Aloft Dulles North, Ashburn. My cute driver Anneke was
extremely chatty and nice. Checkin to a top-floor room
was without hitch.

No soap in the room. A couple other things missing as well,
but I forget what they are, as I seldom use them.

I took an instant dislike to the bartender, who spent most
of her time talking to (not with) the patrons. Even if she
wasn't talking to you, you'd learn where she grew up, went
to school, her work schedule, what music she likes to listen
to. It was kind of a chore catching her eye to order another
beer. Sierra Nevada was cheaper than Blue Moon; both were
the same price on the printed menu. At length I got hungry
and ordered meatloaf with tater tots and vegetable croutons
- this of course took a really long time to come out, even
though everything had to have been made in advance. Maybe
14 oz of decent-tasting meat substance, highly processed
from cheap ground beef, so it was mostly this uniform mash
with little particles of very hard gristle. Ketchup frosting
as with most meatloaf. The tater things were pretty good,
and the "croutons" turned out to be just your ordinary
steamed vegetables, green beans, red bell pepper, yellow
carrots, and broccoli. Also, to add value, there was a small
ramekin of unnanounced, pretty decent (though not so nice
as homemade Alaskan) cole slaw.

Fast forward 40 hours, during which I ate no solids and
drank only water, thanks to a freelance assignment blowing
up in my face - being retired, I have to take on assorted
odd jobs to make ends meet. I got massively sick. Going to
e-mail the manager about that meatloaf.

To remedy my suddenly emptied system, I went next door to
the HGI to get some lunch (the only kitchen within walking
distance - as distinguished from a heat'n'eat parlor) and
discovered that it offers breakfast and dinner only. What
to do? There's a Mini-Mart (Exxon or Mobil I think) down
the way - chili dog (1.39 for the dog, .30 for chili and/or
cheese), Schlitz Malt Liquor (1.59 for 24 oz, but to be fair
for about twice that I could get Heineken or Beck's), fried
Cheetos (2.99 for half a pound). On expeditions such as this
I get to indulge all my most horrid perversions. The dog
(jumbo beef) was not notable - a little more than 1/4 lb of
way overprocessed and oversalted meat, not sweetened, thank
the gods, and with a decent smoky flavor. The chili I put
on from a nearby dispenser was, surprisingly, an underspiced
and overtomatoed but decent eatin' chili, one that I'd not
send back at a restaurant. Schlitz Malt Liquor is its usual
slightly too sweet bitter-from-ethanol self, with a fruity
aroma and a rubbing-alky finish. And I have this secret love
for Cheetos. A semi-satisfying meal, enough for two, for the
price of an ice cream at the hotel.

Holed up in this hotel for a while and then left, dullly.

As she didn't know where the Sheraton was, Anneke took me to
the airport to catch a shuttle, which didn't come for a fair
time, during which the Westin Reston bus and the Marriott
bus both came twice. I chatted with an ASA FA whose luggage
had been lost by UA and then with Anneke, who had come back
for a second round. Eventually the shuttle came, driven by
some I seem to recall as being an assistant manager.

Sheraton Herndon Dulles. This is becoming home away from
home, as well it might be for $55++. This time they gave me
a biggish corner room with a big bathroom. The resto/bar
wasn't open, so back to Generous Georgie's, where a Sam and
an order of "shrimp scampi" was $21 all in and did me well -
except they poured me 32 oz of Sam Summer, which it turns
out is dirtier-tasting than Blue Moon and not what I was
looking forward to at all, though given the heat it was
refreshing enough. The seafood came as 10 24-30s (a bit
over 1/3 lb) in a semi-appetizing sauce of very bland oil,
chopped garlic from a jar, Old Bay (what's the charm of it,
I keep asking myself, it's just salt, paprika, celery seed,
and minute quantities of bay and thyme or something like
that), chopped tomato, and red pepper flakes (Georgie's
motto is "spicey is nicey") - pretty good, though the
shrimp had been overbrined and were quite salty. Instead of
a bread basket (to soak up that neutral oil) they served me
a couple small peculiar slices of white pizza.

The room comforted me, and I slept well. Unfortunately,
someone had spilled some oily mess on the night table, and
it hadn't been cleaned up, so groping for my glasses I got
a handful of grease. Whereupon I tried to turn on the
light, only to discover it was out. So I blundered over
to the standing lamp down the way, only to discover it out
as well. At the front door, the switch actually turned some
lights on and allowed me to see that the lamps in question
had been unplugged. No tip for this maid.

Next stop Boston, for a short non-trip-report-worthy jaunt,
and then to the VIE Do!