Taking you so far inside the mind of a movie geek, you might never get out...

Let me take you on a journey...

As you ought to know by now, I recently took a trip to the East Coast. Specifically, Mrs. Fletch and I went to Washington D.C., followed by a drive to Cape Cod. It was an excellent vacation; a great time had by all (many thanks to our friends in each locale that served as tour guides) and a terrific respite from the sweltering heat of the Valley of the Sun(stroke). But I digress.

We spent many hours planning our trip. The best dates to get the cheapest flights, the route from D.C. to Massachusetts, what to see, and of course, where to stay. Our accommodations in the nation's capitol were at the hip(stery) Hotel Rouge, an ultramodern, übercool inn less than two miles from the White House. That distance, as it happens, even runs along a straight line down 16th street (hence the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW address).

Being the geek that I am, I hopped onto Google Maps, wanting to take a look at the street-level view of the hotel to ensure that it was in a decent part of town. After making the realization that it was indeed on the same street (or at least, the street that leads to) the White House, I took a virtual stroll down 16th Street on the way to Barack's house. Eventually, I happened upon this image of the street directly in front of the north lawn of the White House:


Aside from the obvious Casa Blanca in the background, a faint glimmer of recognition of...something else sparked in my mind. A quick turn to the right showed this image of a building just across the street, another hotel, this one called the Hay Adams:


Look familiar? If you've ever seen the film Election, it should. Don't remember? Here, take a gander at the trailer if your memory needs jogging. The scene in question is trimmed to but a few seconds in the beginning, but it ought to be enough to jar the cobwebs loose.

Do you see where this is going? Well, you ought to. I mean, we're gonna see the White House on our trip anyway, right?

So, for your viewing pleasure and mine, I present to you a photographic re-creation of the Election scene, with your humble host playing the roles of both Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon (thankfully, without any wardrobe changes). Many thanks to the good-natured Mrs. Fletch for humoring me.


First, we see our protagonist, Mr. Jim McAllister, freshly ousted from Omaha and living in Washington, D.C. He's taken a job at a local museum and is out sightseeing one day when he comes upon the Hay Adams:


He soon spots the young Miss Tracy Flick, with a local Senator (if I recall correctly; not pictured), exiting the hotel:


She enters a waiting car that soon departs the hotel. Silently infuriated, he runs after the car and throws his coffee/milkshake at its back window:


The car, headed north on 16th Street, slams on its brakes, its driver apparently set to angrily exit the vehicle to come after McAllister:


McAllister retreats into the park just north of the White House, beyond a fence in which cars can not pass:


THE END

As it turns out, I'm not the only person geeky enough to notice and/or document this scene. While doing "research" for this post, I found this video, which was posted by the tastefully named (coincidentally?) YouTuber "chevychase." Enjoy (and please disregard the fact that I've made the video player a bit too large for the area).