Tonight's Theme Word: "Dyscoordinatedness"

If any word describes tonight's endeavors, it was the one above. Not one person made it to every stop on the road show, and there were casualties along the way...

Stop #1: Rails to Trails and WABA at Busboys where 2 HH'ers represented the Wednesday Gang Outers amongst the bike trails and ferrous parallel lines of DC. Factoid from Stop #1: a fascinating new traffic pattern announced for 15th street...

Stop #2: Counterculture Coffee, where 4 HH'ers came in late to an intimitate coffee community event and were banished to the front row to watch a presentation by Colombian coffee growers (mostly in Spanish, but beautifully translated). Their story was about how they learned that good coffee, done right, can fetch a better market price and improve their own quality of life (as well as the quality of the coffee). Organic, to them, was a positive side effect of doing it right. Factoid from Stop #2: this was the first time that anyone from the well-connected-to-the-coffee-industry crowd had had growers, distributers, vendors and consumers in the same room. Cool beans - pun intended.

Stop #3: Las Canteras Peruvian, which was scheduled to begin long before anyone could respectably "sneak out" of the front row of an intimate (and interesting) presentation. 2 non-coffee-counterculturalist HH'ers met here for a drink, and, given the empty state of the bar and the ill-fated time spill-over of the coffee event (pun intended), they decided to jump over to Bedrock Billiards. Team Canteras thence became Team Bedrock, but casualties ensued as we later learned that another two later arrived to reconstitute Team Canteras alone - there was no memo or cookie crumb trail. Factoid from Stop #3: Always leave cookie crumbs.

Stop #4: Bedrock Billiards, where Team Bedrock stayed for yet another beer and then, given the persistent absence of Team Counterculturalist Caffeinators, they headed to Amsterdam Falafel, hence renaming their Team, Team Falaferdam.

Stop #5: Amsterdam Falafel, where Team Counterculturalist Caffeinators merged with Team Falaferdam, creating Team Caffeinated Tzatziki, but only for a brief moment of time, and man was it needed:

Stop #6: Pharmacy Bar, where most of Team Gang Out was once again renamed, this time to Team Give Me a Drink and Some Pills Already... while Team Canteras, spared from such utter madness, played the cowbell to salsa music over a plate of lima beans. Tune in next time - because few earthly things will ever again reach this level of dyscoordinatedness...

Tonight - HH at Las Canteras and Other Events

Hey all,

For tonight the plan is to go to Las Canteras for Happy Hour. They're at 2307 18th Street, NW in Adams Morgan. If you can get there before 7, they have $5 cocktails, $4 wine, and a 3-course $24 dinner.

Beforehand, come join at Busboys and Poets at 14th and V for the active transportation town hall meeting starting at 5, or Counter Culture Coffee at 1836 Columbia for the sustainable coffee presentation at 6:30.

Hope to see you tonight!

Progressive GREEN Happy Hour on Wednesday! (Don't forget to vote - options are at the bottom)

Hey all,

We're going to do something a little different this week, and get in touch with our green sides before (and while!) downing our beer. Be sure to read to the end of the post for the bar voting options!

The fun starts at 5:00 at Busboys and Poets at 14th and V Streets, in the Langston Room, where the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is hosting a Town Hall meeting to discuss the future of "active transportation" (bicycling and walking) in Washington, D.C. RTC and local partners—the Washington Area Bicyclists Association and the D.C. Department of Transportation—are working together to help Washington become a world class city in which to bicycle and walk.

Then, at 6:30, we'll head to Counter Culture Coffee at 1836 Columbia Road, Suite 202, in Adams Morgan for a chance to meet farmers from an organic coffee farm who will be presenting about their farm, sustainable coffee production, and the La Golondrina project. Learn more at www.counterculturecoffee.com

Afterwards, the happy hour drinking festivities shall begin, with a GREEN theme in Adams Morgan!!!

Options are:

Las Canteras - A Peruvian restaurant and bar, you can get one of 4 different green colored drinks (of varying shades): Margarita, Cadillac Caipirinha, Macchu Pisco, and Magic Mojito. It's located at 2307 18th Street. http://www.lascanterasdc.com/index.html

Tryst - In the spirit of the counter culture coffee event and the eco friendliness of local businesses, Wednesday is a perfect opportunity to go to Tryst - they are a local, non-corporate coffee house, and they're also 100% powered by wind energy. They also sell good food, beer, liquor and mixed drinks. Located at 2459 18th St., NW http://www.trystdc.com/

The Blaguard - Although we still have a few weeks until they serve Green beer, The Blaguard must be included on this "green" list as it's the only Irish bar in Adams Morgan. They also have bar shuffleboard, food, and lots of TVs to watch sports. Located at 2003 18th Street, http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-blaguard-washington

Voting will close at midnight on Tuesday night, and winners will be announced sometime on Wednesday. Happy voting!

A "Box Office" Hit!

I'm not sure how evident it was at the moment, but Happy Hour this week at the Helix sure did keep with the "things that spin" theme. The thermometer was spinning in counter-February directions, allowing us to sit outside; the lights were slowly rotating from hot "rouge" to "mellow amarillo;" special drinks named "pajama party" were doled out with a strawberry twist; helicopters twirled overhead; we transitioned from standing around a small circular table reclining around a table in kind of an ovular formation; clocks spun backwards when a certain someone negotiated an extra hour of happy for happy hour; and we each rolled out of our seats after hearing a (potentially worn-out and tired, but totally new to us) pilot joke.

This crowd may have equated intern selection to short-term dating. Résumés welcome... see you next week - and keep it kinky, please - for mom & dad, of course. Come next week for a good pilot joke.

Helix Lounge!

Helix it is, folks. It's an early happy hour, so see you there on the earlier side:

Half Price Burgers & Beers
5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Where will we HH this week?

Well, folks, if you've been paying attention at all, it's an appropriate time to pay homage to a beloved DC spot: Solly's bay window - smashed on Friday night by some sort of wacky cab accident. But instead of just saying, "Let's go to Solly's," there's a theme: things that spin (like the tires of the cab that were still spinning after the cab had stopped because the guy's foot was still on the accelerator). Lucky no one was hurt too critically.

Axis Bar & Grill: (we've already been there, so this isn't an option this week, but you like the theme connection, don't you?)

Post Pub: (got votes last time)
Theme connection: right next door to Olley's Trolley or some sort of caboose-style diner. Cabooses/trolleys, they spin (next door).

Solly's:
Theme connection: the aforementioned tires in the bay window (and kostume karaoke is like making my head spin).

Helix Lounge:
Theme connection: helixes spin - at least double ones do... when shown in movies.

Smudge, Smear or Shmere? Unsolved Mysteries and Beer at a Breakfast Café

Mr. Body may not have been a tight spot this time around and Mrs. Peacock may not have used her all-too-infamous pipe, but Lawson's Café - a Dupont breakfast joint - may have never suffered such a debaucherous sight, nor heard such potty mouths.

This week (and we wonder why anyone would have missed it) a group of just over 10 of us stormed what has until now been a fairly quiet spot on Dupont Circle for the after-work hours crowd (or any time after 3pm, really). The $1.99 beers were just the beginning... then there came slightly above-average sushi, a yummy roast beef sammich, Rachaels that were Reubens (that were Rachaels), a huge and wacky sushi yacht and - lest we forget - black bean soup on the house! (But oh the conundrum! Do we tip for beers/food purchased at a breakfast bar??)

Though the atmosphere took some getting used to with the relative emptiness of a breakfast place on a Wednesday evening (um, that doesn't serve breakfast after 11am), and with street music played on plastic tubs competing with Billy Joel and other great 80's/90's hits, and as the lights were'nt toned down to "evening mode" until well into happy hour, the cheap brews, good eats, and good peeps got the crew going strong.

The undeniable highlight of the evening was the "mystery smear" and all the theories and sherade-style reinactments that took us closer to... the Truth. While this was no Looking Glass Lounge, neither Alice nor her Mad Hatter friend could have ever taught us with such beer-glass-breakingly-hilarious detail the oh-so-critical difference between a smudge, a smear and a shmere (think Einstein's).

For more on Svenska, Danske, or other Scandinavian (but ultimately Germanic) tongues, tune in next week for: "Ankle Splatter Part Deux: How the Vikings Became Druish thanks to a Hillel P.R. Firm."

Lawson's Café!

Thanks for everyone's votes. This week I pulled together the options and they ranged from "comfortable" to "somewhat uncharted," to "the Hill."

Since we're sending this out late and a tie-breaking vote had to be cast, Lawson's Cafe (one of the two in the lead) is the spot for this week. It's right behind the Krispy Kreme and next to the Dupont South metro.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there. the HH is from 4-8pm, so there's really no reason not to come early for $1.99 Coronas...

Bars in Contention for 2/4/08

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in this post, but here are the options for this week's happy hour. Place your vote today (Monday) anytime before midnight. The winner will be announced Tuesday morning.

Post Pub, at 1442 L Street, NW
http://www.yelp.com/biz/post-pub-washington
Seems to be a divish bar in the heart of downtown DC

Lawson's Cafe, right at the Dupont South Metro exit next to Krispy Kreme
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lawsons-gourmet-provisions-washington-2
Great, casual deli / sushi bar / actual bar
They have $2 bottles of beer for happy hour!

The Ugly Mug, at 723 8th Street in Barracks Row (Eastern Market Metro)
http://www.uglymugdc.com/
Good mini burgers and steak nachos. Happy hour specials on Wednesday include 6 mini burgers for $6, Ugly Mug Amber beer for $4, and Stoli drinks for $6

Irish Channel Pub, at 500 H Street, NW (Gallery Place / Chinatown)
http://www.irishchannelpub.com/dc/specials.php
Specials on Wednesday include $2.75 bottles of Coors Light and $8.95 Sheperd's Pie or Chicken Pot Pie