Hail to the Chief

I've always been a big proponent of unscripted moments. For example, in my world, you are never lost, you're just on the way to unplanned adventures.  And that philosophy, as frustrating as it is can be to my more focused friends, led last night to a chance encounter with the President of the United States.

Originally, we had planned to be at The Politics and Prose Bookstore at 7 p.m. to hear a book talk by Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley. Now, being new to the DC area, we are stlll learning our way around the city.  I hadn't done that much location research, but I knew that the shop, which we had never been to, was about a mile from the Van Ness Metro stop on Connecticut Avenue. And I had the store's address. Armed with that info, it couldn't be that hard, right?

So, after dinner, we walked the 4 blocks underground to our Crystal City Metro stop, swiped our Metro Smartrip cards, and boarded the Blue Line train, which would take us to the Metro Center where we would transfer to the Red Line for our bookstore stop.

While waiting for our transfer we had the first of our night's two unexpected incidents.  A middle-aged man, wearing a white shirt-sleeved shirt and matching hat, stumbled past us and plummeted off the platform right into the path of an oncoming train.  As awaiting passengers looked on in shock, the man, obviously stoned out of his mind, circled a bit before swaying off in a half-crouch toward the opposite platform.  In a few seconds, he reached his destination and several good Samaritans reached down to pull him up. The man, oblivious to both his surroundings and the unease he had caused, simply staggered off through the crowd.

We boarded our train without further incident and traveled to Van Ness. Exiting through the turnstiles, I had the feeling we should go right; my wife  was convinced we should go left.  Exiting the station, the descending numbers seemed to support my wife, so left we went.

We walked down Connecticut Avenue past scores of unique looking apartment complexes. We walked past a couple of blocks of really neat open-air restaurants and cafes.  But when we reached the Cleveland Park Metro station, even though the address numbers were still headed downward, I was pretty convinced we were going in the wrong direction.  And when we reached the National Zoo, I was sure we were.

When I pointed out my newly established certainty to my wife, she looked at me with that look of frustrated disgust that only she can muster and said "You can't look things up, can you? Next time, when we don't know where we're going, we're going to Mapquest."

Knowing she was right, I still had to respond.  "Hey, it's OK. I really didn't want to hear the booktalk that badly anyway (I did). We're exploring. We're having new adventures." But little did I know just how right those words would prove to be.

As we approached an intersection about 3 blocks later, we heard the sounds of a helicopter hovering over the trees. At the intersection, we saw that police had it blocked off in all directions . "I wonder if they are having a race?" my wife asked. When we joined the crowd of about 15 people, we saw a dozen police motorcycles and cars, lights flashing, coming toward us.  Then we noticed the big, black limousine in the middle, heard cheering on the other side of the street, and suddenly realized that President Barack Obama would be passing directly by us as he turned to head back to The White House..

And he did. We waved and he waved. We smiled and he smiled. We thumbed-up and he thumbed-up.  Of course, as I am apt to do, I kept my camera in my pocket the whole time.  But then, given the current state of my photography skills, I probably would have only captured the President's license plate anyway.

"Well, there's our DC moment for tonight," the young businessman to my left said. And he was right - it was a thrilling moment. OK, it wasn't like we had a half-hour sit-down with Mr. Obama, but we did see and wave to a president who was only a few feet away. An exciting DC moment.  And a moment that confirmed my theory - you're never really lost, you're just on the way to possible unplanned adventures.

But, before we turned in for night, I promised my wife that I would seek better directions next time. Now, in reality, I probably won't. Forget maps and Mapquest; I'll take those unplanned adventures any day.

Traveler's Tip:
If you are really, really drunk skip the Metro and take a cab. It might cost more but it's better than staggering off a platform into the path of an oncoming train.  Also, the next time you appear headed in the wrong direction, don't get upset - you might be on your way to meet the president.