I've been in Baltimore for about 17 hours now and I'm so exhausted that it feels like I'm being tortured. You know the kind of exhaustion I'm talking about.
I didn't even find out about this trip until a week ago. My boss hunted me down in the lunch room (well me and the other marketing coordinator) and asked if one of us would like to go to Baltimore to attend a proposal seminar. Still being new to the profession (not to mention an education junkie), I jumped at the chance, especially when the other MC didn't seem to care either way. I thought about staying for more than a day, but was worried that I would end up exhausted and my weekend entirely spent.
The seminar was scheduled to be an 8-4 thing on Friday, so I scheduled a flight for Thursday afternoon. Although I wanted to fly out more in the evening (to get more work done during the day), I couldn't get a reasonably priced direct flight. My 2:20 flight still didn't land in Baltimore until 9:30. Leaving any later would have put me in way too late.
My Thursday started out pretty much the way any of my days have been starting out. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. (by far the earliest time my insomnia has assaulted me) and couldn't fall back asleep (helped partially by Gatsby, but I really can't give him too much credit. I've just got problems). I finally resigned myself to getting up at 4. I managed to work out and get a little cleaning done, not to mention getting ready (I did my hair and everything!), and still ended up at work an hour early. I had some good news to share at work (see my next blog post) so I was in a great mood, despite my very tirededness.
I left work at about 11 to go have lunch with my mom. She shuttled me to the airport. Yay! I wanted to be excited. Travel usually has that effect on me, but all I managed was a nap on both my flights, which were thankfully both on time (I love that that's such an oddity anymore that it shocks me). I got into Baltimore and realized a serious problem.
I love and hate google maps. I love its convenience, but I hate that I have grown to depend on it so that there are times I don't question its wisdom, despite the fact that I should. It told me a week ago that the Baltimore airport was just a hop skip and a jump away from my hotel and seminar. However, when I got to Baltimore, it was a slightly different story. A very nice man lent me his Maryland map and we poured over it looking for my necessary locations. Turns out my google "directions" were worthless and there was no way I was going to drive a rental car the 20 or so minutes through a foreign highway system and downtown...at night.
I took a cab. A $32 cab rid none the less. My cabbie couldn't find my hotel at first and when we finally pulled up to it I was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot nicer than I had been expecting. I got inside, waited for the desk lady to get off the phone, only to find out...I was at the wrong hotel. Right hotel line, wrong hotel. Fortunately, MY hotel was only a block away and the bellhop was kind enough to walk me to it. This was more my style (or at least price range). It was an old building that had gone slightly to seed, but it seemed like it had a few botched cosmetic surgeries over the years (the renovations inside my room didn't exactly mesh).
I was starving (at this point, it was 10:30 Baltimore time) and fortunately you could still order food in the hotel bar. I ordered a giant burger medium rare and for the first time in my life actually received a restaurant burger...medium rare. MR is how I take my steaks, but when I order burgers that way in a restaurant, they usually bring something with just a bit of pink in the middle (which I prefer, because this is ground random beef were talking about here). I had to send it back, and the chef came out to see what was the problem. He was pretty friendly when I explained that he was the first chef to cook my burger to MR specs (most restaurants don't do it because of the health issues, but I didn't point that out). After eating about half of my recooked burger, I admitted defeat (it was huge) and headed up to bed. Due to the combination of my naps earlier and the time change (it was only 9:00 in the CO), I didn't manage to fall asleep for quite a while.
The alarm going off at 6:00 a.m. was an unwelcome shock, but I rebelled by refusing to take a shower. Even though I wasn't due to be at the Engineer's club (the mansion hosting the seminar) until 8:00 and I was only a mile away, I left the hotel around 7:00 (on foot this time...to heck with taking a cab just around the city). I was feeling pretty smug, thinking I would stop by Kinkos to check-in for my flight and print off my boarding pass. Wrong! Of course Friday is the only work day that Kinkos doesn't open until 8. Boo. However, I did manage walk around historical downtown Baltimore for an hour, which despite my misgivings (Baltimore doesn't have the best crime record), was an awesome adventure. Lots of historical buildings, and the grey sky couldn't dampen my spirits. Also highly recommended: doing it all in heels. Despite my best efforts, my heel got caught in several grates and had to be freed.
The mansion itself was gorgeous. I have no pictures because I've been a horrible picture taker as of late (I know, it doesn't sound like me, but I just haven't had the inclination). Dark wood banisters, marble floors, conservatory, vaulted ceilings. Pretty much your run of the mill mansion (I'm an expert). The room the seminar was in was paneled in dark wood and dimly lit (imitation candlelight). Great for PowerPoint presentations. Bad for keeping Dana awake. I was so sleepy, but I didn't nod off once. The material was mildly interesting (some was interesting, some I already knew). The highlight was by far the plate of cookies that accompanied the lunch spread and I enjoyed a few sugar rushes.
I called a cab from the mansion and after a very frustrating conversation - the cabbie and I had a) completely different accents and b) cell phone reception issues - I managed to get a cab to pick me up after only 30 minutes. A $40 cab ride later (don't ask why it was more expensive than the first round) in the pouring rain found me safely to the airport. I breezed through security, feeling confident until I found out that my flight was delayed (mechanical difficulties). It seems every time I fly into O'Hare Airport, I have to do a mad dash through it's phalanges (and a dash it will be in that hell). Here's hoping my flight isn't delayed anymore and that I do make the connecting flight...
UpdateOMG, happy news! I'm sitting in the boarding area when I'm called to the podium. This doesn't usually seem to bode good news, but when I get up there, she asks, since my flight is delayed, how would I feel about a
direct flight back to Denver?! I practically leaped over the counter to hug her. Well, okay, maybe I just exclaimed loudly and promised her she made my day. This flight was apparently delayed as well. Although that means I'm stuck in this airport until 8:45, I get into Denver around 10:30. My dad will be thrilled and I don't have to do a marathon sprint through O'Hare (although I had already changed into my tennis shoes just in case).
