Later Baba leaned back against a white pillow and closed his eyes. It was then that one could see the lines of suffering that reminded one of the Christ.
Yet a few moments later, Baba was smiling and gesturing to his lovers, "Are you happy?"
Several times during the two-and-a-half-hour flight, Baba placed a blanket over his head for a few moments and was absorbed in his inner work. The plane circled over the Potomac River and Mount Vernon and arrived 50 minutes early, at 3:45 P.M. The plane was to have stopped for mail in New Bern, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, but both cities radioed the pilot not to stop — something unheard of.
A crew of television cameramen and reporters were to have covered Meher Baba's arrival in the political capital of America, but Baba for his own reasons eluded them. Even the hired limousines had not yet arrived. Bernard Carvalho had even arranged for a police motorcycle escort, to avoid being caught up in traffic.
When Baba had heard about all these arrangements in Myrtle Beach, he pointed out to Ivy, "I do not like these press conferences where reporters only look for sensationalism and often distort what is said — nor the publicity, nor TV, nor any part of it!"
He finished, asking, "Do you think Jesus would have gone through Washington with a police escort?"
While Baba, the mandali, Elizabeth, Ruth White and Margaret Craske were at Ivy Duce's house, the rest of the group was to go sightseeing — but not to go to a movie.
A special bus had been chartered for them, and Baba later told Dana Field, "While you were riding around, I worked [through you]!"
Baba was warmly greeted on the lawn of Ivy's home at 3201 Woodland Drive by Andy and Peggy Muir (who had left the Center a day in advance to see that everything was ready) and other Washington Sufis. Baba went into every room of the house, including the kitchen, where he greeted the servants who were preparing a fish dinner for them. Charmian showed him her wedding dress, which he blessed by his touch. Dorothea Foote had laid out her collection of sea shells, from which Baba chose a few to take back to India.