Matt and I have decided to take a short trip to D.C. from next Thursday through next Sunday (July 22-25). We’d love recommendations on:
– where to stay (someplace decent but affordable)
– where to eat
– where to go and what to do
Although I spent eight years living just two hours from D.C., I didn’t visit all that often. We’ll probably do the Smithsonian, etc., but any other ideas would be great.
The National Holocaust Memorial Museum is something to see. Very moving, and very interesting.
I’d probably look at the Tabard Inn first as a place to stay. Near Dupont Circle, v. affordable, and the restaurant’s there’s supposed to be pretty good.
You should probably check out the Spy Museum if you’re at all interested in the subject–I’ll be going there when I visit this weekend.
The Glass Menagerie starring Sally Field at the Kennedy Center as part of the Tennessee Williams Celebration.
I always visit the Folger Shakespeare Library. It’s a few blocks behind the Supreme Court building.
Tabard Inn is good. Hotel Helix is funky and fun. DC is also a great city to use Prcieline for hotel as you can always get great deals. Tapas at Jaleo by the Shakespeare Theatre is always a good call for food. The Building Museum is an underappreciated stop. Kennedy Center has free shows daily at 6 p.m.
I stay at the Tabard whenever I’m in town… it’s a lot of fun, and the restaurant really is top-notch.
I’ve left more details over at Matt’s.
The glass conservatory down by the Capitol building- lots of lovely plants and a cool jungle exhibit.
A stroll through the sprawling FDR memorial of granite and water features, set amidst the cherry trees alongside the Tidal Basin. Because it’s outside, it looks and feels different throughout the day and throughout the year.
In terms of where to eat… depends on how much you want to spend. Jaleo has already been mentioned and is definitely a treat (try to go when they have the flamenco dancers performing); they also serve brunch. Since it’s tapas, you can eat there relatively cheaply to very expensively, depending on how many you order.
Jeff and I love David Greggory near Dupont, which has an extravagant (and expensive) brunch buffet, though the latter is on hiatus through the summer.
There’s also a delightful, cozy, romantic little place near GW and the Kennedy Center, called Nectar, which has no walk-in freezer so the menu changes daily based on whatever ingredients are freshest at the DC markets that day. Caveat: It’s rather pricy. (Well, maybe not by New York standards, but we did blow $100 there before tip, and that was without wine or cocktails.)
Lebanese Taverna is very nice; there’s a location near us in Pentagon City. And then there’s the Caravan Grill, a fantastic Persian restaurant tucked away in a hole-in-the-wall English basement between Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, just down 18th Street from Lauriol Plaza. They feature a cheap (around $12 when I was last there) buffet dinner that’s just amazing, and they also have a range of delicious vegan and vegetarian entrees. I once took a group of Manhattanites there; they’d complained about everything else in DC, but agreed that they’d never had Persian food as good in the city. High praise indeed. My favorite is their chicken in walnut and pomegranate cream sauce. I’m salivating now just remembering.