Amadeus in Bethesda- Entry 3 of 3

While we did not stay at an old motel in northern Virginia, the hotel stay with the other people in your party is perhaps the most challenging part of any trip.

For my mom and I this was particularly awkward because we have very different lifestyles and our own unique quirks. I like to read and listen to the radio or watch movies on dvd at home in North Carolina. I actually seldom watch regular tv unless there is a sporting event or a show on PBS that interests me. My mom however watches lots of network tv, and she was happy to find out that the CBS show "The Mentalist" was on tv.

Thursday night was the only night we spent at the hotel, and we arrived back around 9:20 p.m. We were both hoping to catch one of the local 11:00 newscasts to hear about President Barack Obama's surprise visit to DuPont Circle, an area of Washington, DC, where we had dined earlier in the evening, at the Turkish restaurant Ezme.

We got caught up along with everyone in watching his motorcade from the side of the road with yellow tape being placed to prevent anyone from getting to close. For the police officers, who I found myself surprisingly sympathizing with more than normal, the greatest challenge was actually communicating with passing joggers who were probably listening to Kenny G on their I-Pods.

The rumor was that Obama was dinning at a pizza place on P Street, just a few doors down from Ezme, and this was communicated to people through Twitter. As it turns, yesterday, at long last, I found out that the rumor was about sixty-percent accurate. Obama actually met with a big financial donor above the pizza place, and pizza was provided for them by the establishment.

But, none of this was mentioned on the 11:00 news, nor was in the express version of "The Washignton Post" which is a free paper mostly aimed at DC Metro commuters.

So, in the 90 minutes between the end of the CBS shows and the late local news, I had decided to barricade myself in the hotel room's bathroom while listening to the great classcial composer Gustav Mahler on WETA-FM, Washington, DC's excellent NPR station which is at least 90-percent classical music. I also took a copy of the current issue of "The Atlantic" with me into the bathroom.

My mother wondered what the heck I was doing. When I explained, she was even more confused. I simply wanted peace and quiet, and amazingly enough, for those 90 minutes, I actually got it.