To Arlington we go

I had researched ways to get from Baltimore airport to Arlington

 and public transport is the way to go, but I have luggage, a toddler and I don’t want to make the transfer from the MARC train to the Metro and blah, blah, blah, luckily, the other professor and her husband that are going on the trip and on our plane feel the same and the taxi company I talked to set the price at about $60 to head out to the hotel.  So, we grab our luggage and head out to the taxi stand and I figure all the taxis are going to be competitive 

 with this price, but no, we get to pay $120 for the ride with tip.  We still got to step two feet and be loaded and at the front door of the hotel an hour later, so I’m going to say it was still worth it, especially when Oscar took a 20 minute catnap in the car.  He was excited about a taxi anyway.  Plus, we got to see all the pear trees and dogwoods that are blooming and the driver told us about things going on around here.  On the ride, I get a call from John to find out 

that they haven’t even left Grand Rapids yet, so they’re going to call the hotel and tell them that we will be here before the group.  We check in and get set up in the room and then head out to the hipster part of Arlington where the first fancy restaurant has an hour wait.  I’m thinking it’s not the place for Oscar anyway and we walk a bit more and notice Ray’s Hellburger which doesn’t have real signage yet, is not very full, but has people going in and out at a good clip.  So, I decide that there’s not

too many people Oscar can piss off if he doesn’t act well and we decide to take a chance.  At least they have beer and wine and milkshakes with booze in them.  I’m thinking that the one with bourbon and bacon will have to happen for John at some point.  We have amazingly good burgers, mine had brie and avocado on it and I could definitely do that at home, but it was the rarest burger I have ever been served, which it made it good.  Even when you order “medium”, you usually get medium well if you’re lucky, you never get a

true medium or something even less, but this was and it was delicious….going back to the hotel we hit a target on the street and I was able to get a six pack of cold beer for when John finally gets here and needs one and some more snacks for Oscar.  It took the group a long time to get here from Dulles because they took public transport the whole way and this made me feel even better about the money we shelled out for a taxi….but we’re all finally safe and sound at the hotel.  The video of Oscar yelling out the hotel door for “dad” was priceless though.  Glad they were late for that alone.