June in DC - Day 5, departure day

Day 5:

Today is, sadly, departure day, but I will have a nice long break before I need to get to the airport, so I plan to do some more sightseeing and, most importantly, some eating! I requested late check out, so even though the conference ran until 12:30, I had plenty of time to go pack up my stuff. I left most of my stuff with bell services and started out on another adventure before my plane. When I left the hotel, it became clear that this was the kind of weather DC is known for – very hot and muggy, definitely the hottest day of my trip.

My first stop was in Chinatown, via the red line, to get Ramen. I had done a lot of research on Yelp and other sites. Ultimately, the spot I picked, Daikaya, got mostly good reviews. Every popular place also has its detractors, and since this was conveniently located, I decided to give it a try. I am glad that I did. It was very easy to find, and I was seated at the counter

Cool lighting in the ramen spot

overlooking the kitchen right away. The service was excellent, and they had huge pitchers of ice water at each seat that I was grateful for. The inside of the restaurant was very cool – lots of bare lightbulbs hanging, light wood tones, casual furniture. The ramen is available on the first floor, the upstairs is the Japanese tapas spot, known as izakaya. I was also interested in trying some of those dishes, but decided I was craving ramen more.

The very hot and very busy kitchen

The ramen. 

I also took the advice of several Yelpers who recommended extra noodles and a flavor/spice bomb. The extra noodles were a very good investment. The spice bomb was probably not necessary. I went with the Shoyu ramen, largely because it also had the egg added in. I think that next time I would go with the Shio. Although it was completely delicious, the Shoyu has a strong soy flavor that somewhat disguises the broth. I loved the grilled onions and bean sprouts. The noodles were excellent and the broth definitely cleared my head. It was delicious even on a 90 degree day. Very flavorful and rich. I did not eat all of the pork that was in the broth. I am not really a pork person, though I love the flavor. The meat itself does not do a lot for me. The spice bomb did not make it overly spicy, but I think that it would have been spicy enough without it.

My next stop was to actually spontaneously meet up with a law school classmate who I had reconnected with on facebook. She is working as lobbyist and has spent time working on Capitol Hill as well as for a non-profit in DC. We caught for about 20 minutes or so, and then I was on my way. As I walked out of her building, I looked across the street and it was like in a movie when suddenly angels start singing. I spotted a place called Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken. Um, yes, please! Perfect dessert spot. It was a very cool little storefront place, obviously loved by the foodies. They were out of the maple bacon so I went with the S’mores. It was a chocolate doughnut, with a toasted marshmallow in the middle, and graham cracker crumbs. Perfect.

I will be going back to try the chicken

I was a little ambivalent about what to do next because the weather forecast called for severe thunderstorms for the afternoon. It was still looking pretty sunny, though, I so I decided to take the Metro to the Mall and head over towards the Jefferson Memorial, which is one of the only major memorials that I had not visited yet. I also liked the idea of walking around in the tidal basin and just enjoying being outside by the water.

The map was very much unclear on the best route to take when heading there on foot. I ended up walking past the Department of Agriculture and some other buildings, but seemed to hit a dead end where the highway cuts through the city. Such a bad spot for a highway, in my opinion. I circled back a ways, and took a rest for a bit. The heat was starting to get to me. I then tried another direction, past the Washington monument and near the back entrance to the Holocaust museum. I ended up going into the Holocaust museum café, which had security that seemed at least as intense as what I saw at the Supreme Court and definitely more intense than what we have in our state courthouses. Metal detectors, at least four guards, and a full on bag x-ray. For the café. It was definitely a bit sad to see that, but I guess that it has been determined to be a necessity.

After using the restroom and getting a water (I felt bad giving the museum short shrift but I have learned a lot about the Holocaust and thought that the museum would mostly just make me sad and disgusted), I kept walking towards the tidal basin. Once I got there, I realized how far away everything still was – the Jefferson memorial to the right, the MLK memorial to the left, and the FDR in between the two just past MLK. It would have been a lovely walk on a nice day, but I was full and hot and a little anxious about getting back to my hotel in time to get my bags and take them on the subway to the airport. 

Though I didn't make it to the memorial, I truly enjoyed the beauty of viewing it across the tidal basin.

By the time I arrived back at the hotel, I had plenty of time but realized that I had absolutely no interest in pulling my bags through the metro. Here is where the bad packing job really came to bite me in the ass. My bags were heavy and not easy to wheel around. I would have to walk the two long blocks to the metro, take the red train to gallery place, then switch to the yellow, then take a bus at the airport, to my terminal. I decided instead to drink some water in the hotel lobby and take a cab!

I ended up at the airport very early, but Jet Blue is in the old terminal at Reagan National Airport so it had very little going on. 

Retro sign in the old terminal, doesn't seem out of place at all.

I have been in the other terminal a few times and it has far more shops and restaurants. I ended up going with a sandwich place, but lived to regret that choice. Completely non-researched – Meridian Deli. I ordered a Caprese sandwich and added a pickle spear for $1 on the side. The Caprese was advertised as being made on ciabatta with fresh mozzarella, tomato, and roasted red pepper. Sounds pretty standard. When I got my order, which took a very long time, I found that it did not have a pickle spear. I nicely asked about it, and they hurriedly started stuffing pickle slices into a container. I was like “um, no, I want a spear, I paid for that.” It turned out that they were out of them, so I asked for a refund. That also took forever, and they had a bad attitude about it. No one apologized or said anything. I went back to my seat, opened the sandwich and discovered that instead of roasted red peppers, which were nowhere to be seen, the cheese was covered in pickle slices! WTF. It also was no on ciabatta but some kind of soft roll. I knew that given their attitude there was no way they would fix it and it would be a hassle, so I just ate it. It was not awful, nor was it great. The cheese at least was tasty.

The flight was totally uneventful. I had a taxi waiting for me when I got back, which I thought would be an easy way to get home since it was too late for my husband and kids to come get me. It was also cheaper than paying for parking, I thought. The cab was a pretty junky looking van. I got in and made the colossal mistake of telling the cabbie that I am an attorney. Several years ago, on a red eye from California to Boston, I made that mistake and heard for all six hours about a guy’s divorce case. It was torture. As soon as I said it, she started going on about the court system. I immediately said “oh, is it a family case?” And I called it. The driver seemed completely insane, as she ranted about her ex and his family and the judges. It was definitely a bit scary to know that she would know where I lived! I tipped well, but then she claimed that because I paid with credit card (something that I had cleared ahead of time with the company and which two different people had told me would be fine, but which the driver acted like would be a huge hassle) she would not get any of it. Omg.