Rainy Days and Settling In
Even a rainy Sunday is a great day in a town full of museums.
After moving a few bikes around for CaBi points, we headed to Air & Space, one of the few museums we missed last year as it was closed for renovations. Still haven't seen it as you need a ticketed entry time. That's okay though, the East building of the National Gallery was also closed last year but has reopened. So we headed back across the mall.
I plan on going to the National Gallery at least once a week while we're here. We visited last year, Mike a couple times, but still only scratched the surface. Sunday we did the entire East building. Well, just about. We noticed on the way home that there is a rooftop with a rooster sculpture that we missed. Well, heading back next week anyway. Right now there is a lot of abstract, cubist, and surrealists works on display. At one point I was standing in a room with one of my favorite Picasso's (Harlequin Musician), a Freda Khalo self portrait, a giant max Ernst painting, and a Mondrian. This place does not disappoint. Bam! Here's a whole room of incredible art all at once.
This building is four stories and is filled with more fabulous art than I could describe. They really buried the lead, however, with demure indications of "Drawings" at the top level. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the artist, but these panels were HUGE and these are literal drawings of the Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court building. From across the room they look like photographs. They are not. This are the most intricate drawings I've ever seen. I'll get the artist's name when I go back and stare at them again.
We walked so much inside the East building that we had to stop for a snack in the main gallery building. We tried to re-orient ourselves to the main gallery building, looking for a work that Mike fell in love with last year. We ran through the exhibit Going Through Hell: The Divine Dante, a collection of works that reference the classic and several beautiful copies of the book itself.
With the museum closing soon, and the huge appetite we'd worked up, we headed out towards our dinner reservations in Georgetown.
We were moving bikes around from station to station, because that game is not going to cease to be fun, and passed by Old Ebbitt Grill. This gorgeous, old building has fabulous food and drinks and we cannot help but stop in. Packed to the rafters with people, we managed to find a seat at the bar for a quick drink (an Aperol Spritz for me, yum).
We decided to walk the rest of the way to dinner. Along the way we passed through Thomas Circle. As the rain had finally stopped, we found a photography club making use of all the beautiful buildings in the round including the Luther Place Memorial Church, with a great statue of Martin Luther.
I'd like to thank James Marlow for his recommendation of Le Diplomate. He suggested we come here last year but were never able to make it. The building reminded me of a place in France last year. A row of two-tops on one side of the building and another patio on the other. It's too cold to be outside today, but there's a huge dining room as well as a covered patio. This place has been here a long time and you can see how it has grown through the years.
The champagne list here is impressive. We had a bottle made in the traditional style and it was obviously, delicious. What is the traditional style you ask? I don't know either. I don't make champagne. But I drink it. And this was delicious. We had a plate of seafood that was fantastic! Lobster, crab, some of the best shrimp I've ever had, clams, oysters, and a salmon tartare that was luscious. Wow. And it was huge. I could not believe how much food was there. We also ordered dinner since the waiter assured us we would still be hungry. All of the food was so good that hunger no longer mattered.
Mike got the Duck a l'Orange and I had the Coq au Vin. Both were marvelous. The duck was touch fancier than my stewed chicken, but it was everything I wanted it to be. I really loved the simpler dishes I had in France and was craving that uncomplicated fare.
Looking forward to a long bike ride across town, we headed home with full bellies down Pennsylvania to see the Capitol lit up. I keep repeating that I will never tire of this view and I will continue to say it. It is a gorgeous ride home every night.