T's Travels

Washington, DC

Over the years I have seen the monuments on the National Mall again and again as we took guests to visit our nation’s capital. I’ve seen new monuments come to fruition and old ones get a facelift (or, sometimes, a repair). Friends who had already seen the monuments themselves were coming to DC and so I worked to plan a weekend that gave them (and me) a new side of Washington.

We started with the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms, where they actually do host diplomats and other dignitaries. I had heard about this on Antiques Roadshow and made a reservation. Our tour guide, Chic, showed us through the rooms with both authority and humor. Nice way to start the weekend! Dinner that night was at my favorite Peruvian in DC, El Chalan, and of course included Pisco sours. We ended the evening by walking past the White House at night, a little reassurance as we knew the terrible news from Paris (and so were not surprised when we were scooted a little farther away than usual).

Desk where the Treaty of Paris was signed (State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms)

Breakfast the next morning was at Paul, which quickly became our friends’ “regular” breakfast place. They come from York County, PA, the best agricultural place I have ever lived, so I gave them the option of visiting Washington’s Eastern Market in Capitol Hill on this sunny November day. In addition to the fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats we’re so accustomed to, Eastern Market has a large outdoor international flea market. We looked at furniture both new and antique, clothing, jewelry. We talked to vendors, admired little kids’ outfits, and bought a persimmon. We even sampled deep-fried cheese curds from a Juniata County, PA, dairy farmer.

Carpets for sale (Eastern Market)

From there we hailed a cab to the National Building Museum (built 1887 as the Patent Office). Right now they are featuring an exhibit on the construction of the World War II memorial. Another exhibit details the efforts to repair the earthquake damage to the National Cathedral and the Washington Monument. We strolled back toward their hotel, past the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and back to Pennsylvania Avenue. It was heartening to see people gathered in front of the White House again, some in awe, others protesting, and one solitary woman—Melody Crombie—campaigning for president. Dinner at Firefly, just off Dupont Circle, was noisy but warm.

Sunday—just another morning at Paul. The weather was so gorgeous we decided to walk to the National Museum of the American Indian. On the way we stopped at the Department of the Interior; not many people know that building has both a museum and an excellent Indian craft shop open to the public (of course they weren’t open while we were there since it was Sunday), with an adjacent sculpture garden. We wandered down the Mall, around groups of kids playing kickball, until we got to 13th Street and had to stick to a walkway. Sounds of drumming could be heard for a block or so before we saw the drummer and his plastic bucket collection making beautiful music. A quick pop into the National Gallery to show our guests a Van Gogh I love brought disappointment—it’s back in storage. But a great thing about so many of the DC museums is you can do that—pop in, pop out—for free!

The drummer at the Smithsonians

The Van Gogh we missed

At the American Indian museum, artists were working with clay as part of the Ceramics of the Southwest: A Native American Heritage Month Celebration. In the center of the room, the Zuni Olla Maidens were performing the Pottery Dance, balancing pottery on their heads! (I probably wasn’t the only person watching, just to see if that pot would move.) I spoke with the dancers afterwards, who were only too happy to talk about their dance and their clothes and what they kept in the pots (salt is traditional, a cellphone is not!). Our guests and I started looking through this museum by watching the introductory film. This was the first time I have seen it—quite spectacular and gives you a good idea of just how massive a project it is to depict the peoples who are designated “Native.”

 

Zuni Olla Maidens

We had one more tour stop for the day before dinner and so hailed a cab for Georgetown. A note on cabs vs. Metro in DC: if you are just going from place to place, Metro will get you there very efficiently. However, if you have people interested in sightseeing on the way, cabs may be the best way to go. Every driver we had was both pleasant and knowledgeable. We got to see buildings we would have missed if we had traveled underground.

According to a walking tour book I found, 3307 N Street NW is the house where John and Jackie Kennedy were living when he was elected president. And 3017 N Street NW is where Jackie first lived when she left the White House. So we took a little stroll through Georgetown. Walking the residential streets is a pleasure if you like to admire architecture in its many forms. We then headed down to the waterfront where kids were ice-skating on a little rink, past the C&O Canal, and back up to M Street for dinner at Bistro Francais (again the French!). I highly recommend the Poulet Bistro—cooked perfectly! We sat at the window table, so part of our dinner amusement was watching people realize they had parked in a bus zone.

Georgetown waterfront, looking up toward M Street

 

Our final day was a day-long van tour of the monuments with a National Park Service ranger. As I said, I have seen the monuments many times. But I have never had a narrator before. Our ranger, Mark, took us first to the Washington Monument where he showed us some of the repairs (having seen the engineering explained two days before at the National Building Museum made it even more interesting). I am old enough to remember being able to walk down the stairs from the top of the monument. That’s not allowed anymore (graffiti) but the windows on the elevator allow riders to see some of the decorative stones inside the monument. It’s a great trip down!

We next went to the World War II Memorial where, again, our trip to the National Building Museum paid off. We had seen a video of the Memorial artist discussing the wreaths that are held up by eagles (he got the idea from wreaths held up by angels in a church in Italy). That exhibit—including the plaster casts of the friezes also at the Memorial—gave us a whole new perspective. From there it was the Lincoln, the Vietnam (including the nurses!), and the Korean War memorials, with explanations and narrations by our ranger. I noticed many people hanging around our group, listening to him. A lunch break, Jefferson, and finally FDR. As I always say, if you haven’t been, go. If you have been, go again. Not when it’s hot or cold, but when you can spend some time among these monuments, reading, learning, reflecting. We’re so very lucky to have them.

A wall at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial

This itinerary was a huge four days. We could have done less, but the weather was excellent and we promised ourselves we’d skip anything we didn’t feel like doing. I got to see parts of Washington where I’ve never been and visit a few old favorites as well. DC is a great city to visit . . . and I know I’ll be back before long!

Hotels of the Past (#34)

While my Irish sister Carol was visiting recently, we spent our first week walking around DC—the White House, the monuments, neighborhoods.  The second week of her visit, however, was the first week of the Government Shutdown so we had to find alternate entertainment. Friends of hers had visited Alexandria, VA, and recommended it. So on an unusually hot October day we hopped on the DC metro and left the District!

When we arrived in Alexandria, we decided to forego the free trolley that cruises up and down King Street (the main street) and walk through Old Town to the riverfront instead. That was a great way to see the little shops and restaurants. I was expecting total upscale but King Street had everything from funky to high end. It would be very easy to spend a day (and money) going from shop to shop.

We also passed a few hotels. The Hotel Monaco (a Kimpton Hotel) is built on the site of the Marshall House, a Civil War era establishment. I peeked into the hotel lobby because it looked unusual (what is now known as a "boutique hotel") but it was the plaque on the wall outside that really made me pause. (Of course I researched it when I got home and found its Wikipedia entry.)

 

When we finally got to the visitors' center—close to the river—we picked up brochures on walking tours. Some of the attractions and historical sites have an admission fee, but the visitors' center has a one-price-for-everything ticket that is cheaper than paying separately. (You don’t even have to visit everything to make it a bargain!)  I only had one place in mind, though, so we didn’t take that deal.

But before we took any tour, it was time for lunch. Yes, had to have vegetarian options. Also had to have cold cold drinks because it was hot. Carol chose Red Rocks Neapolitan Bistro with its $10 lunch menu. She had a lovely grilled vegetable panini (roasted zucchini and eggplant with goat cheese “served on fresh flatbread daily and accompanied by a side of mixed greens”) and I had the meatball panini just to see what it was (“homemade meatballs, aged provolone, roasted red peppers”). It was here Carol introduced me to Magners Irish Cider . Husb and I often drink Woodchuck at home, so I am familiar with hard cider. What I didn’t know, and Carol pointed out, is that Magners is supposed to be served over ice. It says so on the can. (American servers, please take note!)

After lunch we headed toward my destination: Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, which encompasses two buildings that were a tavern and the City Tavern and Hotel (the latter is still a restaurant). Gadsby’s, “America’s five-star hotel of the 18th century,” was the “center of political, business, and social life in early Alexandria,” according to their website. That means it was a place where “everybody knows [their] names”—presidents George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, and more. Thomas Jefferson’s inaugural ball was held there in a beautiful ballroom. Just like hotels of today, the building has been used as a meeting house, a performance space, and of course for overnight accommodations.

Anyone who attended elementary school in the Northeast has toured Colonial-era buildings, most of them homes. We’re all familiar with the narrow stairs and the fireplace in each room and the wooden floors. This was my first opportunity, though, to see a real tavern with meals on the first floor and bedrooms up above.

The 21st-century Gadsby’s is a wonderful piece of history lovingly cared for. Our tour guide was both informed and amusing (he’ll tell you the ghost story if you ask [every tavern has one]). The commercial ice well--so important for anyone interested in a cold drink!--has just been restored. And, as it used to be, rooms are available for rent by the public for events (although not for overnight stays).

I wanted to stay longer than our tour, just to look around and picture the history—think about the people who had walked those same floors—but we had dinner reservations in the District and so had to head on back to the Metro. On the way, I picked up a cool pair of Halloween earrings in a jewelry shop and Carol bought a little souvenir for someone back home. And as I walked past the restaurants, I made mental notes on places to eat so that I could lure Husb to come along to Alexandria. One day is a nice visit but it's not enough.

Photo of Magners Cider from their website. Photo of Gadsby's Tavern from their website.

Hotels of the Past (#31)

Yesterday I headed south for a book reading and signing by Marion Winik for her latest release, Highs in the Low Fifties, at the Holy Hound Taproom in downtown York, PA. Husb and I lived in York County for many years so I figured I wouldn’t have any problem finding the address 57 W. Market Street. Right downtown. Been there many, many times.

 

And yet I found myself going around the block again and again, thinking, “Where the hell is it?” Downtown has changed a bit—most significantly George Street is now two-way the whole way. But that wasn’t it. It was that I was thinking it would be one of the little storefronts and it is actually in one of my favorite buildings in York--an old hotel!

 

When we lived there in the 1990s–2000s a lot of discussion in the newspaper revolved around what to do with the old National Hotel on the corner of Market and Beaver streets. And it was the same debate that always comes with one of these old hotels. Tear it down? Preserve it? Modify it for 21-century tastes?

 

Obviously someone saw potential in the building and for the past year the first floor has been home to the Holy Hound Taproom. Gorgeous room, 30 beers on tap, bar food menu, some live music, plenty of events—if only I lived closer! The place was busy the entire time I was there; in addition to the book crowd, plenty of regulars came and went. The Baltimore band 27 Lights played between Marion’s readings.

 

Of course I came home and started researching the building. Like so many old hotels I’ve found, this one has a few links to celebrities and a long life of changing owners and names. This description comes from John Gibson’s History of York County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886):

 

“The National House, corner of Market and Beaver Streets, was built by Z. Durkee, and long known as the White Hall. It is the largest hotel in York. Some of its early proprietors were John Welsh, Daniel Ahl, Daniel Miller, Hodges, Rhinehart, Maish, and Mrs. West. It was called ‘the Tremont House’ for a time by one of its proprietors, who came from Tremont, Schuylkill County. When it was purchased by Frederick Stallman, its present owner, the name which it now bears was given it. The great English novelist, Charles Dickens, stopped at this hotel in 1841, and said that he was here served with the best piece of road beef while on his visit to America. During the Revolutionary war, and many years later, peter Dinkle kept a store on this site. He was an ardent patriot, and furnished supplies to the army.”

 

A few years before Dickens, President Martin van Buren also stayed at the National House, but this writer must have thought that wasn’t worth mentioning.

 

It looks like the Holy Hound is well established in downtown York. I hope other people thinking about what to do with old hotels take note.

 

Photo from the Holy Hound Taproom website

A Bit of Presidential Trivia

Today, July 7, 2013, is Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter's 66th wedding anniversary. Most likely, I would guess, they are celebrating at home. While Mary the Photographer and I were out on the road not that long ago, we discovered where they had spent their 32nd anniversary.

Foot of the Mountain is a little family restaurant in Franklin County, west of Mercersburg, very near the birthplace of James Buchanan (who is, as everyone knows, PA’s only claim to White House fame), and, yes, at the foot of a mountain.

In 1978 the Carters of Georgia occupied the White House. On July 6 of that year Jimmy and Rosalyn—in the area to visit Mercersburg Academy—stopped at Foot of the Mountain for a meal. The restaurant, which celebrated its own 40th anniversary in 2011, has two items on the wall to let people know about that visit: a photograph of the First Couple (with other people) and a cross-stitch that reads “President and Mrs. Carter celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary at this table, July 6, 1978.”

Photos (c) Mary Brenner 2013

Hotels of the Past (#27)

This one--the Willard Hotel--is actually in business (again; it was closed in 1968) in Washington, DC. I came across it while searching for the origins of the mint julep (it being Kentucky Derby Day   . . .). Turns out Henry Clay is said to be the one to introduce the mint julep to Washington.

The Willard Hotel's website has a fascinating history, all available on its website timeline history. Many notables stayed there, including Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and "almost every president since Franklin Pierce in 1853."

I chose this particular postcard because the writer says "$10 a day and up." I'm guessing the recipient, Mrs. S. E. Tipton of Williamsport, PA, was horrified at the expense.