Celebrate Fat Tuesday the Cajun Way

This weekend the biggest party in America kicks off, a once local tradition that is now a nationwide event. That’s right, Saturday marks the start of Mardi Gras, and over the weekend and a few days afterward, Washington, D.C. and everyone in it will be celebrating. There will be food, festivities and fun, as well as ample events for everyone to feel like they are cruising through the Big Easy.

Mardi Gras translates in French to Fat Tuesday, and has been part of this country’s lore since the 1700s, when America, west of the Mississippi was owned by France. It was their tradition to celebrate the week between the Feast of the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, when the somber season of Lent kicked in.

The most prominent French settlement in the U.S. at the time was New Orleans, and now that city is known for the center of the Mardi Gras celebration. There, they celebrate with a week of parades and carousing.

Many of us can’t get down to Louisiana to party for a week straight, but that’s okay, because this town with be participating just as boisterously, with several celebrations that shouldn’t be missed.

If you are off work on Monday, for President’s Day, then the tastiest way to get the Cajun experience is to sign up for Pearl Dive Oyster Palace’s Crawfish Boil. Pearl Dive hasn’t been around for even a year, but it’s already this area’s most popular Cajun restaurant, an ode to the Big Easy in Logan Circle.

From 12-4:00 p.m. on February 20^th, the restaurant will be boiling up batch after batch of crawfish, to go alongside suckling pig and New Orleans’s signature beer, Abita.  The event costs $60 per person to attend.

If crawfish are your fancy, then Pearl Dive is by no means your only option. Across town, in Woodley Park, is another relatively new restaurant, also whipping up Louisiana specialties. Hot N Juicy Crawfish, on Connecticut Ave, serves one thing. Bags full of crawfish, boiled in Cajun spices. On Fat Tuesday, they will be throwing an event reminiscent of their hometown, a crawfish eating contest with a $200 grand prize. Anyone is welcome to register, with participants picked at random. But even if you don’t want to inhale uncomfortable amounts of crawfish, there’s still incentive to go on the holiday, as every pound of crawfish comes with a free beer.

Across the river in Arlington are two different Mardi Gras celebrations. In Courthouse, at the relatively new Bayou Bakery, Les Dames d’Escoffier (a society dedicated to advancing women in the fields of food, drink and hospitality), is holding their own Mardi Gras party. The event is on Monday night, and for just $55, participants will receive live Cajun cooking demonstrations and then the chance to eat, drink and dance the night away to the sounds of a jazz quartet.

If you are unable to attend Monday, that’s no problem, because Bayou Bakery is taking its celebration all the way to March 8^th, with extended, five-and-a-half hour long happy hours every day, with specials on traditional cuisine like jambalaya, beignets and Abita beer.

The highlight of Mardi Gras is the parade, and the biggest local one is hosted on Fat Tuesday by the Clarendon Alliance. The parade jaunts down Wilson Boulevard in North Arlington, from the Courthouse Metro Station down to Clarendon. This is the 15^th straight year the parade’s been held, and 2012 promises to be its biggest ever. This year’s event consists of floats, bands, horses and fire trucks cruising down the street, blasting music and noise and reminding everyone just how good a time Mardi Gras can be. The parade kicks off at 7:00 p.m. and runs all the way until 9:00.

So this year, don’t bother going to New Orleans to celebrate, instead enjoy having the Big Easy brought right to you.

- David

Experience 30 Americans at the Corcoran Before They Leave

February marked the beginning of Black History Month, a 29-day cultural celebration showcasing the impact African-American culture has had on the United States. And while events run the entire month, one of the most compelling ways to pay homage to the African American experience wraps up this week, with the last chance to see it this Sunday, February 12^th.

The exhibit 30 Americans has been featured at the Corcoran Gallery of Art since October, 2011. The Corcoran is the largest—as well as the oldest—non-federally funded museum in the District, and it contains one of the best collections of art anywhere in America. The museum’s holdings include Monet’s, Picasso’s and Cassatt’s. A trip to the museum, located on 17^th Street NW, can be an all-encompassing afternoon, as visitors can view European impressionists and American modern art all within the same halls.

30 Americans, one of the gallery’s rotating exhibits, features work from the most important and influential African-American artists since the 1970s. Their pieces are intended to be thought-provoking, exploring the racial strife and cultural identity issues that are still prevalent in modern American society.

The exhibit comes courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, where it had been on display for the past two years. The exhibit contains 76 pieces, which range from 80s punk-art to cutting-edge design from the late 2000s.

The early 1980s works are some of the more visually striking pieces in any Washington, D.C. museum. Robert Colescott’s Pygmalion is a massive acrylic painting, registering over 7’ x 12’ and it comes at the viewer in bright, bold colors. It’s a 1970s remix of quaint, Caucasian suburban life blended with an urbane African-American experience, all intersecting in the middle as a white professorial figure embraces a black woman. The title derives its name from the George Bernard Shaw play about a lower-class girl attempting to pass herself off as high society and the painting shows the angst that can come from assimilating while trying to maintain an independent identity.

Created 20 years later, Kehinde Wiley’s Sleep is 25-foot opus that shows just how much change society has undergone in two decades. It features a large, sculpted man as its centerpiece, in a pure, unadulterated form. Here, the painting says, in the 21st century, the African-American community is a proud and beautiful place, perfect as is.

The still photography that’s part of the collection is also impressive, with Rashid Johnson’s life-sized prints carrying an intensity that will stay with you well after you leave the gallery.

The exhibit, large in scope, can take several hours to transverse. But if you’re already at the Corcoran, it would be a shame to miss some of the other impressive works showcased in their hallowed halls.

The early European pieces, from the 1800s to the early 1900s are on par with any other museum in the area, with famous works by Pablo Picasso, like A Glass on a Table, and one of Claude Monet’s best pieces, Willows of Vétheuil. Also, not to be missed among the famous Europeans, is the lesser known, but equally talented František Kupka, who’s work Untitled was one of the first moves to abstraction in the art world.

Admission to the Corcoran is relatively inexpensive, with tickets just $10 a person. Children under the age of 12 are free. The gallery is closed on Monday and Tuesday, but over the weekend, the last chance to see 30 Americans, the Corcoran will be open from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

Tip Your Glass to Locally-Sourced

One of the most popular culinary trends in recent years has been the localization of food. Restaurants now import ingredients from as small a radius as possible—in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint—and they gladly boast their sources right on their menus.

Washington, D.C. is quite aligned with this trend, with many of the top restaurants in the area using only locally-sourced items. The numerous farms located in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania makes this easy. But one part of the menu often escapes this theme.

When restaurateurs draft their alcohol menu, the options for picking local-brewed beer are slim. At least that was the case up until the past two years. Since then, this area has seen an explosion of breweries, producing kegs, bottles and cans that compete on the national scene.

There’s Starr Hill Brewery in Charlottesville, Virginia; DC Brau Brewing Company in Northeast, and in a residential neighborhood where you’d almost never expect to find it, Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, VA.

Port City Brewing is best known for its darkest beer, Port City Porter, which is served in hundreds of restaurants across the District, Maryland and Virginia.

Like DC Brau, Port City Brewing traces it lineage to older brewers in the area, ones that disappeared in the 20^th century, but are now being revived by artisanal brewers.

Port City Brewing’s grandfather and inspiration was an Alexandria brewer, the Robert Portner Brewing Company, that opened the year after the Civil War ended. At its zeitgeist, the brewery was one of the largest in the South. But when Prohibition came about, it closed its doors.

Almost a century later, in January 2011, the doors reopened when Port City Brewing revived the tradition. In the past year, the company has been churning out beers that are as popular locally as any national brand.

If you’d like to witness the brewing process first hand, Port City Brewing offers tours that are a fun trip for any alcohol enthusiast.

The brewery is located right off Duke Street, at 3950 Wheeler Avenue, in the Western part of Alexandria and is situated in a residential neighborhood. Heading there, you pass townhouses and front lawns before reaching a low-slung brick building that looks nothing like a traditional brewery, but rather a data center.

Appearances are deceiving, especially in this case, because once you step inside, you see the sleek, modern, industrial design. Tours of the brewery are offered only on Saturdays, three times a day, at 12:30, 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. and they are inexpensive for what you get. A $7 ticket earns you a half-hour tour of the entire brewing process from steeping: hops to bottling finished product. After that, you are taken to the tasting room, where you can sample everything you’ve watched the company craft.

Among the choices are Port City’s Monumental IPA, Essential Pale Ale, Optimal Wit and the aforementioned Port City Porter. When you are finished tasting everything the brewery has to offer, you’ll receive a complimentary Port City pint glass.

The brewery also sells inexpensive growlers. You can buy a reusable glass jug for $4, which holds four pints, and can be filled for just $11.

If you can’t make it to the tour on a Saturday, the tasting room is also open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 5-8 p.m. on the weekdays and 12-5 p.m. on the weekends.

Or if you live further from Alexandria and can’t visit in person, simply keep your eyes open, because Port City’s Beers can be found just about anywhere in the area.

And then you can tip your glass a to locally-sourced beer.

- David

Ring in the Chinese New Year with Traditional Treats

This week marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. The Year of the Dragon officially began last Monday on their New Year’s Day. But unlike the Western New Year, the celebration doesn’t end the day after the clock strikes twelve. No, the Chinese New Year is a two-week long festival that’s still going on.

This year is an extremely important one in the Chinese calendar, which runs on a 12-year cycle, known as the Zodiac. Each year of the cycle corresponds to an animal, real or fictitious. This year is the Year of the Dragon, which is considered the luckiest year in the cycle. It’s one of the most powerful signs in the Zodiac, signifying dominance as well as ambition.

Which means there’s reason to celebrate, even if you don’t follow the Zodiac.

The best place for festivities will of course be Chinatown, in the heart of downtown D.C., Northwest of the Verizon Center.

There will be plenty of festivities held there this year, but the biggest will be the Chinese New Year’s Day Parade. From 2-5 p.m., this Saturday the 28^th, a four-block square, from 6^th to 8^th Street and G to I Street will be shut down to make room for the raucous parade. During the day, you’ll see dragons marching, hear traditional Chinese musical entertainment and can even catch a Kung Fu demonstration.

If you really want to have a totally authentic celebration on Saturday, go to Chinatown earlier in the day and experience the traditional Chinese brunch, known as Dim Sum.

Dim Sum, which means heart’s delight, is a different style of eating. Instead of the typical menu and ordering process, servers instead push carts around filled with small, appetizer-sized portions. The ordering options encompass the commonplace, like steamed buns and dumplings, and the far out, like fried chicken feet and turnip cakes. At the restaurant, diners can simply see something they like being carted around and ask for a serving.

In Chinatown, there are plenty of excellent Dim Sum spots, and the best way to find one is to walk around and look to see which restaurants are buzzing. Or you could head to the spot that’s considered one of the better in the city, which is just north of the Chinatown arch, Ping Pong Dim Sum.

Ping Pong Dim Sum is one of the most popular Dim Sum spots in D.C., so much so that they just opened a second location in Dupont Circle. The Chinatown location, on 7^th just South of K Street, is actually an offshoot of a London chain.

The restaurant starts serving Dim Sum at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, and has some of the tastiest bites around, with nearly 50 choices to choose from. Plates are inexpensive, running from just $3 up to $7. But, since the sizes are small, it is easy to accidentally run up a tab.

If you can’t make it to Ping Pong on Saturday, before the parade, then Sunday is another great time to go. Not only will fewer people be around, but in honor of the Chinese holiday, the restaurant is hosting a “Green Dragon Party Brunch,” where diners who arrive with green in their outfit will receive 15% off their checks.

Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day With A Memorial Visit

This Monday, January 16^th, federal workers and many private sector employees will have the day off work, in honor of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day falls on the third Monday of January and has been a federal holiday since 1986. This year marks the holiday’s first observance since construction finished on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, meaning that this year’s celebrations in Washington, D.C. takes on more significance. And with the long weekend, there’s no reason not to participate and honor one of the most important people of the 20^th century.

There is no better place to start than the new memorial, which is located on the West end of the Tidal Basin, in West Potomac Park. The four-acre site lies between the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the World War II Memorial and is most easily reached by the Smithsonian exit of Metro’s Orange and Blue Lines.

The Memorial took over 15 years to actualize, starting when members of King’s former fraternity received permission to raise funds for a dedication on the Mall. The project itself, once ground was broken, took just 20 months to complete, and opened to the public on August 22^nd, 2011.

Visitors to the Memorial enter off West Tidal Basin Drive, through a massive granite wall, symbolizing a line from King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The 30-foot high granite Mountain of Despair’s walls are imposing, and guests must pass through a small space in them to enter the memorial. The part of wall that has been removed from the Mountain of Despair to create the opening is placed 20-feet beyond it and named the Stone of Hope. Carved into the Stone of Hope is the Memorial’s centerpiece, a 30-foot tall statue of King, emerging out of the rock to symbolize both progress and strength. King’s visage looks out at the Tidal Basin, intending for him to keep an eye on all of D.C.

Alongside the Mountain of Despair are two granite inscription walls, which have carved on them some of King’s most famous quotations, including “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

The memorial’s large size intends to showcase the wide-ranging impact King had on the American social landscape, and it achieves its intended goal. While it’s most certainly worth seeing, especially if you have the day off, it’s not the only way that one can honor one of the more important holidays in American history.

For those looking for a way to further their education about King, as well as the Civil Rights movement in general, the National Museum of American History has the perfect events. All throughout the extended weekend the museum is offering tributes and exhibits to King.

Four times a day, at 11:00am, 1:00p.m., 2:30p.m., and 4:00p.m., the museum holds To the Mountaintop — The Words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a tribute to the speeches and words of King. Actor Xavier Carnegie will perform dramatic readings of King’s most famous and stirring speeches. The speeches will be supplemented with photos and audio recordings, intended to recreate the experience of hearing King himself speak. For many that weren’t around during the Civil Rights movement, this is a unique opportunity to see the passion and energy that was present at the time of King’s life.

Another moving exhibit that helps people understand the tumultuous 1960s is one of the museum’s interactive exhibits, Historic Theater: Join the Student Sit-Ins at the Greensboro Lunch. At the National Museum of American History is the original lunch counter where, in 1960, four African-American students sat down at a whites-only counter and asked to be served. When they were denied, the group refused to leave, and their actions led to one of the first and biggest sit-ins of the early Civil Rights movement. The Historic Theater presentation will offer training sessions identical to ones received by students before they embarked on these dangerous sit-ins. Readings will be done from actual manuals of the time and are intended to show people today just what risks these students embarked on. This course is offered on Saturday, the 14th, four times, at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

On this federal holiday, if you have an extra day off work, devote some time to better learning about one of America’s most dramatic periods in its history.

- David

Ring in 2012 with a Local New Year’s Eve

Many people insist the best way to spend New Year’s Eve is to go to Times Square in New York City. But why leave Washington, D.C. when there’s plenty to do here!

In the greater Washington, D.C. area, there are many unique ways—different from what you may be used to—to ring in 2012.

One of the most all-encompassing celebrations, with plenty of entertaining events for adults and kids, is First Night Alexandria, which occurs all throughout Old Town Alexandria and includes scavenger hunts, live music and a ball drop at midnight.

The party begins at 1:00 p.m. on December 31^st with the third annual Fun Hunt, a search throughout Old Town that all attendees are eligible to participate in. Clues take you around the area and lead to answers on quiz sheets everyone is given. The hunt runs until 4:45 p.m., but only takes around an hour-and-a-half to complete, so scavengers can maintain a leisurely pace.

Anyone that completes the hunt correctly is eligible for the prize drawings, with first prize taking home an overnight stay at the Lorien Hotel & Spa in Old Town, free personal training sessions, gift certificates galore from many of the shops in Old Town and passes for a cruise on the Potomac. Second and third place also receive bounties, with overnight stays at other Alexandria hotels as part of the prize packages.

After the Fun Hunt, the party really gets started. All across the city, restaurants and bars will host live bands. One of the most popular acts performing is Curtis Blues, an interactive one-man blues band. He will be playing half-hour shows every other half-hour at Bittersweet, on King Street, from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.  For kids, at Nickells & Scheffler, on Duke Street, 16-year-old sensation Keira Moran will play half-hour shows as well.

At midnight, after all the events are over, participants at First Night Alexandria gather on the lawn of the George Washington Masonic Memorial for a ball drop, which includes over 6,000 inflatable balls, and a dance party that lasts until 12:30 a.m.

Tickets for First Night Alexandria cost $20 per person and allow admission to all events.

If you’re looking for another way to share New Year’s with your family, but can’t expect your children to make it all the way to midnight, then Maryland Science Center, in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is the place to go. From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Center hosts its annual Midnight Noon celebration, where, when the clock strikes 12:00 p.m. on December 31, the Science Center’s ball drops and kids celebrate with noisemakers and balloons.

The entire Maryland Science Center is open during the exhibit, which means that alongside celebrating the New Year, kids can visit the great exhibits. Among the most popular are “Dinosaur Mysteries,” which includes full scale models of many dinosaurs and “Newton’s Alley,” where hands-on physics exhibits are geared toward kids.

Admission to Midnight Noon is free with paid admission to the Science Center  - $15 for adults and $12 for kids under 13.

For a more adult celebration of New Year’s Eve, Glen Echo Park, in Maryland, has just the event. The New Year’s Eve Swing Dance, held at the park, is a throwback to celebrations from America’s Big Band Era. The event begins at 8:00 p.m. with lessons for beginners, so when the Tom Cunningham Orchestra takes the stage at 9:00 p.m., everyone will be ready to roll and have a swinging New Year’s. Tickets for the dance are $25 per person.

So this New Years, instead of the typical party and midnight ball drop, head out of the house and try something totally different.

- David