Not long after Netroots Nation Spedwybabs and I started talking about how useful it would be to have a Progressive friendly bed & breakfast on a Metro line inside the beltway. This was mostly idle speculation driven by Beth's love of cooking coupled with her need to find something new to do after the first of the year.
We had no plan to go into D.C. When I set out for Pennsylvania but I got a call late last night, one thing led to another, and in between meeting staffers and Congressmen today we got in a little house shopping on Capitol Hill ... for what we intend to call The Progress House. But that's only going to come true if we play our cards just right.
I'd been to DC a few times over the years, most recently in April for the Energy Information Administration's annual conference, but I'd never done any of the tourist stuff. I stumbled across the White House by accident one night last spring while trying to find my hotel and today was my first visit to Capitol Hill itself.
We arrived at 12:30 for lunch at the Democratic National Club. I thought the name was rather presumptuous when I first heard it, but as it's right next to the Democratic National Committee headquarters I guess they're allowed.
We were met by two DailyKos lurkers – REDACTED and his wife REDACTED. I'd met REDACTED, a genuine rocket scientist complete with plans for a sub-orbital space business, at Netroots Nation. He was immediately taken with my work on renewable ammonia. Today REDACTED had a briefing lined up at 2:00 so we had a nice lunch, then he scooted over to the Longworth building while REDACTED escorted us around Capitol Hill.
The houses on the hill are what are called the Federalist style – 1890s to 1930s brick row homes, sturdy and almost completely lacking any of the ornamentation of the Victorian era. They seem quite cramped to this farm boy – my nearest neighbor to the right was half a mile and to the south a mile and a half, so this shared wall business strikes me as a bit strange.
Strange but ... inviting. The narrow streets, the canopy of trees, the cobblestones, and the little front porches or tiny yards with lawn furniture call up another era, one when neighbors knew each other in a way that today's media number, hyper-individual consumers would only recognize from a movie set in small town America two generations or more in the past.
This one looks cute, eh? But the '133' is clearly visible above the door and this is C Street. And you know what that means ...
There was plenty of other architectural eye candy on display, but looks and location are just the beginning. I texted Gosha Seminov, the Russian emigre with the home restoration business I'd met last spring. He was too busy to meet with us today but he'll help in the home selection process when the time comes. He'd already schooled me a bit on what to look for – Washington, D.C. Homes are incredibly solidly built, but the ground is swampy and the constant microquakes from the Metro cause things that ought to remain in one place to move in very disturbing ways.
We only had two hours to look at houses as REDACTED had, on the spur of the moment, arranged for me to meet with some Congressional staffers in the agriculture area to talk about renewable ammonia. He does a lot of lobbying for his own business, his company's expertise in rocket motor design fits well with some of the requirements for the ammonia and methanol systems we're doing, and he is willing to help me get started interfacing with Congress. We had a nice chat, then adjourned again to the National Democratic Club for drinks and further conversation.
Longworth Building Hallway
Part of the conversation was a brief, impromptu discussion with Congressman Dan Maffei of NY-25. There was nothing of substance to it, just a brief, friendly chat and exchange of business cards before he sat down to dinner with constituents. REDACTED found some other Congressmen he knew later and he spent a good bit of time with them while Beth, REDACTED, and I continued our own discussion.
OK, sorry, this is a half finished thought, but we've been rubbing our tummies, Neal Cassidy style, and now we're about to jump up, run out, and have another political adventure.