They said the conference was in Washington D.C. But they drove us out toward to within a mile of Baltimore. Across the Potomac, over the bridge and into a compound. It is three blocks long and three blocks wide. There are four hotels and a number of overpriced restaurants with pre-packaged foods. At night, we are surrounded by water on one side and dense darkness on all the others. Three blocks and the street lights end. We are not sure if we can leave…

This is the Gaylord National on the Potomac and – what do you want? – it’s a convention center. And I am a conventioneer. Pretty, right? But up close, everything looks like it was made of fiber board. As if it were a movie set that could easily be struck. Someone said it reminded her of a book where Americans were kidnapped and sent to a quasi-American town in Russia to teach Russians how to be American. I immediately thought of “The Prisoner”. But the conventioneers fit in perfectly. Last night my group went to the “disco” on the top floor of the hotel. The sight of 50-60 accountant/IT types drinking under the lights to thumping dance music, wearing our geeky convention tags was… indescribable. The bouncer cringed as we each walked by. But I can’t imagine anyone BUT our type visits these environs. At least if the sun ever came out, it might feel less chilling.

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