29 Sept 2014
All hail the Buffer. 
We were expecting delays so we arrived at the airport with an hour and a half of buffer. I saw the news crew first, then I noticed what they were filming; the queues of people waiting to be processed through security. 
“Well, we’ve got time: all hail the buffer.” 

We were directed from one queue to another as we attempted to check-in. But eventually we boarded the flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. Mid flight we encountered a patch of particularly disruptive turbulence, everything vibrated and shuddered, a loud shake, involuntary unison ‘ohh!’ and we felt the plane loose altitude in search of a smoother ride. 

In Charlotte we had 20 mins to make our connection, no problem. Time for speed shopping; I purchased a snazzy hard shell case for our pocket projector. Taking my seat on the plane, I stared absently out the widow and watched the ground crew going about their business. The conveyor belt arrived along with a truck load of luggage. The two baggage handlers were talking animatedly with each other, they were obviously enjoying a funny conversation and often stopped loading to make gestures and to crack up laughing. I wished I could hear their southern accents. 

It’s a short flight to DC so we cruised at the top of the cloud cover which was beautiful but bumpy. I watched a small circular rainbow follow us and the shadow of the plane leapt into and out of the clouds, flickering like a stop motion edit. I just couldn’t capture this effect in the photographs, so concentrated on burning it into my memory. 

It was a beautiful time to break through the thick cloud cover. Washington sparkled in the twilight as we circled over the city. I could see the obelisk, Capitol Hill even the Pentagon which surprised me. 

We checked into the hotel and headed down to the restaurant for dinner, by now we were starving. The food was amazingly good. Fresh, light, delicious, and cooked to perfection! Reasonable portions too. I wish I could describe my scallop starter dish, it was the perfect blend of taste and texture: smokey, creamy, crunchy, smooth.

Looking forward to exploring DC tomorrow!