What's a trip to Washington, D.C., without an encounter with a mysterious figure in an underground parking garage?
It's worth mentioning that centrally-located hotels in Washington often lack parking, so one needs to make arrangements with a local lot. Cheap prices can be had, provided one books well in advance, and for the duration. Booking upon arrival? You might need to take out a mortgage.
We booked in advance.
We arrived to street chaos. Washington's Chinatown at night plays like a scene from William Gibson: red lights and scooters and contemporary street-level framed by the ornate Friendship Archway, designed by Alfred H. Liu to reflect the styles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Crowds of trendy people with electronic devices milled about. Don Omar was playing the nearby Capital One Arena. Nicki Minaj was scheduled for the next night, and a questionable rumour claimed she was somewhere in the area.
I had to wind down the underground parking garage to a lower level before joining my wife at the hotel. I moved the car later to a spot near the exit, alongside some cycle rickshaws. It turns out someone guarded these at night, so I suppose he looked out for our car as well.
We finally got to meet Ernest Champagne, an affable man with a troubled past who has made his home in a place underground. One of the rickshaws belongs to him. He rode it to the U.S. capital and earns his living ferrying tourists about. He has found access to facilities, so that he can shower at the end of every day. I do not know if he pays for his spot in the lot. The staff at the hotel identified for us a pedestrian shortcut into the parking garage. A car couldn't get through it, but a rickshaw could.
He projects a positive attitude. He makes enough that, every once in a while, he can spend a night in a hotel. But he has no idea what winter will be like.
At least two others park their 'shaws with his, and Ernest provides a kind of security as he sleeps beneath the street, about a twenty minute walk from the White House.
That wasn't the start of our road trip, of course, nor the only interesting person that we met along the way.
Next
Video here.