The drive through DC was nerve wracking to say the least. DC is very walkable and pedestrian-friendly and on this day, like on any given Sunday, loads of tourists flocked to the Mall to protest, pay tribute to, or gain some historical insight.
They’ didn’t give a crap about cars and buses – they damn sure didn’t give a sh*t about 18 wheelers. They walk wherever and whenever, even if that means walking in front of something big and fast. And we had to stop on a dime.
I knew to avoid 295, the BWI Parkway. Just like in NYC, parkways were scenic, for commuters and often had low clearances. So I took 50-West into downtown which turned into New York Ave. Right in front of the Carnegie Library (now the Apple store on Mount Vernon Square), I made a left onto 7th which took me through Chinatown, passing the friendship arch to my left.
Then I hung a right on Constitution. The pedestrian traffic was thick and unforgiving. Luckily there were no parades or street festivals – just your typical Sunday in the psychotic Nation’s Capital.
From Constitution, I passed the White House guarded to the brink with the Secret Service, then veered right onto Virginia Ave with Simon Bolivar the Liberator from Venezuela providing cover.
Then it was important to keep my head on a swivel because there is a low clearance of 13 feet.
When I pulled into the Kennedy Center, I was surprised that big rigs could park in front of the majestic home of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Seems to me that a venue as fancy as the Kennedy Center would have loading docks and a place to load trucks far and away from the well dressed crowd in party jackets and cocktail dresses.
When I arrived, there were already several trucks parked neatly in a row. Even though I was running 15 minutes late, I would have to wait several hours before they started loading my truck. I had plenty of time to kill. Wondered why I even rushed in the first place.
There was still another performance to show and then when the curtains were drawn we would have to wait for the audience to dissipate before we could even start the forklifts.
So what is there to do while we hurry up and wait. Not a thing except to walk back and forth and look busy. I took the liberty to walk around the theater and to meet other truckers. Truckers that worked for Clark Transfer who hauled for shows full time seemed to be paid well and enjoyed it. They were getting $10+/hour detention time – no one was complaining. It was their lifestyle, and they got to see many shows.
“I wouldn’t be driving trucks if I was driving freight,” said John Thomas. He was one of seven truck drivers waiting in front of the Kennedy Center Performance Arts in DC.
But still I wasn’t grumbling. At least I was in DC at the world famous Kennedy Center.
The lead trucker, Toy, was very helpful and not only gave good instructions, but kept us entertained throughout the whole operation.
When I was finally loaded and the skies had long turned dark, I made my way back to Virginia and Constitution then hung a right on 14th.
I knew I couldn’t make it to Charlotte without taking my 10 hour break. My goal was to make it past Richmond to avoid the rush hour traffic in the morning.
I was relieved to make it to Warfield at the Davis Travel Center on I-85.
http://runinos.com/places/davis-travel-center-warfield-va/
I was safe now and could sleep soundly all night – or so I thought.
At 3 a.m. I was rumbled from a deep sleep from the sound of an explosion. Why are my tires popping I thought to myself.
I looked out to see a big rig on fire. I felt like I was in the middle of a Fast and Furious movie set and expected to see Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel jumping out of the truck.
I got up and watched the fire fighters put out the fire. Seven firetrucks showed up from two different counties. When I showed the video to the Travel Center in the morning, they informed me that the fire was started by a disgruntled company driver who was recently fired. There was video footage of the driver pouring accelerant all over the truck before lighting a match then getting a ride out.
“If I can’t drive this truck, no-one can,” he said.
The next day, my videos were picked up by WTVR CBS-6 and Truckers News
https://www.truckersnews.com/fire-destroys-truck-at-virginia-truck-stop/
Overall, I was impressed by how Charlotte is expanding into a world class city with a wide variety of ethnic food. The Queen city’s impressive skyline is growing by the day and there’s so much to see and do here (Charlotte is known as the Queen City because it was named for Queen Charlotte, King George III of Great Britain’s wife.)
I was pondering over a load from Atkins, VA to Chicago or to New England. There was nothing coming out of Charlotte. But Atkins, a three-hour drive away and in the mountains had plenty of new trailers getting shipped all across the US.
As I was walking I noticed an advertisement for “Band’s Visit”. Unbeknownst to me, I was walking right by the Knight’s Theater and the show was opening tonight. I want over to the loading docks to see that the crew was still offloading. Wow, this is show business.
So that evening, I headed to Knight’s Theater to watch the play:
An Egyptian band gets stuck in an Israeli dirt town for the night. What was supposed to be coughed up as a simple but embarrassing mistake turned out to be a life-changing ordeal for the eight-member band and the astonished residents of the small town.
Songwriter, David Yazbek, whose mother is Jewish and father Lebanese, decided to fuse two cultural backgrounds with his new Broadway show, The Band’s Visit by telling a story about two antagonistic cultures and finding their commonality.
The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra from Egypt was invited to Israel to perform at the opening of the Arab Cultural Center in a cosmopolitan Israeli city.
When they arrive at the airport in Tel Aviv, the group leader, Tewfiq, directs the adventurous officer Haled to purchase bus tickets each member. At the ticket office, Haled asks the clerk for a ticket to the city of Petah Tikvah, but due to his thick Egyptian accent, she misunderstands him and instead sells him tickets to the isolated dessert town of “Bet Hatikva.”
They take the wrong bus to a remote village in the middle of the Negev Dessert. They are then forced to spend the night with the locals, many of whom are initially unfriendly to the Arab visitors. After all this is 1997 and only 30 years prior, the Egyptians and Israelis were engaged in a long-fought battle on the Sinai Peninsula.
Luckily, Dina, the cafe proprietor, becomes attracted to Tewfiq, the conductor. The band decides to perform for their accidental hosts and the music is enjoyed by everybody. The two groups form a new liaison, and even though the plot is rather thin, the music and acting is thick with talent.
The play is sensitive and touching and is brimming with hope and humanity. Along with the powerful music, there are many instances of silence where both the audience and cast dissects touching emotions in peace.
With music, there’s dancing. And in dancing, there’s all kinds: tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern.
The Band’s Visit will caress your heart while entertain you. It’s easy to see why it won ten Tony Awards becoming the best Tony Award Musical in 2019.
Even though I played a small role in their transport, I was glad to be a part of the effort to move the show to the south for others in Carolina to enjoy.
