INSIDE THE BELTWAY PART II…

We are meeting friends near the Friendship Park Metro station for dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant. On the way we check our urban spoon app and the closest Greek restaurant to our stop is The Parthenon  Reading the menu, we really hope this is where they will be taking us.  The metro is running behind schedule due to weekend repairs and we finally arrive 30 minutes late.  Sure enough dinner is at The Parthenon.  There is a line out the front door when we arrive and the place is packed… but no fears… it’s all about, whom you know, LOL.  Our friends are regulars here and although we have missed our reservation time by a half hour, we are promptly shown to our table.  After perusing the menu and discussing the dishes with our friends, all four of us decide on the Baked Lamb (3 with orzo and 1 with spaghetti), a large Greek salad to share and a bottle of red wine (Greek of course), as recommended by our server. Dinner is spectacular. The salad fresh and crisp with a light dressing, the perfectly seasoned lamb melts in our mouths, and the wine a perfect match.  Meeting up with friends is always fun, but an amazing dinner with friends is unforgettable. (Thanks Bill & Peggy you guys rock!)

Supreme Court
Building

Government and tourism are the two main industries in Washington DC.  We’re doing the tourist thing, but it’s time to check out the government.  We hike over to our Senator Diane Feinstein’s office and pick up gallery passes to the House and the Senate. On Capitol Hill we stop at the The Supreme Court  Building, watch an informational video, view historical exhibits and take a quick tour.  The majestic marble building and decorative carvings inside and out are fitting for the highest court in our country. President Taft, who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is credited with persuading Congress to authorize construction, and his ever practical wife insisted that,  “the building be easy to clean.”

Three buildings hold the The Library of Congress with the centerpiece

Library of Congress

Thomas Jefferson Building.  This is by far the most beautiful building in the Capitol.  A cathedral to knowledge, with grand arches, marble columns, sweeping staircases, frescos, mosaics and carvings dedicated to learning, creativity, and intellectual achievement.  Regular tours are held throughout the day that start with and introductory video and then a docent led tour that includes information on the decorative interior while stopping to view the Guttenberg and Mainz Bibles and Thomas Jefferson’s book collection. After our tour we take the underground passage way to the James Madison Memorial Building and ride the elevator to the 6th floor cafeteria where we get a decent meal and enjoy great views of the river and

city.

Getting into the Senate Gallery is an exercise in persistence. First you have to get a gallery pass from Senator or Representative, then you have to go through a first screening much like the TSA screening in an airport and finally you have to turn over all cameras, cell phones and any electronic equipment which is held in a check area before entering the gallery.  Once you make it to the gallery it’s pretty underwhelming, unless you happen to hit a voting time.  The Senate was “in session” but we could not identify the speaking senator since he was under the balcony where we sat.  The chamber was empty except for a few aides, clerks and a designated president pro tem.  Yes, the wheels of government turn slowly… really, really slowly…

In Chinatown we stop at the New Big Wong Restaurant (actually we dine here twice so we could try more dishes.)  The decor is average, the service is ok, Sing Tao beers arrive cold, orders get taken and food gets delivered hot from the kitchen.  Portions are large (so lots-o-leftovers to take home.)  The Peking duck is better than Beijing, Pork Fried Rice has lots of finely chopped veggies, egg and meat, Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce is bright green, crisp and perfectly seasoned, Beef with Broccoli is tender and flavorful and the Vegetable Egg Foo Young is fluffy, chock full of vegies and smothered in a smooth creamy gravy.  Each dish maintains a distinct, unique flavor.   There are lots of choices to dine in DC and we are happy to discover this place.

The U.S. Botanic Garden established by Congress in 1820, is a living plant museum located on the National Mall.  Hundreds of orchids are in bloom. The Conservatory with its huge greenhouse showcases an impressive state-of-the-art indoor garden with approximately 4,000 seasonal, tropical and subtropical plants. Stairs and catwalks throughout the green house allow us to climb to view the tops of the palms.  We spend hours exploring the plants and gardens.  There is even a room with spices where we can smell the ingredients of curry mixes and essential oils.

The Freer and Sakler Galleries host an impressive collection of Asian art.  There is a special exhibit of Whistler in conjunction with a Kiyochika exhibit of Japanese wood block prints.  We sign up for a tour of these special exhibits, the docent leaves a lot to be desired and not being huge Whistler fans, we leave the tour after a bit and continue on to the Japanese prints. 

We don't know what to expect when we visit The National Archives so we start with the introductory

National archives

film. After getting our bearings we view the original Declaration of Independence  and the Constitution.  There are also numerous documents associated with the founding of our nation and one of the four remaining original copies of the English Magna Carta.  The museum and exhibits are well designed with state of the art interactive displays.  It's one of our favorite stops in the capitol.

And then there are the  Monuments and Memorials.  The Washington Monument reopens while we’re here, but since we never plan in advance and tickets have been sold out for months, we can’t take the elevator to the top, but we can walk around and touch the monument.  The WWII memorial is massive and grand with lots of eagles, flags and fountains. The Korean Memorial depicts the soldiers in the jungle. The Vietnam memorial is black and somber, a simple list of the dead. 

On our final day in the DC area we head over to George Washington's Mount Vernon across the

Mt. Vernon

Potomac in Virginia.  This eighteenth-century plantation served as home, farm, and business for our first president. Well-preserved out buildings, show the range of common plantation activities such as blacksmithing, cooking, laundry, and spinning. The 16-sided treading barn was an innovation that Washington designed himself to allow horses to thresh wheat indoors.  The outbuildings also include housing for the slaves that were essential to the plantation's success and the wealth of our first president. George and Martha Washington are buried on the plantation and fifty yards behind their vault is the slave memorial. This was the cemetery for slaves and free blacks that worked at Mount Vernon during the 1700s and first half of the 1800s. Because the graves were unmarked, the identities and numbers of those interred there are largely unknown.

Once we finish touring the mansion and grounds, we stop for lunch at the Mt Vernon Inn Restaurant.  We choose regional favorites, Fried Green Tomato appetizer, Turkey Pot Pie, Shrimp and Grits and Bread Pudding for desert.  The service and food is quite good.

Whiskey Barrels

After Lunch we head a few miles down the road to the Gristmill and Distillery.  We watch some corn being milled and tour the distillery.  Unfortunately there are no samples of Mr. Washington’s Whisky.  We could purchase a bottle of the un-aged stuff for $95.00, but for that price, we’d rather get something worth drinking.

It is finally time to leave DC… BTW today marks our two year anniversary on this adventure… who knows what year three has in store for us...