Washington DC Gets a Return Trip!

Good afternoon all!  I hope that everyone is having as much of a great time as I am.  This week I have tagged along with my wife to a conference in Washington DC.  I'm not a big fan of flying, but it is a small price to pay to have 3 days on my own to explore what DC has to offer. 


For those lunch trips I've been on recently, I promise I will update the blog later.  Life in the home town has been very busy lately (a good thing) which has caused some delays in blog time.  Here in DC, I'm on my own in the day time.  Nothing stopping this entry, and I know you readers are PSYCHED!!!


For the tens of you reading, here we go! 


My first day in DC was rather entertaining.  Polly and I flew in to Reagan airport in the early morning, and somehow I kept myself together.  Our hotel room was not ready that early, so we picked up Metro passes, and we rode to the Washington Mall.  No.  We didn't go to a spot in DC that has an Orange Julius or a Tilt! Arcade.  Instead the Mall is a grassy area that serves as a park of sorts in the are of the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Museums, the Lincoln Monument, and the Capitol Building.  If someone has a smarter way of describing the Washington Mall, leave it as a comment wherever you found this blog.  Then I will know to mute you forever.


We went to the National Museum of American History, and we walked around looking at some insanely cool things until we received a text that our room was ready.  Since it was 94 degrees, we were pumped for the idea of sleeping in some air conditioning.  I didn't take a picture, but I did get some fries across the street from the museum.  There was a stand alone little spot on the Mall where you could get food and refreshments.  A hot pretzel, fries, and a Coke run about $9.50.   Not bad, but the fries were unremarkable.  Small fast food style cut, and they weren't left to cook very long in the grease.  They came out looking almost white, but that could have just been a trick by the blazing sun beating down on us.  The taste was not bad, but the crisp just was not there.  The pretzel though, was the truth. 


That night we met up with Lori Clemons who is the remarkable Executive Director of Arbor Youth Services in Lexington.  This is a great organization that serves homeless or at-risk children, youth, and their families.  If you haven't already, go to www.arborky.org and donate at least $10 to them now.  If you do, you will be entered to win a picnic table made from actual benches from Rupp Arena.  Do it now! 


We also met up with Iain De Jong who when he is not serving as President and CEO of Org Code (www.orgcode.com), he is the inspiration behind this blog.  Yeah, Iain works to educate the world about meaningful social change around such things as Housing First towards the goal of ending homelessness.  Is that more important than when he told me that I should start a blog on french fries?  That's a debate for another time.  The important thing is that we went to a place called Rebellion DC.

Check them out at rebelliondc.com.  The fries pictured here were surprisingly good.  I checked out the menu ahead of time, and they said they used salt and pepper on them.  These came out almost completely devoid of pepper, which of course is a good thing.  The fries were cooked well to the point where there was a nice crisp on the outside.  Yet the inside was not crunchy the whole way through which is an issue that lesser places have.  Rebellion blanches the fries twice to ensure there is a crispy exterior to allow for the interior to have that glorious fluffy consistency.  It was a perfectly sized basket to serve as an order for the glorious "Kramer's Big Ass Pretzel."  How "Big Ass" was it?  It didn't even fit on our table!  They had to roll out a barrel to sit by our table for the pretzel to sit on.  That was awesome, and it made the evening perfect.  I highly recommend Rebellion for the whole experience, and their fries are truly list worthy!


The next day saw me on my own, as my wife was in her conference.  I took the opportunity to jump back on the Metro to go back to the museum to see the rest of what I had missed.  The Smithsonian folks know what they are doing, as they had everything from exhibits on how the US became a country, to voting rights, to how technology has advanced over the years, to comic books!  I saw the original Lynda Carter Wonder Woman costume, the Captain America shield from the movies, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine claws, and Clooney's Batman cowl and Batarang.  I got back on the Metro to get ready for the evening, and I was struck by how easy it is to get around DC.  I love the idea of a city where you can walk a few blocks to get anywhere you want on a subway type system.  I'd gladly trade in my car for the ability to jump on a quick Metro to Lexington from Georgetown.  It's really so nice.  You hear nightmare stories of crime and rotten smells for NYC's subway system.  DC's Metro is clean, and everyone is very friendly. 


For dinner the group chose to get carry out to bring back to the hotel.  That meant that I was going solo to Lucky Buns.  Lucky Buns was found online as a quick walking trip for me, and their website looked pretty good at www.luckybunsdc.com.  I bellied up to the bar, and I got to see a good show.  This guy was getting hit hard with orders from others at the bar and the serving staff.  It wasn't just pouring beers or making a bourbon and coke either.  This guy was doing the kind of stuff you see on Bar Rescue (yes he did smile when he used his shaker).  I've never seen so many orders go out from a bartender using different types of bitters.  This guy took bartending up a level to being an art form.  Being able to juggle drink orders, put in my to go order, and be nice the entire time?  This guy was worth the walk. 



I didn't get this drink, but I thought it looked cool.  It's called Fairies Riding Corgis.  The guitar pick garnish says, "Guess What?  Corgi Butt"

I didn't think to take a picture of my drink before I finished it

I paid for my food and drink when it came out, and below is a picture of how the fries looked when I ripped open the sack.  The burger was packed nicely in foil right next to it in a larger bag which made sure that both were still perfect when I opened the bag.





I wish I could share the smell of this goodness through the picture

I'm not sure if this picture does the fries justice.  Each fry was roughly as wide and thick as either my ring or little finger.  They call their order "Thick Chips," and I could see why.  These are the type of french fries that any English pub would be proud to serve.  Just a slight crisp on the outside, and a wonderful meaty interior that held the taste of the grease just right.  They were completely devoid of seasoning which in my mind is the right way to go.  Why not let the customer decide what needs to happen to these pieces of glory sent to make our mouths happy?  They are served with malt vinegar mayo, but of course I didn't even touch that.  I went with some salt, and these fries jumped up the list.  I'm talking top 3 levels here everyone.  The only thing that in my mind would make these even better would be if there was a dusting of coarse sea salt on them.  Regular table salt just seems to be an insult to the painstaking effort it must have taken to make these fries out of potatoes.  Seriously, I can't hype these up enough.  If you have the opportunity to go to DC, you must go to Lucky Buns. 


I've got a large back log of fries to review.  Future entries could include a second attempt at Ramsey's, the Cellar, Whataburger, Nash's Southern Table & Bar, and Zim's.  Let me know in the comments what you want to see.  If you've read this far, you get a ribbon!