Washington, DC
It may be the capital of the USA, may be best known for its monuments, museums and, more recently, the mercurial Mr Trump, but it is also a city blessed with an amazing array of quite different neighbourhoods.
I based myself in Penn Quarter, sandwiched between the city’s small Chinatown and the museum- and monument-lined National Mall. It may bear little resemblance to some of the city’s other leafy and laid-back neighbourhoods but up above what appear to be solely office and retail buildings – and in the new CityCenterDC complex – are the lofts, condos and rental apartments that are attracting young people to this downtown district.
Settling in to the al fresco cocktail bar at the Hotel Monaco, I joined locals and visitors for a jam-packed ‘happy hour’. Quite therapeutic it was as I had just come face to face with Donald Trump in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum … and spent four fascinating but exhausting hours in the nearby National Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery.
Nearby is the Spy Museum where, encouraged to assume an undercover identity, I became Le Van Hu, headed off on an unspecified mission in Bonn, and en route searched for spy drop sites in a local neighbourhood display; Washington, DC, I was informed, has more spies than any other place on earth. Other exhibits included a tiny revolver hidden in a lipstick tube, an interactive James Bond Aston Martin and informative displays about the subterfuge activities of everyone from Moses to Marlene Dietrich.
Around the corner is Ford’s Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. I arrived just in time to view a National Park Service ranger morph on stage into Boston Corbett, the traumatised former Union Army prisoner of war who later killed Booth and ended up in a mad house. The theatre’s museum and the Petersen House just across the street, where Lincoln died the following day, tell the whole fascinating story of the assassination conspiracy, which apparently was hatched in a Chinatown boarding house, now the Wok & Roll restaurant.
CALLING ALL FOOD AND BEER BUFFS
For a great food experience and local colour, our writer Chris Dymoke recommends 200-year-old Union Market in north-eastern DC. Not only is it filled with stalls selling fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, but it also has small pop-up restaurants and artisan food stalls featuring everything from snacks to sit-down meals. Among his favourites is bustling Bidwell Restaurant, where he was served wood-fired pizza and delicious Southern fare by friendly staff. He also recommends a tour and tasting at DC Brau, the largest independent brewery in DC. It’s located in an industrialised area about 10-15 minutes from the city centre.
GEORGETOWN – ANOTHER NIFTY NEIGHBOURHOOD
Georgetown
By Chris Dymoke explores one of DC’s oldest and most-desirable neighbourhoods, is known for its cobblestone streets, magnificent houses, famous residents and chic shops. Among its attractions are the C&O Canal and several historic homes and gardens.
Enjoy the inexpensive Italian pizza and pasta at Paolo’s, popular with Georgetown University students and their parents, and stay at the friendly, relaxed Kimpton Glover Park Hotel. Located on Wisconsin Avenue north of Georgetown, it has regular shuttle services to Woodley Park Metro Station (Georgetown itself has no Metro) and is an easy downhill stroll to a stop for the $1 Circulator Bus that serves Georgetown and Downtown including Penn Quarter.
STAY: The Phoenix Park Hotel is conveniently situated just a couple of blocks from Union Station and has included among its fans Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – he once celebrated St Patrick’s Day in its lively Dubliners pub.
EAT: For superb Spanish cuisine, Jaleo.
DRINK: The cocktail bar of the Hotel Monaco.
SHOP: CityCenterDC has many up-market shops.
MUST VISIT: The fascinating, new and free National Museum of African American History and Culture.
BALTIMORE
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is surrounded by attractions
FELL’S POINT – NAUTICAL AND NICE
Not only is this picturesque waterfront neighbourhood the first in Maryland to be listed on the National Register of Historic Districts, but it also has a colourful history dating back to 1763. It was here that the speedy, streamlined schooners were manufactured that made American privateers such a force to be reckoned with by the British Navy before and during the War of 1812. And it was also here that many immigrants first entered the USA – the huge processing centre later served as the police station in the award-winning 1993-1999 TV cop series Homicide: Life on the Streets. It’s now the elegant 128-guest-room Sagamore Pendry Hotel.
SLEEP: Set on a pier, the Sagamore Pendry offers splendid views of the sailboat-dotted Baltimore Harbor as well as a waterfront pool and bar, fitness centre and ballroom.
EAT: The hotel’s Rec Pier Chop House overseen by James Beard award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini or the waterfront Barcocina.
DRINK: Bond Street Social – Great cocktails, tapas and more.
SHOP: Thames Street’s colourful Emporium Collagia features the whimsical collages of shop owner Luana Kaufmann; or for a great chapeau, drop by Hats in the Belfry on Broadway.
MUST VISIT: Take a water taxi from the dock adjacent to the Sagamore Pendry to such outstanding Inner Harbor attractions as the National Aquarium and American Visionary Art Museum.
