playing tourist + dc foodies

Yesterday JP and I were aiming to do the works... monuments, museums, plus some local spots I'd deemed as essentials for the trip. However, the cold slightly altered our plans. Hmmm monuments. We can see those from the car and in the distance. That plan became good enough for the 20-30 degree weather which, by the way, would not have been quite as painful had it not been for the random 60-70 degree weather heat waves we've had periodically lately. Yo-yo weather much? Think so.

Anyhow, we started off the day with brunch at Bread and Chocolate. B&C has become one of my favorite spots, so I was definitely disappointed to find my favorite part of the meal, this tasty maple butter with the complimentary bread, didn't make the cut on the menu revision. This always happens. I shouldn't be surprised. And the complimentary bread? Not so complimentary anymore. $2.95 price tag. Thumbs down. They still do a mighty fine latte and I overlook the hit-or-miss (heavy on the miss) service, but I don't know that I'll be so kind to overlook it in the future.

We then wanted to run to Sticky Fingers up in Columbia Heights to grab some sweets for our movie we planned to watch under cozy blankets later that night. We took a somewhat scenic route along the mall so JP could see a little more of the city. This was my first time actually going to Columbia Heights and must say, I thought it seemed like a pretty nice area. I really liked the diversity.

The new locale for Sticky Fingers was much larger than their former Dupont/quasi-Adams Morgan operation. I was amused to see this guy I'd met at Local 16 sitting in the cafe in a group. I didn't say anything to him, but it seemed pretty fittting that an attorney for the Humane Society be hanging out at a vegan bakery. If you haven't hit Sticky Fingers, I'm a huge fan. Go and get yourself a cowvin or a sticky bun. Delish! (And no, I'm not vegan... not even vegetarian. Just have a major sweet tooth)

We opted for indoor DC touring, so we then headed back to the Smithsonian museums for a bit. We decided on the National Gallery of Art and the American Indian Museums. I'm still a bit disappointed that the American History Museum is closed until summer of 2008. I still say closing the whole thing for that long is a bit much. Did anyone ever hear of wings?? You can close things in portions... oh well. There's a beautiful floral display at the National Gallery at the Mall entrance that is just amazing. Walking in, you can smell the mixture of beautiful fresh flowers. If you haven't been, it's worth going through security just to take a peek at that if nothing else. I did manage to get scolded twice by the museum guards. Once for touching the protective glass on some exhibit (oooops) and another for talking on my phone (quietly!) in one of the wings. I guess my loud Sex and the City ringtone brought a little initial attention to myself. We decided to leave a bit later. I didn't want to get us thrown out if I dared to do something wrong for a third time...

It was interesting to see the American Indian Museum since I'd never been, but I was a bit surprised that there was so little of older history captured and such an emphasis on more recent events. They do have a fabulous cafe though. It came highly recommended and I definitely don't feel misled on that one.

Our plan for the evening was to meet up with Rio and WT at my all-time fave, Lauriol Plaza, before turning in for our movie + sweets. Perfect. I thought some Washingtonians might have decided against venturing out with the drastic change in temperature as of late, but at least at Lauriol that proved to not be the case. We did beat the mad rush though, and had a great meal and good time catching up - much to the dismay of our server. Rio had just returned from a couple of weeks in Buenos Aires and WT had been on the road quite a bit lately for work, so it was great to get to see them both in one evening!

We did understand our server's anxiety a bit better as we forced our way back out through the sea of waiting patrons. Oh well. We arrived early to take our claim to a spot to avoid the later night circus.

Rio was nice enough to drive us all home, which in the cold was just about the biggest present anyone could have given! JP and I crawled under blankets on our couch and watced In Her Shoes. I just love that movie. Such a great movie about family and especially mother/daughter/sister relationships. So good!

We're off shortly for round two... hopefully this snow threat nonsense is just that. Nonsense. Anyone who's reading this outside of the DC metro area would scoff to think that an inch is a threat. But then again, that's why I'm here. I like being a snow wimp.