11 / 28 / 2025 – Essay #5 – Just slippin’ by on LSD (in D.C.)

Since this is the Dawn of Man aka Phase 1 of Monolith Media that’ll cover USA politics I thought it would be appropriate to share details of my four trips to Washington D.C. which were in 2025, 2010, 1995, and 1992. This was going to be a chapter in ‘the book’ but one needs to be famous to pen an autobiography so we’re doing this backwards.

#1 – April 2025

Spring of 2025 I was the lone male on a 24 person D.C. excursion which included my daughter Natalie, the other 10 of her eighth grade girls (the class had no boys), and 10 moms (the reason for this ratio will be the subject of a future essay) which was supported by fundraising throughout the previous year. The journey began on a crack of dawn Sunday Southwest departure which, by surprise, was an Honor Flight ( https://www.honorflight.org / see – A – below ) full of military Veterans and chaperones so we were greeted by a water cannon salute by the Arlington fire department on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). From there, Kathy of the Group Tour Company ( http://grouptourcompany.com ) took the lead as we traveled to George Washington’s Mount Vernon for walking tour (which like many attractions were under construction ahead of the America 250 celebrations – https://america250.org) followed by a mini couch tour of Upper Georgetown, Washington National Cathedral, Embassy Row, the Memorials (Lincoln, Korean War and Vietnam Veterans). We were then dropped off at the Washington Monument when Kathy guided us to walk toward the White House to potentially see the Marine One helicopter land on the South Yard as the President was potentially returning ( https://presidentschedule.com ) from Florida. Kathy said, “You’ll know they’re coming if snipers appear on rooftop of building to the East” which didn’t happen. Shortly thereafter we checked into the Holiday Inn Washington Capitol (located a block south of the Air & Space Smithsonian) which was much nicer than expected.

Intineray of Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 . . . pending

#2 2010 (Construction Show) . . . pending

#3 1992 (Post college trip) . . . pending

#4 1990 (With my first crush) . . . pending

– A – https://www.honorflight.org

Honor Flight Network is a national nonprofit organization of independent hubs working together to achieve the Honor Flight mission. In furtherance of this common goal, we have the enormous privilege of showing our nation’s veterans the appreciation and honor they deserve. Participation in an Honor Flight trip gives veterans the opportunity to share this momentous occasion with other comrades, remember the fallen, and share their stories and experiences with other veterans. Honored veterans always travel free of charge, thanks to generous donations to our organization. While initially focused solely on America’s World War II era veterans, Honor Flight Network has expanded its mission to include those who served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War eras. The Honor Flight TLC program also honors veterans of any service era who are critically ill. In order to maximize the number of American veterans served by our organization, each eligible veteran may only be honored on a single Honor Flight trip. Over 128 hubs across the country form our Honor Flight Network. These hubs and their volunteers truly make our mission a success. They freely donate their time and talents to coordinate flights, bus trips, welcome home ceremonies, thousands of phone calls and so much more – all with the common goal to honor our nation’s heroes with the trip of a lifetime.