Another Roadside Attraction at The Pentagon

It's nice to wake up in The District again. Today I'm headed over to the Hill to talk about the interface between climate and oceans. Iron fertilization and U.N. Law of the Sea are among the myriad of topics to be discussed.

And being back is also reason to share one of my very favorite legends from this town...

Last year, a Lieutenant Colonel friend in the Department of Defense took me out to the Pentagon - an interesting and impressive place. The building is enormous and it's quite easy to get lost. Still, among all of the facts and figures, the most memorable thing I learned had to do with what stood in the center of the inner courtyard. Supposedly during the Cold War, satellite imagery allowed the Russians to observe U.S. military officers entering and exiting this 'unknown' structure at approximately the same time every day. The story goes that they imagined it was a fortified underground bunker where top secret classified information was exchanged. Tour guides even claim there were never less than two missiles aimed there (though Russian officials have not validated this). Sounds to me like someone's been watching a few too many Will Smith movies, but true or not, it's an intriguing tale...

Of course, even better is the building's real identity. You see, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction... So what exactly exists at center of headquarters for the United States Department of Defense? Tom Robbins fans rejoice - for it may be the most famous hot dog stand in the world. Veritas!