#18: 2 Amys

More or less once a week when I was growing up - generally after 4:30 church on Saturday - my family would order pizzas for dinner.  I loved the pizza at home: doughy, sweet sauce, not greasy.  One of my favorite weekends each year occurred when my mom went out of town and we'd get to order whatever we wanted.  How do you keep 4 kids in line while your wife is out of town?  Promise them unlimited toppings.

Matt, being from Manhattan, also has strong pizza feelings, and who can blame him?  Unfortunately, DC has been quite a disappointment for us.  I had never ordered Dominos before moving down here but alas, I've found myself in that lobby one too many times. We've been pretty vocal about our pizza discontent.  Pizzeria Paradiso is okay, but overpriced.  Piola was pretty good and slightly less expensive, but nothing tremendous.  Next on our list: 2 Amys.

Lifted from http://www.keepitsimplefoods.com/restaurant-reviews/2-amys-pizza/

 
We barely got past the hostess stand because of a daunting projected wait time (WHY can't these places take reservations?!), but decided to wait it out at the bar.  There weren't many seats but people seemed to be moving in and out fairly quickly, which was encouraging.  Matt and I have never had trouble filling wait time with whatever nonsense is on our minds, and it wasn't long before we were summoned from our seats at the bar toward our table.

My first mistake was suggesting we go on a Friday night during Lent, especially given the dominance of prosciutto, sausage and pancetta on the menu.  My second one was honoring this.  Matt's meat-heavy pizza looked and smelled fantastic, which was only further complicated by my having given up swearing for Lent.  After learning what cockles were, I opted for a meatless pizza with olives, onions and garlic.  The crust was super light and there were plenty of air bubbles to pop.  I'm generally not a big fan of lightweight, airy crusts that are cooked dark with tons of flour on the bottom, but I did enjoy what was on top.  My pizza was tasty, but the damn pizza across from me was certainly what I'd go back for.

All in all, it was much more affordable than I expected and pretty good.  It's not enough to save the DC pizza scene, especially with a 45 minute wait, but maybe we'll call ahead next time.

Location: 3715 Macomb St., NW (near Wisconsin)
Closest Metro Stop: Cleveland Park (red)
Cost: ~$40 for two pizzas, soft drinks

#17: George Mason Memorial - West Potomac Park

The George Mason Memorial is located near the Tidal Basin and so we wandered over there after our journey through the FDR presidency.  The memorial itself is fairly basic: a bronze statue of George Mason sitting on a bench.  Yet the layout is particularly interesting, as you're able to see the entire memorial from a distance since it's set so far back.

On our walk from the FDR Memorial to the George Mason Memorial, we lucked out and had a gorgeous sunset and one of the best moonlit views of the Tidal Basin that I've seen (aside from during Cherry Blossom season).  So while the memorial itself may not be thrilling, the view was certainly worth it.

My own!

Location: 900 Ohio Drive Southeast (just walk closer to the Potomac once you're leaving the Jefferson Memorial)
Closest Metro Stop: Smithsonian (blue/orange) or Pentagon (blue/yellow)
Cost: Free

#16: The Awakening at the National Harbor

One of the many times Matt was caught shaking his head at my lack of preparation occurred during my initial search for The Awakening.  During this ordeal, an old website directed us to The Awakening's former location near Hains Point, when we should have been at the National Harbor.  Did I want to tell Matt what we were looking for?  No.  Had he had enough of my hijinks for one year at that point, though?  Yes.  And so I explained that we were looking for a statue of a man coming out of the ground.  It was at this point I think he contemplated running the other way forever.  But he stuck with me and months later, we saw The Awakening in its new location at the National Harbor. 

I'm not sure about the foot traffic near its old location, but at the harbor, The Awakening was covered with kids crawling all over it, sliding down its limbs and screaming.  As far as I could tell, it was the centerpiece of the Harbor.

My Samsung feature phone's camera at its finest.

Matt and I took a seat on the steps as we watched families chase after kids and kids chase after each other.  The breeze was perfect and we had nowhere else to be.  After some people-watching, we walked along the pier and discussed renting boats on a spring day. 

After contemplating a visit to the Mike & Ike store, we went to nearby The Tasting Room, Boxwood Winery's...tasting room.  There we did a self-serve wine tour: we put value on a card and walked around the store sampling wines.  You pay per sample and have the option of a very small sample, a half glass or a full glass of wine.  Small plates were also available and with the purchase of some samples, you receive a coupon for $10 off a bottle of wine.  Not a bad deal!  Looking out on the walkway next to the water, sitting next to Matt and laughing, this was one of the first times in awhile that I had where I felt like there was no place to go and nothing to do that could be more important.  We weren't that far from DC, but we were far enough to "get away," and that felt pretty darn good.

Location: The National Harbor (walk to the water. It's almost impossible to miss.)
Closest Metro Stop: This was a car activity for us, but the NH1 bus reportedly runs out there (Schedule here.)
Cost: The Awakening is free; The Tasting Room's samples ranged but we spent close to $15.

#15: Medaterra Happy Hour

When things look too good to be true, they usually are.  But somehow I got Matt, so there's proof that sometimes they're not... (too corny? Or just right?) It is with this "we'll see!" mentality that Matt and I hopped on the metro after work and got off at his stop, Woodley Park.  It's likely he thought I was taking him to Umi, MY JAM, but instead we took even fewer steps from the escalators and went to Medaterra.

Medaterra has a chalkboard near its patio seating that advertises $3 margaritas, $5 martinis and various cheap sangria options during happy hour.  Almost every time we walk past, one of us casually mentions how cheap that is and how we should try it.  Ta-da, here we go.  Not simply content with our beer and wine selections, Matt and I also ordered homemade hummus and pita, which did not disappoint either.  While this probably would have turned into a much longer happy hour with far more variety, our time was cut short by the rain.  We went inside for a moment but decided to cut our losses and head across the street for some sushi at Umi.  It wasn't the original plan, I swear, but I took it after only one, "Are you sure?"

While the review can't be too thorough, I can confirm that the prices are real.  They may not be the $1 margaritas that they used to be, but for DC, $3 still feels too good to be true.

From Medaterra's website: http://527728.sites.myregisteredsite.com/

Location: 2614 Connecticut Ave. NW
Closest Metro Stop: Woodley Park/Zoo (red)
Cost: ~$5 for two drinks, $4 for hummus