DC - Day 2 (Subtitle: We are hungover - and so can you)

(When we last left our heroes, we were cabbing our asses back to the condo to continue the festivities with Man-Dean).

We returned to the condo to find that we had not properly prepared for a festivus, in that we had little wine/other alcohol, so Man-Dean and NC ventured out into the night to procure alcohol. At 12:30 am. In DC. (Yeah, I had the same thoughts you're having, too, strong work, readers. Who am I kidding? Reader.) They returned empty handed later, but with a fantastic story involving Man-Dean entering a (gay) bar and asking for "packaged goods." It's funny on many levels. In the end, it worked out, though, not that Man-Dean found a boyfriend, but, that we had enough wine to sustain Man-Dawn and me and enough (born-on date = 2006) beer to sustain the men-folk. We then proceeded to stay up until 4 am, while Man-Dean imparted us with his sage wisdom as we sat in a circle on the floor below him, asking him questions about the meaning of life and what it was like living on Pangea. However, apparently even gurus get tired, and once Man-Dean retired to his chamber for sleepy-time, the rest of us did, too.

We all awoke around noon, a little bit out of it and very, very thirsty. Sadly Man-Dean had to return to his regeneration chamber in Virginia, so he had left around 11 am. Bye Man-Dean. To solve our hunger problem, we walked down the street to a diner-like place for breakfast. Water, coffee, eggs, and BACON, do a lot to bring you back to life after a long night...maybe I should write my thesis on that. Next, it was time to cross the street to purchase more coffee and then stop for wine for the night on the way back. On the way to the liquor store, BMG and NC recreated the scene from the night before for the camera, with the role of Man-Dean being played by BMG. Here they are walking into the (gay) bar to ask for the packaged goods:

Especially interesting is the tanning place next to the bar...I knew NC and Man-Dean looked a little darker when they returned from the failed quest to buy alcohol...

Man-Dawn and I frolicked ahead while they were buying beer and wine so we could take some pictures. Here's one of a skull impaled on the side of a building. Next to a sign supporting Hillary Clinton...I feel as though it may mean something, but I'm not sure what.


Also, here is a picture of some art in the nearby dog park.

I included this only because NC, Man-Dean and I had had a drunken discussion the night before about sign language and we had attempted to figure out the entire alphabet. In our stupor, we believed we had figured it out, however, in the light of day, also not in a haze of wine and beer, I'm not so sure we actually had it. Anyway, Man-Dawn and I saw this and, as I tried to remember why this sculpture looked so familiar, my sign language from the night before came rushing back. Of course! It's an "F!" Or is it a "P?" NC then deflated my ego later by saying, "Ummm, iko? I think it's an "OK" sign." Of course it is. Clearly.

Moving on, we decided we should do some cultural things, since we had traveled all the way to DC. Thus, we headed out to the museum area to see the Archives and the National Treasures exhibit. First, to the Archives! We had to wait on line for a long time to get into the actual building and an even longer time to actually see the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. Finally, we got into the main room, but the system kind of broke down along the way and people were wandering all over the room, butting in front of me and, generally, pissing me off. I did snap a picture to prove we were there...

This picture of Article III of the Constitution was taken just before we had to drag BMG out of the room before he busted through the bullet proof glass to sign Ron Paul's name at the bottom of the Constitution.

By the time we left the Archives it was about 5 pm, and I, in my infinite wisdom, thought we could head over to the Air and Pace Museum to see the National treasures exhibit. "Clearly," I thought to myself, "the museum must be open later on a Saturday." Yeah. Apparently the wine from the night before had taken-out too many brain cells, as, once we got there, we realized the museum closed at 5:30. So, we did what anyone would do....sprint through the National Treasures exhibit at a breakneck pace, with me stopping only to take random pictures of things I found interesting. This is the result...

Star Wars Dorks:


Julia Child's Recipe:


Some Science Stuff:


Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt and Mr. Rogers' Cardigan:


What Stephen Thought was Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt:


By now, the mystery voice of the museum had come over the loudspeaker, informing us that the museum was closing in 10 minutes (yes, we sprinted through the exhibit in 5 minutes), so we left...I took a picture of a plane hanging in the entry way, just to prove we had seen it. As we sprinted out of the museum, I was able to take a few shots of the DC landscape - again, to prove we did cultural things, not just eat and drink ourselves sick...


By now, we were tired, all that sprinting was hard, dude, so we cabbed it back to the condo (the red line was having some kind of construction done, so there were major delays on the Metro...I don't want you to think we're snotty and can't ride on mass transportation like normal people). There, we watched "Little Miss Sunshine" and waited for 8 pm so we could roll out to Vinoteca for our reservation. Having never seen the movie before, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, although I do think I laughed inappropriately anytime Steve Carell ran in the movie, because I kept picturing him, as Michael Scott, sprinting through the halls of Dunder Mifflin with Dwight, down to the warehouse, to see the giant poster-sized picture of him and Jan on vacation. Anyway, we got most of the way through the movie and had to leave for our reservation.

Yeah, so, Vinoteca. Well, they had good wine choices and in a nice range of prices, but the food left me a little disappointed. It was god and tasty, but also small and expensive. Now, I'm all for small portions, especially when part of a larger tasting menu or when I'm not that hungry, or, really, just because most people eat too much, get fat and get diabetes. That said, it was a bit too expensive for the small amount of food. NC and I did get to order some salted meats and olives for a nice appetizer, Yum-O! The beet salad with goat cheese I ate was also good, but I'm loathe to pay $9 for a salad with "goat cheese" (in quotes b/c I think there was a total of 1/2 tsp. on the plate) and one of the cheapest root vegetables available. After dinner, some people got dessert, but NC and I got an order of duck prosciutto and a cheese tasting. Here's a blurry picture*:


You can see the minuscule amount of cheese provided for $12 and the two slices of duck prosciutto (I think $3, maybe $4)...I mean, it was good, but not really worth it. Anyway, about the food - the cheeses were tasty and served with a delicious, real balsamic vinegar, which was so sweet and rich, it blew our minds. The duck prosciutto was OK, very greasy, kind of like actual, uncured duck meat, as NC so thoughtfully pointed out, it's probably not fully cured in the same way as other delicious meats, since it's more of a novelty prosciutto. Strong thought, NC.

On our way back to the condo, we passed a place called:


Hee! We're 4 years old and thought it was funny.**

So, we returned to the condo, finished up "Little Miss Sunshine," busted open the wine bought earlier in the day, and watched "Anchorman." All the while, we congratulated ourselves on our momentous day of culture and drinking.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion: "DC - Day 3 and Overall Thoughts - We got ours in Blazin' Copper and so can you!"

*I think I may have finally figured out how to use my camera to take indoor pictures. We'll see next time I post about dinner...
**It's called "Good Wood" if you can't read it in the picture.