d.c., day 4

On Day 4 in D.C., I again set up shop at the Corner Bakery and wrote in the morning. For lunch, Drew and went to the Washington Deli. He knows that I have an affinity for sandwiches, and we are on a mission to test out all of the sandwich shops and delis in the area. After consulting the Vegetarian Guide for Washington, D.C., we decided to go to the Washington Deli for lunch. Tucked next to a sushi place and a fitness club, the deli served up pizza and sandwiches, both with and without meat. Drew ate the Vegan Gary Williams, with vegan turkey, cole slaw, and Russian Dressing, and I ate the falafel. Halfway through, we traded. It was good, but not as good as the egg salad from Heidi's Brooklyn Deli.

After lunch, I went to the National Air and Space Museum, two things that really don't interest me. But, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian made the museum look so cool that I had to go and check it out. Yes, I am superficial sometimes. As you can see, the museum lobby was quite large and spacious, and full of things like, well, planes of course, and telescopes and such.

Amelia Earhart got a brief shout out, but I suspect that it might only be due to the popularity of the Night at the Museum movie.

I quickly walked through the main attractions in the lobby exhibit hall, and I went to three other exhibitions. Fortunately, it turns out that the exhibitions that are interesting to me are not interesting to children. Seems that kids really like all the planes and rockets and stuff, but not the exhibit on Wilbur and Orville Wright, the solar system, and aerial photography. Here is the plane that the Wright brothers designed and flew:

I really enjoyed the solar system exhibit, mainly because I harbor a secret desire to go to the moon. When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, I did a science project on the solar system. I don't really remember what it was, but I do recall painting styrofoam balls of a variety of sizes. So while I didn't think that I was interested in air and space, I was pleased to find an exhibit on the solar system containing lots of information on planets, moons, and meteorites. (Hey! Sounds like a rock band!) I learned that Clyde Tombaugh (actually, I forgot this and just looked it up on wikipedia) discovered Pluto, and I wondered if he would be pissed to find out that it's no longer considered a planet.

After the air and space museum, I went over the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The museum contained abstract, modern, and contemporary art filled with sculptures, paintings, and installations. The cool thing about D.C. is that it has two of my favorite things: politics and art. There are museums dedicated to American Art, African Art, Asian Art, and well, you get my point. Whenever I visit a new place, I always check out the art museums.

The Hirshhorn was a round building, like my high school. In the center was a very tall water fountain, which sadly, is not like my old high school. I actually spent so much time staring at the art that I didn't finish it all and saved the rest for day 6. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a mobile by Alexander Calder:

Heeding Carol's advice, Drew and I went to Soul Vegetarian, this small hole-in-the-wall vegan restaurant with some neat-o character and great food. Here is Drew with country fried "steak," tofu teriyaki, collard greens, and cookies and creme cake. Doesn't he look happy? Now, Drew is a vegetarian, but we don't get into food fight because I am not. I don't eat tons of meat, but I do like a cheeseburger every now and again. It does help that I am veg friendly and like all sorts of food, both vegetarian and vegan.

I ate the barbeque tofu sub and collard greens.

We saved the cake for dessert at home. The cookies and creme cake was very, very moist and chocolate-y. So, so moist. I just want you to know that. There is nothing worse than a dried out cake that only looks good but tastes absolutely awful. This cake not only looked good, but it tasted wonderful. Drew and I are already planning a second trip.