The Infamous but Gorgeous Watergate Hotel

On June 17th, 1972, a group of operatives working on the re-election campaign for President Richard M. Nixon got caught on the sixth floor of a large complex while setting up surveillance equipment. They had chosen to ‘bug’ the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the nation’s capital at the Watergate Hotel.

A bug in the surveillance world simply means one party wants to listen to another party without the second party knowing, while the first party does, and has everything recorded.

No one really knows where the term "to bug something" came from. There are many theories, and one is that when alarm systems became standard fare for businesses, burglars would refer to the place as being 'bugged,' as though the police were already there.

It doesn’t really matter where the term originated, since Room 214 at the Watergate had been bugged, and the operatives on June 17th were just going back to ensure their bugs would not be detected by the bigwigs running the Washington D.C. branch of the DNC.

Unfortunately for President Nixon, this issue at the Watergate Hotel would cost him the presidency, even though he won in a landslide victory in November of 1972, securing his second term in office. Due to the fallout from this break-in, which turned out to be an international tale of intrigue and conspiracy, he would have to resign from office in August of 1974.

This is where, throughout the years, fortunes have been made from coffee cups, t-shirts, flags, bumper stickers, which show President Nixon standing proudly with both hands raised and fingers flashing V’s, with the tag - I am Not a Crook.

I have to be honest, I don’t really recall any of this except for history lessons in school. Of course, I was around at the time, but being in high school, I was more interested in sports, girls, friends, and the like instead of following the goings-on in Washington, D.C. Heck, I wasn’t even close to voting age, so why should I care?

But as the decades slipped by and I became more of a history buff, I found the circumstances around the demise of a president’s reign mid-term - fascinating.

It was even more fascinating when Laureen, my lovely wife, and I were doing our typical ten-mile sauntering around Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago, and found ourselves standing in front of the infamous Watergate Hotel on Virginia Avenue.

“That’s the Watergate Hotel,” I said.

“I see that,” Laureen responded. “We weren’t even looking for it, and here it is.”

“I would call that a serendipitous bit of luck,” I said.

It was awesome to be standing in front of such a gorgeous hotel as the Watergate and realize the intrigue that had occurred here a short five decades ago.

Now, fast forward to the summer of 2025, and Laureen and I found ourselves staying at the very same Watergate Hotel.

The hotel sits just a couple of streets away from the beautiful, tree-lined Potomac River with majestic views from pretty much every room. It is referred to as a luxurious place to stay while visiting Washington D.C., and we found that to be true in every fashion.

The entire Watergate Complex, which housed business offices, shops, and the hotel itself, was built during the 1960s and designed by the famous Italian architect, Luigi Walter Moretti.

He had wanted this complex to mirror the gentle flowing of the Potomac River as it swept by below the bluffs where the Watergate was built. Moretti did a fantastic job as the building does seem to bend in a way like the river sweeping by the Wharf DC, which has tasty restaurants, night spots, and other venues to keep locals and tourists engaged.

The Top of the Gate is an open bar and restaurant allowing incredible views of Washington D.C. itself as well as the surrounding areas of Georgetown, Dupont Circle, and Foggy Bottom (I still chuckle typing that).

View from our room at the Watergate Hotel

I am not going to say we had a few drinks at the Top of the Gate while visiting Washington D.C. - but we did. The sunsets, the city lights in the distance, and a cold drink were what Congress would order if it had that sort of power.

Time to enjoy a cold beverage overlooking Washington D.C.

But, I was there not only to enjoy the ambiance but to find out what I could about this Watergate Scandal, as though there had not been enough written about it.

It was something to do with the tape that led investigators to locate and ultimately convict those involved in the break-in at the DNC, those being most famously E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy.

According to Aziz, the unofficial historian of the Watergate Hotel, it was a simple piece of sticky tape that did the burglars in. And, here I always thought it had to do with more subterfuge involving tape in a recorder.

“No,”  Aziz said. “It was a security guard at the time, Frank Wills, who first spotted a piece of tape across a door latch leading to the area where the burglary was taking place.”

That was news to me.

“In that manner, the doors leading to the DNC headquarters would not lock, thus giving anyone, the burglars, time to go in and out of the room. After removing the tape, Wills did another check an hour later and saw the tape had been replaced and then called the police.”

Aziz pointing to where the DNC Headquarters once were at the Watergate Complex

It turns out that most likely the bugging of the office would not have been discovered if the group doing the burglary had simply removed the tape from the latch when they finally left the office. They did not, and down came a presidency.

Now known as the Scandal Room, the room is set up as it would have looked on that fateful day in 1972. The furniture is retro 70’s, there are numerous photos and news clippings from the time, recording devices and typewriters that spell another time, and finally the balcony that overlooks the once DNC headquarters across from Room 214 in the complex.

Some of the equipment used during the scandal

Aziz showing off the Scandal Room from 1972

The history lesson of the Watergate Scandal was enlightening and frightening to think of what political parties, on both sides, are capable of doing - especially right in the nation's capital, practically under George Washington's nose.

But Watergate is not only known for that one infamous incident, but is also known for all the celebrities, past and present, who have made the Five Star Hotel home. Including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Andy Warhol, Sammy Davis Jr., and a host of Hollywood types. And of course, those of us who just want to experience a 5 Star hotel while visiting the nation’s capital

For more information:

https://www.thewatergatehotel.com/

https://washington.org/

John can be contacted at - beyersbyways@gmail.com

Willow Beach - a great place for a respite

Willow  Beach Marina, Arizona

I first came across Willow Beach Marina years ago when powering northward on Lake Mojave from Catherine Landing in Bullhead City, Arizona.

It was one of those perfect early summer days when the temperature hadn’t reached cooking an egg on the asphalt hot and the skies promised to be crystal blue and cloudless.

So, untying my pontoon boat from the slip at Katherine Landing, my buddy Paul and I headed out for the roughly 50-mile trip across the deep blue waters of Lake Mojave. We would top off the fuel at Cottonwood Cove Marina, east of Searchlight, Nevada, before continuing on to Willow Beach Marina.

Paul wanted to see the marina, which he hadn’t seen in decades.

“It’s funky,” he said. “There’s a bar right on the water, which is a great place to grab a cold one.”

One thing he did not know was that the Willow Beach he remembered no longer existed as it once had.

The new and improved Willow Beach Marina and Store

Monsoonal floods happen along the Colorado River. In September of 1974, a massive wall of water crashed down El Dorado Canyon just ten miles south of Willow Beach, leaving nine people dead, and the small resort of Nelson Landing devastated. It was never rebuilt.

The National Park Service does its best to warn visitors of the dangers when sudden pop-up storms rise in the dry deserts near the Colorado River, and of how those storms can trigger life-threatening situations.

Please take heed

Willow Beach was founded in the 1940s by locals from Las Vegas as a small fishing and boating community. Even back then, the Park Service had warned about possible flooding down the steep canyons that reach into the Colorado River.

People, as people often do, shrugged their shoulders and realized that there are times when the rains and hard-packed desert sands don’t play well.

One person stated, “We know we live in a flood plain. It just goes with the territory.”

In 1992, a so-called 100-year storm caused a wave of water over 10 feet roaring down Jumbo Wash just 200 yards south of Willow Beach. Then again, in February of 1993, an unseasonal flash occurred, sending yet more torrents of rain, causing over a $100,000 damage to the area - destroying buildings, roadways, and other improvements.

But the continued ‘unusual’ storms occurred throughout the decades, causing so much damage to the Willow Beach Beach and Marina that it had to be rebuilt by the National Park Service.

It was no longer the ‘funky’ place Paul had remembered from years past. No, it looked like any other marina with plenty of slips, a fuel dock, restaurant, market, and a new and improved camping area.

Willow Beach parking and marina during the summer

So recently Laureen, my lovely wife, and I headed to Las Vegas for a few days and decided to take US 93 from Bullhead City to Sin City, while making a short detour at Willow Beach. 

Laureen Beyer enjoying the views from Willow Beach patio

The three-and-a-half-mile road from US 93 to the marina is narrow, twisty, and in need of some repair, in my opinion. In some spots, I would not want to maneuver our Bounder with a boat attached to the rear end - it would be very slow going and apt to upset the folks behind us.

But once we arrived at the marina, the winding road was a thing of the past. The views of the Colorado River were spectacular, with blue waters and towering cliffs both north and south of the marina.

The winter weather on this trip was a bit on the cooler side, but the sun was shining bright overhead, making it a bit more manageable.

We were surprised at how many folks were out and about on the wide sandy beaches and carrying kayaks of all sizes back and forth from the parking lot.

Visitors taking in the blue skies and blue waters at Willow Beach

The region is not only known for regular power boating, but paddling northward toward Hoover Dam, a mere 12 miles in kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. A few miles south of the Hoover Dam is the marvelous natural destination of Emerald Cave.

Looking Northwest toward river running from Hoover Dam

People from all over the state and country visit this area to view the vibrant green water when sunlight strikes the walls of Black Canyon and then is reflected into the water, usually in the mid-afternoon. 

The cave was once a landmark for engineers to measure the water flow that ran past the Willow Beach Gauging Station, built in 1931.

Laureen and I watched as groups of people either paddled off separately toward Hoover Dam or joined paid tour groups to Emerald Cave.

They were wearing shorts and tank tops. Laureen and I both had on sweatshirts. We were not going on any tour that day.

The Willow Beach Harbor Marina and Camp Store lured Laureen in like a trout.

“I just want to see what they have,” she said.

In other words, my wallet may be a bit lighter when we left Willow Beach to head back toward Las Vegas.

Amazingly, after spending about ten minutes within the store, we left without purchasing anything but a simple magnet stating we had been to Willow Beach. It’s a habit that if we enter a store, we buy something, no matter how small, as a way to say thank you to the proprietor. 

“That was awesome,” I said.

“The store?” Laureen asked.

“That and the fact we still have enough cash for the rest of our trip.”

Being seasoned travelers, we had brought some snacks to enjoy while on the road, so I drove out of the parking lot and headed for the vista point a hundred or so feet above the marina.

John R Beyer at the overlook near Willow Beach, Arizona

The view was gorgeous as we sat quietly nibbling on salami, cheese, and crackers while taking in the majesty of the Colorado River both north and south of Willow Beach.

This sight hadn’t been available when Paul and I had boated to the Willow Beach Marina from the waters edge, and today I was glad for the short detour to take it all in.

“It’s beautiful,” Laureen said.

I simply nodded. Sometimes words can not compete with Mother Nature.

For more information: https://willowbeachharbor.com/

John can be reached at: beyersbyways@gmail.com