when in late july? if you're here on the 31st, then ABSOLUTELY go to the black cat that night. http://www.blackcatdc.com/schedule.html that's the "run for cover" show, which is one of the best things that happens in this town, musically. a bunch of folks put together one-off cover bands and do a benefit for something or another. great fun. there's also fort reno, which is the outdoor summer concert series (local bands only, mostly rock or indie-ish). www.fortreno.com that would be another thing very much worth your time.
as far as places to go, the spy museum is great. just be mindful of your pacing. what i ended up doing was going very, very, very slowly through the beginning, looking at every single thing. then after a while, i was like "yeah, i probably don't need to look at every single thing here". and picked up the pace a notch. i dunno if that even needs saying, but that's how it went for me. definitely worth it.
if you like more modern kinda art, check out the hirshhorn. it's a museum on the mall, in the whole smithsonian area. the air and space museum kicks ass if you like airplanes or rockets or anything to do with flying.
for the best burger i've had in town, go to polly's, on U street, just east of 14th. for a great chili-cheese half-smoke (sausage product) and pretty much the only place in town that resembles any of the hundreds of joints in chicago that would have the yellow "vienna beef" sign out front, go to ben's chili bowl, also on U street, a block or two east of 14th street.
there's a club called DC9, and a club called the velvet lounge. those are other places to go for the rock. they're more in the beat kitchen/ schuba's range, whereas the mainstage at the black cat (where the run for cover show will be) is more like the double door.
the 930 club is DC's version of the metro.
DC9, the velvet lounge, and the 930 club are all within a couple blocks of each other, near U street and 9th. the black cat, polly's, and ben's are more at 14th and U. as far as all of these places, i don't mean to spook you on the safety, but i will give you this advice:
do not dress to look super fancy. do not get all drunk and broadcast your potential wealth and vulnerability, especially if alone or with only one other person. it's not like a shit area at all, it's one of the nicer areas of DC. but it's not as crime free as chicago. keep your wits about you and all is well. y'know?
these addresses are all NW, meaning, in the northwest quadrant. DC's addresses are based on quadrants. so if you say "370 F street", there are actually four locations with that address. everything i'm talking about here is in NW. there's some stuff in SW, though not so much because most of what would be SW is actually arlington VA. NE is a little more desolate (think of it as the west side) and SE is where the nastiest of the nastiness is at (think of the south or west side). NW if pretty much where i'd stay, in the district anyways. as far as suburban areas, arlington has some stuff, though it's a little more yuppie-ish than the district, which is where most of the "hip" is happening.
when you gonna be here?
Nose Hair--pluck or cut?
11
Last edited by toomanyhelicopters_Archive on Mon Jul 19, 2004 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.