Getting Around (and Finding Free Stuff)

This post comes to you from a non-corporate coffee shop in the Eastern Market, Peregrine.

Well, what a week.  This city is burning and I have never been more grateful for the air conditioned busses and metro cars.  Taxis, not so much.

Friday night, Noah, Sarah and I went to an event hosted by one of the radios Sarah works for (I’m not exactly sure how that works, but there are a lot of radio stations and a lot of events and a lot of free food).  This event was for Grey Goose Cherry Noir, of which there were free samples of various cocktails one should make with the liquor.  On a rooftop bar in Chinatown.  Oh boy do I love a rooftop bar (until July, in which case I won’t go outside ever).  Let me just tell you now: it’s really hard to make a cocktail with cherry liquor that doesn’t taste like cough syrup.

After the event, we went to a restaurant nearby called Pho to get dinner.  Dinner, we did not get.  Happy hour drinks and appetizers, we did.  And I’m still craving pho because of that.  But I’ll get it eventually.  Ultimately, I (meaning Noah) convinced Sarah to go to Shake Shack (!).  They even make good beer!  I was not disappointed, although I did vow never to eat again–I was stuffed.  That seems to happen a lot during progressive dinners.

Regardless, we made it to the Mad Hatter for my final stop of the night, where Noah and I watched the baseball game and tried to avoid the massive crowd (agoraphobia).

The metro is not necessarily how I would like to get home every night, simply because after 8 p.m., the red line trains come every 12-20 minutes.  And I ALWAYS forget my book.  Literally always.  Without fail.  But, I rode home after staring at my dead iPhone screen for 20 minutes and made the walk home from Union Station.  But more on late-night transportation later.

The next night, my friend Emilie and I went to our friend Nti’s going away party in Columbia Heights.  Nti is now in L.A. to become the most famous UMW grad ever, so that’s pretty sad for me cause L.A. is a long way away.  By the time we got off at Columbia Heights we were starving (I because I forgot to eat dinner) and decided to get empanadas from Julia’s.  NOPE.  Who closes at 11 p.m. on a Saturday?!  Didn’t make sense then and doesn’t now.  Instead, we went next door and got fro-yo, where Emilie traded a can of DC Brau for two 25% fro-yo coupons.  And the happiness of the late-night fro-yo associate.  Eventually we got to the party, made a lot of friends, saw a lot of UMW people and cried and hugged when Nti said it was time to go.  Too sad.  We had to console ourselves with empanadas.

And that we did.  We ended up in Dupont Circle, where Julia’s is open MUCH later (probably due to all the bars in the proximity).  Emilie found her sister, and I went off in search of a taxi home.  Fun fact: Taxis going from Dupont Circle to Capitol Hill don’t take credit cards.  They also get lost getting from Dupont Circle to Capitol Hill.  When the taxi driver asked me which street to take, I was ready to yell at him that the city was a grid.  But, empanada in hand, I calmly told him to take Massachusetts.  He stopped the meter while he was lost and driving in circles; I enjoyed the scenery.

The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful, mostly buying cheap wine from Trader Joe’s (thanks Noah!), applying for jobs and exploring.  Naturally, the weeks when nothing really happens are the weeks when everything you want to do happens in one night.

Case in point: Thursday.  Sarah had another work event, and as soon as she said free crabs I was sold.  Free crabs=paradise.  I could probably eat crabs and lobster and shrimp forever, given the opportunity.  Also, Daniel Powter was there performing.  Remember him?  He had one bad day and hasn’t really done anything since (although apparently he has a new album coming out, who knew?!).

As Daniel sang to the crowd about his bad day, Sarah and I pounded the crab claws with our wooden mallots.  We cared more about our crustacean than the entertainment, but it was ok.  No one minded the wild hammer noises coming from our table. (see video.  Sarah is the one singing in the background and our crab graveyard is on the table.  If you can’t see it yet, that’s because youtube is still processing it.  give it time):

I rushed home after that to retrieve my license and met up with Emily at the Black Cat near U Street.  Her dad started a Battle of the Bands fundraiser a few years ago to raise money for the homeless in D.C., and a lot of local law firms sponsor bands to perform.  Last year they raised $150,000 and were hoping to make $175,000 this year.  But oh man did they do better–as soon as I got home Emily texted saying they raised $250,000!  Wow.  The clear crowd favorite sang songs that people knew, from Jet to the Black Keys–they alone raised $59,000 in votes.  

I left them at around 11 to try to catch the bus home, since I just realized the bus drops me off on my street, whereas the metro is five blocks away.  Sometimes I really don’t know where the bus stigma comes from.  I love city busses.  I loved them in Paris and I love them here.  They allow you to actually see where you’re going, learn the area, and be air conditioned–all at the same time.  It can be a little tricky to figure them out, but Google maps and SmarTrips help with that.  Sometimes I wonder what people did before there were apps to tell you when the bus was coming.  Sounds complicated.

While I was waiting for the bus, I made a friend and we exchanged business cards (D.C. networking in action!).  So unexpected for U Street at 11p.m., but that’s part of why I love the story.  I was so psyched when I got home that I made friends with a stranger, and felt so confident in my ability to talk to people that I had never met before.  It never hurts to know people, especially in this city!

And that was when I vowed to take public transportation forever.