Adventures in DC

So I've been MIA for the past two weeks due to business in DC.  Zeph even came out and for a few days to hang out and go on adventures with me! There's something about being back "home" (when do you stop calling your parents' house "home"?) that's so comforting.  Plus, while Portland is still stuck in what feels like a winter-spring transition, it is so nice and warm here in the DC area.
Zeph came in Tueday via the redeye, so we decided to take it easy and hang out around Fairfax County for the day.  I gave him a tour of Fairfax City, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  After that we toured historic Clifton and later and walked the waterfront of Occoquan while poking our heads into all the cute shops.

On Wednesday we headed to Chesapeake Beach, MD for the day/night.  We spent the day browsing antique shops and walking along the pier.  Later, we ate dinner at the West Lawn Inn, a former boarding house and now full-time restaurant and jazz club.  We started with crab, the obvious choice when eating in this part of the country.  It came stacked between fried red tomatoes with a savory mustard sauce beneath.

I ordered the shrimp and scallops.  They were served atop succotash and next to delicious jalepeno rice and then drizzled with lime juice.  The scallops were perfect, the rice was a touch dry. I tried not to use my flash on my phone and the pictures didn't come out very well.

Zephyr ordered filet mignon with sauteed shiitakes, blistered cherry tomatoes, and parmesan risotto.  As a self-proclaimed Risotto Master, this stuff was CREAMY.  They must have cooked the whole thing in heavy cream.  It was a little too much for my taste.

On Wednesday, we left the beach and headed to the District.  I've been wanted to go to Founding Farmers for about a year now after reading about it in multiple culinary magazines.  We showed up in time for lunch and the place was PACKED. It's the first LEED certified fine dining restaurant in the country and features all sustainable eats. We started with fried green tomatoes (poor California boy Zephyr had never even had them!) They were served with goat cheese and a green goddess dip.  These were AMAZING! The tomatoes kept their firmness and were almost tart tasting!

I ordered a salad consisting of slow roasted turkey, country cured ham, sliced prime rib, radishes, tomato, peas, golden beets, cornbread croutons and a deviled egg.  Founding Farmers is famous for their deviled eggs, it was very tasty.

Zeph ordered a burger with white cheddar, bacon and louie dressing.  He ordered it rare but it came well-done; our only complaint. 

Feeling full, we parked our feet at the International Spy Museum.  I've been a few times before, but never get tired of espionage stories. Later we headed to the National Portrait Gallery, one of my favorite of all the Smithsonian branches.  From there we walked down M street in Georgetown and ate dinner at a little Italian place called Il Canale right above the C&O Canal.  They had some of the best eggplant parmesan I've ever had! But I forgot to take a picture :-/

All in all, we had a really great mini-vacation eating, exploring, and enjoying all the DC area has to offer!  

West Lawn Inn

9200 Chesapeake Ave

North Beach, MD 20714

Founding Farmers

1924 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20006

Il Canale

1063 31st St. NW

Washington DC 20007