<div>This just in: one of our favorite editors, Megan Carpentier, at one of our favorite sites (<a href="http://jezebel.com/">Jezebel</a>, duh) has kindly taken the time to write up a list of her top DC tips, which you can find below. (<a href="http://www.jauntsetter.com/archive/trip_picks/washington-dc-hope-change-cherry-blossoms">DC was last week's Trip Pick</a>.)</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, if anyone's fit to make such recommendations, it's Megan. This politically inclined lady lived in DC for nearly a decade, after all, working first as a lobbyist and then as a freelance writer, writing about politics for sites like <a href="http://wonkette.com/ ">Wonkette</a>, Glamour magazine's <a href="http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/glamocracy/">"Glamocracy" blog</a>, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/">The Daily Beast</a> and Foreign Policy's <a href="http://hillary.foreignpolicy.com/">"Madame Secretary" blog</a> in addition to Jezebel.</div><div><br /></div><div>So keep reading for her tips on all things DC, including where to dine, where to find the best chocolates, which wine bars to frequent, and what tourist attractions are worth a jauntsetter's time. As always, we ask you to share your own recommendations in our comments section, and while you're at it, share some NYC tips with Megan - she's just moved up to New York!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>__________________________</div><div><br /></div><div><em>From Megan:</em></div><div><br /></div><div>D.C. can be a very meat-and-potatoes kind of town - which if you're into that, by all means, head to the <a href="http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/About/main.asp ">Capital Grille</a> on Pennsylvania Ave for the people-watching and the pan-fried, prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella or <a href="http://www.fogodechao.com/">Fogo de Chao</a> for the hot waiters in tight gaucho pants and the all-you-can-eat beef. But if you're looking for a little something else for your night on the town (or the deserted environs of Pennsylvania Avenue after dark aren't your idea of nightlife), there are some other places to check out that don't involve tripping over college kids puking up their jumbo slices in Adams Morgan after too many Jaeger bombs at The Angry Inch (<em>Editor's Note: now named "Morgan's" - thanks <a href="http://jezebel.com/5205753/the-fare-down-there#viewcomments">Jezebel commenters</a>!)</em>. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're city-bound, go grab dinner at <a href="http://www.bistrotducoin.com/ ">Bistro du Coin</a> on the north side of Dupont Circle - the best place to sit, by the way, is at one of the tables to the back left of the restaurant, where you're likely to get either the incredibly efficient and grumpy older French lady, or the ostentatiously flirtatious older French man (which is to say he's different than the flirtatious host who usually greets me with a double-cheek kiss, but that might be because I've spent too much time and money in there). Have a champagne and passionfruit nectar cocktail, bring a pen to draw naughty things on the butcherblock paper, and order whatever you want to go with red wine - it's pretty much all good - but don't miss the garlic spätzle if you like garlic and can convince your dinner companion to share it with you.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you're stuffed to the gills from dinner, walk out the door and up to <a href="http://www.veritasdc.com/">Veritas</a>, a wine bar on the corner of Connecticut and Florida, for one of their zillion wines by the glass or to split a bottle (I recommend the Garnacha for the best combination of price point and taste). Definitely try at least one of their chocolates (I recommend the caramel, the classic and the passion), as it's what I call a "transcendent chocolate experience" even when I'm not splitting a bottle of wine.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that, head down Florida towards U Street, where the real local night life is. If you're pub crawling the night away, there's everything from dive bars like <a href="http://www.sollystavern.com/ ">Solly's</a>, to the upstairs at <a href="http://www.dcnine.com/portal/ ">DC-9</a> where you can work up a sweat, to the <a href="http://www.blackcatdc.com/ ">Black Cat</a> and its live music (or punk jukebox), to the hookahs at <a href="http://www.latinconcepts.com/chi-cha">Chi-Cha Lounge</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's plenty to choose from and (luckily) a general dearth of khakis and blue blazers infesting the bar area. If you're fine with a cab ride, the H Street corridor (that's NE, by the way) is adding venues daily and is far enough from almost everything else that you'll only find hard-core locals to drink with at <a href="http://www.redandblackbar.com/ ">The Red and The Black</a> and the <a href="http://www.rockandrollhoteldc.com/portal/ ">Rock and Roll Hotel</a> (which isn't really a hotel).</div><div><br /></div><div>If you do manage to roll out of bed the next morning to check out the sights, avoid the <a href="http://www.si.edu/Museums/">Smithsonians</a> like the plague, unless you're heading to the <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/ ">Sackler Gallery</a> (which is hardly ever crowded) - the sheer number of tourists in fanny packs and streaming off school buses is enough to drive you back to bed at even the worst hotel. If you can get your <a href="http://www.ushmm.org/ ">Holocaust Museum</a> tickets in advance, head over there despite its proximity to the hated Smithsonian Metro Station, but avoid the <a href="http://www.spymuseum.org/ ">Spy Museum</a> (too pricey) and the revamped <a href="http://www.newseum.org/ ">Newseum</a> (even pricier, with a major focus on disaster porn). The <a href="http://www.phillipscollection.org/ ">Phillips Collection</a> or the <a href="http://www.corcoran.org/ ">Corcoran</a> are better choices for interesting curation and offbeat art exhibits, and there are plenty of small galleries popping up around town to keep you busy and convince you that D.C. has a slightly bigger cultural scene than you realized. Or just wander around the monuments and ponder what the hell Congress was thinking when they authorized the Stalin-esque <a href="http://www.wwiimemorial.com/ ">World War II Memorial</a> (at those times, I prefer to curse Tom Hanks).</div><div><br /></div><div>Whatever you do, though, don't trust the pizza or the bagels in D.C. The only decent bagel places are out in the 'burbs and the lack of decent pizza is every New Yorker's lament. If you're hard up and just can't resist, head up to <a href="http://www.2amyspizza.com/">Two Amy's</a> in Tenleytown (though the wait can be deadly, it's totally worth it) or out to <a href="http://www.faccialuna.com/">Faccia Luna</a> in Clarendon for some brick oven pizza that doesn't taste like home but won't offend your sensibilities.</div><div><br /></div> 2009-04-07T19:52:01Z 155 policy-notes-dc-tips-from-political-blogger-megan-carpentier 2009-04-10T17:19:37Z