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
