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5/6/2014

Malice Domestic: Trains, Planes, and Escalators

PictureThe Metro
When I traveled to Bethesda, Maryland last week for the Malice Domestic convention, I had no idea I was going to use a world famous method of transportation. Automobile, plane, and trains took me most of the journey, and there were pleasant surprises along the way.

I rarely travel by myself. When I do, I tend to imagine I am on a grand adventure. Maybe that's my coping method for the stresses of navigating strange places. 

My husband drove me to DIA - Denver International Airport. Maybe I can't call my first observation unexpected, because I have traveled through the airport many times, and have seen this before. Embedded in the airport floors are dinosaurs. Not real ones. Shiny metal images.

I had to smile. The reason I was making this trip was partially to promote my novel Stone Cold Dead - A Rock Shop Mystery. Dinosaur fossils are part of my story. 


PictureThe Metro subway
I arrived at the Reagan International Airport on time, and now had choices to make about how to get to the hotel. A woman on my flight had assured me that the subway was a safe method of transportation. 

For a small town girl like me, taking the subway seemed daring. An adventure. I made my way to the Metro station. I was certain big city, East coast people were all rude and in a hurry. With trepidation, I asked an obviously seasoned local how to operate the ticket dispensing machine. He explained the process to acquire a ticket, and which line to take. Everything is remarkably simple and color-coded.

I had to make a transfer, and managed to find my way to the correct train, going the correct direction. Confident I was not going to get lost, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

The Metro was humid, warm, and dark. Maryland might consider a mushroom farm in the subway tunnels. I snapped photos like the tourist I was. No one seemed to mind. In the Washington D. C. vicinity, they are used to tourists.

Then I turned a corner, and saw the most remarkable escalator. I snapped a photo, but sadly it did not turn out. Here are links to photos of the longest escalator in the Western hemisphere:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wheaton_escalator_from_bottom_right.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/s4xton/461112546/

I stepped on with my bags. The escalator rolled up, up, and up some more. I didn't know escalator etiquette. You are supposed to stand to the right so more ambitious people can race up all 230 feet on the left. I shuffled to the side to allow the sprinters to pass. 

The ride is so amazingly long, a reporter wrote an article about things to do while you're riding the longest escalator in the Western hemisphere:

http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/12/what-to-do-when-youre-riding-americas-longest-escalator/



Picture
I arrived in Bethesda. I had no idea how to get from the Metro station to the hotel, so I approached a couple musicians. The two gentlemen placed an open guitar case on the ground and prepared to perform in the subway. 

"Can you tell me how to get to this hotel?" I held out a printout with the address of the Hyatt.

"That's a real nice place," one said.

"See that elevator?" the other said. "It'll take you right there."

I thanked them, tossed a dollar in the guitar case, and wheeled my bag away. I went up the elevator and was deposited nearly at the door of the hotel. 

A banner announced the Malice Domestic convention. I made it! 

Irene Bennett Brown link
5/6/2014 03:26:00 am

Amazing and interesting adventure, such helpful people and you weren't mugged once! Looking forward to posts about Malice Domestic, with thanks.

Karen McCullough link
5/6/2014 10:44:29 am

Hi Cathy -- I've been on that escalator a number of times. It's amazingly disorienting. As you get near the middle there's a point where, because of the slant of the roof, you can't see either the top or the bottom of it. Without any referents the brain can get confused about the direction of movement. I've also watched in amusement as people actually rush up that elevator, climbing from bottom to top. I'm sure it's good exercise.

Catherine Dilts
5/6/2014 10:59:53 am

Irene, I plan to blog several more times during the month of May about Malice Domestic. This was my first time attending. It is a nice, friendly conference with hundreds of folks reading and writing mysteries!
Karen, I did not know about the existence of that amazing escalator. Some women were running up it in heels!


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