yk's trip report: Washington DC 6/30-7/3
Jul 3rd, 2005 | 04:26 PM
#1
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yk's trip report: Washington DC 6/30-7/3
Hi all-
I normally hang out on the Europe board, but I just returned from a short 4-day trip to DC and want to write a brief report.
This was a last-minute trip. My boyfriend (BF) and I booked our tickets about 2 weeks before we left. We were trying to see where we could go with FF miles (from Dallas), and DC was one of the few places which still had seats available. We cashed in 50,000 AA miles and had to pay $80 because we booked our tickets less than 21 days in advance.
I had been to DC quite a few times, and BF lived there for 2 years. Our main goal was to visit the museums.
Flight
We flew nonstop DFW-DCA. It was nice to fly into DCA as we could take the metro to the hotel. Both flights were uneventful.
Hotel
We booked a 3* Dupont Circle hotel via Priceline for $75/night + tax/service charges, which came out to just less than $90/night. We ended with the Hilton Embassy Row (2015 Mass Ave). The location was good, about 1.5 block from the Metro. The hotel was quite a blah though. We were assigned a room on the 2nd floor, facing Mass Ave. We could hear the street noise, but not too bad. It was also a wheelchair accessible room - I wasn't sure why we got it. The room has a single Queen. The A/C was extremely noisy, so we left it on during the day when we were out, and turned it off at night. When we checked out, we found out there was a $0.95 telephone charge tagged on to our bill, which we didn't make. It took us quite a bit of effort and argument to get them take it off our bill.
Bottom line: So-so hotel in a good location.
Transport
We took the Metro to the Mall everyday, and walked quite a bit also. We spent about $14pp on Metro on the entire trip.
I normally hang out on the Europe board, but I just returned from a short 4-day trip to DC and want to write a brief report.
This was a last-minute trip. My boyfriend (BF) and I booked our tickets about 2 weeks before we left. We were trying to see where we could go with FF miles (from Dallas), and DC was one of the few places which still had seats available. We cashed in 50,000 AA miles and had to pay $80 because we booked our tickets less than 21 days in advance.
I had been to DC quite a few times, and BF lived there for 2 years. Our main goal was to visit the museums.
Flight
We flew nonstop DFW-DCA. It was nice to fly into DCA as we could take the metro to the hotel. Both flights were uneventful.
Hotel
We booked a 3* Dupont Circle hotel via Priceline for $75/night + tax/service charges, which came out to just less than $90/night. We ended with the Hilton Embassy Row (2015 Mass Ave). The location was good, about 1.5 block from the Metro. The hotel was quite a blah though. We were assigned a room on the 2nd floor, facing Mass Ave. We could hear the street noise, but not too bad. It was also a wheelchair accessible room - I wasn't sure why we got it. The room has a single Queen. The A/C was extremely noisy, so we left it on during the day when we were out, and turned it off at night. When we checked out, we found out there was a $0.95 telephone charge tagged on to our bill, which we didn't make. It took us quite a bit of effort and argument to get them take it off our bill.
Bottom line: So-so hotel in a good location.
Transport
We took the Metro to the Mall everyday, and walked quite a bit also. We spent about $14pp on Metro on the entire trip.
Jul 3rd, 2005 | 04:49 PM
#2
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Restaurants
6/30 Dinner
An awful, inedible dinner at Brickskeller! As BF likes beer, I thought Brickskeller would be a fine choice. The beer menu there is extensive, and I think BF ended up ordering some variety of Chimay. The food there was really awful. We shared an appetizer of steamed mussels. According to the menu description, it was supposed to be mussels steamed in beer with julienned vegetables. We waited for at least 30 minutes for the mussels, and it came out tasted like mussles that were cooked 3 hrs earlier and put back in the microwave to warm it up. They were all dried and shriveled up. I couldn't taste any beer flavor, and the "julienned vegetables" turned out to be some tomato-based pasta sauce ladled over. Both of us were too hungry to complain, so we ate it.
BF wanted to order buffalo steak, which was not available, so he ended up with a bacon cheese burger.
I ordered fish and chips. I was expecting cod fillet - what I got was practically fish nuggets. There were about 6 or 7 nuggets, each about the size of McD's chicken nuggents. The fish was completely dried out inside. The only thing that was edible was the cole slaw on the side.
This was really one of the worst meals I've had in a very very long time.
BF & I joked that since diners have to wait so long for the food, by the time the food arrives, most diners would be half-drunk and won't care how bad the food is.
7/1 Lunch
We ate at the Cascade cafe inside the National Gallery of Art. Good selection but pricey. BF got a "bento box" which wasn't really a bento box. It is just a few pieces of sushi. That was over $11. I had a 1/2 sandwich and a soup. The food was decent, but overpriced.
7/1 Dinner
The best meal I've had in a while. We ate at Obelisk, which made Gourmet's Magazine "America's Best 50 Restaurants" in 2001. It seats 36 diners only, so reservations are necessary.
The service was wonderful and warm. There's only 1 menu, a 5-course prix-fixe menu for $65. Among the 5 courses, one have a few options to choose from for the primi, secondi, and dolce courses.
Our antipasti came in 4 different plates: smoked swordfish with mozzarella, curled ham, arugula greens, and fried squash blossom stuffed with salted cod. Each one was excellent.
For primi, BF chose gnocchi with pesto, while I had beet garden ravioli with anchovy butter.
BF had lamb for secondi, and I had pan-fried turbot with porcini mushrooms. The mushrooms were plump and juicy!
The 4th course was cheese course, which I found slightly disappointing. The 3 cheeses we were given were quite similar in flavors.
Finally, for dessert, BF had a fig & raspberry tart, and I had strawberries with balsamic sauce.
The total bill, including drinks, taxes and tips, came out to $190. Worth every penny, IMO.
7/2 Dinner
We had planned on going to Johnny's Half Shell, but we were told it would be a 45-min wait. We ended up going to ThaiPhoon. The place is quite trendy and noisy, with very speedy service. Our appetizers exceeded my expectation - a garden roll and a pork satay. The entree was about average. BF had some curry dish, while I had a fried noodle dish which I found too greasy. The total came out to about $45, which was the same as we spent at Brickskeller.
6/30 Dinner
An awful, inedible dinner at Brickskeller! As BF likes beer, I thought Brickskeller would be a fine choice. The beer menu there is extensive, and I think BF ended up ordering some variety of Chimay. The food there was really awful. We shared an appetizer of steamed mussels. According to the menu description, it was supposed to be mussels steamed in beer with julienned vegetables. We waited for at least 30 minutes for the mussels, and it came out tasted like mussles that were cooked 3 hrs earlier and put back in the microwave to warm it up. They were all dried and shriveled up. I couldn't taste any beer flavor, and the "julienned vegetables" turned out to be some tomato-based pasta sauce ladled over. Both of us were too hungry to complain, so we ate it.
BF wanted to order buffalo steak, which was not available, so he ended up with a bacon cheese burger.
I ordered fish and chips. I was expecting cod fillet - what I got was practically fish nuggets. There were about 6 or 7 nuggets, each about the size of McD's chicken nuggents. The fish was completely dried out inside. The only thing that was edible was the cole slaw on the side.
This was really one of the worst meals I've had in a very very long time.
BF & I joked that since diners have to wait so long for the food, by the time the food arrives, most diners would be half-drunk and won't care how bad the food is.
7/1 Lunch
We ate at the Cascade cafe inside the National Gallery of Art. Good selection but pricey. BF got a "bento box" which wasn't really a bento box. It is just a few pieces of sushi. That was over $11. I had a 1/2 sandwich and a soup. The food was decent, but overpriced.
7/1 Dinner
The best meal I've had in a while. We ate at Obelisk, which made Gourmet's Magazine "America's Best 50 Restaurants" in 2001. It seats 36 diners only, so reservations are necessary.
The service was wonderful and warm. There's only 1 menu, a 5-course prix-fixe menu for $65. Among the 5 courses, one have a few options to choose from for the primi, secondi, and dolce courses.
Our antipasti came in 4 different plates: smoked swordfish with mozzarella, curled ham, arugula greens, and fried squash blossom stuffed with salted cod. Each one was excellent.
For primi, BF chose gnocchi with pesto, while I had beet garden ravioli with anchovy butter.
BF had lamb for secondi, and I had pan-fried turbot with porcini mushrooms. The mushrooms were plump and juicy!
The 4th course was cheese course, which I found slightly disappointing. The 3 cheeses we were given were quite similar in flavors.
Finally, for dessert, BF had a fig & raspberry tart, and I had strawberries with balsamic sauce.
The total bill, including drinks, taxes and tips, came out to $190. Worth every penny, IMO.
7/2 Dinner
We had planned on going to Johnny's Half Shell, but we were told it would be a 45-min wait. We ended up going to ThaiPhoon. The place is quite trendy and noisy, with very speedy service. Our appetizers exceeded my expectation - a garden roll and a pork satay. The entree was about average. BF had some curry dish, while I had a fried noodle dish which I found too greasy. The total came out to about $45, which was the same as we spent at Brickskeller.
Jul 3rd, 2005 | 05:00 PM
#3
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 27,019
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Sightseeing
6/30
Our plane arrived around 4pm and we got to our hotel at 5pm. After checking in, we hurried out and headed to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. On Thursdays after 5pm, the admission is pay-as-you-wish.
http://www.corcoran.org/
I found it a bit disappointing. A good number of galleries were closed for new exhibition, and some were used for current exhibitions. From what I've read, it was supposed to have a nice Dutch painting collection, but none were on view that day. We did check out 2 of the current exhibitions:
Photographs by Shomei Tomatsu; and
Dutch Royal Silver
We then walked towards the Mall, passing by WWII memorial. We kept walking until we reached the Hirshhorn Museum. The Hirshhorn is open until 8pm on Thursdays.
http://hirshhorn.si.edu/index.asp
Again, I found it a bit disappointing. The current exhibit, Visual Music, took up the entire 2nd floor, and didn't really interest me. A few works from the permanent collection were on display in the basement level. The 3rd floor was closed.
We proceeded outside and crossed the street to its Sculpture Garden. Every Thurs night in the summer, the Hirshhorn hosts free jazz concerts in the Sculpture Garden. The band that evening played music by Dizzy Gillespie. The concert ended at around 9pm.
6/30
Our plane arrived around 4pm and we got to our hotel at 5pm. After checking in, we hurried out and headed to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. On Thursdays after 5pm, the admission is pay-as-you-wish.
http://www.corcoran.org/
I found it a bit disappointing. A good number of galleries were closed for new exhibition, and some were used for current exhibitions. From what I've read, it was supposed to have a nice Dutch painting collection, but none were on view that day. We did check out 2 of the current exhibitions:
Photographs by Shomei Tomatsu; and
Dutch Royal Silver
We then walked towards the Mall, passing by WWII memorial. We kept walking until we reached the Hirshhorn Museum. The Hirshhorn is open until 8pm on Thursdays.
http://hirshhorn.si.edu/index.asp
Again, I found it a bit disappointing. The current exhibit, Visual Music, took up the entire 2nd floor, and didn't really interest me. A few works from the permanent collection were on display in the basement level. The 3rd floor was closed.
We proceeded outside and crossed the street to its Sculpture Garden. Every Thurs night in the summer, the Hirshhorn hosts free jazz concerts in the Sculpture Garden. The band that evening played music by Dizzy Gillespie. The concert ended at around 9pm.
Jul 3rd, 2005 | 05:09 PM
#4
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Joined: Jan 2004
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Sightseeing continued
7/1
I overslept, so we didn't get to the National Gallery of Art until 11:15am.
http://www.nga.gov/home.htm
We wanted to take the 11:30am Highlights tour of the West Building. The tour was excellent, considering it had to cover 600 year of art in 55 minutes. When the tour was over, our guide told us that she'll be hosting the 1:30pm Highlights tour of the East Building. BF and I decided to go to that one also. We had a leisurely lunch at the Cascade Cafe at the museum (see above: restaurants) and took the 1:30pm East Building tour. This was even better - better because I was absolutely clueless when it comes to modern and contemporary art. Again, the guide was excellent, and she went a bit over the allocated time. We finished the tour at around 2:45pm. BF & I decided to return to the WB and rented the audioguide ($5). We spent the rest of the day there (it closes at 5pm). Even though we had 2 more hours to tour, we saw such a small section of the museum - mainly the Italian and the Dutch/Flemish sections. We did drop by one of its current exhibitions, Irving Penn: Platinum Prints, before we left.
The NGA hosts free jazz concerts every Friday night in its Sculpture Garden. We toured the Sculpture Garden (good collection of sculptures by David Smith, Calder, Sol LeWitt etc), and then had some light snacks at the Garden cafe while listening to the concert. The concerts last from 5-8pm, but we left around 7:15pm as we were both worn out by a full day of art.
7/1
I overslept, so we didn't get to the National Gallery of Art until 11:15am.
http://www.nga.gov/home.htm
We wanted to take the 11:30am Highlights tour of the West Building. The tour was excellent, considering it had to cover 600 year of art in 55 minutes. When the tour was over, our guide told us that she'll be hosting the 1:30pm Highlights tour of the East Building. BF and I decided to go to that one also. We had a leisurely lunch at the Cascade Cafe at the museum (see above: restaurants) and took the 1:30pm East Building tour. This was even better - better because I was absolutely clueless when it comes to modern and contemporary art. Again, the guide was excellent, and she went a bit over the allocated time. We finished the tour at around 2:45pm. BF & I decided to return to the WB and rented the audioguide ($5). We spent the rest of the day there (it closes at 5pm). Even though we had 2 more hours to tour, we saw such a small section of the museum - mainly the Italian and the Dutch/Flemish sections. We did drop by one of its current exhibitions, Irving Penn: Platinum Prints, before we left.
The NGA hosts free jazz concerts every Friday night in its Sculpture Garden. We toured the Sculpture Garden (good collection of sculptures by David Smith, Calder, Sol LeWitt etc), and then had some light snacks at the Garden cafe while listening to the concert. The concerts last from 5-8pm, but we left around 7:15pm as we were both worn out by a full day of art.
Jul 3rd, 2005 | 05:41 PM
#5
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Joined: Jan 2004
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Sightseeing continued
7/2
We had breakfast at Teaism at Dupont Circle, which was decent.
http://www.teaism.com/
We then went to The Phillips Collection.
http://www.phillipscollection.org/
The museum is trying to promote its current exhibit, East Meets West: Hiroshige at The Phillips Collection. It was interesting, though not a wow. I was again disappointed in the permanent collection. Very few paintings were on view, due to the current exhibit as well as renovations.
Next, we went to National Geographic Museum.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/museum/
We checked out its small exhibit on King Tut Unwrapped.
I had planned on having lunch at Oodles Noodles, but I forgot to bring its address and we couldn't find it. Sadly, we hopped on the Metro and went to Old Post Office for lunch.
After some greasy chinese food (for me) and greek gyro (for BF), we went to National Museum of American History.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/index.cfm
The entire museum was mobbed with tourists! We quickly checked out Julia's Kitchen and found Dorothy's ruby slippers (and delighted to see Seinfeld's puffy shirt and Kermit) and ran out of the museum.
We walked across the Mall (where the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was taking place) to the Freer and Sackler Galleries.
Neither BF or I are into Asian Art, but we felt it would be a nice respite from the crowd.
The highlight of the Freer (IMO) is it's Whistler's collection and the Peacock Room.
http://www.asia.si.edu/
The Sackler has an intersting "Monkeys" sculpture by Xu Bing.
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/xuBing.htm
We felt a bit tired, so we went back to the cafe at the NGA's Sculpture Garden for some refreshments. Despite a cup of coffee, I still took a 30min nap there.
Our last stop of the day was the National Museum of Natural History. During the summer, it is open until 7:30pm (the rest of the museums close at 5:30pm).
http://www.mnh.si.edu/
We arrived around 6pm, hoping it wouldn't be as crowded, but it was still packed with visitors. We took a quick peek at the Hope Diamond and other gems, as well as a Pearl exhibit. We walked through other displays and checked out a "Greenland" exhibit. We left at 7:30pm.
7/3
As our flight was scheduled at 2pm, we figured we would have time for sightseeing in the morning.
We got up early and headed to the National Zoo. The grounds open at 6am, but the buildings don't open until 10am. We arrived at 9, and toured the grounds. A lot of exhibits were closed for renovations, but we did see one panda. We left the zoo around 11am. On our way back to the Metro station, we were shocked by how many people were heading to the zoo, literally, hoards of people.
I think that's about it. I'm more than happy to answer any specific questions you may have.
7/2
We had breakfast at Teaism at Dupont Circle, which was decent.
http://www.teaism.com/
We then went to The Phillips Collection.
http://www.phillipscollection.org/
The museum is trying to promote its current exhibit, East Meets West: Hiroshige at The Phillips Collection. It was interesting, though not a wow. I was again disappointed in the permanent collection. Very few paintings were on view, due to the current exhibit as well as renovations.
Next, we went to National Geographic Museum.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/museum/
We checked out its small exhibit on King Tut Unwrapped.
I had planned on having lunch at Oodles Noodles, but I forgot to bring its address and we couldn't find it. Sadly, we hopped on the Metro and went to Old Post Office for lunch.
After some greasy chinese food (for me) and greek gyro (for BF), we went to National Museum of American History.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/index.cfm
The entire museum was mobbed with tourists! We quickly checked out Julia's Kitchen and found Dorothy's ruby slippers (and delighted to see Seinfeld's puffy shirt and Kermit) and ran out of the museum.
We walked across the Mall (where the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was taking place) to the Freer and Sackler Galleries.
Neither BF or I are into Asian Art, but we felt it would be a nice respite from the crowd.
The highlight of the Freer (IMO) is it's Whistler's collection and the Peacock Room.
http://www.asia.si.edu/
The Sackler has an intersting "Monkeys" sculpture by Xu Bing.
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/xuBing.htm
We felt a bit tired, so we went back to the cafe at the NGA's Sculpture Garden for some refreshments. Despite a cup of coffee, I still took a 30min nap there.
Our last stop of the day was the National Museum of Natural History. During the summer, it is open until 7:30pm (the rest of the museums close at 5:30pm).
http://www.mnh.si.edu/
We arrived around 6pm, hoping it wouldn't be as crowded, but it was still packed with visitors. We took a quick peek at the Hope Diamond and other gems, as well as a Pearl exhibit. We walked through other displays and checked out a "Greenland" exhibit. We left at 7:30pm.
7/3
As our flight was scheduled at 2pm, we figured we would have time for sightseeing in the morning.
We got up early and headed to the National Zoo. The grounds open at 6am, but the buildings don't open until 10am. We arrived at 9, and toured the grounds. A lot of exhibits were closed for renovations, but we did see one panda. We left the zoo around 11am. On our way back to the Metro station, we were shocked by how many people were heading to the zoo, literally, hoards of people.
I think that's about it. I'm more than happy to answer any specific questions you may have.
Jul 4th, 2005 | 05:30 AM
#7
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 7,142
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yk,
Nice job on both the report and bargains. Around the 4th there are usually no discounts, in fact many places charge above their rack rates.
Sorry about your bad meals - especially since there are many fantastic choices very close to both the Brickskeller (Pesce, 21P, Pizza Paradiso, etc.) and the National Geographic Museum (Tabard Inn, Iron Gate Inn, Komi, Hank's Oyster Bar, Logan Tavern, etc.).
While I don't always carry a guide book around when travelling, I always keep a restaurant list in my wallet...
Nice job on both the report and bargains. Around the 4th there are usually no discounts, in fact many places charge above their rack rates.
Sorry about your bad meals - especially since there are many fantastic choices very close to both the Brickskeller (Pesce, 21P, Pizza Paradiso, etc.) and the National Geographic Museum (Tabard Inn, Iron Gate Inn, Komi, Hank's Oyster Bar, Logan Tavern, etc.).
While I don't always carry a guide book around when travelling, I always keep a restaurant list in my wallet...
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Jul 4th, 2005 | 09:48 AM
#9
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 27,019
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bardo & dorianna-
I actually did a fair amount of research on restaurants, and printed out a restaurant map around the Dupont Circle area. Unfortunately, I only had the map, but not the actual addresses of the restaurants. Next time I'll remember to do that.
I just thought Brickskeller food would be OK - I wasn't expecting much, but it was simply awful.
I also know that Oodles Noodles is called Nooshi - but we walked around L & K street and 19th/20th and couldn't find it. I don't know why.
Oh well, live and learn!
I actually did a fair amount of research on restaurants, and printed out a restaurant map around the Dupont Circle area. Unfortunately, I only had the map, but not the actual addresses of the restaurants. Next time I'll remember to do that.
I just thought Brickskeller food would be OK - I wasn't expecting much, but it was simply awful.
I also know that Oodles Noodles is called Nooshi - but we walked around L & K street and 19th/20th and couldn't find it. I don't know why.
Oh well, live and learn!
Jul 5th, 2005 | 09:33 PM
#10
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Planning a day trip to D.C from Philadelphia (visting family there) travelling with 3 teen girls 12, 15, 18., two sets of parents. Any suggestions for good restaurants for Bkfst lunch and dinner?. DH and DD picky eaters, simple, chicken tenders, pizza, for lunch kind of stuff, any one know of good cuban restaurants? Also with only one day in DC what are the must sees. Any freebies, will there be long lines. I'd appreciate any input
Jul 6th, 2005 | 05:05 AM
#11
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 961
Likes: 0
NCCM, I would recommend Ebbett's Grill for dinner - but make reservations - it's about a block from the White House and great food. For lunch, I would eat in the Native american museum or hard rock cafe (literally next store to Ford Theatre) - if the girl's enjoy that type of thing
Jul 6th, 2005 | 05:16 AM
#12
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 11,549
Likes: 7
My husband and I did a day of art on the Mall a few weeks ago. We hadn't seen the museum of Native Americans yet so we stopped there. The art by two featured Native Americans in one of their changing galleries was the highlight of our day.
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