ChuraChura Visits Washington, DC
posted January 1, 2015 7:17 AM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Sat February 7 at 7:00 PM, Etete Restaurant
1942 9th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, USA (Map & Directions)
February 7: Dinner at Etete Restaurant at 7 PM with museuming and wandering during the day! Hi DC-area mefites! I'm flying into Washington, DC on February 6 and leaving on February 8 - want to get together for food/museums/drinks/other DC area things sometime that weekend?
I will be working at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in apparently-scenic Front Royal, VA from February 9-March 13, but I'll be flying into one DC-area airport or another on February 6th. I've only ever been in Washington for the Rally to Restore Fear and/or Sanity, so I'd love to see more of it, and also see it with fewer people.

I would really like to see some Smithsonian museums (Air and Space, Natural History, African American) and the zoo, but I would also like to eat food, drink drinks, and hang out with interesting people! If anyone wants to join me for any part of that, let me know! But I'd also like to call some sort of official meetup for dinner somewhere interesting! The only place I've eaten in Washington, DC was a very slow Indian restaurant somewhere a Metro ride away from the Mall, so... maybe someone else should suggest somewhere?
posted by ChuraChura to Meetup (36 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

(oops, African American museum is apparently not yet open)
posted by ChuraChura at 7:25 AM on January 1, 2015


I should be around and up for whatever!
posted by capricorn at 5:05 PM on January 1, 2015


If you want to take a day trip up to Baltimore, you could see the African American museum here and the Star Spangled Banner Flag House. I work at the latter and would be more than happy to show you around.
posted by youcancallmeal at 7:50 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


I am down for some museum and/or zoo-going and foods. I don't have any specific food recommendations as my usual haunts are a metro ride from anywhere. Tyler Cowan's Ethnic Dining Guide is a good place to start if you want to take a look at the range of options or have a specific hankering [I'm linking to the old-school version of his site, which I think is easier to read when you want to look at everything all at once--but note that the guide is not very well updated in terms of restaurants that are now closed]. I guess I'd say that DC is known in particular for Ethiopian.
posted by drlith at 4:27 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, drlith, that is an amazing list of foods. I do really like Ethiopian - is there one in particular that you would recommend?

youcancallmeal, I might be flying into BWI depending on ticket prices, so I'll keep those museums in mind and let you know.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:50 AM on January 2, 2015


I do really like Ethiopian - is there one in particular that you would recommend?

We've had a few meetups at Queen of Sheba in Shaw which is pretty good although it's a bit of a walk if we want to go out for drinks afterwards. There are a few places on U Street that might be more conducive to post-dinner festivities and are also good.

SO EXCITED YOU ARE COMING! YAY!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:40 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm hoping I can join you! I've still never made it to a Mefi meetup. Also, my wife works at the Smithsonian, so maybe you can nerd out together.

FWIW, although the African-American History Museum isn't yet open, the museum's gallery is on the second floor of the American History Museum in the meantime. Here's what they have up currently.
posted by duffell at 10:33 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yay! OK - do people want to plan on dinner/drinks the evening of February 7, with optional museuming during the day? On one of the U Street places?
posted by ChuraChura at 3:49 PM on January 2, 2015


wow, this makes me wish I still lived-in DC.
posted by terrapin at 10:11 AM on January 3, 2015


If it matters to your museum-choosing: it's probable (but not yet 100%) that the IMAX movie theaters at Natural History and the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space (out by Dulles) will be closed for renovations from Feb. 2-ish to April-ish --- but the theater in National Air & Space (down on the Mall) will be open. All else in both Natural History and Udvar-Hazy will be open as usual.
posted by easily confused at 5:39 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hey ChuraChura, neat to see that you'll be in the Shenandoah Valley soon, which is not too far from all the great stuff in DC AND also home to a bunch of neat stuff on its own. I have numerous suggestions but will PM you for a more personalized approach.
posted by smorgasbord at 11:33 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm available Feb 7!
posted by emilynoa at 12:26 PM on January 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


OK! Since I haven't heard from anyone with shock, horror, and dismay about February 7, I'll go ahead and call a dinner meetup at Etete Restaurant on U Street. I'll plan on going to some Smithsonians in the morning/afternoon, so If anyone wants to join me, we can plan that here, too. And if anyone feels like doing something in DC the evening of the 6th (in addition to or instead of dinner on the 7th), let me know!
posted by ChuraChura at 7:53 AM on January 6, 2015


(also, if someone feels strongly about an Ethiopian place other than Etete, we can change it!)
posted by ChuraChura at 7:56 AM on January 6, 2015


If people are interested in attending a sure-to-great show on the evening of February 7 featuring three excellent, up-and-coming East Coast indie bands, I recommend this one at the Black Cat. Doors are at 9 p.m. and the venue is an easy walk from Etete, as the DC area folk here already know! It's on the mainstage and, therefore, probably won't sell out but Parquet Courts and Priests are rather popular so it's possible, just fyi.
posted by smorgasbord at 2:38 PM on January 6, 2015


Just wanted to mention that this comment is making me, if possible, more excited for this meetup.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:39 AM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hello, D.C.! I would love to join you for Saturday wanderings!
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:33 AM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


This sounds fun. See you Saturday!
posted by Coffee Bean at 7:16 AM on January 30, 2015


Does anyone have any favorite Friday night things to recommend?
posted by ChuraChura at 7:58 PM on February 2, 2015


A Friday idea: If, by chance, you were thinking of going to the Smithsonian American Art museum anyway, tomorrow evening they're having a show with some local indie bands. It's kind of fun to see the museum in the evening with music in the background and beers. Also, Etete is my fave for Ethiopian, though did you make a reservation for so many people? They're happy to accommodate, but sometimes the wait can be long. I hope you enjoy your visit to our fair city!
posted by bluefly at 6:24 PM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was going to give them a call tomorrow. Do you think I should say 11 people, to give some wiggle room?
Thanks for the recommendation! That sounds perfect!
posted by ChuraChura at 8:15 PM on February 5, 2015


I will be able to make it after all! My wife is a "maybe" for dinner. I hope she'll be able to make it.

This will be my first MeFi meetup... I'm sitting for my massage therapist licensing exam at 2pm tomorrow, and will be going out for a drink with some classmates immediately afterward--so uh, hopefully I won't ruin any first impressions. My blood-alcohol level will likely be inversely proportional to my exam score. Thankfully for all, I've been studying hard.
posted by duffell at 10:15 AM on February 6, 2015


Alright! Reservation has been made, for "Erin" and friends at 7!
posted by ChuraChura at 2:07 PM on February 6, 2015


Good luck, duffell!
posted by ChuraChura at 2:07 PM on February 6, 2015


I won't be able to make it for dinner but hopefully one of the mefites with my phone number will text me with where you head afterwards (if you do something afterwards)
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:15 PM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


...You are one of my best friends. You know that, no matter what, I will be drinking heavily tomorrow evening.

See you all soon!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 3:34 PM on February 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh crud, I was looking forward to this but won't be able to make it. Have fun, y'all!
posted by zennie at 6:35 AM on February 7, 2015


If anyone was heading to the mall, I will be wandering around Air and Space, and the American Indian museum until I head up to eat Ethiopian!
posted by ChuraChura at 10:27 AM on February 7, 2015


I may not make it but am hoping to come!
posted by susanvance at 10:40 AM on February 7, 2015


I'm thinking of attending. Is there room at the restaurant for one more?
posted by SillyShepherd at 1:48 PM on February 7, 2015


Definitely come! Ethiopian food is super flexible. We are headed over now so should be there in about half an hour -- feel free to MeFi mail me if you are looking for us although being honest we are almost certainly the loud group of nerds laughing at nonsense.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 3:14 PM on February 7, 2015


I'm upstairs now. If you look to the right, I'm sitting against the wall with the group of tables all pushed together.
posted by SillyShepherd at 3:45 PM on February 7, 2015


Yay! It was great meeting you all and I have made it home, extra sleepy and sore of foot but happy!
posted by ChuraChura at 9:46 PM on February 7, 2015


Salima and I had a great time! Thanks for being awesome and wonderful people.

ChuraChura, here are four photos I took of the monkeys at Zomba Botanical Gardens (this was earlier in the day, before monkeypocalypse). The blue testicles are visible in the 4th photo.

I'm trying to match faces with usernames in my head and am coming up short on a few. But hey, guy who looks like George Saunders (hopefully that didn't get old)--if you're interested in reading any of his stuff, he writes really great short fiction.

Also, If I remember correctly, Mrs. Pterodactyl, capricorn, and I were talking about the number of people you need to get in a room before the odds are greater than 50% that someone shares a birthday. Wikipedia's page on the birthday problem says "the probability reaches 100% when the number of people reaches 367 (since there are 366 possible birthdays, including February 29). However, 99.9% probability is reached with just 70 people, and 50% probability with 23 people."

Bonus points: it turns out warm_planet and I were both born on September 8.
posted by duffell at 4:26 AM on February 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


I typically shy away from meet ups, but I'm glad I attended this, and it was great to meet all of you. I'm also bad with names/usernames, but I tried to add everyone as contacts.

As I was telling some of you, the latest issue of Washingtonian (Feb 2015 with the pet resources) has a wonderful article on the owner of an Ethiopian restaurant who travelled back to Addis to see how the cuisine might have changed back home.
posted by SillyShepherd at 4:49 AM on February 8, 2015


Those are definitely vervets, and thank you for the monkey genitalia, I suppose! Those are great pictures. Here's a lovely male vervet from Kenya, and this is one of the baboons who attacked us. And, if you were interested in alligator penises.

I'm glad you came out for food, SillyShepherd! It was nice to meet you!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:51 AM on February 8, 2015



This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments