Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

playing hooky

This past Friday, I had the day off, and I intended to make the most of it.

I treat days off during the work week a bit differently than a holiday or weekend. They’re rare, special — sacred, even. Certainly, it’s a welcome injection of extra time to cross things off the to-do list. But more than that, it’s a rare opportunity to step outside the workday frenzy and experience some of my favorite spots in the city in a way that I can’t on the weekend, when everyone else has the day off, too.

So on Friday I slept in a little bit, got caught up on a little e-mail and then set off into town. My first stop: Teaism, where I lingered at a seat overlooking the Navy Memorial, sipping chai and reading a book.

Then I walked up to the National Portrait Gallery / Smithsonian American Art Museum and wandered around a bit, trying to take in the space a bit more and peek in on a couple exhibits I didn’t see the first time around. (Incidentally, the Katharine Hepburn exhibit is a bit deceiving. It feels much larger than the single room it occupies — as it should, given the outsize, inimitable personality of its subject. It’s well worth a visit.)

After that: more outdoor wanderings. (And, weather-wise, it was a beautiful day to wander — crisp but not cold, and partly sunny besides.) I had no real destination and no real timetable, beyond the vague idea that maybe I’d meet Rob for dinner somewhere in Georgetown later in the evening. So I surveyed some of the new construction around Metro Center, where I’ve seen developers slice off old buildings’ facades but demolish the rest, only to build back up around them; then, wandered through the well-maintained residential areas west of “the university that ate Foggy Bottom”; and finally, crossed over to Georgetown’s M Street.

In Georgetown, I spent far too much time ogling the decorative paper offerings inside the Paper Source, then treated myself at the new Georgetown Cupcake. After that, I met Rob for dinner at old favorite Pizzeria Paradiso, and then back home.

It was a wonderful, zen kind of day.

Photos from the Day’s Wanderings »