Once Upon A Time In The District

It was a great trip to the District, Washington, D.C. We did not see the Smithsonian, Jefferson Memorial, White House, the Wall, or many more attractions. But, then, after all, that was not the purpose for our trip. We had a nice drive from Goose Creek, SC, to Fairfax, VA. Traffic wasn’t extremely heavy considering that we were on the east coast Armageddon of super highway travel, Interstate 95. We had spoken to the oldest son via cell phone and knew he was in route from New Jersey and the daughter from Georgia had called to say she was in a diner near the hotel. We checked in and were soon talking with the Arizona and California folks via telephone. Yes, the children were getting together with Mom. And I, well, I was Mom’s husband.


This trip was about family fun. When people are on both coasts it’s difficult to get them altogether. This trip had been in the planning stages for at least a year. We stayed at the same extended stay hotel except for the NJ contingent who stayed at Crystal City. We were only a mile from the Metro station, and that would be our major mode of transport around the area. I was surprised to find that all day parking was only $4.50. I think that was the only inexpensive thing we found there in the city.

It had been decided that we would go to Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown for dinner. We used our car to drive from Fairfax to Georgetown; the Acura was a bit roomier than the rental Chevy. We parked underneath a shopping mall and walked about a block back to the restaurant. We walked down two or three levels to the dining room where we were seated. The rest of our party met us there, and we had a table for ten. It was good to see everyone together for the first time in at least five years. I thought the food was a bit pricey, and service left a bit to be desired, but we enjoyed each other’s company. The sweet tooth crowd wanted to find a cupcake shop, and so our navigatrix found one close by using her cell phone. The line was out onto the sidewalk, and waiting is not my finest suit. Everyone enjoyed their favorite exotic cupcake before returning to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

We were up early the next day but the not rest of our party. We had breakfast burritos in our room. At the Metro station we bought our “one-day” passes, which are good for any time of day except rush hour. Washington’s Metro is clean and modern and bigger than London’s tube but, unfortunately, several of the escalators were out of service.

We rode to Union Station and had lunch at a nearby Irish pub. Lunch was good, and Mark and Nathan joined us for our tour of the Capitol. One of the attractive interns from Senator Jim DeMint’s office led our tour of the capitol building. There were quite a few tourists on a weekday but not overly crowded. It is very inspiring and big. I found out that if the Statue of Liberty is placed inside the capitol rotunda, it would not reach the top!

We next visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This is a great place for aerophiles like me. This was my second visit, so I was able to guide some of the newer visitors in our party around. I always learn something new at this museum. For example, the Airbus A380 is controlled by a joystick rather than the traditional yoke. Although this is a great museum, I find the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Chantilly better. The museum closes at 5:30, which seemed very early to me, but we did have time to get a soft serve ice cream which was a great treat for a hot day. Then, it was back to the sidewalk.

The group split up a bit as Nathan and Mark went to get Jen and meet us for dinner. According to one of the brochures we had, the American Art Museum was open until 7 p.m., so away we went. The George Ault show of 1940’s American paintings was very good. There is a good exhibit of folk art as well. I have mixed emotions about folk art. Much of the modern folk art is called outsider art. “Outsider” refers to the fact that the artists have no formal training.

Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant near all the Hispanic embassies. The food was great, and service was good, but it was extremely noisy. Dining was upstairs and open air. I thought the heat would be unbearable, but the overhead fans did their job. The place got a bad mark in my book for the life size cutouts of the President and First Lady by the entrance. Some members of our party even had their pictures taken with them. They are family. I still speak with them! By this time it was getting late and time to catch the Metro back to Fairfax. We got back to our room and watched some of the College World Series, and Carolina won. Although my blood runs orange I support those South Carolina teams in national competition.

The next day we did lunch in Crystal City: a hamburger restaurant in a mall. The brilliant designers had a clear glass roof over the dining area. It’s no fun to try to enjoy your food under intense heat. It was my least enjoyable meal.

We thought it would be a good day for a walk to the Lincoln Memorial. After a Metro ride, we exited at the station near George Washington University and began our walk. It took us by the Department of State, but I didn’t see Hillary Clinton anywhere. Kim, our navigatrix, kept us on track on this very warm walk. There was quite a crowd at the Memorial. Lincoln in his big chair is quite impressive up close. We had a good view of the Washington Monument without the benefit of a reflecting pool. The pool was empty for whatever reason.

After our visit to the memorial, which included a lot of walking, we were ready for the tearoom Kim had found, the Teasim Restaurant Penn Quarter. We had the afternoon tea menu: a selection of sandwiches, scones, tartlets, and other goodies with a pot of tea. There were a lot of Asian teas and menu items, but we stuck with Earl Grey and the traditional menu. We ate downstairs after getting our food. (No wait service here.) It was kind of cozy and quiet enough to carry on a good conversation. We spent about two hours in this place before saying good-bye to the New Jersey part of the family. They would not be joining us for dinner at Jaleo.

Jaleo, a Spanish restaurant, was a super treat. We had a reservation for 5:30 for an early dinner, because we had theater tickets for a 7:30 play. We had a good table for the seven of us by the window and the food and service were first class. The menu for the tapas style meal was in Spanish with English translations. My travelmate and I were excited about the Spanish food, since we will be visiting Spain in the fall. The arroz de pato, croquetas de pollo, dátiles con tocino ‘como hace todo el mundo’, butifarra casera con mongetes were all delicious, especially the dates wrapped in bacon and deep fried. We shared a carafe of sangria with Kim. It was the first sangria I had ever had with white wine.

The play was William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice at the Shakespeare Theater Company. The production was superb. This version was set in the early 20th century with period music. I found it quite interesting and the Shakespearaholic I’m married to was ecstatic. We watched the film version starring Al Pacino as Shylock before our visit to familiarize ourselves with the story. It was a late train we took back to Fairfax with the requisite homeless person sleeping on the train.

Morning came early and we decided we would have breakfast together before going our separate ways. There were only seven of us, since part of the family had left earlier in the day. It was a good breakfast at the diner, and we said our good-bys and planned to meet in Chicago in 2013.

Pizzaria Paradiso Teasim Restaurant Jaleo Other Picasa Photos from the trip.

I did not see Craig T. Nelson of The District anywhere.