The night I finished the final exam of the worst semester of my life, December 11, 2020, I just so happened to be Snapchatting my friend, Noah Satorius, who lives in Annandale, Virginia; a 15 mines drive from D.C. Within minutes, he invited me to his house, and I’d decided I’d leave the following day. I packed up all the stuff I’d need, watched National Treasure to get into the” D.C. mood,” and went to sleep. I left early that morning and drove straight through to Noah’s house. The drive was not fun, let me tell you. If it wasn’t for the airplane I saw land on the Ohio Turnpike; I may have fallen asleep at the wheel. 13 hours and 850 miles later, I got to Noah’s house. We played some FIFA and hit the hay.
The next day, Noah navigated us through the D.C. Subway system. We got off at Freedom Plaza, where the Million MAGA March to protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was taking place. It was cool to spectate and observe the ginormous crowds of people and law enforcement officers. We walked up and down the National Mall and to the White House. We even saw Marine One land while we were there.
When we had enough of that, we walked over to the International Spy Museum. There wasn’t quite as much James Bond as I’d hoped; nevertheless, it was still a worthy pit stop. After that, we met up with two of Noah’s friends near the Supreme Court. From there, we walked to a local German pub, Biergarten Haus. We got back to Sato’s place and played some more FIFA. That day alone was worth the drive.
The following day we went to church and then drove to George Washington’s Mount Vernon. After that, we checked out the Pentagon and the US Marine Corps War Memorial.
On Monday, the 14th, we went put the Washington Monument. The previous night, I discovered that it only costs only $1 for a ticket. With the Covid “pandemic” going on, they required people to schedule times to go up. Since so many people were scared of Covid, plenty of open time slots were available. Remember, this was done only 10 hours in advance. Once again, Covid proved to be advantageous for travel.
After that, Sato and I found some food, went back to his house, and relaxed. We went back to the Washington Monument for sunset. I got some neat sunset photographs of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. We sat on the steps of the Lincoln Monument for a half hour and just took the emptiness of D.C. in. No hustle or bustle, and only a few people in the Monument. We eventually walked over to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. And then drove to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Unfortunately, most of it was under construction. We went back near where we had previously been and walked to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Since it was pretty cold, we decided to head back to the car. On our way back, we drove by Ford’s Theater and then briefly parked and walked around the U.S. Supreme Court (at least as close as we could with the barricades they had blocking the entrance). We capped off my final night with, you guessed it, some more FIFA.
I woke up on the 15th, said goodbye to Noah and his family, and headed home. I wish that was where the story ends. There were a couple of places I wanted to see before I left. After all, when’s the next time you’ll be in Washington D.C. First, I went to T.C. Williams High School. I walked around the school grounds, but the school itself was closed due to Covid.
The final place on my list was the CIA. I’ve been within feet of the MI6 building in London, even had lunch near it on the Thames. Two days prior, Noah and I had been in the parking lot of the Pentagon. I had pictured this encounter going somewhat similarly. Boy, was I wrong.
When I pulled up to the entrance to the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, there was a drive-through-style microphone that asked me what my purpose for being at the CIA was. I responded simply that I had just hoped to look around and that I wasn’t an employee and had no business at the CIA. The person instructed me to pull forward, and a Police Officer escorted me to a parking spot. Within 3 minutes, my ’97 Mustang was surrounded by two government issue squad cars and an all-black SUV. An officer came to my window and asked me to step out of the vehicle. He took me aside to question me while another officer inspected the outside of my “Stang.
The Officer asked me why I was at the CIA, and I told him I had just hoped to walk around and see what it looked like. I explained that I had done similar things at different locations, and he seemed to understand that. After clearing up why I was there, they directed their attention towards my vehicle. They noticed the back seat was a cluttered mess. “Living out of your car?” One officer asked me. I told him I had just finished my college semester and visited my friend in Annandale. The Officer issued me a written warning (which I have laminated) and warned that if I got caught doing this again, I’d serve time in jail. The two squad cars turned their lights on and escorted me off the CIA’s property and onto the nearest road. I think I had just reached Chicago when my heart rate came down. What a trip.
