Yes, it was a joy to be in Washington DC for the first time, 1960

Yes, it was a joy to be in Washington DC for the first time, 1960, a photo by roberthuffstutter on Flickr.

Ike was President and all seemed peaceful. Instead of going home, I took advantage of the free MATS flights and finally saw some of the sights I had wanted to see throughout my youth. The big Connie landed at what was then USNAS Anacostia. What I remember most was the sight behind me. The old streetcars took me to where I wanted to go, sights I wanted to see. I was alone, but I had a lot of fun. I spent about three weeks hopping MATS planes and flying from one area to another. One of the planes I enjoyed most was not a MATS aircraft, but the guys in Operations were friendly and booked me on a NEPTUNE P2V to NAS Norfolk. It was quite a sight, the ships and naval station, a mass array of U.S. Navy on display.

When we landed, a couple guys on the flight crew invited me to have a few beers at the EM Club. It was called the AERODROME and it was huge. It was quite an evening. There were floor shows, friendly "servers" and the old pinball machines.