His Chief-of-Staff came in and moved us along. I exited a different door so I wouldn’t meet the next appointment.
The Secret Service gave me my weapon back and drove me to the Willard. I noticed my two FBI agents sitting in the lobby. I stopped and told them I would be eating in the hotel restaurant tonight and had a meeting with my publicity agent.
They thanked me for the information. I thought they would be more bent out of shape, but they took it all in stride.
When I checked in I had a dinner reservation for two made. After cleaning up I put on a suit and tie. Sharon walked into the lobby at the same time I did, so that worked out.
As soon as we sat down I asked her if I was really going to ride an elephant to the theater. She laughed and told me she thought I would pick up on it as soon as I saw that train.
“Besides the elephant what else do we have, a calliope?”
“More.”
I inquired, “Clowns, lions, tigers?”
“More.”
“How much more,” this was like pulling teeth.
“We have the whole circus!”
“What!”
“The studio actually got a pretty good deal. The circus was going to parade near the convention center the day after. That’s where they will perform. By appearing a day early, the studio was able to get permits for them to go downtown which will give them a lot more publicity. The D.C. city council wasn’t wild about the idea, but an appeal from the White House changed their mind.”
Now I know why Ike winked at me!
The next day I spent visiting monuments and museums in the city. I had seen most of them before but it was still neat. The stamp and jewel collections in the Smithsonian were impressive. I had seen many diamonds in Africa but nothing as glorious as the Hope diamond.
Something about that upside-down airplane on a stamp was awesome. I wondered if they would ever do a release like it as a commemorative. I used to collect stamps but had failed to keep up my collection of US commemoratives in the last few years. The stamps were boring. Other countries had interesting stamps, but not the US.
I took the ride up the elevator to the top of the Washington Memorial. The view was great. The Lincoln Memorial was awe-inspiring.
I took a tour of the FBI building for fun. I wonder what the two agents tailing me at a discreet distance thought. It was juvenile of me but hey, I’m still considered a kid by most people.
I went for a run before dinner. I circled the National Mall several times. It was interesting to see all the people, especially two FBI agents in a suit and tie trying to keep me in-sight. If they got desperate enough they might decide to shoot me.
I know I was being mean but I hadn’t been consulted about their presence, so they would have to take it as it came.
I had mercy on them by grabbing dinner at a small café, after that, I retired for the night. I even approached them in the lobby and let them know I was done for the day. You would think they would have been more appreciative.
The next morning after my normal physical activities I met Sharon in the lobby. I noticed the lack of FBI agents. At Sharon’s suggestion, I wore my Death Wind costume. My part in the movie was now national news so there was no surprise left.
We took a taxi to the train yards where the circus was lining up. I can’t begin to tell you how chaotic a circus is when it is forming up. Strangely dressed people everywhere, elephants trumpeting, lions and tigers roaring and other animal sounds I had never heard before. I just thought the studio looked like a circus. This was a circus.
I was introduced to my mahout, I would sit on the elephant but he would control and direct it. My elephant was named Jumbo in honor of the original circus elephant. He wasn’t as big as the animal which introduced Jumbo as a size but he was right up there. At least it seemed that way when I was sitting on top.
I didn’t have that little building they ride in, just a saddle.
Right on time, all the confusion came to an end and the circus parade started its march, calliope, and all. With me, in the lead, well with the elephant being directed by the mahout, we marched off. Lots of radio and TV ads ensure the parade route was lined.
It was fun riding down the street in a swaying motion atop Jumbo. Everything was fine until the half-way point. Did you know that elephants and firecrackers don’t mix?
Some kids threw a bundle of Ladyfinger’s out in the street. Wow, Jumbo can move!
Now I had been in a stampede but it was the wildest ride I ever had or could even imagine as we tore down the street. I hate to think what it would have been like if the parade route wasn’t closed off.
I held on with both hands for dear life. The mahout was left far behind. After about five blocks Jumbo must have realized he was safe from those nasty noises because he slowed to a stop. A fast-thinking Motorcycle Patrolman had given the Mahout a ride to catch up with us so things were brought back under control rapidly.
By the time the rest of the parade caught up Jumbo was peacefully eating flowers in a small park next to the road. From there we marched in formation to the Theater. As one would expect my elephant running away was in front
