10 / 02 / 26 – Just slippin’ on by on LSD, DC trouble bound

My 1st visit was during the ‘Great Missouri Flood of 1993’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/great_flood_of_1993) when my buddy Jon and I visited (for maybe 48 hours) during a our six week post-college escapade across the country by car(s). This trip (a blow by blow rendition is in an inch thick journal buried in my basement) featured a ride (Leg #1) from Saint Louis Missouri (hometown) to Washington D.C., another (Leg #2) back to Saint Louis (to switch out a Suburban for a convertible which seemed logical at the time) then we went West (Leg #3) through Lawrence KS (where I killed a German Shepard), Denver CO, Las Vegas NV, Los Angeles (where I was taught how to surf by my 11th ranked cousin and Kelly Slater – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kelly_slater – behind the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel – Salt Creek), and eventually San Diego (where we skydived @ https://skydiveperris.com). Leg #4 was the loooong, arduous, and exhausting ride home which featured the North and South Rims of the Grand Canyon, a second stop to Las Vegas NV, Dodge City KS, Columbia MO (lunch @ https://shakespeares.com), then home to a furious Bob Luby (father) who’s radar detector I borrowed without asking. Sidebar, expect this to be a future 6000 word essay and / or chapter down the road.

My 2nd visit was in 1997 just after receiving my first credit card (a Discovery with $3,000 limit which got maxed, quickly) when Laura (my first ever love) and I spent a couple days in Georgetown where we boozed and roamed the Mall as naive tourists. Note, later that summer she drop kicked me for a shirtless guy she met playing frisbee in Francis Park (https://stlhills.com/parks-and-architecture). Sidebar, in retrospect LP (as I called her) was easy on the eyes, a workout nut, outspoken, and an extrovert who (for a short passage of time) made me better despite leaving me dead, buried, & gutted. Last I heard (maybe 2012) she’s married with a bunch of kids in Chicago.

My 3rd visit was for the 2008 AGC (Associated General Contractors – https://www.agc.org) Convention during which I representing the business (https://lubyequipment.com) while staying at the Gaylord (https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/wasgn-gaylord-national-resort-and-convention-center/overview). Highlights include witnessing a speech by President George W. Bush (keynote), a Coast crippling snowstorm, meeting a not famous yet flirty Lisa Boothe, and my first foray to Shelly’s Back Room (https://shellysbackroom.com).

My 4th visit was Spring 2025 when I was the lone male on a 22 person excursion which included my daughter Natalie, her 10 eighth grade (all girls) classmates,  and 11 moms (ratio will be the subject of a future Essay) which was supported by fundraising throughout the previous (Fall 2024 though Winter 2025) year. The journey began on a crack of dawn Sunday Southwest departure which (by pleasant surprise) was an Honor Flight (https://www.honorflight.org) packed with elderly military Veterans which earned us a water cannon salute by the Arlington Fire Department on the tarmac of Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). Over the next four days we visited the American History Museum, Arlington National Cemetery (highlights included the Eastern Redbuds, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Space Shuttle Challenger & Kennedy gravesites), Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (as a Catholic, Wow), Embassy Row, Ford’s Theater (touristy show), George Washington’s Mount Vernon (most of which was being renovated ahead of USA 250), Holocaust Museum (the Boxcar and Shoes were horrific standouts), National Air and Space Museum, National Archives, Old Town Alexandria (Ghost Tour), a couple of Smithsonian’s, Supreme Court, US Capital (official tour), White House (official tour), Upper Georgetown, the Mall (guided, at night), and the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. Note, at the end of the first night as we took a chance and stayed up to maybe catch (https://presidentschedule.com) Marine One landing on the South Lawn of the White House during which I remember Kathy saying, “We’ll know they’re coming if snipers appear on rooftops to the East” which didn’t happen.

Beyond all those points of interest (navigated by outstanding tour guide Kathy Lingle Pond (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-lingle-pond-457ba244) I had four major personal ‘tasks’ to accomplish:

1. A 1 on 1 father daughter lunch which featuring a $26 cheeseburger (done)
2. A cigar at Shelly’s Back Room (done)
3. Somehow connecting with buddy Will Scharf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/will_scharf) who’s since been elevated to White House Counsel (unsuccessful)
4. Find and take a picture on the rooftop featured at the end of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie Minority Report (unsuccessful)

Backstory . . . for whatever reason I’ve been quoting the Tom Cruise / Chief John Anderton line (said at the end) when he confronted a caught red handed Max von Sydow / Director Lamar Burgess with, “What are you going to do Lamar – what are you going to do ?” followed by Lamar (bad guy) committing the selfish act of suicide thereby crashing the entire Pre-Crime (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pre-crime) system that Joel Goodsen, Lt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, Brain Flanagan, Cole Trickle, Lt. Daniel Kaffee, Mitch McDeere, David Ames, and Ethan Hunt were trying to protect for the last 144 minutes. Natalie and I somehow (through creative BS) got up to the closed VUE rooftop bar (https://www.vuerooftopdc.com) of Hotel Washington (see below) where the scene wasn’t shot. Sidebar, later when Tom and I bond my first question will be, “Was that filmed on a DC rooftop or was it movie magic” followed by when is the Frank T.J. Mackey / Magnolia (” Respect the C “) spinoff, followed by, “When are we attending the next Eyes Wide Shut ritual.”

My next (5th) visit will be for a 2027 half marathon when (same weekend) Monolith Media will host a rooftop cocktail’r featuring writers, partners, and political heavies commemorating this website hitting 50,000 readers.

TrL – 10 / 02 / 26