I went to the American Library Association conference in Washington D. C., back in person for the first time in three years. This required doing all kinds of things I’m way out of practice of doing like booking a hotel & airline travel.
Despite dire warnings from UW’s travel agent – I got an email the day before we flew out saying “expect delays” – all the travel went really smoothly. Both going and back again.
We had just landed in DC last Friday when the headline that Roe had been overturned flashed on my phone. So that’s like a persistent toothache behind everything else that we’ve seen and done since then.
Even though I initially regretted deciding to go – missed my CSA strawberry U-Pick, for one thing – it was a fun trip, and I think good to get out of the house. Now that I’m back, I am so hopelessly behind, writing blog posts-wise, work-wise, cooking-wise, marching in the streets-wise …
I think all I can do is post the pictures.
Pasta with vodka sauce – I made it on Tuesday and this is the leftovers Thursday before we left.
First meal in DC: PBJ at A Baked Joint, Friday lunch
Me, Suz, Me – Mark took this pic after we had lunch on Saturday, at a vegan place on 7th, near China Town. I look so puffy and old – I looked very much like that in our hotel mirror the whole trip. So I added the inset of me at home in Madison, Wednesday, where I think I look better. Really good sweet potato fries.
Sunday morning breakfast at Compass Coffee, also on 7th, but above the Convention Center, in a neighborhood called Shaw.
Dumplings for dinner Sunday night
Coffee places in DC are into grease pencil to label your coffee instead of the printed stickers. This is a baked joint again, Monday
We saw the wiener mobile on Monday night, it must’ve been visiting from WI, too. This is near Union Station, buy we also saw it in Takoma Park, where we went to have dinner with Suzanne and Eric at Cielo Rojo. Mexican with vegan and not vegan options; e.g. adding chorizo makes it NOT vegan.
Floor of the postal museum – looks like letters
Ceiling of the postal museum
Tuesday we were tourists.
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- goat cheese and tomato tartine at Tatte
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- apricot danish
A big construction site called Capitol Crossing was on our walk back to the hotel – the canvas wrapping the fence had green leafy patterns and there was a resin giraffe – actually 2; a big one and smaller, a child (I guess). Anyways our tourist breakfast Tatte location turned out to be at the completed part of this development and it had a resin elephant and two giant glass enclosures with what looked like mossy cubes inside. The one next to our outdoor dining table was brown and dead – I walked away from Mass Ave and discovered the 2nd one that was leafy (and the resin elephant). We asked the landscaper guy who was watering Tatte’s plants and he said, yea the cubes need to be replanted seasonally. They didn’t ask his company to do it.
We went to the portrait show, the every three year competition. Tom Jones from Madison got 2nd place; I liked this pic of a Jewish family on their phones, reflected in the toaster, on Hanukkah; this beautiful shot of a Chicago Public Schools bathroom; and this one made all of sewing notions.
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We sat in the courtyard between the National Museum of American Art and Portrait Gallery for awhile
Then walked around on the Mall.
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- Claes Oldenberg eraser
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- shadows
Then tried to go see this show called Futures, at the Arts & Industries Building – but it was closed Tuesdays. The outside was pretty nice though. This sculpture is by Soo Sunny Park.
Then we walked to the Hirshhorn Museum, to try to see Sam Gilliam, but the gallery was closed. Not because he died Sunday, but for maintenance. Tons of stuff was under construction in DC.
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I got a nice picture of a magnolia on the way in.
Tuesday we went out for a fancy dinner at Annabelle. It was good, but a bit precious.
Wednesday morning we came home.
I made a really good dinner for our first night back. Crunchy chopped salad made by chopping some leaf lettuce, a wedge of Napa and a bit of purple cabbage, that had survived in the veggie drawer, then topping it with some rhubarb vinegar vinaigrette, and salami, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and garbanzo beans that I bought, and some Parmesan cheese from the back of the fridge. And lots of oregano, and a little bit of onion. And a plain 3 egg omelette, sourdough toasts, and roasted smashed potatoes. No pics.