Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report The East Coast adventure: December 2014

VACATION REPORT DECEMBER 2014

On December 6th we left Sacramento for Washington, D.C. via Phoenix. A bunch of American Airlines frequent-flier miles allowed us to snag free first-class tickets on US Airways, and our flights were very good. We had been apprehensive about USA because of many posts about bad service and late flights, but we were lucky and had no problems except for some scary turbulence out of DCA on our return trip
.
In Washington we stayed with a long-time friend who lives in McLean Gardens, a huge complex of condominiums in red-brick buildings that were built during WWII for incoming clerical workers. The day after our arrival we went to nearby Hillwood, the estate of the late heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Ms. Post's third husband was ambassador to the Soviet Union in the days when the government was selling off works of art in order to get hard currency, and Ms. Post was able to buy many pieces of Fabergé, paintings, and religious art, all on display now at Hillwood. During our visit there was also an exhibit of jewelry designed by Cartier for Ms. Post--wow!

The following morning we went to the excellent Newseum, a must-see for anyone interested in journalism. That afternoon we visited, again, the National Cathedral and especially enjoyed the large exhibit of nativity scenes from many countries. My favorite, of course, was the display of santons from France.

That evening we dined superbly at 1785, long a favorite with D.C. residents for its excellent food and service. We were placed in an upstairs room with beautiful Christmas decorations, and our meal was terrific: roast venison for my DH, braised beef short ribs for me, fish for our friend.

On Saturday we took the train to New York and spent 2-1/2 days visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, the Frick, and (because we had a little time after MOMA) the American Museum of Natural History. First on the list, on the Sunday, was MOMA ,which was presenting a fine exhibit of Matisse cut-outs. The permanent collection included some works we had long wanted to see "for real."

The next day we went to the Met just at opening time and stayed until nearly 5 p.m. We were very taken with the Egyptian exhibits there (both of us are interested in ancient Egyptian history) but would need several more days just for that area, not to mention all the European paintings, the sculptures, and everything else that makes up this great museum. We checked many paintings off our bucket list and saw the huge tree with Italian Renaissance angels floating about, plus a smaller tree covered with origami ornaments.

On our final day we visited the Frick and were overwhelmed by the richness of the collection. Vermeers, Holbeins, a complete Boucher room, El Grecos, and a splendid, tall Renoir oil of a woman with her two young daughters---all in a beautiful house and with floors made for walking and standing.

We stayed on the upper west side in the Lucerne, a classic European-style hotel with an adjacent French restaurant, Nice Matin. We had dinner there on our first night and breakfast every morning--very good food. The second night we went across the street to Sagwat for a delicious Indian dinner. On our final night...oh boy! That was Boulud Sud for a meal the likes of which we had not seen since France. (I'll be posting details of all three meals on Open Table.) The pastry chef should be competing in the Bocuse d'Or, he's that good. The dessert, a chocolate cube featuring a thin spun-sugar thread and gold leaf, was so beautiful that we were reluctant to eat it. We were pleased to see a number of women working in the open kitchen.

We didn't have much time for sightseeing in Manhattan, but we did get to Rockefeller Center and saw the Christmas windows at Saks Fifth Avenue--very cute versions of fairy tales with amusing commentary. We had one day of good weather (the rest was rainy and cold) and we had hot dogs from a food truck by Central Park. We were happy to see that all the taxis (we took a lot of taxis because of the bad weather and my aching feet) had credit-card machines. My DH, alas, had no time to ride the subway--he just loves subways!

On our return trip to D.C. we stopped for a while at Union Station so I could make some purchases at the Appalachian Spring shop--beautiful pottery, wood items, jewelry...I could have closed my eyes, pointed, and said "I'll take that." It's an amazing store.

Back in D.C. we visited the National Gallery, which was displaying the Degas "Little Dancer." As a tie-in the Garden Court Café had a special buffet lunch of about a dozen French cold vegetable dishes, two fine cheeses, fougasse ( a Provençal olive bread), roast guinea hen, and crème brûlée to finish it off. That was a memorable meal, giving us the energy to hit the many galleries. We re-visited the Cole allegorical paintings and my favorite, "Ginerva," the only Leonardo in North America, among all the other fine works.

The next day (think whirlwind trip!) we picked up a rental car and drove to Williamsburg, VA to visit former neighbors. On Friday they took us to Colonial Williamsburg, which was fun to see all decorated for the holidays, including a wreath competition. We had lunch outside in Williamsburg at the Blue Talon (go for the fantastic macaroni and cheese topped with shaved Virginia ham!) and in the evening dined at the Shields Tavern. Dinner was copious and delicious, and it was accompanied by a man playing a "pocket fiddle," less than a foot long, and a singer. In between we went to a class in country dancing at the Raleigh Tavern and had lots of fun. My DH is a long-time folk dancer, and he quickly picked up the steps and patterns, and we both had a really good time participating in the dances with the instructors.

On Saturday we drove back to D.C. and made our last museum visit, this to the Phillips Collection so my DH could see his favorite painting, Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party." We had a major stroke of luck in discovering a special exhibit of post-Impressionist paintings, many by the Pointilists and a number by Signac. It was interesting to compare his works with less-talented contemporaries. We were again overwhelmed by the two van Goghs on display.

On Sunday we had lunch with our friend at Rosa's Mexican Restaurant in the northwest area, which does great guacamole made beside the table. That evening we attended the final performance of the D.C. Revels, this year with an Irish theme. Watching the huge cast, including a number of talented children, was an excellent end to our visit to the East Coast.

On our final full day in DC I had to make one last trip, my third, to my favorite store: Rodman's. It's simply amazing how much merchandise is fitted into 2 not overly large floors, especially holiday foods and sweets from Europe. I have to confess that I bought another suitcase to add to our luggage stash so I could take back brands of tea and other comestibles not easily found where we live--and also 3 loaves of a delicious whole-grain bread from my friend's favorite bakery, just over the border in Maryland. The ease of using a spinning hard-sided suitcase made me come home and order a set to replace our aging soft-sided luggage.

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions about the New York portion of our trip.