I think I mentioned that we were going to cash in on a long awaited tour of the White House. Reservations were made and we were to appear at 12:30 for our tour. Our plan was to park “out” at one of the satellite Metro stations and take the train in, do the tour, maybe catch a quick lunch and Metro back and drive home. As the day approached, my apprehensions began to rise: What about traffic near DC? How soon should we leave? What if there aren’t any parking places in the Suitland garage? Can we navigate the necessary transfer at L’Enfant Plaza? Where’s the fare cards? How much money is on them? What happens if they didn’t know about our reservation? So, by the time Friday morning arrived I was in my usual state of heightened anxiety, thoughts of plan B, C, and D, racing through my head, now just hoping to just live through the day. Thoughts of “fun” drained by the forthcoming navigation of the day.
Okay we got in the flutter mobile (easier to park than the Momster) about 9:30, and headed up Route 4 to begin the journey. Whew, we made that drive… easily onto the Suitland Parkway, wow, not much traffic! Okay, there’s the station we made it that far, now the parking dance. As we approached the gate, a lady appeared ahead of us walking along the chocked full rows of parked cars and, wait a minute! She’s reaching for keys! Sure enough, she goes to the end of the row, opens the door and gets in. OMG, can this be? So I remain behind, waiting for the lights to appear, waiting, oh, she’s on the phone, waiting, oh fumbling in the purse, so heart sinking I gingerly get out, and give hand signals asking if she’s leaving.. to my amazement she holds up one finger (the index) as in “one minute”, mouths “I’m sorry” and sure enough backs out, and there’s my parking place!! Hey, this isn’t so bad! A little walk to the station and the machine confirms that we have enough money on the cards. Wow. This is getting nicer! Descending the escalator just as our train is arriving and we get seats. The transfer at L’Enfant plaza was easy (good signage) and before we know it, we’re up in the sunshine at McPherson Square into a lovely warm and sunny day with signs everywhere pointing to the White House. Gee, this is starting to be fun! A relatively easy walk brought us to the tour entrance, where several very polite officials said, “good morning, welcome to the white house”, checked our credentials, “Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Moody, enjoy your tour!”. A couple more encounters with polite officials and we found ourselves in the White House, near the Library, and Vermeil rooms.
I really didn’t know what to expect from the tour, but I have to admit that it was very enjoyable. It’s “self guided”, meaning you saunter at your own pace through several rooms like the East Room, the Green, Blue, and Red rooms and the State Dining room before exiting through the main entrance room. All of the rooms have lots of art on the wall, various presidents and their wives, and some just scenes. In every room there is a “guard”, and they are there not to guard, but to answer questions. Excuse me, is that a Sergeant painting over there? Yes sir, it was painted in 1945 and it’s of…… or, “who’s that painting of up there?” Oh, that’s Millard Fillmore, painted in….’. the touring people were courteous and respectful and strung out enough that it wasn’t crowded at all.
Despite your politics, you have to be impressed with the place. It just has a “presence” and sense of history that kind of gets to you.. I don’t know if you could call it pride, but it does make an impression. I would heartily recommend going to the effort and making the tour.. Hey, it only took us 13 years!
Exiting into the sunshine I had the feeling of “what was I worried about”, this is great! Now facing the prospects of lunch, MFO says the Hay-Adams hotel is just across Lafayette square, let’s head over there! A friend had recommended the lunch in the downstairs bar, so I agreed and a nice stroll through a beautiful park (with no crazies) brought us to the hotel. The outside entrance to the bar was locked so we went into the main lobby. Good afternoon, welcome to the Hay Adams, as the door was held by a white shirted young man ushering us into an opulent wooden paneled lobby with several other hotel people in golden vests, white shirts and dark pants. I’m liking this!!
We asked about lunch, and were shown the entrance to the Lafayette Room, up carpeted stairs, leading to what looked like “the dining room” of the hotel, spacious and fancy. I asked about lunch in the bar, and yes, that was also available. As I turned to MFO, all I saw was her about three steps up the stairs. Well, there’s that decision!! It turned out that once again, she knows what she’s doing. What followed was one of the most memorable lunches we’ve ever had (well, short of the one in St. Barts). At the top of the stairs we were greeted by a server in that same golden vest, starched shirt and dark pants who inquired if we had a reservation (only about a 5th of the tables were occupied). Uh oh, but no, No problem sir, just follow me. We were led to a nice table in the corner, affording a view of the room and windows looking out on Lafayette square bathed in sunlight and green leaves. The room just exuded quiet luxury, sparkling crystal, shining silver, white table cloths elaborate decorations with a beautiful ceiling with what I learned was “egg and dart” molding. Beautiful. This day is getting great! We were greeted by the young man that seated us, no names, just a smile and welcome and would we like anything to drink. MFO asked if there was champagne by the glass, of course maam, and I said what the hell and levied the drink test. We were left with the menus, an elegant tri fold affair with starters, two levels of entrees and desserts. We decided to linger before looking at them, and before we knew it, he was back with a silver tray with a bottle of (get this) Taittinger, a champagne flute, and a perfectly made dry manhatten, on the rocks with a twist. MFO was shown the bottle and asked if that would do. Why, yes, that will do nicely. The bottle was just opened and as he poured the yeasty aroma spread across the table. Boy, was it good, and my drink just hit the spot. What a day! Pretty quickly a basked of crunchy bread appeared along with some lovely garlicky crackers.
Turning to the menu it contained a delightful selection of choices (which in the interest of your time and sensibilities) I won’t recount here. Suffice to say that there was anything you might want, described with preparation, sauce, and sides. MFO ordered an off the menu sautéed Tile fish with shrimp and scallops, in a lemon butter sauce, and I chose a soup du jour “Boston Clam Chowder” scallops with a wild mushroom ragout and Yukon gold and celery root puree. I asked for the wine list, and MFO chose a glass of Sancerre for her, and I took the ’07 Far Niente Chardonnay. Figuring at this point in for a nickel in for a (whole lot more)…..we also ordered dessert. A fruit plate with sabayon for the lady and a Grand Marnier Soufflé for the gentleman.
What followed was a succession of wonderful food (although if I had to gripe, I would say the chowder was “only” above average) and service. The wines were again served by bringing the bottle to the table, a small taste given to make sure it was acceptable before pouring the glass. I did point out that the bottle of chardonnay was an ’08 instead of the ’07 on the list, and an offer was made to try something else if I wanted. Water was continually filled from the (no extra charge) Fiji bottle in the silver holder, things were cleared on time. Without going into flights of fancy, my dish was just great. Everything on the plate stood on it’s own, and the scallops were sweet and sea like with absolutely no hint of any sharpness or ‘iodiney” flavor.
Dessert? Judge for yourself:
Since by this time it was well after two and we were pretty much alone we talked with our server some. He loved his job, and had been there 13 years! We exclaimed that was a long time and then he called over <….> who had been there 20 years!. The service showed. Take a look at their site for the Lafayette room and what do you see.. a chef? Nope, a server. Says it all. Was it expensive? Unconscionably. Did I regret it! Not at all. Oh, there were probably 15 gentleman at the other tables throughout our stay. Every one, I repeat, EVERY ONE had on a coat.
Buoyed by the tour and the lunch we navigated back to the fluttermobile without incident and floated back to southern Maryland. A meal like that raises the spirits. Oh, and then we finished the day by attending a great lecture on the War of 1812 on the Patuxent.
What, me worry? a perfect day
And at the Hay Adams, we, like the other civilized diners were indeed
DFD
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