An interesting night in DC

Late last night (or early morning, depending on how you look at it) my buddy Jeff arrived in Washington, DC. We met back in high school and have been friends ever since. Considering the late arrival of his flight, we had somewhat of a late start on the day and didn't get to the American History museum until 11:15am on Friday morning. There we met my cousin Katy and we explored the America on the Move exhibit. We also stood in awe of the American flag which had been draped over the Pentagon immediately following the attacks of 9/11.

Afterwards we headed over to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This was by far one of the best museums I have visited yet in DC. From the very beginning, you are made to feel as if you are in Dachau or one of the other hellish concentration camps located throughout WWII-era Germany. In addition, the cruelty and pure evil that pervaded that time truly came to life through photographs and other media presentations.

Having decided that Jeff needed to experience some more positive parts of DC, I figured that Les Halles would be the best place to show off the city. We had an awesome lunch that left me postively stuffed. After experiencing some nasty delays on the Metro, we finally saw my cousin Katy off at the Rosslyn station and headed back to my place in Crystal City to prepare for that evening.

At around 9:30pm we met up with Sally, a fellow graduate of Carlsbad High School that Jeff knew through friends, in Dupont circle. We began the evening at Gazuza, a favorite of mine known for its excellent drinks and hookahs. After a few hours the conversation turned intellectual and it was then that we decided to go to Kramer's, one of the most well-known bookshops in the area that also happened to have a full service bar. After a few more hours there, we were ready to head home on the Metro.

It was here that the night took a most interesting turn. While Jeff and Sally were firmly planted in their seats, I was indulging in an activity called 'Metro Surfing' which essentially involves trying to stay upright on the Metro without benefit of handholds. It's more difficult than it sounds, especially when drunk. Little did I know that a small man sitting nearby was taking notice.

Now I'm not sure what set this individual off but when he moved to exit the Metro at Rosslyn station, he suddenly turned to look at me and assaulted me with every verbal invective known to Man. Most of it involved the words queer, faggot and homo. My inquiries as to why he was so angry at me invited only more hate speech. After 30 seconds of this, I suddenly came to feel very sorry for this person. My initial anger turned to a light-hearted form of sympathy and I began to taunt him, definitely not one of my brighter moves. I asked him where his local Klan meeting was and and told him that I consistently voted Democrat which only seemed to agitate him more. Eventually Sally made it clear that she did not feel comfortable with the situation so I shut my mouth until he stepped off the Metro, the doors closed and we continued on our way.

When I was in the Holocaust museum earlier that day, it was difficult to understand how someone could hate someone else so much without knowing that person. Tonight on the Metro, that exact kind of hatred was directed at me. This person was obviously a small-minded and deranged individual but he is not the only one. We must always be aware of people of like this and realize that it can spring up in even the most diverse and tolerant of places.

What a week!

Last week started out innocently enough but by the time all was said and done, I didn't get home before 10pm one single night. On Monday, my buddy Steve from Melbourne flew up on business. Though he was a good hour away in Chantilly, I was more than happy to drive out and meet him. It was my first time since moving to Arlington being out that far and quite honestly, it was a bit strange being out in the 'burbs again. Nevertheless, we met up for beer, football and trivia at a local sports bar and had a great time catching up.

Tuesday night I went out with my cousin Bruce. With his Australian accent and effervescent personality, he's always the life of the party at family get-togethers so I knew we'd have a blast. Our first stop was Oyamel, this great Mexican fusion place nearby my apartment where we had margaritas. Next up was McCormick & Schmick's, an awesome seafood restaurant down the block. After downing a bottle of Chardonnay, slurping raw oysters from their shell and basically stuffing our gullets, we meandered back to my place and crashed for the night.

Now I headed into Wednesday fully expecting to get home by a normal time but instead found myself out with co-workers at Brickskellers until much later sharing the day's events over good beer. I might also add that nearly every lunch this week was spent out at a various restaurant enjoying what's known as Restaurant Week. For only $20.06 ($30.06 for dinner) you got a world-class 3-course meal with all the fixings.

Thursday evening, while working late and looking forward to a relaxing night at home, I received a phone call from my buddy Shayan. A spot had opened up on his reservation at Charlie Palmer and did I want to go? Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Only steps from the Capitol building and boasting an elegance that puts some of my past experience at high-end restaurants to shame, this was hands-down my favorite Restaurant Week spot. We even ordered a bottle of a pinot noir from Mark West Winery which went quite well with my Angus sirloin.

On Friday my buddy Mike decided to come into the District to party. We started out at Raku in Dupont Circle, just a few blocks away from my work, where we ordered a seemingly endless number of Asian-inspired tapas before heading off to Lauriol Plaza for pitcher fulls of maragaritas. After an hour or so there we headed back into the circle to meet up with friends at Gazuza for drinks and hookah. I definitely didn't get home that night before 10pm.

This week will be comatose by comparison by that's quite alright with me.

A Friday night tour of DC

For the first time in weeks I didn't have a plan in place for Friday night. This is most likely due to the fact that I have been sequestered in a basement for the past four days working 12 hours at a time. It's been crazy busy but the company catered all our meals and today our efforts paid off. Everybody was pretty tired though afterwards and left for home which left me wondering what to do tonight.

Rather than go through my phone list to see what people were up to, I instead decided to take the night off from partying and do that nighttime walk that I'd promised myself. I was not to be disappointed. I started in Dupont Circle and headed south on 18th until I hit Constitution Avenue, essentially the north side of the National Mall. Along the way I snapped a picture of the Octagon House, one of the stranger architectural icons of DC. I then headed west until I found a path leading into the park and followed that.

Unknowingly, this path led straight to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. It was truly awesome to come around the corner and see that stone structure etched with the names of so many fallen soldiers. From there I headed up to the Lincoln Memorial all the while looking over my shoulder at the beautiful panorama displayed with the Washington Monument juxtapositioned in front of the Capitol building.

The Lincoln Memorial was a very impressive site. Its white exterior, made from Indiana limestone and Colorado Yule marble, shines spectacularly under the blazing lights. Inside, the mood is decidedly somber. There were a large number of tourists there tonight but they spoke mostly in hushed tones, reading the inscriptions on the wall or simply looking at the gargantuan-sized image of Lincoln.

My walk from the far end of the mall to L'Enfant Plaza to catch the Yellow Line was no less impressive. I had the opportunity to stop by the Korean War Memorial which is haunting in its imagery. After making my way to Independence on the south side of the mall, I headed east until I hit 7th street about 12 blocks distant. A short Metro ride later I was back home in Arlington.