LA to Washington on VX Seat 3A
I booked a 7am flight from LAX to IAD even though I knew it would involve getting a very early start. Turns out that as I had such a big day yesterday I actually woke up before my alarm. Having previously experienced US airport crowds I figured I needed to be at check in before 6am so it was a quick shower and out the door at about 5:15. Zero traffic on the way back to LAX from Hermosa Beach meant that it only took about 12 minutes, Enterprise showed their usual efficient service at drop off, the bus to the terminal was right there so before you know it I'm in the Priority line at VX and it's not even 5:45. They gave me a priority pass for security so I went right to the front and was taking my shoes off about 3 minutes later. First time back dealing with the TSA means double checking everything and I got all things out of pockets, shoes, laptop etc but when I got to the scanner I still had my wallet in my pocket. The lady said just hold it in your hand - so ok. When they tell you come out of the scanner you think all right I'm ok but you actually have to wait a couple more seconds until they get the all clear before you can actually step away. Now that was done I headed upstairs for the lounge and buzzed the door. Was let in to be told "We're not actually open yet but you can come in" I was also quizzed on my eligibility as my ticket was only main cabin select but quickly showed the Platinum tag on my bag and was waved in. This is what an empty lounge looks like.
The girls were busy setting up the breakfast but it didn't stop the only other guy in there from complaining that he wanted some yoghurt forcing one of them to stop what she was doing and go get him some. Grumpy old cough. With any seat available I sat near the window looking out at the tarmac watching the airport coming to life. As it got past 6:30 and I couldn't see the boards I went to the desk and asked if they did announcements and she just said let me call down to the gate. 5 more minutes was the answer so I got my stuff together and headed down. VX boards by rows and things were quite orderly but there was still a bit of a line so I just sat nearby and waited then as it thinned out till almost no-one was left I proceeded aboard. First Class was full and the rest of the plan looked full but there was nobody in 3B and looking across the row nobody in 3E either so we Main Cabin Select crew were flying in comfort. Soon after the Captain came out and did his speech as I had seen on my last VX flight and we were ready to go.
One thing I noticed as I was waiting to board was that pax were carrying all sorts of food and drink on board and the lady in 3F had one of those giant Starbucks cups which she just sat on the tray before we left the gate then as we taxied out and took off she just held it in her hand. The other noticeable differences to AUS flying were that the crew weren't the slightest bit interested in checking my boarding pass as I stepped on the plane - you're just on your own to find your seat - and all the blinds were down and stayed down for take off.
As this was my first time in row 3 on VX some differences with VA soon became apparent. It's a similar setup behind the purple plastic screen and you have the extra legroom. However there's a monitor on the wall, there's a tray which slides out of the wall and there's a shelf for the magazines etc with room to store more stuff if you want. Touching the screen gets the IFE up and running and you can start watching right from the gate. Plus as has been described by other AFFers once we hit cruising height you can order meals & drinks from the screen and they bring your order to your seat and as a Man Cabin Select my meals were included in my fare.
It was very comfortable and the slid out tray is really convenient and much better than fighting with the in armrest tray. As the flight was almost 5 hours I managed to watch 2 movies - Arbitrage and Searching for Sugarman which were both great - I ordered lunch which was an ok chicken wrap plus as they do the block off, toilets at the from are for first class only, I got to go down to the back of a plane for the first time in ages. It's a whole other world back there!
Soon we were descending and fortunately the forecast bad weather had not eventuated so I had a good view of Virginia as we came in. IAD is a big, very clean and modern airport. I was impressed. After picking up my bags I headed down to the Supershuttle desk as I had booked a transfer to my hotel. I was on my way without too much delay although me and a lady from Belgium who were at the desk together were a little confused by the instructions "just out the door to your right". Turns out the vans were parked about 300m to our right. I had booked the Holiday Inn on C St right near the Air and Space Museum and after a very pleasant welcome from the front desk and a quick drop off of my bags in the room I was out the door and on my way to see what I could see in the hour and a bit that I had left before closing time at 5:30. It was very busy as you would expect and once I found the Wright Brothers exhibit I just spent the rest of my time in there until they kicked us out. So fascinating.
After freshening up at the hotel, which one again as a Holiday Inn was clean & tidy and also pretty busy with a bunch of groups in the lobby, I decided to go for a wander then head up to U St took check out the bars and get some dinner. It was quite cold and there was almost no-one around. The mall area around the Capitol is amazing and there were plenty of photo ops but every time I wanted to take a picture I had to take my gloves off which is not what I'm used to at home. Definitely worth it though.
The Washington Metro ticket machines are a good test of intelligence. You have to check the list for that station you want which determines the fare, work out if it's peak or off peak, add the $1 for a paper ticket if you don't have a Metrocard, press the +/- buttons until the fare shows in the screen, press the ok button then put in your money. Took a while but I got it. Apart from that it's a quick efficient system and well patronised on a Saturday night.
Once I got to U St I wandered along scoping things out. Most of the bars are upstairs or downstairs and as they are in older buildings there's often just a small door so it's hard to see what they're like from the street. Anyway i ended up at the African end and I saw an Ethiopian restaurant which looked inviting so I thought I'd give it a try. With some help from the waitress I chose a lamb curry dish which looked ok on the menu. When it was delivered to my table it was on a large plate with the curry sitting on top of a flat bread very much like a pancake consistency with another piece of bread folded up on the side and it was served with no cutlery. So I had to ask what to do and what you do is tear off a piece of bread and use it to pick up the curry and shovel it into your mouth. It was pretty tasty and washed down with some Ethiopian beer. Another thing was that people were coming in for takeaway. Made me wonder if the next big thing in fast food could be Ethiopian takeout. Any potential investors can contact me. I was good and filling but i was getting tired so after a beer in another bar and the Metro home I hit the sack.
Next up was a good part of Sunday in DC then a train to NYC and the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theatre
