Behind Washington’s Monuments at Some Famous Haunts

The casual or business traveler to the nation’s capital could easily believe that the city is entirely composed of imposing monuments and formal gardens, museums that hold countless treasures and expense-account restaurants.

It’s all a facade. A facade created by Washingtonians who live here and by the tourism industry.

The monuments, museums and the White House should be on the itinerary of any first-time visitor to Washington, and some are worth visiting many times. But for the visitor who has already “done” Washington or who makes frequent business trips here, a little more variety is in order.

The true Washington insider, much like the New Yorker who never goes to the Empire State Building, lives and works and plays in neighborhoods, restaurants and cultural institutions rarely seen by the short-term visitor.

Some favorite haunts are not even in the city. A true Washington insider knows that one of the best things about living in the capital is the variety of attractions in nearby Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

A lush and verdant tropical oasis a few steps from the Capitol is also convenient to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. It’s the U.S. Botanic Garden, housed in 11 greenery-filled rooms at the corner of Maryland Avenue and 1st Street Southwest.

Always in Bloom

Something is always blooming at the garden. If you are here in azalea season you can feast your eyes on more than 800 of the white, pink, red and purple blooming bushes. If it’s Christmas you’ll find the building ablaze with more than 2,000 poinsettia plants. The garden is open most days of the year and into the evening during summer.

The Old Post Office Building, site of the city’s first two major public New Year’s Eve celebrations, is one of the latest ornaments to the “Main Street of the Nation,” Pennsylvania Avenue. The turreted Romanesque edifice, built in 1899, was saved from the wrecker’s ball by preservationists a few years ago.

It has been transformed into a lively shopping, eating and entertainment center. At lunchtime, bureaucrats and tourists alike throng to the eateries in the ground-level Cookery area, where they munch everything from Indian curries to chocolate chip cookies.

Save at least half an hour for the free excursion in a glass-walled elevator to the 12th-story clock tower observation post. From there you’ll get excellent views of downtown and monumental Washington and the 10 huge bells given to the United States by Great Britain as a Bicentennial birthday present. The Pavilion, at Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street N.W., is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Washington museum scene may begin at the Smithsonian but it doesn’t end there. The Textile Museum, for example, is known for its constantly changing exhibits of everything from Oriental rugs to South American tapestries. It’s in two early 20th-Century residences at 2320 S St. N.W. and has a formal garden that is perfect for resting weary tourist feet.

On a Walking Tour

You can visit the Textile Museum by itself or as part of a walking tour designed by the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium. Information about the self-guided walk, which takes you to seven museums and historic places in one of Washington’s most gracious old neighborhoods, is available at the Tourist Information Center at the Commerce Department, Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street N.W.

Renoir’s “The Boating Party” and numerous paintings of Cezanne, Braque and other modern masters are among the attractions at the former family residence that houses the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. N.W. Recently reopened after renovation, the museum offers the opportunity to sip a cup of coffee or dine in a cafe on the ground floor.

Those who remember Virginia as a dry state may not think of taking a tasting tour of its vineyards. But according to the state’s Department of Agriculture, “grape growing and wine making have become a dynamic segment of Virginia agriculture, due largely to incentives by the 1980 farm winery law and the increasing consumer preference for wine. . . .”

If your schedule permits a day in the country, you can enjoy the serene landscapes of Virginia’s rolling hills as well as the tasting. For a copy of the guide to vineyards and a schedule of wine festivals, write to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, Va. 23209.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath, which starts in Georgetown, provides in-town bucolic relief for joggers, bikers and walkers. You can rent a bike by the hour or day at Fletcher’s Boat House, 4940 Canal Road N.W., or see the canal April through October from the deck of a mule-drawn barge.

The National Park Service Information Center at the Foundry Mall, on 30th Street at the canal, south of M Street in Georgetown, sells tickets and will provide information about barge trips.

Top Entertainment

The Kennedy Center offers top entertainment but many Washingtonians get just as much pleasure out of lesser-known, more experimental cultural institutions. D.C. Space, downtown at 443 7th St. N.W., allows you to dine or sip a drink while viewing a range of performances from rock to cabaret music to experimental film.

The Dance Place, near Catholic University in northeast Washington, offers a range of performances from flamenco to modern and experimental dance. The theater is at 3225 8th St. N.W., two blocks from the Brookland metro stop.

The Library of Congress and the Folger Shakespeare Library, both just behind the Capitol, are worth a visit for their cultural events as well as for their collections. Among annual events are the chamber music concert series, poetry readings and performances of Shakespearean and other plays in the Foger’s replica of the Globe Theater. For monthly schedules, write to the Library of Congress at 1st Street and Independence Avenue S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540, phone (202) 287-5000, or the Folger Library at 201 Capitol St. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003, phone (202) 544-4600.

For breakfast, bagels come in a wide selection of flavors and fillings at the Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, just south of A Street N.W. on Connecticut Avenue. Or, if you prefer to hobnob with the legislative crowd, another of the bakeries at 215 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E., near the House of Representatives office buildings.

A Capitol Hill breakfast stop that’s especially convenient for the traveler with business to do on the Hill is the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria. It serves everything from bagels and croissants to bacon and eggs, all at a reasonable price.

Rooftop Cafeteria

For lunch, if you’re on Capitol Hill and the view is more important than the quality of the food, head for the rooftop cafeteria in the Library of Congress Madison Building on Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st and 2nd streets S.E. Reasonably good cafe food is available at the National Gallery’s three cafe locations, but the ambiance, including a view of the Mall, is best at the top-floor cafe in the East Wing.

Less than a block from the Dupont Circle metro stop (exit in the direction of Q Street) is a cluster of cafes good for lunch or supper or brunch and, in some cases, breakfast. The most unusual is Afterwords, in Kramer’s bookstore. There you can eat, drink, search for a Washington guidebook or other tome, and on some nights listen to live music at the same time.

Kramer’s, 1517 Connecticut Ave. N.W., has an outdoor cafe in the summer as do its neighbors, the Cafe Splendide (Eastern European food), 1521 Connecticut Ave. N.W., and the Cafe Rondo, 1900 Q St. N.W. All of the cafes offer a range of salads, light meals such as quiche and sandwiches, as well as a few meat and fish entrees.

For dinner, you’ll find Washington’s expense-account restaurants along K Street N.W. and in the dark corners of its most opulent hotels.

But the restaurant that year after year wins Washingtonian magazine’s survey of favorite places to dine is in Virginia. It’s Auberge Chez Francois, a country inn specializing in dishes from the native Alsace-Lorraine of the proprietor.

To enjoy a first-rate French meal for about half of what it would cost you downtown, however, you must jump through some hoops. The first means reserving a table two weeks to the day before you dine there. A call to (703) 759-3800 starting at noon (keep trying if it’s busy) exactly two weeks ahead should do it.

Then you’ll have to drive about 45 minutes from downtown Washington to 332 Springvale Road in Great Falls, Va. The difficulty in reserving a table is testimony to the conviction of many Washingtonians that the meal is worth the trouble.

Ethnic Variety

An estimated quarter of a million Washingtonians are here from other parts of the world, something that’s reflected in the city’s many ethnic restaurants. Two of the most popular are La Plaza, 1845 Columbia Road N.W., and Lauriol Plaza, 18th and S streets N.W. They have the same ownership and menu of South American, Spanish and Mexican dishes. The S Street location has an outdoor cafe in the summer.

The city boasts of having more Ethiopian restaurants than anyplace in the world except Ethiopia itself. If you stroll down 18th Street south from Columbia Road N.W., you’ll have your choice of six or seven of them.

In Chinatown (H Street and I Street N.W., from about 6th to 9th streets N.W.), the Szechuan at 615 Eye St. N.W. and Big Wong, 610 H St. N.W., are popular; Bamiyan Afghan restaurant, 3320 M St. N.W. in Georgetown, serves tasty kebabs and a ravioli-like dish known as aushak ; the Thai Room, 5037 Connecticut Ave. N.W., features spicy, inexpensive Thai dishes.

Relatively new shopping complexes include the shops on F Street N.W. between 13th and 14th streets N.W., and the Victorian shopping mall, Georgetown Park at Wisconsin and M streets N.W., Georgetown.

The Washington insider who comes from afar should consider sleeping in a setting that doesn’t look like every other hotel in every other city. For Old World renovated charm try the Tabard Inn, 1739 N St. N.W. Rates range from $39 for a single with shared bath to $100 for a double with bath.

If you want to meet a Washington “insider,” Bed and Breakfast League Ltd. will refer you to rooms in private homes. Write to them at 3639 Van Ness St. N.W., Washington 20008 or call (202) 363-7767.