2009 Sep 3: Atypical Washington DC Explorations

It seems like every time I’m in DC I end up chasing after various monuments and museums that a zillion other tourists swarm simultaneously. And with good reason, as they’re all pretty spectacular.

But this trip, Jill and I focused on Northern DC, starting with lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl (where only Bill Cosby and the Obamas eat for free!). From there, we endured a lengthy walk to and from the National Cathedral, which is inconveniently located nowhere near the metro. I knew it’d be worth the hassle though, as most glorious cathedrals are. Then we strolled through Adams Morgan and had coffee and pastries at Cafe Tryst, which is apparently a ‘hot spot’ in DC. Not sure about that, but everyone there was on laptops or reading and I got to pour my own coffee from a french press! :)

En route to Dupont Circle, we passed by the Real World DC house and saw a bunch of guys brown bagging on the stoop, one of which was wearing a panda hat/mask! It was really weird to see a bunch of cameramen standing on the sidewalk waiting for them, and then following them down the street as they went off to get dinner, etc. After all my years of watching the show, finally seeing the behind-the-scenes making of it definitely made it appear less glamorous.

We had dinner at Raku, this fabulous Asian Fusion restaurant near Dupont Circle, and hung out at Kramerbooks browsing their psychology, photography, and travel books. I practically had to drag Jill out of there kicking and screaming!