A tourist in DC, part one

When I was growing up we moved quite often. As a result, my parents drilled into me that it is important to take in the sights wherever you live, because "you never know when you'll be moving." (My personal average is one move, to a new state or new country, once every three years.) 

Our current plans are to leave DC within two years, and once I seriously start writing my thesis, my life outside of work (so I've heard) will cease. This is why I have been pushing to hit all the remaining must-sees in the area in the coming months, and why you now see this first post in a series.**

On Sunday, we started off the morning with oatmeal at home, because we planned for that to be the last healthy meal of the day. Then we headed to Adams Morgan, a DC neighborhood known for its clubs and, more importantly, food you eat after you've been drinking a lot. Even on a sober stomach, Amsterdam Falafelshop was terrific. There are just three things on their menu: falafel, twice-fried french fries, and brownies. We had falafel, stuffed with our choice of fresh salads from the topping bar, and french fries red-white (ketchup and mayonnaise), which is the way I liked them in Germany. They also offered peanut sauce for french fries - is this a Dutch thing? - but I'll stick to the red-white combo.

Then we were off to Georgetown, to the bakery that won the Washington Post's "Cupcake Wars," Georgetown Cupcake. If you're a non-foodie, you might not know that cupcakes are very in right now. Some combination of desires for decadence, portion control and old-fashioned food have made them the thing to indulge in lately. Which explains why, although we got there only a half hour after they opened, I still had to wait in line 25 minutes outside the shop before I could get in to place an order. I had heard tales of longer lines, so I didn't complain.

Because we were still full of falafel, we saved the cupcakes for later in the day, and spent the rest of the afternoon strolling along the Chesapeake-Ohio canal that runs through Georgetown. The canal is ambitiously named, because when construction on it was started in the 1850's it was supposed to connect the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio river. Twenty years later, however, they had only gotten as far as Cumberland, in western Maryland, and the railroads were already proving more effective than canals for transporting goods. So it was never used for commerce, although it's now an excellent walking/biking/boating path.

The extensive walking (and rather chilly weather) caused us to postpone attending the free concert on our agenda, and we headed home to eat cupcakes. It was then that I discovered an error I made when ordering. Because it was such an effort to get to the bakery, I purchased two cupcakes for each of us. However, these treats are such a perfect combination of sugar and fat that after one, the law of diminishing returns asserts itself, and we were forced to save the leftovers for the next day. 

**And we're looking any friends in the DC area who'd like to play tourist with us.