Spooky Nights Ahead

My Scariest Travel Day

I've been pretty lucky in all my years of travel.

I've never been the victim of a major crime, never been involved in any sort of major vehicular wreck, never encountered any lost spirits haunting the historic Inns owhere I've slept over the years.

I did, however, have one Stephen King experience that stands out as my scariest travel moment.

It happened at a hotel in Alexandria Virginia. I won't say which one although I've stayed there twice and had a miserable experience both times.

The first event involved some unwanted wildlife in my room.

I slept pretty well in the "garden" room (which means my room was on the ground level and opened up to a courtyard with some grass and shrubs).

Per my usual morning routine I headed for the shower. Without glasses or contacts I was in my usual morning land "o" blur.

As the warm water from the shower started to spray my peripheral vision picked up something moving down around the drain.

As I bent over to see what it was I saw cockroaches. Lots and lots of 'em - scurrying out of the drain and running up the sides of the tub and shower curtain.

After a completely involuntary shriek, I jumped out of the tub, ripping the shower curtain right off the track.

Now at this point, primal instinct had taken complete control of me. I armed myself with the first thing I saw, my best dress shoes, whose heals became lethal weapons. I initiated project Roach Smackdown.

It got pretty ugly.

After my roach hunt I simply laid the critters side by side on the bathroom counter.

On the way out I informed the desk clerk that my room had become the insect equivalent of the Tate LaBianca massacre scene.

A little advice. If you stay in a hotel in Alexandria VA and are offered a "garden" level room, run screaming from the place.

I did.

Roadboy's Travels © 2009