Back from DC

And happy to be sleeping in my own bed tonight. It was a good, fun trip, though I didn't get enough sleep. A very quick summary, and then I need to change out my bike tires back to road slicks to better take advantage of the great weather right now in Atlanta.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History was pretty great, especially the amazingly powerful Sing for Freedom at the Woolworth Lunch Counter. I found Julia Child's Kitchen entertaining, especially how it showed her "do as I say, not as I do" approach to things like knives (she was a self-proclaimed knife freak, and said she had to have every knife she laid eyes on, yet she preached that cooks only need three knives (a chef's knife, a bread knife, and a paring knife.) Incidentally, with my new Kyocera ceramic chef's knife. which is plenty sharp enough to slice crusty bread and tomatoes, I'm almost of the opinion that it's about the only knife I need. But I digress.

On the other hand, the Library of Congress was kind of mediocre: not that much to see, and lots of annoying people in a relatively small space.

The "sidewalks" of Falls Church, where we were staying (not my first choice, but I had hotel points, and W and I make a lot of noise when we're hanging out, so putting friends out wasn't a nice option), were largely unmaintained and treacherous as hell, though they were improving by today.

The beer selection at Birch and Barley was indeed pretty great, but quite expensive, and it filled up with a whole lotta douchery on Saturday evening, so it's not some place I'd likely go often if I lived in DC.

Now I'm just glad to be back home and able to cook for myself again. Speaking of, how 'bout a little FOOD PORN? Actually, I think I'll hold it for another post, since it warrants a fairly lengthy story. Stay tuned!