This is the view from our room at the Courtyard by Marriott on New York Avenue in DC. The ATF is the building in the foreground.
We've come to DC to celebrate our daughter's birthday with her this weekend. For her birthday, she wants us to accompany her to Awesome Con. There will be media guests, artists, panels, etc., as one would expect at a con.
We flew out of OIA this afternoon. There was a Nature's Table in the small food court near our U.S. Air gate. I had the California Club, which was probably named that because of the guacamole on it. Otherwise, it's a turkey and bacon sandwich. It was good,mind you, but the name just stood out. Their chocolate brownie, was really closer to a dense chocolate cake. My husband was surprised to find that his oatmeal raisin cookie was soft, rather than the crisp you usually get. His Baja Turkey Jack sandwich had a kick to it. Unfortunately, all they had was Diet Pepsi, which he'll put up with, but I won't. Luckily, Qdoba had Diet Coke. Being airport food, it wasn't a cheap meal-over $30- but at least it was good and seemed to be better than burgers and fries.
While the plane pushed back on time, it was then a long 10 minutes until takeoff. The plane wasn't full, although our row was. We amuse ourselves on these flights with reading,games on the iPad, podcasts, music and needlework. The guy in our row, was given an entire Dr. Pepper can, while I was given just a cup of Coke Zero. I guess that shows how popular Coke Zero is in comparison to Dr. Pepper.
The flight took less than two hours and we found our daughter waiting for us just outside the exit from the gates area. She handed us our DC Metro Cards, that she keeps for us, and we loaded them with $20 each. We hope that will last through Tuesday.
After riding the yellow line to Gallery Place, we switched to the red line for the short ride to the NoMa/ Gaulledett stop. Even though the hotel is on New York, you head out the Florida exit, which, while weird, is a nice touch for us Floridians. We checked in, got our lanyards for tomorrow from her and headed out to dinner.
We got out off at Gallery Place again, but exited in Chinatown. She took us to Cava Grill, which she described as a Greek Chipotle. It reminded us of Spoleto, whose 1st American location just opened near UCF. In any case, you pick your base, dips, add-ins, protein and sauce. I chose Greens and Grains Bowl, with basmati rice and super greens (kale, broccoli,etc.). I added tzatziki and 2 scoops of hummus. My protein was grilled meatballs. For toppings, I chose tomato and onion salad, cabbage slaw, quinoa tabbouleh, cucumber, and tomato and cucumber salad. The clerk recommended Greek vinaigrette dressing. The result was as filling- and delicious!-as it sounds.
My husband had a pita with lamb and my daughter's bowl had chicken. Even the drinks are interesting. He had limeade and I had a strawberry, mint and lime drink. Her orange soda wasn't very orange! If I lived here, I would definitely get their loyalty app.
Nearby is the Panera, where we always pick up breakfast food for these visits. It is cheaper than eating at the hotel's bistro. We got a good selection of bagels, giving the daughter the extras, as well as a tub of wild blueberry cream cheese. Next door is an amazing Walgreens. When you enter, you see no sign of the pharmacy, which is in the basement. The ground floor is given over to food. There are prepared sandwiches, slices of cake,froyo, even fresh fit, all of which isn't overly cheap. Two bananas cost us 99 cents. I was able to get four bottles of Tropicana orange juice with calcium. So, we're set for breakfast.
Then, it was back to the red line. The great thing about this hotel's location is that our daughter's stop is the one after it. It is really convenient for getting together.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to be able to get into the Lord of the Rings panel at noon. Husband and daughter plan to go to the NASA panel at 11:45. I also want to get photos autographed by Sean Astin and John Rhys-Davies. I'd like a picture of Sean as Two-Flower in The Colour of Magic and John in Sliders. These are not what they are usually known for, but things I like.
Time to study the convention guide, which she picked up there today.
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