Life

Sarah and I watched State of Play last night.  It's a political thriller and was a good movie but something in it took me back to January, 1989. 

 

When I graduated from college, I got a job working for Congressman Ralph Regula in his Canton district office.  My salary was $18,000 a year and I actually had not gotten my degree yet because I needed to pass my Spanish profiency test first (which I did shortly after starting).  When George HW Bush was elected President, I decided to attend his Inaugural Ball in D.C. and invited an old friend of mine (Susan Markowich) to go with me.

 

I had very little money, see salary above, so had to get a cheap hotel and found a place called the Americana Hotel in Crystal City.  It was a mile from downtown DC and it was cheap so I booked it.  When we got there, I could not believe how bad it was.  Crystal City just sounds like a glamerous place but the Americana stood out.  In a glittering city of all new high rise buildings, the Americana was an oasis of seedy.  I think our room was a converted janitor's closet. 

 

I haven't thought too much about the Americana the last 20 years until last night.  Russel Crowe took a guy to a hotel to "interrogate" him and what place popped up on the screen?  Yeah, the Americana.  I can not believe the place is still there.  It looks exactly the same, the rooms still are seedy and I had to stop the movie and tell Sarah when they flashed the outside of it. 

 

The Inauguration weekend was a fun trip and I went back in 2000 for George W's.  This time I stayed at the Hilton in Alexandria though.