A Capitol Idea: Our Guide to ALA in DC

When I left Washington, DC, five years ago, it was mired in decades of government-issued monotony. For policy wonks, the place was nirvana. But for ordinary folks, the perpetual complaint heard around town was: “DC isn’t a 'real’ city.”

Dominated by street after street of granite federal office buildings, the capital was a place that just couldn’t jump-start itself into world-class status. Of course, it offered free, top-notch museums, but everyone lived and breathed politics and the town was sorely lacking a throbbing urban pulse. The absence of a major league baseball team said it all: DC had not yet arrived.

Sure, the city still revolves around government, but thankfully for those attending the American Library Association’s Annual Conference from June 21 to 27, a lot has also changed. DC (no one calls it “Washington”) is actually quite a happening place these days. For one, the Washington Nationals have brought major league baseball back to town. For another, gentrification, coupled with the construction of the Verizon Center and the new Washington Convention Center, has helped transform the east end of downtown and Chinatown into vibrant areas. Hundreds of new condominiums and apartments have followed, along with upscale restaurants, bars, shops, theaters, museums, galleries, and other attractions.

In recent years, the economy has also diversified, along with a revival of run-down neighborhoods, like Old Downtown near the Gallery Place and Metro Center subway stations, which were virtually left abandoned following the 1968 race riots. Companies like AOL, National Geographic, Discovery, and XM Radio now call the DC metro area their home. What’s more, an influx of Vietnamese, Ethiopian, and South and Central Americans has added a nice cultural mix to the local population, particularly in adjoining Maryland and Northern Virginia. This may have helped create DC’s sizzling hot restaurant scene, and its performing arts venues—including the massive Kennedy Center—draw appreciative crowds. Even the metro, the city’s widely used subway system, which used to shut down by midnight, has grown up. It now runs until 3 a.m. on weekends.

DC is really two distinct towns. One is the federal core around the National Mall, with its famous monuments and iconic buildings like the White House. The other is a series of largely residential neighborhoods that can impart a feeling of suburbia to many sections. The city is divided into four quadrants—Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.

Unless you enjoy white-knuckle traffic jams, it’s best to leave the driving to taxi cabs, which operate on a byzantine-zoned fare system but are widely available at all times. Or take the metro, which reaches all major downtown destinations, the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs, and Reagan National Airport. It’s definitely the cheaper and more convenient option.

Librarians will be pleased to know that DC offers some of the best independent bookstores anywhere. And there’s even great shopping in a city that has long spurned the notion that being fashion-forward can coexist with serious policy debates. (Speaker Nancy Pelosi can lay claim to the title of First Fashionista).

A word of caution: the dog days of intense heat and humidity often arrive by late June, but luckily, restaurants, theaters, and just about anything that isn’t strictly outdoors is briskly air-conditioned.

Just south of the convention center lies the newly revived Old Downtown. There’s enough to see, do, and eat in this lively section to keep you busy for days. Save the standard sites—the Washington Monument and the other touristy places—for holiday trips with the kids. Instead, dip into some of DC’s newfound—and dare I say—edginess and style.

After the three-day race riots in 1968, which left a dozen people dead and up to a thousand burned buildings, Old Downtown was left to wither. Businesses fled and restaurant pickings were slim. Today, the area has been entirely refurbished. Spurred by the 1997 opening of the MCI Center, now called the Verizon Center, which is home to DC’s basketball and hockey teams, the area has become a cultural magnet for locals and visitors. On and around the neighborhood’s main artery, Seventh Street, you’ll find clusters of eateries, theaters, and art venues.

If you have a few hours to explore, head straight to the newly refurbished Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, both housed in a spectacularly renovated 1868 National Historic Landmark building between Seventh and Ninth Streets, just across from the Verizon Center. While there, don’t miss the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, where you can browse 3,500 paintings and other works of art displayed in seemingly endless racks of open shelves. During a recent visit, I nearly bumped into an Edward Hopper and spent a happy hour (leaving my bored husband at the café) drooling over drawers of gorgeous antique and contemporary jewelry.

You’ll also want to head down Seventh Street to the National Mall and spend as much time as possible at the National Gallery of Art, with its fabulous permanent collection of Old Masters. Or, if you yearn for something a bit more, well, substantial, strike out for the National Building Museum, a couple of blocks east of the convention center between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Housed in an exquisite structure dating from 1887, the red brick building is encircled by a breathtaking frieze that depicts a parade of Civil War military units. Beginning June 23, the museum will feature original architectural drawings by David Macaulay, author of Cathedral (1973), City (1974), and Pyramid (1975, all Houghton).

Not in the mood for architecture? How about espionage? Ever since it opened in 2002, the Spy Museum has been thronged with visitors eager to uncover their inner 007. Here you’ll find more than 200 spy gadgets, weapons, bugs, cameras, vehicles, and other paraphernalia to examine.

After all that museum-going, a little shopping therapy is in order, and the Seventh Street neighborhood abounds with intriguing shops and galleries. One of my favorites is Apartment Zero, stocked with cutting-edge contemporary furnishings and accessories. Artifactory on Indiana Avenue boasts an outstanding display of authentic African and Asian jewelry and crafts, including trade bead necklaces and silver bangles. At the Bead Museum Store, you’ll discover affordable ethnic beaded jewelry. For cheese lovers, a stop at Cowgirl Creamery, a leading artisanal cheesemaker, is a must. The Zenith Gallery scores high marks for photography, sculpture, and painting exhibits.

If you’re in need of a pit stop, look no further than Teaism, a small shop serving Japanese accented snacks and light meals like cilantro-scrambled eggs. (Speaking of tea, DC is still enough of a Southern city to boast reliably good iced tea.) For lunch, try Zola at the Spy Museum for its smart modern American menu. Across from the American Art and Portrait Gallery museums is Jaleo, which, with its extensive menu of authentic tapas, is perfect for either lunch or a pre-theater dinner. Two of my favorites are the Buñuelos de bacalao (cod fritters with honey allioli) and the pan con tomate y jamón serrano (Spanish imported cured ham with traditional tomato bread). If you have extra time, the acclaimed Shakespeare Theater, right down the street, will be mounting a production of Hamlet in June.

Of course, there’s always Chinatown, or more accurately “China Block,” since only H Street remains of the original area. For a cheap lunch, stop in at Eat First, a modest eatery known for its duck and authentic Cantonese offerings. Tony Cheng’s Mongolian Restaurant puts together a good dim sum. Also on H Street, right off Seventh, is Matchbox, a casual place acclaimed for its miniburgers.

For something a bit more upscale and lively, try the tri-level Café Atlantico for inventive takes on Latin American dishes and cocktails; the white gazpacho and the quesadillas win favor. If you aim to mingle with DC powerbrokers, The Capital Grille for steak, lobster, and seafood may provide an opportunity to spot a politico or two.

IndeBleu at Seventh and G, with its inventive mix of American and Indian cuisines, metro-themed drinks menu, fanciful interior, and lively bar, is a fun choice, and trendy jammed Zatinya, across from the Martin Luther King Library, is seen by many as one of the best new restaurants to hit DC in years. A reasonably priced menu with delicious mezze (small plates) means you’ll need to wait for a table at dinner, unless you snag one of the limited reservations. For New Orleans fare, Acadiana, just south of the convention center, features roasted sweet corn and blue crab soup and Louisiana seafood gumbo.

Looking for a memorable dining experience to take home with you? Grab a taxi and head to Citronelle in Georgetown, where award-winning chef Michel Richard prepares “modern French food in some of the most dazzling ways you’ll ever encounter,” says Tom Sietsema, the Washington Post’s food critic, who recommends the eggplant “gazpacho” and extraordinary lamb.

In the area known as Foggy Bottom near the State Department, the Kennedy Center with its opera house, theater, and concert hall beckons. In late June, the Washington National Opera will be staging a production of Macbeth. Not to be missed: the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (June 27–July 1 and July 4–8) on the National Mall. This year, crafts, music, and food from Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and Virginia will be on display.

Dupont Circle (call it “Dupont”), DC’s traditionally gay neighborhood, is home to two outstanding smaller museums: the Textile Museum and the Phillips Collection, with its outstanding exhibit of French Impressionists, including Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. Washington is no New York or Boston when it comes to pizza, but locals like Pizzeria Paradiso, just a short walk from the Dupont Circle metro station.

Tourists, teenyboppers, and college students flock to Georgetown, where your best bet is to walk the side streets studded with gorgeous historic homes and gardens. For shopping, Wisconsin Avenue and M Street are the main drags. Stop in at Appalachian Spring on Wisconsin for a great collection of crafts, including jewelry and pottery. For a delightful walk, set off along the C & O Canal path that tracks the historic waterway for miles. At night, the Georgetown bar scene hums as Hill staffers and college students swarm local watering holes.

Until a few years ago, U Street, once the epicenter of African-American nightlife where Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald reigned, was a blighted district, still scarred by the 1968 riots. These days, it’s where the young and hip flock for vibrant restaurants, clubs, and galleries. Old-timers still crave the dogs at Ben’s Chili Bowl. Fun seekers, who reportedly tend to be a bit older than the Georgetown crowd, listen to rock and other contemporary music acts at the 9:30 Club.

In the city’s leafy residential Northwest section, you’ll also find pandas that live at the National Zoo on Connecticut Avenue, situated between the Cleveland Park and Woodly Park metro stops. You won’t regret traveling an additional mile or so further up the road to Politics and Prose, one of the country’s top independent bookstores.

If the lure of Fabergé eggs and gorgeous antiques is one you can’t resist, head for the ornate Hillwood Museum and Gardens (getting there by taxi or car is best), former home of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. The airy café serves inviting salads and sandwiches, as well as an elegant tea. Shoppers, take the Red Line to Friendship Heights, where luxe emporiums like Neiman Marcus and Jimmy Choo have helped elevate the DC fashion scene.