Category Archives: Washington D.C.

To do list for Washington DC next week:

Ben’s Chili Bowl, a neighborhood landmark in U Street Corridor

I’m off to DC next week for a family get-together to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday – and to check in on my son who is interning for a U.S. Senator so here’s my list of possible things to do when/if I have some free time:

– Newseum and Holocaust Museum. Never been to either.

– Martin Luther King statue on the Mall and visit to Vietnam War Memorial, which includes my husband’s brother’s name.

– The eastern market/U street corridor (recommendations from a friend who visited recently). I’ve been to Detroit’s Eastern Market but never DC’s. Didn’t know it existed. It in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and sounds like best time to visit is during the weekend market when there’s crafts, antiques as well as fresh produce.

The U Street Corridor is a commercial and residential neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C known as the center of Washington’s live music scene with several old clubs, theaters and jazz venues. Ben’s chili bowl looks pretty cool too. It’s at located at 1213 U Street, next to Lincoln Theatre, in the Shaw neighborhood of northwest D.C. It is known locally for its chili dogs, half-smokes, and milkshakes. (I remember photos of Obama visiting.)

The corridor  runs from from 9th Street on the east to 18th Street and Florida Avenue on the west. Most of the area is part of the larger Shaw neighborhood, with the western end entering the Dupont Circle neighborhood. It is served by the U Street Washington Metro station.

– Politics and Prose, a longtime favorite bookstore (that a friend now owns!)

– ellicott city, Md. I’m visiting a friend who lives there. Sounds like the five-block historic downtown is worth a wander.Fun facts: it was founded in 1772 and has the nation’s oldest railroad station.

Leave a comment

Filed under Washington D.C.

Searching for a bed and breakfast in Washington DC – think I found one!

At the last minute, I needed to find one night’s accommodation in D.C. and none of my options looked very attractive – either too expensive/fancy or too inexpensive/shabby. I have a good deal for two nights at a hotel in Bethesda via Expedia – $103 a night (which I got in part by pre-paying way in advance) but a third night jumped up to $240. So I started looking for bed and breakfasts and I think I’ve found a good option: The Intown Uptown Inn in Upper Northwest D.C. (and their prices are even going DOWN in July.) Another attractive, albeit pricier option, was the The Woodley Park Guest House but I had trouble getting a room for just night.

Leave a comment

Filed under Washington D.C.

Archie Bunker’s chair! Ben Franklin’s Walking stick! American Stories exhibit at D.C.’s Smithsonian!

Fairmount Fire Company volunteer firefighting outfit

One of the more entertaining ways to soak in history is to study the history of things – so a new Smithsonian exhibit that presents history through a timeline of artifacts, including pop culture junk,  is right up my alley. The National Museum of American History’s new exhibit includes over 100 “iconic items” dating back to the Pilgrim’s arrival in 1620 (iconic item #1: a piece of Plymouth Rock.). Other items include a slave ship manifest, Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the “Wizard of Oz”,  and a Barack Obama campaign button written in Hebrew. (Hey, I have a Bill Clinton campaign button written in Hebrew!) There’s also a mobile app for the exhibit with more info on each object – in English and our new second U.S. language, Spanish. The exhibit is called American Stories and to see more of what’s in it (including the hat above) see: http://66.147.244.104/~amerifl5/americanstories/

I’ll be in DC in June and this is definitely on my list! I remember an exhibit at the Iowa State Historical Museum that took a similar approach to the sixties – that made me feel a bit like an relic myself as I pointed out to my then-little kids such once-familiar items as “hot pants.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Washington D.C.

When next in D.C.

I haven’t been to Washington D.C. in several years but I inevitably end up returning and when I do, here’s some suggestions from a recent NYTimes article about the Columbia Heights neighborhood in NW DC.

– Room 11, 3234 11th STr. NW. “tiny bodega turned wine bar.”

– Bloombars, 3222 11th St. non-profit “art bar” showing late-late night indie movies from 2:30 to 6:30 a.m. (don’t think I’ll be doing that.)

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Washington D.C.