Any DC area posters...

[creek14]

I'll be in the area this coming week and would appreciate some suggestions for free time. I have been to all the usual points of interest in the past and really don't want to walk the Mall in December, I'm looking more for great restaurants or something out of the ordinary that might be fun. I'll be in meetings all day, but will have a couple free evenings.

I'm going with another rabid Reds/baseball fan and we were lamenting the fact we can't take in a Nationals or Orioles game.

So basically, here's your chance to tell me where to go.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Super_Barry11]

Ooh, I'm interested in this as well... I'm going to DC over Christmas break!!!

[Redsland]

One of the newer attractions you might enjoy is the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's new facility at Dulles. It has a space shuttle, an Sr-71, the Enola Gay, and a couple dozen other planes, plus an observation deck overlooking Dulles.

Alexandria, VA is great for shops and restaurants, and it's on the Metro route. Georgetown is another great area for nightlife.

[cincinnati chili]

Go get a three way at the Hard Times Cafe. You'll feel like you never left home.

[D-Man]

Some of my favorite restaurants:
*Two Amys. Best pizza in town, bar none. The decor is unassuming, the pizza is as authentic as Italian pizza can get. It is a thin pie, lightly coated with olive oil, and it is baked in a brick oven. The ingredients are authentic. It is expensive for pizza ($10-13 for a ~10" pie, I eat a whole one myself), but it is always packed--rightly so. It is located off of Wisconsin Avenue, right past the National Cathedral. It is closed on Monday evenings.
*Moby Dick's House of Kabobs. There are several restaurants of this local Persian chain, but the kabobs are relatively cheap ($6-9), the food is great, and everyone apparently speaks Farsi. My buddy always gets the kubideh, which is a grilled Middle Eastern sausage. I always get the joojeh (grilled chicken breast). I recommend that you get it with the bread cooked in the tandoori oven, not rice.
*Old Ebbitt Grille is a famous tourist attraction, but most don't know it has half-priced oysters after 10 or 11 pm. Great selection of oysters, to boot.
*Sam & Harry's has the best steaks in town, and you'll pay for it. It offers huge sides and is centrally located in downtown. A cheaper steak joint (and a better value, IMO) is Ray's the Steaks, which is in North Arlington.
*Next door to Ray's the Steaks is The Village Bistro. I've always had a great meal there. (www.villagebistro.com)

For most sit-down restaurants in DC, you need a reservation on the weekends. I recommend planning in advance. A few good Web sites for restaurants recommendations are washingtonian.com and the food section of washingtonpost.com.

Events:
*Get a drink on the roof of the Hotel Washington, 15th Street NW. On a clear night/day, you can see pretty far. They might have a canopy out there with the bad weather.
*Another nice view: on top of the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue, but that would be a daytime activity. I believe it closes at 5 pm.
*Another great (but unheralded) view is from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington. You get a panoramic view of the downtown monuments at night. Dress in layers at this time of the year.
*See a movie at the Uptown, on Connecticut Avenue. It's an expensive endeavor ($8-10), but its a retrofitted theatre with great seats, a great sound system, and a huge screen. You may have to wait in line to get a ticket on the weekends or for popular movies.
*People watching/window shopping on M Street in Georgetown. Priceless.
*The Wizards and Caps might be in town. Neither is a particularly good team, but the Caps have 21-year-old Lemieux in Alex Ovechkin. He's a legit stud.
*If there is any game you want to see in the world (no kidding), Summer's in Arlington has it on TV. They have like 10 satellites on the roof and can get any sporting match from across the world. It is open 24 hours a day.
*Although you didn't want to go the Mall, there were a few exhibits worth mentioning at the National Gallery of Art. There is a still life exhibit of Pieter Claesz, one of the Dutch Masters, and a photography exhibit of the four Brown sisters (see http://www.zabriskiegallery.com/Nixon/TBS/nixon.htm) taken over 31 years. It is an artistic way to visually see the aging process and how relationships among close relatives can change over time. I enjoyed it a lot but it made my wife depressed, FYI. The best part is that entry at all the Mall venues is FREE.
*When kids are involved, the air and space museum is always a winner.
*If you are into politics, you can ask you congressman/congresswoman for tickets to the Capitol. If you are coming in December, it is unlikely Congress will be in session, so it probably won't be worth your time.
*The White House is always immaculately decorated for Christmas, and is open for the public to see. I actually don't know how to get tickets or what the restrictions are on when the public can see it. . . But it is well worth a 10-minute Internet search. Again, you might want to ask your congressman/congresswoman if they have tickets.

I can provide more specific recommendations, depending on your dietary preferences, budget, where you will be staying, if you have a car, etc.

[TeamBoone]

What is the name of the steak place that has all the characatures of the Washington Redskins drawn on the wall... IIRC, it was extremely informal but I loved it and the food was great.

There was another one that I can't remember the name of. They offer lots of exotic foods... llama, ostrich, snake... and game meats such as venison, bear and stuff like that. I liked it!

[dman]

One of the newer attractions you might enjoy is the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's new facility at Dulles. It has a space shuttle, an Sr-71, the Enola Gay, and a couple dozen other planes, plus an observation deck overlooking Dulles.

Alexandria, VA is great for shops and restaurants, and it's on the Metro route. Georgetown is another great area for nightlife.

Yeah, but $12 just to park there really sucks. As much as I like aviation related stuff, I passed on this when I went there this past summer. IMHO, I think that right here in Ohio we have the best aviation museum at Wright-Patt. And it's free parking and free admission to boot at Wright-Patt.

[cincinnati chili]

I remember this link from a while back. Emailed it to my brother in DC

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTI...ing/index.html

[Reds4Life]

*The White House is always immaculately decorated for Christmas, and is open for the public to see. I actually don't know how to get tickets or what the restrictions are on when the public can see it. . . But it is well worth a 10-minute Internet search. Again, you might want to ask your congressman/congresswoman if they have tickets.

White House tickets can be obtained through Senators. There is, however, a substantial waiting list for security reasons. Post 9-11 the Secret Service does a background check on every tour ticket issued, they recommend at least a 30 day lead time, can be as high as 90 days during peak times.

[pedro]

I've been to the new aerospace museum. It was cool but I'm not sure I'd make a special trip to the burbs to see it.

[OldRightHander]

Call me the oddball here, but I've always liked visiting the Civil War battlefields you can find within a reasonable drive. The Air and Space Museum is nice too. My wife has an aunt near Manassas, and the last time we were there I spent more time walking around the battlefield than I did in DC.

[registerthis]

D-man put together a very good list. I can't recommend a dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grille enough. We're considering hosting our wedding reception there, it is so nice.

Also, drinks on the roof of the Hotel Washington is a great suggestion.

I am also a big fan of Old Town Alexandria...it's like Georgetown, minus the overwhelming crowds. The Torpedo Factory in Old Town is very cool--it used to be an honest-to-God Torpedo facotry, but about twenty years ago the city purchased it and converted it into an community arts space. There's probably 50-60 artists of all types who have studios there, everything from painting to photography to sculpture, to some more bizarre things...it's a good way to kill a couple of hours. And there are some great restaurants/shopping there as well, plus a great promenade along the shores of the Potomac. (Of course, it can get quite chilly during the winter so you might want to skip the riverwalk.)

Other good neighborhoods for strolling/eating/shopping/drinking are Dupont and Adams-Morgan. A-M has a great variety of ethnic restaurants of all types, and a nice urban vibe. Dupont is more trendy, but home to some fantastic restaurants as well. If you like to read, two bookstores that I highly recommend--Kramerbooks in Dupont and Politics and Prose on Connecticutt Ave in the Van Ness neighborhood. I could spend hours at each.

If you're looking for a good nightspot, there's a terrific jazz club in Georgetown called Blues Alley. You often have to get reservations, but the atmosphere in the club is great. There's a fun Irish Pub that I'm partial to in Alexandria called Murphy's...and I'm not sure where you'll be staying, but if you happen to be in suburban Maryland, in Rockville there is a great Italian place called Timpano's that has one of the most fun bars in the area. It's very cozy, and the people watching is great. If you stop by on Friday evening you'll probably catch me and my fiancee lounging on one of the couches next to the fire.

Of course, there's plenty of the normal touristy-type stuff you can do. Something that gets overlooked by a lot of visitors to D.C. is a guided tour of the Library of Congress. It's such a gorgeous building, and their collection is truly extraordinary. The Spy Museum in Chinatown is a bit pricey but a lot of fun--I spent 4 hours there and didn't get bored. And if the weather isn't too cold, my absolute favorite view of D.C. is taking in a sunset fro the steps of the jefferson memorial, overlooking the Tidal Basin.

Dunno if this is what you're looking for or not, but these are my personal recommendations. Have fun.

[Redsland]

Yeah, but $12 just to park there really sucks.

Yeah, kinda.

I agree that Wright-Patt is amazing. Tons of planes and lots of one-of-a-kinds. The Valkyrie alone is worth the price of admission.

I feel the same way about the space shuttle at Dulles.

[D-Man]

A few additional notes, based on what others have offered:

*Ben's Chili Bowl (as discussed in the link provided by CHILI, no less) has fantastic food, but it is in a recently gentrified area. Some might be scared off by the term, "gentrified," but I think it is a great place to grab a rather quick, cheap dinner.
*Lauriol Plaza: it has moderately good food, but the wait for a table is always an hour or more. It is more of a "see-and-be-seen" place. I think you can get better value at other Mexican joints sans the wait, such as Cactus Cantina (next door to Two Amy's), Rio Grande Cafe in Arlington, or even the outrageously expensive Rosa Mexicano near the MCI Center (I have enjoyed one or two $10 Pomegranate margaritas there in my lifetime).
*I agree with registerthis' assessment that Old Town Alexandria is great, but unless you are staying in South Arlington or Alexandria, you may want to do something different. It is very difficult for out-of-towners to traverse the maze of roads around the Pentagon, and the Metro will usually require a transfer if you are staying in downtown Washington (plus a 45-minute ride/walk from the Metro). If you want to feel like you stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting, it is worth it.

[paintmered]

The Valkyrie alone is worth the price of admission.

Which is free.