DC Business Trip - Day 1

Business Trip to DC!  This will be my first domestic flight (apart from linking to International travel) that I've taken in years (probably since before COVID).  Somehow, I thought it might be a good idea to take the earliest non-stop flight from California to Northern Virginia - I paid for this decision today...  I was awake (with a much needed alarm) at 0400 and checked out of hotel.  At that point, the temps were in the 40s - I realized that I'd probably miss that when I'm in "Real Winter" later in the day...  The drive from The Dylan to San Francisco Airport was very quick (short time on US-101) and I was able to easily find the Long Term Lot.  I'd Pre-Paid for my parking spot (second deck) and that worked well.  I rode an elevator to a higher level of the garage and was boarding the AirTrain (Blue Line) by 0445.  I got off the train at Terminal 2/3 at 0500 and was through TSA by 0515.  That all seemed good to me but the TSA agent suggested I sign up for "United Touchless" to make it even faster!  Once near the departure gates (0525), I bought breakfast and lunch at Pronto (a sandwich shop).  Almost immediately, I ate the former and saved the latter for later.  With some time to kill, I walked around in the SFO Airport and didn't return to my gate until boarding had started (0615).  With a Basic Economy ticket (Group 4), I worried about my bag not filling in the overhead bins.  Fortunately, everything worked out OK because I was onboard a B737-800/900 (middle seat near the back) and it had plenty of space.  It took longer than I'd expected for us to depart the gate but we finally took off at 0705 (20 minutes late).  As we climbed out over the Bay, I could barely see the scenery through a distant window...  I spent my time inflight watching movies.  I was pleasantly  surprised that we got two drink services (I even got a Stroopwaffle).  The flight time was definitely less than five hours - we landed at Dulles by 1440 local time - and I was off of the plane by 1500.  Things looked good until I was delayed by having to use the mobile lounge to reach the main terminal.  After that, it was a long walk to the Metro Station (arrived there at 1520).  During any trip I've taken to Dulles prior to this, I would have had to take a cab or Uber.  However, I was able to board a Silver Line train at 1530 and begin the long, slow ride into DC.  Actually, this was the first time I've ridden any "new" sections of the Silver Line track since they opened the section west of Wiehle Reston Station.  On the way, I exchanged texts with Arnie (making plans for happy hour) and my daughters ("I'm on the East Coast").  For some reason, there were lots of delays ("train holding") and lots more people boarded as we continued.  Despite all of this, I was off at L'Enfant by 1630.  I screwed up (forgotten habits) almost immediately and took the wrong exit.  To top it off, the escalator was out of service on an extremely long stairway.  I ended up at the L'Enfant Plaza Food Court and had to do even more walking (to the east).  On the way, I passed a team of National Guard with DC Metro Police - they are keeping each other safe after the recent murder of one of their comrades.  I arrived at the Holiday Inn (Washington Capital) National Mall by 1640, checked into my room and then quickly dropped my bags.  Almost immediately, I returned to the Metro Station and boarded a southbound Yellow Line train (1650).  It was, thankfully, a quick trip to Virginia.  I got off at Pentagon City at 1700 and headed towards the old Sine Irish Pub (later called Mattie and Eddie's).  Unbeknownst to me and Arnie, the business had permanent closed.  Fortunately, I was able to reset my meetup with Arnie to Nighthawk Pizza.  Even better: it ended up being Happy Hour there and I got good deals on Boneless Wings, Pepperoni Pizza and three bourbon lemonades I first sat town at 1705, Arnie arrived at 1720 and we had a great time catching up on each other's lives.  The food and drinks were good and we stayed at the bar until 1850.  After saying goodbye to my friend, I walked through the Fashion Centre Mall again and took a Blue Line train to Pentagon Station, where I switched to a Yellow Line train.  I was able to get to L'Enfant Plaza by 1920.  I spent a little more time walking nearby (to finish 10K steps) and plans for an Uber in the morning.  After everything, I was back in my room by 1940.  An added bonus was that I got a call from Kerith, who I hoped to see during the coming weekend and we talked for a while about our plans.  With the time I had remaining tonight, I worked on finances, blogging and my work week schedule.  In the end, I went to bed at 2230.  What a day!  My body has no idea what time it is and I hope it figures things out before I fall asleep in any meetings...