navigating the overworld

[Büge]

It's uncanny how Sharkey looks like a friend I've known since kindergarten.

[Caithness]

I'm in Pittsburgh for the weekend again.

[Büge]

I'm so sorry.

[Caithness]

I don't know where the "Pittsburgh sucks" meme came from. I love coming here.

[Silversong]

/me casts REVIVE on topic

So, work is talking about sending me to Washington, DC for a work-thing in March. Any of y'all around there? Or know of things I ought to do? I might have a half-day of free time.

[Mongrel]

I guess there's all the usual attractions, capitol, WH, Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc.... have you seen them before? Or (even if you haven't) are you looking for something non-civics-related?

A good friend of mine is in DC, so if it's the latter I can ask him.

[nosimpleway]

One-woman Woman's March

[Esperath]

for a half day of free time, I'd probably just pick a couple Smithsonian museums.

[Silversong]

Yeah, preferably non-civic. Though it did cross my mind to open a rotten tomato stand on the White House lawn. I'll probably walk through a couple of said museums, but if Mongrel's friend knows of any foods I must eat in the White House area, that would be keen.

[Mongrel]

Okay, my buddy has a lot of suggestions since DC is apparently now an "Actually Good Food City", so to narrow it down, where are you staying? Also, any preferences?

("Get out of here, S.T.A.L.K.E.R!")

[Silversong]

I haven't reserved a hotel yet, but likely within walking distance of AEI (1789 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20036). Anywhere between that and the art museums would be keen, especially near subway exits. Mazian says to take the subways.

[Mongrel]

Okay! So my buddy (who works in Dupont, near AEI, as it happens) gave me these suggestions:

Tabard Inn is near AEI and is kind of an old DC mainstay. food is excellent

if she's willing to go a ways, Upshur St has a bunch of good restaurants-- Himitsu is insane-- but the particular draw might be Ruta del Vino, which is one of my neighborhood locals and which is owned by a guy who used to work for Cato

Churchkey/Birch and Barley isn't too far from there if she likes beer

St. Arnold's is a few blocks from AEI and is a great place for a lunch or a dinner-- it's a small basement bar but the mussels are great

it's loud when crowded, though

Rasika is fantastic if she likes Indian food (aimed at the mid-high end)

when i'm meeting people from out of town around there, depending on who they are, I take them to Tabard Inn or St. Arnold's or Honeysuckle for lunch

if I was going out for a splash dinner in the neighborhood I'd probably go Rasika but I like Indian food

literally everyone who has ever been to either Churchkey or Birch and Barley likes them so if she's willing to go a bit then those are fine options

they're kind of a double feature

I assume if you want to plan ahead you can probably look online to see menus/prices for most of these places and go with what interests you.

[Silversong]

Oooh, I love Indian food, I'll definitely check out Rasika. I don't know how much time I'll have for traveling, so I'll look at the rest on a map, thanks.

I looked at some menus and was all, "why do all of these places have seafood??" Oh, oh right.

[Kayma]

My favorite place in DC is Ben's Chili Bowl. Sure, it's basically a hot dog shop, but as hot dog shops go, it's amazing.

[Thad]

If anybody's in the Alamogordo area, feel free to shoot me a PM.

If anybody's not in the Alamogordo area but can recommend some cool shit to see in the Alamogordo area, feel free to post about it here.

[Yoji]

Does anyone know their way around the area of Sequoia National Park and/or Three Rivers? My wife wants to take the family up there for Christmas vacation. It's about our last chance for a proper road trip before Forrest/Nova is born, we want to see some real snow, and we have family up in that direction.

But there's a lot of stuff complicating this. She wants to avoid driving in the snow since neither of us have ever done it; I think she planned on trying our luck calling an Uber driver who could do it for us. But then there's lodging; I can't find place actually in the park like she wanted, but there's a few places down the road. But then that brings us back to the driving problem again and it's do-or-die time this week and oh god I'm going cross-eyed.

I dunno, I guess I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed here and needed to talk about it somewhere. The holiday season has been kinda stressful these past few years, and this isn't really helping.