UA7286 PVD IAD 1425 1610 CR7 3A

Hitched a ride with friends going to the dentist in Pawtucket.
No particular relevance to this except that the dentist visit
took twice as long as it should, and I'd said sure, I'll sit
around the dentist's office (instead of sitting around the
terminal). So big rush on the end, and they got me to the
airport at 1:30. I assured my friends that I'd be fine,
and in fact security took just a few minutes, despite the
line of 50 or 60, and I had time to bolt down a Sam and a
burger rare at Wolfgang Puck. Don't order the burger rare:
it's pretty good beef, but it appears to be adulterated and
seasoned and whatnot, so the effect is of eating rare meat
loaf. The build: bun (buttered), special sauce of the usual
sort, patty, sauteed mushrooms with herbs (thyme, oregano),
Cheddar, chopped red onion, tomato, lettuce, bun. $10.95
with a huge pile of good fries on the side. Sam: 16 oz for
$5.50++, add $1.50 for a "big beer" - actually only 4 more
oz, add $3 for a shot of non-top-shelf booze. Oddly, Knob
and Maker's are non-top-shelf, whereas Johnny red is. Okay,
Knob Creek it is. The sandwich experience was reasonably
satisfying, in the big blob of multiflavored food way; just
it wasn't really a burger. And more calories than should be
ingested at one sitting.

I faintly heard "flight 7286 to Washington Dulles, all
zones, all rows" but ignored it for a while. When I moseyed
to the gate, my seat was gone, and the FA said, take any
open seat. I fell asleep for the duration of the flight. I
am sort of glad that the bulkhead row was empty (probably
vacated by late upgrades, and more power to them). We landed
a bit early, but I went to the extremely crowded C17 RCC to
do my e-mail and missed a couple of the newly doubled in
price Dulles-downtown buses. Eventually found one and paid
my $6 (extortionate, but what else is new in Washington?).

US 887 DCA CLT 1035 1156 319 3F Empower off

I got the full secondary at security. I told some friends
that the circus seldom takes more than 10 minutes here, so
maybe I jinxed myself. So: body scan. Every item (except
medicine and toiletries bag) taken out, unfolded, felt up,
and examined. Sort of silly. I chatted with the "lead,"
one Fritz, while her colleague went extremely carefully
through every nook and cranny of my bag. She seemed a little
defensive and informed me that they had to be extra careful,
with all the congresspersons and all, which makes no sense,
and I told her that they probably caught more politicians
than anything else, and if they don't they should. With all
the extra attention, getting into the terminal took 20 min,
and the club was specially welcome afterward. Even though
the bar was closed. Fie on you, Virginia ABC regulations.

[P.S. My watch fell out of the bag on this trip, I suspect here.
It was a Seiko Silver Wave from the 1970s.]

We took off quite late but made up the time en route. A
pretty, agreeable blonde FA. Uneventful flight. A pair of
Glenlivets. We landed at 11:39 but didn't get to the gate
until 12:10, which irritated some. I figured I had time for
a beer at the club anyhow.

US1103 CLT DFW 1305 1436 321 3C Empower off

This was the route on which there was F availability, so I
took it, despite its getting me to LAS 3 hours later than
the nonstop. Makes sense to me.

I lingered a bit long at the club and moseyed up as they
were calling zone 4. There was only one slot in the overhead
bins, but luckily mine was the only seat left up front.

The F FA was poker-faced but attentive, and every time I
looked up, there was another whisky ready to be drunk:
Glenlivets, 6 of them.

We got in more or less on time, so I had plenty of time to
explore the BBQ options for which this airport is so well
known. Nothing really stood out in a positive way, no
surprise as they all truck the food in from the commissary.

Railhead, near D18, offered brisket out of a water bath -
the meat suffered both in flavor and texture; it was
distinctly substandard, though the sauce wasn't too sweet.

The others at least slice to order, though from meat wrapped
in plastic film.

Cousins, near D28, gave me half a pound of way too lean but
well smoked brisket (I asked for fatty, but the counterman
merely chuckled); its sauce was nice, celery-seed heavy.

Dickey's, in the E terminal, undersmokes its meat. Both pork
ribs and brisket had an okay fat-meat ratio, erring on the
side of lean; the sauce was similar to Cousins' but sweeter.
The staff were by far the friendliest of the lot.

For some reason this airport spooks me out in general. I'm
glad that we RCC people can use the PC, whose physical plant
and booze selection underwhelm, though the staff are cheery,
and the concierge said goodbye to me by name. Dos Equis
lager is the best offered.