Tag: dc

I Am Done

M's Adventures

Recently, I saw on the news that some places are being overrun by tourists. That locals are tired of tourists. I get the feeling. For me, the feeling has been a slow burnout for many years. Even though I realize that tourism is good for the economy (see my article on what to see and do as a tourist in Adana) and that it helps make a person more cultured… I don’t want to do it anymore.

Living in Adana has made me realize that I’m tired of tourism. Adana is the first city in which I’ve lived that is not a capital city or mega tourist destination. I have lived in Rome (35 million tourists visited in 2024 — in a city with over 4 million residents) and Washington, DC (25 million tourists visited in 2025 — the city has 6 million residents in the greater metropolitan area) — both cities with lots of tourists. Of course, it is possible to live out where there are no tourists in both those cities.

That’s another reason that I love Adana. Apparently there are a million tourists per year. But what I see is two million people living their lives. Most of them not working in tourism. I can’t even find an English-speaking tour guide! I’m not sure that they exist.

To answer the question from my previous article about how many of the touristy things I had done in Adana… only a few. Mainly the food related ones. Adana is known for its food tourism… I have been a food tourist. Sigh.

I was surprised to see these sheep grazing on this street in town.

This leads to a much deeper question of “seeing it like the locals” form of tourism. Maybe I’m that type of tourist. A sheep gawker tourist. Sheep are perfectly normal in Adana. But for me, it’s not normal. So maybe I’m a “novelty tourist?” Or a “sheep gawker tourist.”

And, does that still make me a food tourist?

Free Shows at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

M's Adventures

Maybe it’s one of those things that everyone knows about, but it bears repeating. The Kennedy Center has free shows (reserve a ticket online) Wednesday through Saturday at 6 pm at their Millennium Stage. The schedule is at this link. That is the long area out in the waiting area by the giant head of John F. Kennedy.

The shows are also livestreamed.

Annapolis Tourist and a Time Traveler

M's Adventures

Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and makes for an easy tourist outing from Washington, located just 30 miles to the east. One day, we went. It was a perfect day with blue skies and light breezes.

The downtown is adorable. Parking is not. One of the main attractions is the Naval Academy.

Lots of shops and antiques to gasp at.

There are boat tours and water taxis.

We ate on the south side and while it was quieter, we did not think the food was anything special.

We did stop at a cafe, Curated, and that was lovely. A young golden haired youth was sitting at the next table reading a Torah, a copy of Milton’s works, and a notebook in which he was taking concise notes with an old fashioned ink pen. No cell phone in sight. I wondered if he was a wraith, a time traveler, dropped into our world by the fumes of my coffee… it turned out that he was studying the connection between Milton’s assertions about the role of poetry in the Torah. He was going to do a doctoral thesis on this. We talked briefly about poetry. Then he left us to our breakfast. A bit later, a very modern young woman, cell phone attached to hand, sat down next to him. She asked what he was doing. He told her. At the blank look on her face, he asked if she had heard of Milton’s Paradise Lost. She said that she thought she had. Clearly no spark there. She got up and left quickly after that.

I remarked to my friend that artsy young men like that one were so unusual in the greater Washington area but probably not so out of place in New York City.

From inside Curate cafe.

If you visit Annapolis, you might not meet any interesting scholars, but you can absorb the history anyway.

My Favorite Restaurants in the DMV

M's Adventures

Now that I have lived in the Washington, DC, area for over a year, these are my favorite restaurants. They are not in any particular order.

The hamburger meat at Franklin’s is locally sourced and tastes like real meat.

Franklin’s, Hyattsville, MD: American food in an old mercantile. The restaurant owns several shops and a tiki bar. It’s a whole day outing. Serves locally sourced meat.

Ruthie’s All Day, Arlington, VA: Southern food. They have excellent “white sauce” wings. Outdoor seating.

Woodmont Grille, Bethesda, MD: American food. Dark wood and they ask you not to speak too loud. Classy place.

Penny Royal Station. Mt. Rainer, MD: American food. Another secret place.

Caphe Banh Mi, Alexandria, VA: Vietnamese food. Serve banh mi with liver pate. One of the few places that still serve have this “classic” style.

Mandu Erang, Annandale, VA: Korean food. It’s an old school place in a tiny house in the middle of a parking lot.

Mum Aroi, Baileys Crossroads, VA: Thai food. Best authentic place we’ve found so far. “Mum aroi” is “it’s tasty” in Thai.

Le Diplomate, Washington, DC: French food. Busy, but the cheese balls and the seafood tower are worth the crowds.

L’Ardente, Washington, DC: Italian food. Best “cesare” salad evah!

IndoChen, Alexandria, VA: Indian Chinese food. Stick with the Indian food. The chicken breast marinated in yogurt is a weekly food for me.

Y Noodles, Falls Church: a new place that serves authentic (no tea served here!) spicy noodles and other Chinese food from Chongqin.

Cielo Rojo, Takoma Park, Maryland: High class, world class, cosmopolitan, Mexican food. Also includes a vegan menu. Really good food.

Grocery Shopping in the DMV

M's Adventures
Aldi

The prices are bit high these days so I am shopping at Aldi and Lidl. In the DC area, the grocery store chains are Whole Foods, Wegmans, Harris Teeter, Giant, Target, Safeway, Trader Joes, Freshmart, Shoppers, Aldi, Lidl. There are others such as Food Lion and Save a Lot which are really lower cost but they tend not to be where I go. There are international food stores, such as H Mart, Lotte, LaMart, and New Grand Mart which carry many Korean and Latin American foods but also have all the other items that Americans buy.

Unusual foods are the norm in Aldi and Lidl.

The large stores tend to have deli counters and food ready to go. But the smaller cheaper stores tend to have whacky and imported finds.

In the United States, grocery stores are chains and they are huge. Some stores in the US are the size of malls in other countries. When I lived in Rome, most of the grocery stores were pretty small, maybe two to four aisles. American grocery stores can be so large that you can get many of your 10,000 steps in just by walking down the aisles. One thing I notice is that most are only one level. This is because America has a lot of space. Or maybe it has to do with people being more willing to shop if they can stay on one level.

There are smaller independent grocery stores but these tend to be more expensive. The US is a car based country so most stores have huge parking lots and people buy large portions of lots of things. Most people do not shop every day. Maybe once per week. It is amazing how long things can last in the fridge. Scary.

Actually the strawberry flavor was awful.

The main reason I shop in Aldi and Lidl is because they have European style Greek yogurt which has a higher fat content so it is not runny.

Dip and stay.

10 Things to Do in DC When You Have Done Everything Else

M's Adventures

When you have seen everything else you need to see in DC as a tourist, try these things (or look at my list of walks):

Listen to the Drum Circle at Meridian Park, Sundays at 3 pm. It’s free and loud.

Visit the Library of Congress. Free but timed tickets required.

The Capital Wheel at the National Harbor.

Go to the National Harbor and the National Wharf. Free areas with restaurants and outdoor activities.

Visit the oldest farmers market in the USA in Alexandria. George Washington sold stuff at this market… Free, only on only Saturday mornings 7-12 noon.

Shop at Eastern Market. On the weekends, there are also outdoor stalls with art, fresh vegetables, etc. The market is over 130 years old. Free and on capital hill.

Take a water taxi from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria or Mount Vernon or to the National Harbor. It’s a cheap way to get a boat cruise.

Go on a wine tour. There is one right in DC and there are many about an hour or two from DC. Read about all these great places from this Washingtonian article.

Harpers Ferry is one of my favorite day trip destinations from DC. Go for a hike up the other side but make sure to learn some history in the town. Free.

Hike or drive in the Shenandoah. You might go there to visit the famous cavern, but driving along Skyline Drive is fantastic too. Or stop for a hike. Fee for entering the park. Or buy a year pass.

Take the train to Frederiksburg, Richmond, Baltimore, or Annapolis. All within a two hour train ride.

Watch a comic or movie at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse (this is a historic, if tired, art nouveau building from 80 years ago). Price of tickets, but you will likely not see other tourists here.

Take a paint and sip art class. See this list. Or a cooking class or some other class. Check out this site for more info.

Go to a Korean spa like Spa World or King Spa, or go to a hammam. Scrub yourself away to another world.

Fun Food Places in the DC Area

M's Adventures

Truong Tien to test out your new knees while sitting on a stump and slurping food from Hue. Kudos to them for miniaturizing and taco-izing the crepe. Go for that alone.

TeaDM Plus for the clubbing cool cat feel during the day while drinking boba.

High Tea at the Willard so you can test that pinky finger. Other places like the Ritz also serve British style tea.

Capital Grille for the old boys or old gals club feel. One of the few places where an all American dude can sound like a British butler.

Arlington Cinema and Draft House for a show and popcorn. You might even meet a comedian. There are new chains of drafthouses but this is the old one.

Perry’s for the drag show and sushi. Sashay you stay!

King Spa because nothing is so relaxing as eating with a towel around your neck.

Oegadgib for all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue. Sometimes you just want meat, meat, meat! There are other places but this one is a not flashy and new.

Good Things About Living in Washington, DC

M's Adventures

As I did in Dhaka, Bogota, Lima, and Rome, I will write a couple of articles about the good and not so good things about living in the Washington, DC, area. First, some of the good things.

Free drinking water. You can drink the tap water.

High speed internet.

International cuisine. I will write more about this later, but in the DC area, one can get good Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Salvadoran, Japanese… you get the idea.

International people. Many embassies are located here.

Public transportation. Between the train, bus, and light rail, you can get many places for 3-10 dollars.

Availability of things – Amazon is sometimes delivered the next day or faster, and some shops are open 24-7.

Free museums, free concerts, free meetings, and free libraries. The Smithsonian is a collection of 21 museums and almost all (I think only the one in New York charges an entrance fee) are free to enter.

National Airport (DCA). Having an airport on a metro line and within a mile of DC is gold. Dulles is also on the metro but 25 miles away.

People like dogs. Oh, wait, that’s not just here. But I still think it’s a good thing about being here.

Often the dog treats are free.

Houses of DC

M's Adventures

Washington, DC, is the capital of the US but also home to almost three quarters of a million people. The architecture is varied and increasingly high rise. Driving around DC, I realize how much I do not know about the architecture or history of DC. For a guide to the basic styles of homes in DC, check out this link.

Something Else I Will Miss About Italy

M's Adventures
Random viaduct outside Rome.

One of the wonders of living in Rome is the amount of Roman ruins everywhere. It seems so commonplace that I have become immune to it.

Not only in the city of Rome which is a living open museum of ancient Rome, but also outside Rome. Any drive outside Rome is a constant journey through time.

Roman bridge or viaduct outside Rome.

In thew few years that I have lived in Rome, I have never gotten over how old things are. I remain impressed.

From Eternal Rome to New Rome

M's Adventures
DC with the Greek style temple Lincoln Memorial on the left and the obelisk Washington Memorial on the right.

I will not be retiring to my palace in Split like Diocletian. But, I will be leaving Rome. I will be moving from the eternal city on seven hills to a newer Rome in America. Washington, DC, is sometimes called the “new Rome” and in some ways it is. There are lots of monuments and white marble buildings. It is a capital, and some would say that it was influential the way that Rome once was. It gets unbearably hot in the summer. Like Rome, it is a touristy town. Like Rome, DC also suffers from not being quite as fashionable as its northernly neighbor (for DC, it’s New York, and for Rome, Milan).

The top of the Spanish Steps in Rome with the dome of St. Peter’s on the left and the obelisk of Sallust.

But, for me, it will be my next home. Arrivederci, Roma!

Arrivederci translates to, “Goodbye until we meet again.”

A City of Villages – New York City

M's Adventures

Colombian food in Brooklyn.
Colombian food in Brooklyn.

While many people visit New York City for the shopping, the sites, the entertainment, I like New York for its villages. It seems like every few streets, New York changes nationality, from Chinatown, Little Italy, Jamaica, and all the other little villages that make up the great world of New York City. Every neighborhood is distinct and many New Yorkers never leave their neighborhoods.

Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.
Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.

Usually, when I take a taxi, I chat with the taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are often immigrants and many have interesting stories to tell. On this trip, my first taxi driver shared with me where to get the best Pakistani food in New York and in Washington, DC. But then suddenly, he asked about my marital status. I was a little taken aback because I had forgotten, after a few months in politically correct DC, that this is considered a polite question in some cultures.

A few days later, my second taxi driver, an Ecuadorian, patiently let me practice my Spanish with him (gracias, and I appreciated your philosophical stance on bilingual education). My third cabbie was a Miami Cuban taxi driver. I considered trying to practice Spanish on him but his delightfully colloquial rapid fire English and his story about his epiphany about happiness, on 9/11, made me keep quiet.

A farmers' market in New York City.
A farmers’ market in New York City.