointed gas station, I spent a while in the bathroom, but nothing would come. But walking around in the cool, fresh night air did me a little good. By the time I rolled into the Washington Plaza Hotel, I was feeling better. I was greeted by my fellow Ball Breakers in the lobby, who had brought me some ginger ale to settle my stomach. I headed up to my room, drew a nice hot bath, and relaxed before bed. Tommorrow would be all about softball!

Or not.

In the morning, although I was feeling 100%, it was cold and rainy, so all the games that day were called off. Alas! A whole day to spend in Washington DC. We piled into cars and headed to the World War II Memorial (unimpressive), and while the rest of the team headed to Arlington, I went to the National Building Museum. Which was wonderful. They're having this whole Green thing going on. I got to commune with my fellow Design Nerds, picked up a few books in the bookstore, and enjoyed a few of the exhibitions. I met up with my teammates, we were all getting hungry, so I took us to one of my favorite restaurants on the planet, Afterwords Cafe at Kramerbooks off Dupont Circle. I'm just never disappointed by Afterwords. We all ate well, I had Fettuccine New Orleans, my favorite thing on the menu. Back to the hotel for another bath. Because we had plans for the evening: we were intent on watching the Mets game.

We got on our cell phones, calling all the gay bars in DC, and found that the only bar that was going to have the Mets-Dodgers game on: the DC Eagle.

Yessss!

Now, I love the DC Eagle. The Eagle has never disappointed me. I know DC guys love to be hatin' on their local pub, but I love the place. As a matter of fact, I'd go so far (and I've done it in the past), declare the DC Eagle to be the Best Leather Bar Ever.

Truth!

I've made the argument before here that DC is naturally a great town for SM. It's a town of transients, and people who gravitate there go for one reason: power. They're particularly attuned to it. And that being the case... Well, you see where I'm going.

So we watched the Mets take on the Dodgers and win, and our manager had a question to put to us. It seems that since the first day of games was canceled, the games played on Sunday would have special rules to fit all the games in. First off, no game would go beyond 30 minutes. And second, when a batter came to the plate, he'd do it with a 3-2 count.

Say what???

Yeah. That was terrifically unappealing to all of us. And, or first game was scheduled for 8 am.

Eeeew!

So, although we spent all that money and came all that way to play softball, it looked like we wouldn't be playing any softball. I, for one, wasn't disappointed. I had a great time hanging out with the Ball Breakers. I'm totally looking forward to April. This will be the year that it all comes together for me! I just know it!

Oh. And the Eagle did not let me down. I ended up taking two of the hottest guys in the joint back to my room at the Washington Plaza Hotel, and the three of us had a great time. In fact, this was the only threesome I've been involved in that really worked. Nobody felt like a third wheel, and I'm glad they both were there.

It was pretty healing, after the recent disturbance to my usual Zen calm and general contentment caused by Very Hairy Man.

The next morning, the Ball Breakers assembled in the lobby for a final brunch together before we bid a fond farewell to Washington DC.

Man. I needed that.

On the way home, I stopped off in Philadelphia to catch the tail-end of OutFest, some gay thing involving vendors, tshirts, blaring music from crappy sound systems, stickers, and a hell of a lot of rainbow motifs. And then stopped in to the Bike Stop. Alas, where smoking cigars--or anything else--is no longer permitted. But they did have karaoke in full force.

I was in and out of there in about four minutes, wondering how I could move me and my father to Washington DC so I could go to the Eagle more than twice a year.

Thanks, DC! Thanks, Ball Breakers! And a special thanks to Tom's Friend Tom and Luis from Kearny, New Jersey!

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