You live and learn

So I learned a valuable lesson last night, one that I'm sure will have me laughing, and cautious for a good while now. It is this:

If the parking spot you got while in Bethesda seems too good to be true, that's because it is. More than likely you will come back to find your car not where you left it.

Did you catch all of that? I hope so! Yes folks maybe it's common sense (I'm sure it is) but us "country folks" don't visit the city much and parking in a Giant parking lot in the heart of Bethesda right across from the restaurant we were going to seemed perfectly harmless! My friend Renee and I were like oh look at this it's perfect, right across the street from the restaurant, and free! We just assumed all the parking garages were for all the "other folks" who missed out on the deal we got. Yes when we parked we were both certain we were getting the "best deal". Oh how wrong I was. After a perfectly wonderful birthday dinner for my dear dear friend Kelly, we walk out of the restaurant watching our friends make the trek to their parking garage while we just walk right across the street to our "deal" of a spot. Only, wait, where's my car? Definitely not there. Then in the most peculiar not obvious spot we see a sign "Towing enforced for any cars left on this premises. By leaving your car here to are agreeing to a lien with G&G towing and agree to pay the towing fees" Lovely. Thank God for Renee. She kept me calm and by God's grace I was able to laugh. I called the number and tried to stay cool calm and collected. The guy said he would bring the car back to me (how nice) for 148$ wow (not so nice).

So Renee and I waited, and while we waited we saw tow trucks taking cars and bringing cars back, apparently this parking lot is a trap for innocents like us, the signs are not clear enough and someone is making a killing off of it! We saw many a people pleading with tow truck drivers probably trying to cut a deal. So here we were outside in the heart of bethesda at 11:00pm, Renee with a poor hubby at home trying to get the baby to go to sleep, and me a pregnant woman with a bad sinus infection. We spent most of the time laughing and talking about everything from labor to shoes (somehow women have a way of doing this) and finally after almost an hour and a half we see my car, poor baby strapped on the back of the tow truck. At this point I wasn't in the mood to cut any deals with the towtruck driver, I just wanted to get home and get out of the cold. But I did rub my belly and cough a lot while waiting for him to charge my credit card. I figured a little sympathy wouldn't hurt. I think he felt bad, but not bad enough to give me a deal. Oh well, I tried.

Either way, a lesson was learned. Things could have been far worse! At least we were in a good neighborhood. The rain had stopped, I had good company, and I got my car back. Thanks eener, for making what could have been a nightmare so much fun. Next time hopefully we can catch up over a cup of coffee in a warm cafe rather than waiting for a tow truck outside :)