How the locals do D.C.

Beyond the Mall, the monuments and the museums is Rock Creek Park, watersports on the Potomac, art galleries and ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants.

By ELLEN PERLMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001

[Photos: Ellen Perlman] Ben’s Chili Bowl, an out-of-the-way neighborhood place, is in its fifth decade of serving up acclaimed diner grub.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sitting on a rock in the middle of the Potomac River, watching a blue heron glide to a stop on a neighboring boulder, it's hard to imagine that just a short paddle away is Georgetown, the Kennedy Center and the world-famous Washington monuments. But paddlers who take to the river in canoes and kayaks tend to head the other way. Upstream.

They have been to the monuments. Now they are interested in perfecting an Eskimo roll to right themselves if their whitewater kayaks turn over. Or maybe they just want to have a peaceful day on the river, far from the madding crowd.

And peaceful it is on the river, when all that's in view is rushing water, tall trees and big boulders.

Out-of-towners might think of the nation's capital as a place full of button-down lawyers and legislators, home to soaring monuments and grand museums and the national Mall. But the District also is a living, breathing city of residents who may not ever go to the Washington tourist sights until they are escorting visiting relatives or friends on the grand tour.

Left to their own devices, many Washingtonians would sooner take to the river or the bike paths or would visit small art galleries or wander into the local hangout for a drink. Yes, Virginia, there is a Washington beyond the Mall.

A neighborhood of nations

For instance, there are the Saturday night tango lessons at Habana Village and the weekly drag queen show during brunch at Perry's, both in Adams Morgan, one of D.C.'s funkier neighborhoods.

A waiter tends to a table at Jaleo, which serves classic Spanish dishes in a renovated former department store downtown.

Located at the crossroads of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, Adams Morgan is a jumble of storefronts and townhouses with ethnic eating establishments and shops selling architectural antiques, eclectic home furnishings, African art and accessories.

You can walk whole blocks without hitting a Starbucks. For a coffee fix, there's always Tryst, a Friendslike coffeehouse with the requisite sofas for lounging with the java.

Adams Morgan is known as the mecca of ethnic dining in the District, with restaurants serving cuisine ranging from Italian to Eritrean, Salvadoran to West African. At Cities restaurant, you will want to call ahead to find out what sort of food is being served -- the place changes cities periodically. Currently, the restaurant is serving cuisine from Venice.

For good ol' American food there is the Diner, which serves up meatloaf, French fries, pancakes and more, with the option of sitting at a booth or a counter with turning cushioned stools, in an otherwise contemporary large room with high ceilings that is not at all reminiscent of a '50s-style diner.

Parking is tough in Adams Morgan and people who don't go by taxi or hike from the Woodley Park Metro usually face the drill of circling the neighborhood in their cars and then gunning for a space when they see brake lights from a parked car.

In warmer weather, a farmer's market draws neighborhood shoppers on Saturdays. And in September, people flock to the neighborhood to dance, eat and meander on Adams Morgan Day. It is one big block party with crafts and foods from Central America, Africa and Europe for sale, and music to wander, eat and shop by.

Back from the dead

The flavor is completely different in another Washington neighborhood, centered at Seventh and E streets. Sometimes called the Penn Quarter because it is near Pennsylvania Avenue, this upscale neighborhood is so close to the Capitol that members of Congress can walk from here to the Capitol in time for a vote.

Subway wanderings The Metro is an inexpensive and virtually hassle-free way to reach the sights of the District -- the famous ones and the "insider" places. If you go Typical budget round-trip air fare from the Tampa Bay area to Washington's Reagan National Airport is about $115 on Northwest or Delta. Often travelers can save a few dollars by flying on Southwest and USAirways into Baltimore-Washington International, about 30 miles north of Washington.

Consequently, it is home to many a politician as well as business executives. The neighborhood also houses one of the District's main arts corridors, with nearly a dozen galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden. Two blocks away are Chinatown and the MCI Center, the latter home to Washington's professional basketball and hockey teams.

The community was brought back from the dead in the early '90s, and its formerly bleak blocks are now thriving. The Shakespeare Theatre, a 450-seat playhouse, resides in the Lansburgh Building, formerly an abandoned department store. Above the theater is a highrise with luxury apartments.

Filling in another section of the Lansburgh building is Jaleo, a lively corner restaurant serving tapas, classic Spanish dishes in small servings. Colorful mosaic tiled tables, painted wood and wicker chairs and a large mural of a Spanish dancer contribute to a warm and lively atmosphere.

Jaleo offers more than 50 choices of tapas frias and calientes (cold and hot) ranging from the pan contomate (toasted bread with tomato and olive oil) for $2.95 to costillitas de cordero con salsa de romero (grilled lamb chops with rosemary sauce) for $7.50.

One of the District’s main arts corridors is along downtown’s Seventh Street NW, where the city’s Commission of the Arts and Humanities includes this sculpture garden.

Across Seventh Street from Jaleo, the neon sign for the Zenith Gallery pulls in art lovers who can wander through two rooms filled with paintings, contemporary sculpture, jewelry and clothing creations.

"We do everything from monumental sculpture installations to selling you a pair of earrings for $50 and everything in between," says Marjery Goldberg, a wood sculptor and furniture designer, who contributes her own works to the gallery she has owned for 22 years.

Seventh Street is one of two arts areas that welcome browsers and buyers by day, and sometimes at night. Washingtonians are busy during the day, making laws, cutting deals and running on treadmills. But twice a month, they have the opportunity to wander through the galleries after work.

During Third Thursdays (of each month) on Seventh Street and on First Fridays, across town in Dupont Circle, galleries open their doors, pop the corks on wine bottles and welcome visitors.

On those nights you can find people hopping in and out of the galleries, plastic cups of wine and cheese cubes in hand. Some are potential buyers but many, if not most, are there with friends just to see and be seen.

Art indoors, playing outdoors

ABOVE and BELOW: St. Matthew’s Cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of Washington, is also a favored place of worship for some of Washington’s elite and was the site of President John Kennedy’s funeral. The cathedral is a rich vision, even when not decorated for Christmas.

A lot of people will be arriving in Washington this week for the inauguration Saturday. If, during the inaugural parade, they were to stand on Pennsylvania Avenue facing the West Wing of the White House, then turn halfway around and look to the left, they would discover another treasure of art, the Renwick Gallery.

The Renwick is one of those branches of the Smithsonian that is seldom a first stop on the tourist treks. The Renwick is the apple pie branch, displaying a permanent collection of American art, and it is one of those museums that locals promise themselves they will visit because there it is, right downtown near many major office buildings.

Some take advantage of that proximity and the fact that admission is free, meaning they can stop in for a short time during a workday and not feel as if they have to cover all of the museum in one visit. Instead, they can stop in again and again, to savor it all.

Like all the Smithsonian museums, the Renwick is open every day except Dec. 25.

The Renwick is housed in a building designed in 1859 by James Renwick Jr. and completed in 1874. Displayed are works in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and mixed media. Here is a sculpture of a barbell and weights in wood, there is a kimono covered in hundreds of painted feathers.

The Renwick does not have the buzz and the noise of the Smithsonian's popular museums on the Mall, such as Air and Space or Natural History. But this museum does offer an eclectic mix of rooms. One is spare, with wooden floors and whimsical and unique pieces in glass cases. Another is the Grand Salon, refurbished in the style of the late 19th century, its walls covered with paintings, large and small, placed tightly together, like a scene in a Hogarth painting.

In the Grand Salon you can move about the plush, curvy sofas on either side of the tranquil room and thus view every wall from a seated position.

With large arched doorways, this room feels more like a wealthy art collector's salon than a government museum. The salon is also used for lectures, concerts, craft programs and receptions.

Feel like it is time to get back outdoors again? Most visitors know that Washington, D.C., is a town with a river that runs through it. But it also has a creek. A meandering, burbling creek in a huge, glorious park that cuts through the city and is one of the main recreation areas for residents.

Locals flock to Rock Creek Park all year long, especially for family picnics in one of the many groves, and just to play. The road through the park is a commuter route on weekdays. But on weekends, the National Park Service closes down several sections to cars from 7 in the morning Saturdays to 7 in the evening Sundays, and on holidays, leaving a blessedly car-free lane in each direction for bicyclists, inline skaters, walkers, runners and people watchers.

On one popular 3.5-mile stretch from Broad Branch Road to Wise Road, where the creek is most visible and idyllic, bikers call out "On your left!" to announce their presence to groups of walkers. Speed skaters whiz by in formation, dogs pull their owners side to side, kids try out bikes with training wheels.

And five days a week, the Rock Creek Park Horse Center offers hour-long trail rides through the woods.

In summer, tall trees arch over the roadway, giving a feel of being deep in the woods, with welcome shade. But this time of year, the leaves are all gone; the colors of the park are monochromatic shades of brown and grey. It is a winter scene that provides its own kind of beauty, a stillness and a quiet that is a gift to the hardy souls who bundle up to be out there.

But if, in the end, you still have a hankering for sightseeing historical Washington, all you have to do is get onto the bike path in Rock Creek Park and head south. When you reach Memorial Bridge to the west of downtown, no more than a couple of miles from the park, take a right to Arlington Cemetery, or a left to the Lincoln Memorial and the Mall.

Or go straight, to the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin. I recommend this visit in the spring, when the famed cherry blossoms are in bloom. Those are well-loved, and visited in equal measure, by locals and tourists alike.

Ellen Perlman lives in Washington and is a writer for Governing magazine.

If you go

To enjoy Washington like a resident, consider these recommendations; all phones are in the 202 area code:

THE ACTIVE LIFE: Jack's Boats, 3500 K St. NW; call 337-9642. Rents sit-on-top kayaks and canoes.

Fletchers Boat House, 4940 Canal Road NW. 244-0461. Rents canoes.

Thompson Boat Center, Rock Creek Parkway and Virginia Avenue NW; 333-9543. Rental canoes, rowing, shells, lessons.

OuterQuest Inc., 13015 Riley's Lock Road, Poolesville, MD; (800) 515-2925; Web site is www.teamouterquest.com. Outerquest brings rental kayaks to the Potomac and gives weekly "rolling" classes for whitewater kayakers in the evenings, starting in early spring. Also holds indoor-pool kayaking classes.

Rock Creek Park Horse Center, 5100 Glover Road, in Rock Creek Park; 362-0118. One-hour trail rides available Tuesday through Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. $25.

The Arts: First Fridays, Third Thursdays. Art gallery crawls in the evening on, yes, the first Friday and the third Thursday of each month. Fridays in the Dupont Circle area. Thursdays in the Seventh Street corridor.

Thursdays visit:

David Adamson Gallery, the Artists' Museum, Baumgartner Galleries, Numark Gallery, Touchstone Gallery and the Washington Center for Photography, all at 406 Seventh S. NW. Gallery Place Metro station

projectspace, 625 E St. NW.

Eklektikos Gallery, 406 Seventh St. NW

www.downtowndc.org has information on Third Thursdays.

Fridays visit:

R Street between 20th and 22nd to find Africa, Alex Gallery, America, Oh Yes!, Anton Gallery, Baumgartner's, Burdick Gallery, Gallery K, Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Robert Brown Gallery and Studio Gallery. Other galleries are nearby on Q Street, Connecticut Avenue, 21st Street and Hillyer Court. Dupont Circle Metro.

www.artgalleriesdc.com gives a listing of addresses and brief description of the type of works available at each of these.

Shakespeare Theater, 450 Seventh St. NW; 547-1122; www.shakespearetheatre.org. Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller, playing through March 11. Gallery Place Metro.

The Renwick Gallery, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Recorded exhibition information at 633-8998. Star-Spangled Presidents: Portraits by Liza Lou through Feb. 19. Farragut West Metro.

The Food: Jaleo, 480 Seveth St. NW; 628-7949. Gallery Place Metro. The Diner, 2453 18th St. NW; 232-8800. Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro.

Tryst, 2459 18th St. NW; 232-5500. Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro.

Perry's, 1811 Columbia Road NW; 234-6218. Drag show at 11:30 at Sunday brunch. Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro.

Etc.: Habana Village, 1834 Columbia Road NW; 462-6310. Salsa and merengue lessons Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 7-9. Tango lessons Saturday, 7-9. Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro.

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