Thing 155: The Notorious Scandals of Dupont Circle

The final tour I took over WalkingTown DC weekend was the Notorious Scandals of Dupont Circle tour. I was not the only person to have this idea. Over 200 people showed up for this tour which was...too many. Although the tour was still fun, it lost a good deal of its charm by virtue of having to do battle with other people in order to get close enough to hear our guide. Even with that obstacle though, I learned the following things:

• In the late 1910s, an anarchist attempted to blow up a member of the Cabinet by strapping explosives to his body and then ringing the doorbell. Unfortunately, on his way up to the house to ring the door bell, the young man tripped on the sidewalk and blew himself up -- and what a powerful explosion it was! Paul, our guide, read us the newspaper account, which was mighty gruesome, including that the man's spinal column flew across the street, broke an upstairs window, and landed by the bed of a student trying to take a nap!

• The Hope Diamond belonged to a woman who lived in Dupont Circle (the house that is now the Indonesian embassy, in fact) -- her family was so rich that seemed to have just bought it on a lark, and there are pictures of her swimming in it, and accounts that she would attach it to her dog's collar before taking him out for a stroll.


• And speaking of diamonds, that lady from the Titanic movie? Rose? Based on a DC resident. She was way ahead of her time, writing and lecturing on how women should be their own people and make their own living. She lived on New Hampshire Avenue, and was coming back from Europe aboard the Titanic. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, she found a lifeboat that was being captained by a very inept male crew member -- she and another woman took it over and steered them towards rescue.


• DC also has its own "Schindler" who saved a bunch of Jews during the war, but didn't get a movie made about him so isn't as famous. And of course, I didn't take notes during this tour, so I am unable to bring his name to light even now. But, if I recall, he saved 60,000 German Jews by getting them US visas in a hurry.


• We stopped along the block of Q Street between 17th & 18th, right in front of a man's house who was just sitting on his front stoop, drinking coffee and reading the Sunday paper. Suddenly, 200 people swarm around his house, as our guide announces to us that this block is famous for murder and mayhem. In fact, in front of this particular house, a man was killed with nothing but a slingshot. Nice relaxing Sunday for that home owner, I imagine.


• DC had its very own slasher -- like Jack the Ripper. This person would break into people's homes, and slash his victims ruthlessly. This went on on and off for six years until he was finally apprehended. How could this go on so long? His victims were sofas, and other pieces of furniture, and so he was pretty low on the police's priority list.


• Dupont Circle originally had a statue of Admiral Dupont in the center of it -- just as Logan or Thomas or Scott circles have statues of Logan or Thomas or Scott. Except apparently, Admiral Dupont was a pretty terrible admiral. His statue was mocked when it stood in the circle, and eventually, his family took it down and moved it to the family estate, and commissioned the now-beloved fountain to stand in its place.
  

Our tour was led by Paul Williams of Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets, who literally wrote the book on Dupont Circle. He was as surprised as the rest of us by the sheer turnout for the tour, but stayed in good spirits and projected his voice just as much as he could. And he clearly took delight in all the scandals and murder that he told us about, as did the 200 of us listening, and the odd homeowner who might have learned a little something new about his home that day.

Related: Historic Logan Circle, the Spy Tour

Thing 143: Hello Cupcake

It's Cupcake Madness! Click here for the bracket and the judging sheet. Check out previous contenders Red Velvet and Couture Cupcakes and Cakelove.

Helloooooo Cupcake!

This small shop on the south side of Dupont Circle is delightful. Delightful!

We ordered two 'control' cupcakes (vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting), the "heart of darkness" (devil's food with chocolate ganache frosting and chocolate chips), tiramisu (espresso cake with mascarpone frosting, dusted in cocoa), "you tart!" (lemon cake with an insane lemon cream cheese frosting), and oh dear God, the "velvet Elvis" (banana cake with peanut butter frosting). This was also the only cupcakery that we visited that regularly bakes gluten-free cupcakes, and also vegan cupcakes, although we didn't try any because we do so enjoy butter and white flour.

My first thought, when I was looking at the cupcakes, is that this is what cupcakes are supposed to look like. These are stereotypically the ideal cupcake -- small cakes held in paper, frosting swirled high on top with little sprinkles or candies on top. Then the taste. These taste like the ideal cupcake. It's the ideal frosting to cake ratio -- vanilla and chocolate in perfect, complimentary quantities, the cake light, the frosting thick, all different tastes and textures at once.

Then, the specialty flavors. "You tart!" was palest yellow, sour and creamy at once, ridiculously good. Heart of Darkness was super rich, almost like a brownie mixed with fudge. But the velvet Elvis. Without ruining the outcome, the velvet Elvis was the single best cupcake I ate on the crawl. And apparently, they only bake it on Mondays and Thursdays, so plan your visit accordingly. But all these cupcakes were marvelous, I think you can't really go wrong at Hello Cupcake.

These cupcakes scored above-average in all categories, but got especially high marks for frosting, amount of frosting and creativity. These were also the cheapest cupcakes we ate, at $3 a piece, and scored high on value as a result. Comments from my team included "really good," "big cake, big frosting," "you may do me on this cupcake," "the peanut butter banana was unbelievable...doable," "nice amount of frosting," "best aesthetic so far," and "prettiest cupcakes, banana peanut butter is amazing!"

The composite score was a 4.2 -- a solid lead above Cakelove and a strong competitor in the Western bracket. Can it beat my personal favorite though, Baked and Wired? Who will advance to face Georgetown Cupcake in the Fabulous Four??

Happy 2nd blogiversary! One year ago: One Year, One Hundred Things, two years ago: the mission statement, Wonderland trivia, and Cowgirl Creamery.

Thing 130: Malaysia Kopitiam

Hey!  Look who found her camera's battery charger:

How have I lived in DC for ten years and never eaten at Malaysia Kopitiam?  It seems like a grave oversight, one I am glad to have finally righted.

I don't eat Malaysian food often.  I've been to the Straits of Malaya a couple of times, but otherwise, I am more likely to eat Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese before I think of indulging in the cuisine of Malaysia.  How wrong, how misguided!  As I tucked into an enormous bowl of hot, sweet and sour broth rich with rice noodles, tuna, red onion and mint I thought of how satisfying, tasty and exotic this cuisine was, and was already planning a return visit.

The service is pretty slow -- our dinner lasted over two hours, just two of us ordering an appetizer and an entree -- but luckily food was worth waiting for.  We started with an appetizer, similar to something I've had many times at dim sum, slightly sweet, sticky rice in a tight cylinder stuffed with a spicy minced chicken, wrapped and grilled in a banana leaf.  Unfold the banana leaf and you get a sweet, spicy, smoky delight.

My main course, as I mentioned, was a huge noodle bowl -- so big I had enough for two leftover lunches.  The assam laksa noodle soup was dark red and garnished with green flecks of onion and large green mint leaves.  The flavors worked well together, like the hot and sour soup you're used to at Chinese restaurants, but on steroids.  The boldness of the hot, sour and sweet, with the thick ropes of rice noodles was perfect for the cold rainy night from which I had sought shelter.

We also got a vegetable entree to split as a side dish; I was trying to get at least a few green things into the meal.  We ordered watercress in fermented tofu sauce purely because I'd never had fermented tofu sauce.  And guess what?  It's not nearly as weird as I thought it might be.  I was picturing some Andrew Zimmern-esque, stinky tofu madness, but it tasted mostly of ginger and watercress with only a hint of sour and savory -- in other words, delicious.  I ate the leftovers tossed with egg noodles the next day, and it was delightful.

The lesson of the evening?  Malaysian cuisine is vibrant and bold -- every dish had at least three strong flavor components going for it, all playing off of each other and combining in delicious ways.  The meal was surprising and affordable (entrees in the $10 range and big enough for at least two meals) and I will be going back soon.

Thing 127: Mr. Yogato

I can't find my camera's battery charger, so allow me to lead you through a guided visualization.

A small white paper cup holds a swirl of palest pink frozen yogurt, leading up to a small, perky peak.  Shining red cut strawberries and enormous dark red raspberries fill the white cup to the brim.  A small sprinkling of chocolate jimmies freckle the light pink, shining and dark reds.  The whole thing begs to be eaten, immediately.

That was my reward for filling my Mr. Yogato card -- the tenth is free!  And I have loved every bite of it.

In the tradition of pinkberry or tangysweet, Mr. Yogato serves less-sweet frozen yogurt, Greek-style, tangy frozen yogurt.  They always carry two flavors: orginal tangy and original soft, the soft being slightly sweeter.  Then they carry two flavors that rotate through -- they currently have blizcherry and duffacino.  And why not just cherry and coffee flavored you might ask?  Well, this hints at the unique Yogato world view.

Yogato's owner, Steve, who is always in the store either behind the register or studying for his doctorate in economics, has posted a list of rules that account in part for Yogato's appeal.  Among them -- if you get a Mr. Yogato stamp on your forehead, you get a discount.  If you elect to answer a trivia question at the register, you get a 10% discount if you get it right -- but an additional 10% tacked on if you get the answer wrong.  If you suggest a topping that is adopted, you get a 5% discount for life.  And if you come to Yogato every day for thirty days, you get to pick a flavor and name it after you -- hence Duffy's Duffacino and Liz's Blizcherry.

Adding to the fun and atmosphere of the experience is an old-school 8 bit Nintendo (yesterday we played Super Mario Brothers for about an hour), various board games including boggle and and memory, and customer participation such as the 100% discount for standing on the toes of one foot with your eyes closed for 15 seconds, and the Tim Tam Slam, which I still don't fully understand but encourage everyone to try nonetheless.

Yogato is about two blocks from my front door, which makes it a frequent dessert stop for me, but it's worth going out of the way to seek out, too.  The yogurt is delicious, the toppings are fresh and in some cases (basil leaves? balsamic vinegar?) bizarre, and the entire experience is always fun.  And for those of you with new year's resolutions to keep, Yogato is only 30 calories and ounce (150 calories for a small) with tons of fresh fruits and berries as toppings options.  Now that I've earned my free yogurt, I'll be back to start my new card.  Only ten to go before I get another free one.

Thing 116: Tangysweet

It's tangy. And it's sweet. But what should we call it?...

Judging by the line stretching from the counter to the front door both times I've visited this sparse basement establishment, everyone in the District of Columbia and most of Maryland and Virginia has already visited Tangysweet. Since that's the case, I won't bother with a write-up and have nothing much to write except that I very much enjoyed it, too. If there does happen to be a straggler left in DC who has not partaken yet, let me jump on the band wagon -- Tangysweet is just the perfect way to end a summer evening, after a grilled dinner or a long stroll at dusk.

The basement store front is all concrete and funky lighting and patiently waiting customers. There is a small bench and a couple tables set off to the side, but other than that the store is empty, allowing long lines to queue up through it. At the back are the magical machines that churn up the frozen dessert and a vast toppings bar.

Did I not mention that all this fuss is over frozen yogurt? Yes, it's a soft-serve store, but in the model of New York's Pinkberry it is cultured frozen yogurt. Think Greek yogurt, churned. Low(er) in sugar, lacking in fat and aiding the digestion, topped with some anti-oxidant rich berries and you can almost feel good about enjoying your dessert. (Well, I always feel good about enjoying my dessert, but I understand that some people have some guilt regarding sweets).

There are only three types of yogurt on the menu, plain, pomegranate and green tea. I enjoy the plain, which is a cold and creamy version of Greek yogurt, and the green tea which has a pronounced tang, almost tasting of citrus. The pomegranate runs a bit sweeter, with the slightly astringent bite that comes from the aftertaste of pomegranate seeds. There are also smoothies, which are blended versions of the yogurt and toppings.

But if you're like me, you like soft serve un-blended, with identifiable toppings. The toppings bar at Tangysweet is unique and awesome. There are lots of fresh fruits -- mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pineapple -- all fresh and not that gloppy, thickened, overly-sweet 'fruit topping' you find at traditional fro-yo joints. There's also dry cereals -- Cap'n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles and some kick ass granola -- and sweets like chocolate chips, carob chips and toasted coconut. For a couple bucks, you get your choice of three toppings on your yogurt. I admit to being addicted to that granola, and the fresh fruit is puckery and ripe and delicious.

The lighting is neon and funky, changing from green to orange to pink to blue, and providing some atmosphere as you wait for your yogurt. It still doesn't have quite enough fat to compete with Dolcezza or Larry's, but it is strangely addictive and craveable. If you're the last person in DC to check this place out, believe the hype. It's worth the line, worth the wait, and a welcome addition to Dupont Circle.

Thing 92: Hank's, Revisited

We all know that I'm a fan of raw bar. And so I could not resist going back to Hank's two days later to feast upon the 12 seafood dishes of Christmas:


Sing it with me now:

On every day of December, my true love fed to me:

12 Atlantic oysters

11 peel and eat shrimp

10 fried oysters

NIIIIIIIIINE GOLDEN RINGS (of calamari)

8 steamed mussels

7 fried clams

6 Pacific oysters

5 clams

4 BBQ'ed oysters

3 scallops

2 shrimp cocktail

and a bowl of ceviche

The 12 seafood dishes of Christmas is available at Hank's through December for $75.

Thing 92: Hank's Oyster Bar

Did I have a meal last night at Hank's! Oh, my. I had eaten there once before, a long time ago, but after last night I'm not sure why I don't eat there every day. Everything was delicious!

From the small bowl of goldfish crackers we were offered as we looked over the menu, to the small nuggets of dark German chocolate given to us at the end of the meal, everything we ate at Hank's was wonderful. The menu is divided into four parts -- appetizers, small plates, large plates and sides. From this, you can piece together a meal that will satisfy exactly what you want and how hungry you are.

We started with an appetizer of Old Bay peel 'n eat shrimp, which were sweet and meaty, sprinkled liberally with Old Bay seasoning and served with a great cocktail sauce made spicy with horseradish. Then, seduced by all the side dishes that looked so good I couldn't pick one, or even two, I ordered a small plate of crab cake with sides of macaroni and cheese, caramelized onion bread pudding, and collards. The crab cake was lightly fried with an awesome aioli, the bread pudding was silky and savory, the collards made sweet and sour by a healthy dose of cider vinegar and sauteed shallots. Oh, and that macaroni and cheese, with pungent Gruyere, toasted breadcrumbs and a small dice of smokey ham scattered throughout. Oh, how I would like to eat that every day, all day, for the rest of my life!

The Boyfriend had the lobster roll, full of sweet lobster, lightly dressed and served in a toasted, buttered brioche bun with thin, crispy fries.

Hank's doesn't have a dessert menu, which is just as well because I would have ordered dessert even though I don't know where it would have fit in my mac and crab cake filled stomach. Instead, we got just a small bowl with a bit of high quality dark chocolate, just enough to whet that after dinner sweet tooth.

Hank's is a neighborhood joint, a classy and higher quality answer to the mediocre restaurants along 17th Street. I'm not sure why it took me this long to sit down at its long banquette and enjoy some shrimp, but rest assured, I will be back shortly. And for those of you in Ye Olde Towne, they just opened a second location there, too. Lucky us!

Thing 79: Teaism

How do you know it's NaBloPoMo? Because you find yourself waking up early so that you can go out to breakfast on a weekday.

I love Teaism. I really dig its Asian-inspired attempt at a little serenity, adjacent to a Starbucks. Their food is fairly healthy and simple, they sell beautiful tea-themed gifts, and as the name implies, they stock a vast quantity of teas. Their salty oat cookies are locally famous and even made it onto the list of scavenger hunt items (five points). But perhaps Teaism's greatest claim to fame is when our fair lady of the Food Network, Rachel Ray herself, ate breakfast at Teaism while in DC on $40 a Day. Never mind what Bourdain would say of this.

I followed in Rachel's footsteps this morning, when I found myself at the Dupont Circle location, hungry for my breakfast. Like their lunch menu, there is a mix of Asian and subcontinent flavors, along with some humble American favorites -- scrambled tofu, scrambled eggs with cilantro, chicken sausage with naan and raita, sourdough waffles. Their lunch menu is similar, ranging from organic turkey sandwiches to a selection of bento boxes, Thai curries and ochazukes (Japanese rice and tea soups).

I stuck with what I'd probably have eaten if I'd stayed at home -- Irish oatmeal. Though I have been topping mine with pumpkin butter, this one came studded with raisins and dried apricots and sweetened with honey. I ordered a steaming mug of chai tea, which tasted like honey and cinnamon, and came served in a really handsome, square, black ceramic mug.



While waiting for my breakfast, I wandered over to the shelves of small gifts -- beautiful candles, books about tea, and tea bowls and pots handmade by a local ceramic artist. There's also little stacks of salty oat cookies wrapped in cellophane for quick purchase and discreet devouring, and bags of ginger scone mix. In other words, enough to start a Teaism in your very own living room!

I took my breakfast upstairs, to the empty dining room (the Starbucks next door was hopping though, which makes me a little sad) and ate my oats and nursed my delicious chai. The dining area is simple and serene, with Asian inspired black and white photography, rustic looking exposed beams, a low ceiling and cream colored walls. (The Penn Quarter location has a downstairs dining area with real coy goldfish in a small pool. I've never been to the downtown location).

Then I bundled back up and headed to work, one more Thing down, and 21 to go. Suggestions?

Thing 77: Olsson's Books and Records

I needn't have panicked, of course, because in this city, great Things are happening every day.

Take Olsson's Books and Records shops for

example. They have author events, signings and readings going on nearly every day. There is likely to be something that will please everyone in any given month, and for me, that something was Anthony Bourdain. Live, in the flesh, and telling it like it is.

Most people don't know this -- in fact, I don't think anyone knows this -- but Bourdain is one of the three people that spurred me to start this blog in the first place. I'd just finished reading A Cook's Tour, and was struck by his narrative style, his knack for the travelogue and the casual, humorous and honest ways he looked at food and travel. Unfunded by cable TV, I don't the means to do what he does in quite the same way, but darned if I couldn't write a fantastic travelogue about the city I'm in love with, which I am lucky enough to experience every day. (The other two people were Molly, and the Boyfriend, if you were curious).

So Tony holds a special place in my heart, even though he would probably ruthlessly make fun of me if I ever had the opportunity to tell him so. At 11:45 I ducked out of work and took the bus to Chinatown.

I was not the only one with this idea. By the time I rolled in, a few minutes after noon, I couldn't even find a place to stand where I could see the man. It was like Bourdain Radio, with a view of the backs of people's heads.


But I could hear his voice, and what a voice he's got. I suppose he wouldn't be a successful author if didn't have a distinctive voice, but having now heard him live and off the cuff, I can vouch that he speaks with the same snarky bluntess that he writes with and that pervades all of his TV appearances. He's half jerk and half best friend, heaping honest praise on those that deserve it, and mercilessly ridiculing those that deserve it, too.


Bourdain on vegetarians*: If you are priviledged enough to be one of the few people who is even able to go to Thailand and you don't eat everything in sight, it's not just rude, it's dumb. It's like going to a museum and saying 'I only want to see the paintings in blue and red.'

On which Food Network chefs are worth their salt: Mario. Mario is a behemoth. He knows everything, about everything. Those are cloven hoofs he's got hiding in those plastic clogs.

On which Food Network chefs are not: People would complain if I went on TV and told all the kids at home to listen to Judas Priest records backwards, and then go into the woods and slaughter goats. But that's what that Sandra Lee is doing! Putting spray cheese on a Triscuit and telling people it's a healthy, homecooked meal for their families -- it's the same thing.

On why his show is no longer on the Food Network and on Travel Channel instead: They came up to me and said, "We want more BBQ shows. Our audience doesn't really get this thing you do where you go to other places. They don't do subtitles. But our grilling shows get huge ratings. What if you went to different tailgating parties instead?"

On whether he ever gets sick from the foreign food: Most of the times that I've ended up with my head in a bidet some place foreign, it's been alcohol related.

On where he plans on eating dinner that night: Ben's Chili Bowl. Ground meat of unknown origin? How can I say no?

Olsson's has a pretty strict system for getting books signed. You have to a) buy the book that day, at Olsson's b) then they will give you a numbered card and c) then you wait in line based on the number of that card. I was still on my lunch hour, so I ducked out shortly after his talk, but I did manage to sneak up to the front and get his picture as he was signing. Skinny black jeans, boots, dark shirt, silvery hair. He looked tanned and a bit gaunt, just like on TV, but, you know, in three dimensions.

For those of you who want more Tony -- he'll be at Lisner tonight, though it's sold out, and from his lips to your ear he'll be at Ben's tonight for dinner.

*These quotes are from my memory, as I wasn't taking notes or recording it. I'm a blogger, not a journalist!

Thing 72: The High Heel Races

Speaking of celebrating one's birthday in style...


Welcome to the Dupont Circle's Annual High Heel Races. Traditionally held the Tuesday before Halloween (aka, my birthday), all the lovely ladies come out in their Halloween finest to strut up and down 17th Street and show off their newest wig.



Harkening back to the Capital Pride Parade, I was back on the sidewalk in front of the McDonalds to watch the gay times roll. Literally, roll.



There were cheerleaders working hard to the soundtrack of "Legally Blond: The Musical." Marilyn Monroe was there, showing her panties to the world. Scary Condi was there. Hillary was there. Bathing beauty queens and disney princesses and for some reason, even the Washington Monument.
The race starts at 9, but the fun starts around 6:30 when the crowds and the queens begin to trickle in. Everyone looks great and everyone has fun.



And when the race begins, oh boy do those queens book it!

Thing 44: The Dupont Circle Farmers' Market

You may have noticed that I've kind of stopped going out to eat.

You see, I've fallen in love with my little Sunday morning ritual. Wake up at 8:00, make coffee, fry an egg. Check the Post. Grab my canvas tote bag, and then stroll the five blocks down to the north side of Dupont Circle to do my shopping for the week at my lively, friendly and colorful farmers' market.

My grandparents, who live in Oregon and grow nearly all their own produce, were surprised to hear that DC even has a farmers' market. In fact, there are a whole bunch of them to choose from, to suit your schedule and neighborhood. They had an idea that DC was a cruel concrete jungle, when in fact, just a short distance out in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania there are sustainable and organic farms aplenty. They come into the District to sell their bounty and everything looks, smells and tastes so good, I may never go out to eat again.

There is the stand where I buy my basil, which is so fragrant that you can smell it from two feet away. The guys at the stand are used to seeing me there, and we chat about what I made in the last week with their basil (ice cream), their garlic scapes (pesto), their escarole (this salad). When I told them about the incredible basil ice cream I'd churned, they told me that if I bring them some in the future, they will barter with me for more fresh herbs.


There is the stand that sells the freshest, juiciest and brightest red tomatoes, still on the vine, and we chat about pickling techniques.

There is the stand where I buy any kind of salad greens imaginable -- arugula, spinach, a mescalin mix with brightly colored edible flowers sprinkled throughout. They sell dark red beets as big as your fist, and spearmint that makes the most extraordinary mint chip ice cream (buy this book. Do it now). They also sell four colors of radish -- red, purple, pink, and a half red-half white variety --which, along with the fresh local feta from the cheese stand, prompted me to eat this salad for an entire week earlier in the season. (I adore Molly's simple, seasonal recipes over at Orangette, if you couldn't already tell).


The women all speak French at the stand that sells croissants and fresh baguettes, and there is another bread stand that sells a variety of whole grain breads, with flax seeds or sunflower seeds, walnuts or olives, whole wheat country boules. I am partial to the flax seed loaf, which is a little sour and full of flax, sunflower and poppy seeds.

There is fresh dairy and local meats. Your choice of lamb, pork, beef or chickens, all raised organically and sustainably. The Boyfriend and I feasted on sweet Italian sausages one week, with a side of organic broccoli. There is a seafood stand selling live soft shell crabs, and last week there was a live eel for sale, named "Buddy." The sign said he bites. (I passed on the eel.)

The hot item the past couple weeks have been the local cherries, which I buy and then can't help but start eating on my walk home, spitting the pits out in the gutter on Q Street. And then there is the ritual of coming home, putting everything away, perusing cookbooks for recipes to make during the week to use whatever strange or familiar vegetables I've brought back. Preparing an ice cream base if I've bought something sweet. Readying the jars if I plan on doing any canning. And making a big farmers' market salad with whatever I bought that day, eating food that was growing in the ground only a few hours before.

So that's where the restaurant reviews have disappeared to. Can you blame me?

Thing 43: The Capital Pride Parade

Well, we already know the end of the story -- I drank a bit too much wine on the street corner, ate a humongous haute dog and went home to bed.

But where did all this madness begin? On 17th Street, to watch the Capital Pride Parade, of course!

It's the most proud, well-dressed-and-yet-tacky, fabulous parade of the year! If you haven't been, mark your calendars for next year and get their early, because this parade puts the others to shame.

Good Friend David and I, along with two of our friends, Stephen and Jenny, chose to position ourselves on the corner of Corcoran and 17th, in front of the McDonald's and kitty corner to the liquor store. Prime real estate.

The rainbowed streets were jubilant and lively. There were the dykes on bikes:

There was the usual roundup of politicians -- Mayor Fenty, Chairman Grey, all the at-large council members, and of course, EHN, who took time from her busy schedule of not voting to walk the parade:



SMYAL was there:


So was PFLAG, always the most poignant of the groups, bearing signs saying "I love my gay son" or "my daughter deserves a wedding, too." There was also the group of children with gay parents, bearing signs of "I love my moms" or "I love my two dads."


There was a whole slew of churches and religious groups, decked out in rainbows, proclaiming that God loves all His children, and that there is room at the table for everyone. I get choked up even now, recalling it, and how every day this country takes a small step towards equality, love and diversity. It's easy to forget sometimes, in the midst of the bad news, but we're getting to the place where people can live happy family lives, regardless of what that family looks like.

Even when it looks like this:


Mr. and Mrs. Leather 2007 came out to play:



Results Gym had a huge, multi-tiered, construction themed float, with actual rock hard abs (oh, and the people they were on), doing various fitness activities small clothes. There was a mean looking group of silent men called the "Men of Discipline," and there were loads of fierce and fabulous drag queens. Everyone was throwing out beads, candy or condoms to the cheering (and tipsy) crowds.

A truly joyous afternoon.

Thing 35: Embassy Open House Day

Good Friend David and I have a thing for embassies. It is nerdy and embarrassing in the extreme, but I figure it was bound to come out eventually, so here we go. We love embassies. We group them by world geographic regions, and then walk to them. On weekends. When they're...not open. Then we take pictures out front of them. And we learn fun facts about those countries. Then we cook something from that part of the world, or visit a restaurant that celebrates that particular cuisine. We've been doing this very slowly over the past two years. Our goal is eventually to have visited every embassy in DC. I am hanging my head in shame as I type this.

Anyway, you can imagine our utter glee and excitement when I saw a sign in the metro for EU EMBASSY OPEN HOUSE DAY! This is an international affairs nerd's fantasy made real. There was even a "passport" to print off from the website that you could get stamped at every embassy you visited! Just a word of warning, we took a lot of photos over the course of the day, so this entry looks a lot longer than it is. Don't give up!

Last Saturday, at 10:00 am sharp, GFD and I met in Dupont Circle and began walking up Massachusetts Avenue to tour as many embassies as we possibly could in one day. We began with the Embassy of Luxembourg:

It was already packed full of people, even though it had only just opened. Throughout the day, GFD and I remained astonished at how popular this event was. We were pretty sure our love of embassies was unique. And sure, we're probably the only ones who walk for miles to take our pictures in front of embassies that aren't open. But apparently, hundreds of people are happy to spend there sunny Saturday touring European embassies. Many of them had long lines to get in all day.

The embassy of Luxembourg is large and spacious, with a beautiful ceiling in the main conference room:

Next stop: Bulgaria. The Bulgarian embassy had a sampling of wine (not very good), feta cheese (very good), canapes that didn't look particularly Bulgarian, and a traditional Bulgarian folk band, which GFD and I liked a lot, but comes across kind of annoying on the video.

Then it was up the street to Greece. We were hoping for retsina and spanikopita. Instead, they had a very Greek buffet of potato chips, pretzels, and Coca Cola. They did, however have a table that featured all kinds of Greek products, but you were not invited to take those home with you.

Next stop, to Cyprus. The embassy of Cyprus was a small place, the main attraction was a travel movie being broadcast in the main room. There were, however, snacks. Coconut candies, and strange fig and rose flavored gummies and a large platter of halloumi cheese samples. Halloumi is salty and firm, like feta but less creamy. Next to the samples are pamphlets with recipes featuring halloumi cheese, which I cannot wait to test out.

At this point, we transitioned from Massachusetts Avenue to Connecticut Avenue, to see the Maltese embassy. It is a tiny townhouse, not much to tour. We waited downstairs with one of the Knights of Malta until the group upstairs left and made room for us. When we were finally allowed upstairs, we saw why it had taken so long -- our group of about twenty was herded into the Ambassador's office, where he and his wife greeted us, shaking hands. Then the Ambassador himself gives us a brief tutorial about his country of origin -- its colonial history, exports and industry, language and culture. And no, the Maltese Falcon has nothing to do with Malta. Someone asked.

As we left the Maltese embassy, the shuttle bus was just stopping, and we hopped on for a ride up Connecticut Avenue to the Slovakian and Austrian embassies. The Slovakian embassy was airy and spacious. They were serving some delicious cinnamon strudel.



Across the way was the Austrian embassy. Once inside, in the main foyer whose centerpiece is a giant gold statue of a violinist, there was a line for Austrian coffee and line for a tasting of Austrian wines. We chose the wine line (surprise!), which took a very long time because each group of about 12 were tasting eight wines. Luckily, GFD and I began talking to a very nice couple in line behind us...who turned out to be the parents of the babysitter of one of my best friends in college.

Two of the wines turned out to be so good that GFD and I ordered a mixed case with both of them, to split between the two of us. Effective marketing!

Then we took the shuttle down to Spring of Freedom Street in Rock Creek Park, to visit the Czech and Hungarian embassies.

These embassies were about to close as we were visiting, but we had just enough time for a free Pilsner Urquell, to pose with a woman in costume, and to make fun of the Hungarian's love for industrial size tubes of paprika cream. (And before I hear from angry Hungarians, that bit is a joke. I've never had it, but GFD assures me that paprika cream is actually really good).

At this point, the logistics of the event kind of broke down. It was 2pm, and the Czech and Hungarian embassies had closed for the day. The shuttle bus arrived, but it was already full. No one was going to get off here, because both embassies were already closed. And there were about 50 people waiting to get on the bus. The buses were running about every 20 minutes. So GFD made the impulsive and poorly thought out idea to walk back to Dupont.

After half an hour, when we still hadn't even passed the zoo and were fantasizing about what we wanted to eat for our very late lunch, we saw the error in our way. We hailed a cab in the middle of the parkway and asked the driver to drop us off in front of Potbelly Sandwich works on Connecticut Ave.

Quenched and sated, we strolled over to the Slovenian embassy, which was displaying posters of its brand new Euro coins and brochures of half naked men and women covered in mud and/or chocolate, entreating you to visit the lovely spas of Slovenia.

Finally, worn out, tired, dusty, and not a little sore, Slave Driver David made me walk over to 23rd and M Street to visit the European Commission. There were a lot of information booths set up, about the environment, European police, the Euro, food safety etc, but we were so worn out that we couldn't absorb too much information. I did pick up a pretty neat calendar about European Union foods though.


It was around 4:00 by now, and I was in some serious need of a nap. All in all, we ate some really tasty and exotic foods, were exposed to music from other cultures, picked up about 8 lbs of promotional materials, learned some new recipes for halloumi cheese, ordered 12 bottles of cheap and delicious Austrian wines, met the Maltese Ambassador, and desperately want to visit Slovenia on our next vacation.

Where else in the world but DC could all this have happened in one day?

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