Local Expert
kristi
I am a native Southerner who has lived in the DC Metropolitan area for the past 10 years. I love to be "in the know" by trying new places and things. Interests include freelance writing,…
I am a native Southerner who has lived in the DC Metropolitan area for the past 10 years. I love to be "in the know" by trying new places and things. Interests include freelance writing, fashion, politics, and cultural events. Hopefully through my posts you will get a sense of the flavor of the DC area and will want to discover the Nation's capitol.
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Review Articles
Folks who live in the DC area are creatures of habit. If you live in Virginia, you tend to stay in Virginia and the same goes for residents of the District and Maryland. Rarely do people seem to cross state lines unless it is for work. I had never experienced anything like that prior to moving here but when it comes to shopping, I don't let a state line scare me!
I must admit it. I love to shop. I like to window shop. I like to purchase. I like it all when it comes to shopping. Last weekend, during the Congressional Black Caucus, I had to entertain some out of towners who wanted something that no one back in their home state would have. They were insisting that it would be upscale. Upscale, no problem. We started out at Tysons Galleria, also known as Tysons II. Since I hadn't been there in while, I was pleasantly surprised to see some new additions. Tysons Galleria is expensive, but on occasion, I am able to snag something on sale. I like to visit BCBG Max Azria and Betsey Johnson. I noticed, much to my surprise a new Bottega Venetta store. This store oozes "new york" to me with their sparse decorations and uber expensive but beautiful handbags. The out of towners ate it up and made a purchase there. This store has only been in Tysons for about a month. We also went to Ferragamo and Hugo Boss just to make sure we had soaked up all the upscale offerings that Tysons had. http://www.tysonsgalleria.com/html/index19.asp
If you are visiting the area and want to be amongst alot of people and activity, look no further than shopping in Georgetown. Due to its close location to the university, there is always movement and activity. In Georgetown, there are lots of shops and restaurants. You can find Urban Outfitters, Intermix (the first DC location of this New York store), Tommy Hilfiger, and Lucky Brand Jeans to name a few. There is also a small mall as well with the usual suspects like Express and J. Crew.
A new, hip shopping area to frequent is the U Street Area. I have come to really like this co-op shop called DEKKA. I did an earlier post on this shop but one of my favorite vendors is Lily Lily Shop. She has pieces from all around the world. In the U Street area, also check out Lettie Gooch and Nana for some funky threads. This area also has numerous choices for nighttime entertainment as well. Many don't know this but U street is a historic area as well with Lincoln Theatre and Ben's Chili Bowl being the only remaining places to survive after the riots in the 60's. There are walking tours of U street that I highly recommend.
The newest area to have more shopping options if the Chinatown/Gallery Place area. This area, near the Verizon Center, has another location of Urban Outfitters, an Ann Taylor loft, and some other shopping places. Best of all, Chinatown has some great restautants like Inde Bleu and Rosa Mexicana (best guacamole).
For more info on shopping in DC by district, please visit: http://washington.org/visiting/browse-dc/shopping/shopping-districts The best thing is that all of these areas are accessible by public transportation.
I have previously written about the quest for a good brunch in DC. Today, I had the opportunity to visit a place that I hadn't been to in a while and it proved to be a nice visit. I went to Creme Cafe on U Street.
When we arrived, Creme was packed and it wasn't even noon. We were told that we would have to wait around 20 minutes for a table. We were seated near the front of the restaurant in one of the highboy stations that was convertetd for three people. I usually prefer a regular table. This highboy felt a bit crowded for three people and once our dishes arrived, there wasn't much place for all of our dishes.
I also had the same exact dish that I had when I first went to Creme almost two years ago, the Chesapeake. I always try to insert seafood into every meal. The crab cakes were very good. Others in my office had the chicken and waffles and the other person had an omelet and numerous sides.
Everyone liked their dish. My only issue with Creme is that the service was a bit slow. We ended up waiting a while for our bill to be collected so we could leave. The menu doesn't seem to have changed very much since the restaurant opened which can be both good and bad.
If you want a fairly decent brunch at a pretty good price, visit Creme.
For more information, please visit: http://cremedc.com
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Acadiana
"901 New York Ave., NW", Washington...
I went to the restaurant, Acadiana, last week during DC Restaurant Week. I had been to this restaurant twice before, once for lunch and once for dinner, but since I always yearn for flavors from home, I decided to go back to Acadiana. It's usually hard for me to go to restaurants that claim that they can serve "Louisiana type" or "Creole" dishes because that is where I grew up so I can spot an imposter very quickly. However, I do know that some of the authentic spices and ingredients can't be found in this area so I try to give folks some slack--just a little.
In my past visits to Acadiana, I have enjoyed the food and thought that it was very authentic. Last Friday, was no exception, however, during Restaurant Week, Acadiana was packed. We didn't have a great table and were seated right next to the kitchen so we could literally watch dishes as they were just put out for pick up by wait staff. I wasn't exactly happy with that, but what can you expect during Restaurant Week? Most of what I liked was what my husband had to eat. He got the corn and crab soup which was very good. I can't even remember my appetizer which means that it couldn't have been all that memorable. As for my main meal, I had the redfish with crawfish dish. It was pretty good but there wasn't alot of food. Boo! For dessert, I got the bread pudding which was really good.
If you want a taste of New Orleans, take a visit to Acadiana restaurant. To me, it's the best taste of that great city that you will get in DC.
For more info, go to www.acadianarestaurant.com
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of going to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for the first time. Living in the DC area is reall cool because you can literally be in another state in a matter of minutes or just a few hours. The trip to Rehoboth took only about three hours.
Since it is a beach area, hotels can be kind of costly. We decided to stay at the Comfort Inn on Route 1, which is the main drag a few minutes away from the beach. The Comfort Inn was also appealing because it was one of the few hotels that you could book for just one night. Many other hotels required at least a two night stay. I also liked the idea of being able to get some sort of free breakfast the next morning before we drove back home. However, once we arrived, we were happy to find a microwave and a fridge in the room. I often wonder why don't all hotels provide these essentials? On top of that, there was a great big jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. I have stayed at Comfort Inns before and never had a jacuzzi tub in my room. All in all, I give the Comfort Inn the thumbs up.
As for Rehoboth, the main touristy things to do are to go on the beach/boardwalk and the outlet shops. There are three different segments of outlet shops. I wasn't all that impressed with the outlet shopping. These are the same types of stores that you can see in any outlet. but some of these stores were kind of cheesy. Last week, I wrote about outlet shopping in the DC area and these outlets are much better.
As for the beach, I didn't spend much time there. However, we walked along the boardwalk and had dinner and drinks at some cute places. If you go to Rehoboth, try the Blue Moon for a bite. The service was really good and the staff was really nice and offered a ton of advice on what to do, etc. I had the soft shell crab and it was quite tasty! For drinks, we went to a bar called La La Land. The drinks were reasonably priced and the vibe was low key.
You can make a day trip out of Rehoboth or a weekend trip. Either way, it's a good place if you need to get away.
The Washington area has been called an up and coming area in terms of fashion. If they say so. To me, Washington still has a very conservative vibe, but this vibe is somewhat necessary considering the type of work that goes on here like politics and government. We can't have our finest civil servants running around like they have been on the catwalk during New York Fashion Week. Rather, politicos seem to like to prepare for battle wearing Ann Taylor suits and other similarly situated fashion basics.
However, if you want to take a little drive, there are plenty of outlet malls in the area where you can grab a deal. Since I live in Virginina, I can best speak to what is out that way. I tend to like Potomac Mills, especially Nordstrom Rack. Nordstrom Rack has great deals on items that have been at regular Nordstrom stores. I like to check out the designer shoe section where I have scored some deals. I also like Off 5th at Potomac Mills as well. For a while, I never ventured into the store because it was in the opposite end of the mall and sometimes, I didn't feel like walking that way. However, they do have good prices on clothing found at Saks. I got an adorable handbag from Off 5th. Here's a tip--if you sign up to get their emails, usually once a week, they will send you a coupon worth at least 15 percent off on a single item. For more information, please visit, http://www.potomacmills.com/
If you want to drive a little further, you can go to Leesburg Premium Outlets in Leesburg, Virginia. Leesburg is a bit larger than Potomac Mills so you will want to allot more time for your visit. Leesburg has many of the same stores as Potomac Mills, but there are stores that aren't found at Potomac. Leesburg has a nice Puma outlet as well as a Colehaan outlet as well. For more information, please visit: http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=14.
These may particularly be good places to check out since the beginning of school is right around the corner.
The summer is always a perfect time for a county fair. I can see it now-- funnel cakes, hot dogs, rides and pig races. Yes, I really said pig races. When I moved back to Virginia a few years ago, I went to the Arlington Country fair for the first time. I admit that I grew up in a really small town, but had never seen a pig race. The funniest part was watching my then boyfriend (now husband) look at me like "Where am I?" as he watched the little piggies race around. He is a city boy and had never seen the likes of live animals forced to run for human enjoyment. The pigs actually seem to enjoy themselves and these are very little pigs so all of the kids that are at the fair watch them in amazement.
Since we live in Arlington, every year, I feel that we should at least stop by. It's good fun. Last year, we were a bit saddened that our arrival didn't coincide with the pig races. We missed all of the races for that day. Rats! So, we went from booth to booth inside the Community Center and made sure to grab a bite to eat. We will probably stop by this weekend to the Fair. There is no fee to enter the fair. The only issue is finding parking so either go early or go later in the day.
This year I will have my funnel cake! I always opt to not have one because no one else I know likes them, but after a while, you just don't care anymore. That's what fairs are for -- food and good times.
For more information, go to www.arlingtoncountyfair.org.
The fair will be held at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center and Park Grounds, 3501 Second St. South, Arlington, VA.