Best bus to D.C. from New York: DC2 NY. Yes, it’s a few dollars more than Bolt or Megabus, but you get:
1. A less crowded bus. 2 of the 5 times I’ve taken DC to NY, I’ve had the whole seat to myself!
2. A bottle of water (which I never remember to bring for myself and am always grateful for, even if I’m a touch anti-bottled water in theory)
3. GOOD movies. Last time, I watched Toy Story 3. Which of course revealed the disadvantage of this particular DC2NY feature: if it’s that wonderful of a movie, sobbing may occur.
4. Drop-off in Dupont Circle. This one is key. It’s actually only 5 minutes closers to my apt as the 10th and H Bolt Bus drop-off, but it feels so much closer.
5. a bus that is not as awful as Megabus. After a very cold, poorly managed 2-hour wait in the cold in NY last month, I will not be taking Megabus again. Even if I do like the double decker thing.
Best hot cocoa: Okay so this is tough, because I love Coco Sala. But it’s expensive and fabulous and you feel like you need to be wearing heels there. The winner is ACKC, or Artfully Chocolate Kingsbury Confections (But that is too long a name, so ACKC it is.), a perfectly comfortable, decidedly lovely cocoa shop just one block from my apartment. This perfectly cute shop is home to gorgeous art (I think one of the owners is a stained glass artist?), delicious looking – I have yet to sample – truffles, and best of all The Divas. The Divas are hot cocoa/ice cream dessert/milkshakes, each of which are inspired by a famous diva. My favorite is the “Lucy”, which features chipotle, cinnamon, and semi-sweet chocolate. This is the Brigitte Bardot and the Marilyn Monroe (with Oreos and Crème de Menthe!), which we sampled during his visit last week.
Also, they have free wireless. Amazing.
Best independent bookstore: Politics and Prose
As the granddaughter of independent bookstore owners Hilda and John Gold, I am a bit of an exacting connoisseur of bookstores. Okay, that’s a lie. I really like bookstores, and if you put me in one, I’ll likely be happy no matter what. DC has an abundance of lovely book shops, but my favorite is far and away Politics and Prose. I like Kramerbooks (delicious food, and they curate their book offerings thoughtufully) and I like Capitol Hill Books in Eastern Market for the ramshackle, piles-o-books-and-therefore-happiness feel and the slightly crazy owner. But Kramerbooks is consistently expensive, and Capitol Hill Books is decidedly claustrophobic in the summer months. Politics and Prose, is practically perfect in every way (Name That not-as-good-as-the-original Musical!).
So why Politics and Prose? Oh, SO many reasons, my friends. I’ll list them for you.
1. It’s a Chevy Chase mainstay, and was a mere 5 blocks from my first apartment here in D.C., so it has nostalgic value. It has a well-curated upstairs, just like Kramerbooks,
2. Any night of the week and sometimes twice on the weekends, they have wonderful author talks – and they get great folks, too. Walter Isaacson and Taylor Branch were particular favorites (and I still haven’t forgiven myself for missing Tim Flannery, an Australian mammologist and author of one of my favorite books of all time, The Eternal Frontier. It’s a geological-time-scale history of North America’s evolutionary patterns. It’s a good thing I love my family, or I am not sure my cousin’s wedding would have been a good enough excuse to miss Tim Flannery. But I digress).
Best independent bookstore: Politics and Prose
As the granddaughter of independent bookstore owners Hilda and John Gold, I am a bit of an exacting connoisseur of bookstores. Okay, that’s a lie. I really like bookstores, and if you put me in one, I’ll likely be happy no matter what. DC has an abundance of lovely book shops, but my favorite is far and away Politics and Prose. I like Kramerbooks (delicious food, and they curate their book offerings thoughtufully) and I like Capitol Hill Books in Eastern Market for the ramshackle, piles-o-books-and-therefore-happiness feel and the slightly crazy owner. But Kramerbooks is consistently expensive, and Capitol Hill Books is decidedly claustrophobic in the summer months. Politics and Prose, is practically perfect in every way (Name That not-as-good-as-the-original Musical!).
So why Politics and Prose? Oh, SO many reasons, my friends. I’ll list them for you.
1. It’s a Chevy Chase mainstay, and was a mere 5 blocks from my first apartment here in D.C., so it has nostalgic value. It has a well-curated upstairs, just like Kramerbooks,
2. Any night of the week and sometimes twice on the weekends, they have wonderful author talks – and they get great folks, too. Walter Isaacson and Taylor Branch were particular favorites (and I still haven’t forgiven myself for missing Tim Flannery, an Australian mammologist and author of one of my favorite books of all time, The Eternal Frontier. It’s a geological-time-scale history of North America’s evolutionary patterns. It’s a good thing I love my family, or I am not sure my cousin’s wedding would have been a good enough excuse to miss Tim Flannery. But I digress).
2a. sometimes they co-host events with Sixth and I. These are inevitably wonderful, but Sixth and I is another favorite place (we'll talk about that another time). The last one I went to involved Mark Bittman, and the one I went to before that was Barney Frank. Love.
3. The downstairs sale section is heaven on earth. And fundamentally Dangerous To My Wallet. So many well-priced books. So little time. Also, there is a cute café down there and they make a lovely latte.
4. The best birthday gift of all time. For my Dad’s birthday last August, Alli and I got him a P&P shirt with this quote:
3. The downstairs sale section is heaven on earth. And fundamentally Dangerous To My Wallet. So many well-priced books. So little time. Also, there is a cute café down there and they make a lovely latte.
4. The best birthday gift of all time. For my Dad’s birthday last August, Alli and I got him a P&P shirt with this quote:
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx
Seriously, we are the best daughters of all time. And Politics and Prose is a glorious bookstore.
2 comments:
LOVE it. Please continue you with the RKG-recommended. I've never even heard of that bus! Sounds shnazzy. Sidenote, I took megabus up to Boston last week and had the same utterly awful cold 2-hour wait. Never again!
Yum to hot cocoa, must try that. I briefly stopped in politics and prose when I was last in DC 2 years (eek!) ago. Hopefully I'll have more time to spend there next time.
I looooove this idea for posts, much like my recent Gamechangers idea & Emily Goodstein's Wild & Crazy Right Now. Keep it up. And a hot chocolate shop? I WANT TO GO TO THERE.
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