I started my company, Integral Hospitality Solutions, on Saturday, February 15, 2003. Armed with nothing but a business plan and a laptop computer, I got ready to take on the world. I had gotten a call the afternoon before from someone at Hilton Hotels who asked if I had begun operations already. I said that I was ready to go. They asked how fast I could get to Washington, D.C. There was an owner there who was experiencing problems.
I flew straight to Reagan National Airport and rented a car. A Winter Storm Warning was in effect when I landed, and it had snowed, but the roads were clear. The phone rang again as I drove. It was someone from Albuquerque, who wanted to see me as soon as possible. I offered to be there on Monday.
I met with the owners of the hotel that Saturday evening. After a two hour presentation, they hired my company. Back then, we privately called ourselves “Two Men and a Laptop.†But we had our first contract! I finished the ABC3340 package late that evening, watching the main push of snow forming to the west over West Virginia. I planned to go to bed and get up around 3 a.m. to check on things, hoping it wouldn’t get bad until my plane was long gone. My flight out was at 6:30 a.m.
When I awakened at 3 a.m., several inches of snow were already on the ground. I quickly became concerned. I had never driven in any significant snow. I quickly dressed and took off. When I got on I-95, I realized that I could not see anything! I just got in the ruts left by the few cars and snowplows. Getting just slightly out of line would result in a spinout that could leave me stranded. I would not see the edge of the road and missed several exits trying to maneuver toward downtown. The rental had a GPS, and that saved me. At Lanham, it directed me down onto New York Avenue, Route 50. It turned out to be a surface street, which made the going much easier. I quickly found that I could not afford to stop at red lights, as I risked getting stuck. I went through one red light with a Washington police cruiser sitting right there. They never bothered with me.
I made it to National and turned in the rental. I slogged to the terminal to find it deserted. There were only a few airline clerks. They told me that every flight was cancelled and helped me make a reservation at the Marriott Courtyard in Alexandria. It was snowing to beat the band, and before it was over, 16.2 inches was recorded at Reagan, the sixth greatest snowstorm observed there. I took photos and sent them back to the television station where John Oldshue broadcast them on ABC3340 news. It was quite an adventure.
