From DC, With Beer

This past weekend, we traveled with our good friends Gary & Teri to Washington, DC.  Last year was Boston and this year, it was our nation's capitol.

Gary & Teri share our love of adventure, food, and beer.  This winning combination makes for a breakneck and incredibly enjoyable long weekend.  Whereas we about froze in Boston, the weather in DC was superb.  Everyday was close to 70 degrees and the skies were clear and blue.  The weather was just about perfect.

Getting Around

Although we rode the metro rail a few times, we used Uber more.  Uber is an app-based private vehicle professional driver taxi service.  Need a ride?  Fire up the Uber app.  GPS locks in your location and a quick press of a button can summon a taxi, black sedan, or black SUV.  A fare estimate gives you an idea of what you will pay based on your destination, so you have a pretty good idea ahead of time of the cost.  Since Uber keeps your credit card on file, no money or tips are shared with the driver.  It's all included.  

The fares were reasonable.  The drivers were quick, the vehicles very clean, and the convenience was fabulous.  Uber is available all over the US.  If you are interested in signing up, use this link to get $10 off your first ride.  In full disclosure, if you take advantage of the link, Uber will credit my account $10.  I don't know anyone at Uber, I 'm just passing on what I think is a pretty cool service.  

Where did we eat & drink?

We stayed on Capitol Hill, so we did our best to check out places relatively close.  Josh Bernstein, through Instagram, highly recommended The Churchkey and Meridian Pint.  I tend to take beer author's suggestions very highly, but we sadly didn't have time to check either one out.  Next time, they are definitely on our list.

We started off at The Dubliner, which is about a stone's throw from Union Station.  

We stopped in for lunch one day and after dinner drinks the next. Service was fast and friendly, and the food was pretty good.  I wouldn't call the beer selection stellar, but they had a few local brews I had not had before including Sea Change from 3 Stars Brewing Company in DC.

Although I don't have any pictures, the 201 Bar was an interesting stop.  Catering to a younger crowd with a rather contemporary take on a traditional pub, we almost turned away as we were looking for a quick bite for dinner.  With more couches and large chairs versus tables and chairs, it seemed food might just be an after thought.  We were wrong.  Again, service was attentive and thorough and the food was quite good.  The beer list was also fairly long and varied.  I was able to again try something new in the form of Duck-Rabbit's Milk Stout.

We swung into the Black Rooster after a fairly long and grueling afternoon of walking.

The Black Rooster probably hasn't changed much through the years.  It's narrow and deep footprint was bustling with a mixture of young and old clientele.  The service was again top notch and the beer list fairly decent.  Although the pub grub menu didn't suit our fancy, it was a comfy spot to catch a pint.  I'm glad we did.

The Elephant & Castle is a chain pub and as luck would have it, we liked it.  It might have been the fact we were one block from the White House on a perfectly sunny day eating lunch outside.  It might have also been the fact they had a fairly large tap selection and took it upon themselves to serve beer in the proper glassware.  Whatever the reason, it was a great spot to have lunch and then return again to for pints.

Lunch was full on bangers and mash.  

I love bangers, I love mash, and I love baked beans.  Add in a pint of Fuller's London Porter and I'm set.

Although the Elephant & Castle is obviously very "chain-ish," it still made for a great time.  Our lunch service was great, but our bar service suffered later in the day.  That being said, I would still swing in for a pint of DC Brau's Pale Ale if I were passing through.

For dinner our last night, we ate at Charlie Palmers.  Only a few steps from the Capitol, we had high hopes.  The service was sadly uneven.  Somehow, one of the five waiters who swung by our table never took it upon themselves to take drink orders and went right into the entrees.  It was sporadic and really weird.  The food, however, was great.  As can be expected, I had a bone-in ribeye.  It was served with family style stewed spinach and an array of mustards.  Although no one thought I would finish it, you, dear readers, I'm sure knew I could.

Although the service was uneven, I would try it again.

So, is that it?  You go to DC and just eat and drink beer?

Of course not.  We had some Scotch too.  Seriously, we covered a lot of ground and saw a lot.  We also, after a lot of badgering from Gary, did something I had never done before: rented Segways.

When traveling, I try to avoid looking like a tourist.  It's bad enough lugging around a camera.  Climbing abroad a Segway with a bike helmet strapped to my head isn't exactly my idea of low profile.  Add in thousands of walking visitors on crowded sidewalks and you have an experience where 30% of the passerby's think you are cool and the remaining 70% think you are some kind of asshat.  I try to avoid being an asshat.

Case in point.  

Truthfully, they were a lot of fun. They are intuitive and very easy to operate.  Yeah, I about saw Gary taken out by a tour bus, but hey, I'm here to learn from other's mistakes, no matter how big of a mess they make.

In between the Segways and a lot of leg power, we covered all of the major monuments and even fit in a National's game who, by great chance were playing our Cincinnati Reds.  I won't bring up the scores, because Gary will go back into mourning.

The Jefferson Memorial:

The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery:

The Lincoln Memorial:

The Vietnam Memorial:

The World War II Memorial:

And of course, the US Capitol:

Speaking of which, we had a great staff-led tour of the Capitol.  Although I grew up in Northern Virginia, I had never been in the Capitol.  I've been about everywhere else, but never there.  I'm glad I finally crossed it off my list, as it's not every day you get to stand on the Speaker of the House's balcony overlooking the mall.

No matter your political persuasion or pull, the history and gravity of the work being done there, both past and present, is staggering.

Washington, DC is an amazing city and in the course of 4 days and 3 nights, we covered a lot of it (even if I had to swallow my dignity and do part of it on a Segway).  

I will leave you with some further photos.  I would explain each, but they are fairly self explanatory.  Plus, sometimes less is more.