Here follows a run down of our recent trip to the capital. Should you find yourself there anytime soon it is presented in the helpful(?) form of a guidebook...GETTING THERE:
We arrived at BWI airport, one of the three Washington area airports. This involved us changing flights at Cleveland on the way out and Newark on the way back.
ORIENTATION:
I, personally, found Washington DC pretty confusing to walk around. More than once we started out in one direction only to find the numbers were going up when they should have been going down. Also, the diagonal streets that cut across the regular grid system didn't help me out too much either.
GETTING AROUND:
We used the metro quite a bit. It was a pretty simple system and we got around easily. It is against the law to eat or drink anywhere on the system. We didn't see anyone doing so, and as a result it was very clean. You pay per journey and the cost varies as per distance and time of day.
SIGHTS:
Approaching the Lincoln Memorial from behind you get a pretty good sense of the immense size and scale of the monument. From here it's a pretty pleasant, flat walk down the Mall taking in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and any number of others as you make your way down to the rather phallic Washington Monument. If visiting in the next few months, though, you'll find the Reflecting pool empty. It was leaking pretty badly and costing the city a lot to keep it topped up.
Beyond the Washington Monument you start to hit the numerous and free Smithsonian museums. You'll find Kermit the Frog and Julia Child's kitchen in the Museum of American History as well as all manner of other things. Further down, and the National Gallery of Art is split between the east and west wings. Visiting the East (pictured above), we thought the building and installations potentially impressed more than the art on the walls.
After about a two mile walk, no problem in the November sunshine, we reached Capitol Hill. Exploring at the weekend means avoiding the wildly unpopular congressmen and women and it all looks quite serene and pretty against the blue sky.
You can of course stop at the White House and peak through the railings, too.
SLEEPING - Budget
Our friends Matt and Laurie's basement apartment floor very close to the Dupont Circle Metro Station. Our hosts were very happy with the Buckeye candies, Cloud Nothings CD and Ohio State tat they received as payment.
EATING
ShopHouse - Dupont Circle. This place is apparently a spin-off from Chipotle (a McDonalds does Mexican). It was cheap ($20) for two rice bowls and two drinks. Someone said Asian Fusion and that fits. I had grilled chicken on rice with eggplant and some spicy stuff. I was full.
Kramerbooks and Afterwards Cafe - Dupont Circle. The full menu looked pretty interesting, if not a bit pricey. We didn't have time for dinner so just stopped for some pie. The pie was very good, Boston Creme and Blueberry, but at $7.50 a slice, not quite worth it. The bookshop looked good though.
Tortilla Cafe - Capitol Hill. Offers Mexican and El Savardorian fare. It was $6.95 for a Pupusa platter. I went for the pork stuffed option and K the cheese. Really tasty, filling food.
Lauriol Plaza - 18th St NW. The biggest restaurant I have ever been in. Stacked up over three floors with numerous tables outside too. The five of us spent about $100 and that included margaritas, main courses and chips and salsa. You had to shout to be heard such was the atmosphere, my crab and shrimp enchiladas tasted fresh and I left nothing behind.
Pizzeria Paradiso - M Street, Georgetown. We had to wait a while to be seated, but the pizza was crusty and lovely. They also have a particularly extensive (for a pizza place) beer selection. The Ommegang Abbey Ale is a great Belgian style beer brewed in NY state; at 8.5% though maybe only one for lunch is necessary.
Baked and Wired- Thomas Jefferson Street, Georgetown. One of about 5 or 6 different places in Georgetown you can buy a cupcake. We went for the Banana cake with Peanut butter frosting (pictured) and the lemon cake with raspberry frosting. The sponge was light and the icing thick. They could maybe do with a few more seats though.
Bar Pilar - 14th Street NW. We were here for brunch and it was just OK really. The bacon bloody Mary was pretty unique, but meant that that the total bill was a little bit more than dinner the night previous.
Ben's Chilli Bowl - U Street NW. From what I had read, the place that everyone needs to go to when they visit DC. I got the most popular: Chili half smoke. This is basically a smoked hot dog, with beef chilli on top. I made sure to eat it quickly so as not to lose most of the chili down my shirt. Very satisfying. We paid for our food, unlike the Obamas and Bill Cosby who always eat free.
ENTERTAINMENT
Avalon Theater - Connecticut Ave NW. Built in 1923, this not-for-profit neighborhood cinema and cafe is full of character and charm. Our reason for visiting was hearing K's fave, Joan Didion, speak about her new book, Blue Nights. The event was put on by the Politics and Prose Bookshop, something they do every night (though rarely at this massive place).
Positive Force DC. Is an activist collective seeking radical social change, personal growth and youth empowerment. They organize benefit and free concerts among other things. While we were in town they put on Ted Leo and the Pharmacists in a huge church basement. You got $2 off admission if you brought a tin of food with you. A fun show and thousands of dollars raised for Positive Force.
SHOPPING
Red Onion Books and Records - 18th Street. Pretty small, easy to miss shop. Well stocked with mostly vinyl, a few books and not too many CD's. Was pretty happy to find the first Fresh and Onlys album.
Crooked Beat Records - 18th Street. A bigger store having recently made the choice to stop selling CD's. They seem to be doing fine and I could have bought a lot more than an old Kurt Vile that I was very happy to find.
There were other shops in the city, but these were really the only ones we visited....
No comments:
Post a Comment