As pre-arranged, we met the daughter on the Metro train. Once again, we rode as far as Gallery Place. We were headed for St. Patrick in the City, a Catholic Church founded in 1794, for 10:00 Mass. The church building certainly doesn't date back that far, but it is a lovely old church. There are stained glass windows high up and paintings of saints behind the altar. Unfortunately, the sound system wasn't great and the sweet old priest wasn't loud. The choir of 6 voices up in the choir loft, however, was loud and clear and even celestial at times. They sang the Kyrie in Greek and other prayers and hymns in Latin. The church grew warm, unfortunately, which made me wish they sang fewer verses.
After Mass, we went to Potbelly, which turned out to be next to Cava. Here, you order freshly made sandwiches and choose your toppings. I chose the grilled chicken and cheddar on wheat with mustard, lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
We chose to eat on the patio on the roof. The sandwich was delicious and it was really nice to be able to eat outside without roasting as in Florida at this time of year.
Then, it was on to the Convention Center. We started at the entrance on the vendor booths. I found a great deal on a box with three Star Trek ship models at Books-a-Million. So many booths! T-shirts, comics (thousands dead!), toys, figurines, etc. I did find a couple of Star Trek dolls for a good price, but I was aggravated that they had so much for sale, yet, they didn't take credit cards. My daughter wound up buying a couple of them for me for my birthday, since I didn't have enough cash left. (John Rhys Davies was $40 yesterday and Sean Astin $50.) Another booth lost $80 by not being able to process a credit card for 10 Star Wars drawings that interested me.
We took a break from the floor to go to Hall E, the biggest hall, to hear George Takei. He was wonderful! He tells great stories and answers questions fully. He even told us how Schwarzenegger 's veto of gay marriage in California enraged him so much that he decided to come out. He expected his career to die, but it has done anything but. He noted that next year is the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Even though we've heard him speak before, we wanted to seem him again, because, unfortunately, we just never know how much longer we'll have these folks. It's a shame we missed Shatner yesterday. We really regret that we never got to see Nimoy.
Back underground,we finished the vendors and went back to Artists Alley. I'd decided to buy some pillows I'd seen yesterday. My new craft room will have two display cabinets- one for Star Trek and one for Star Wars. So, I chose one pillowcase case featuring Star Wars silhouettes and one with the Enterprise. The pillows themselves are in vacuum-sealed plastic that will keep them flat and compact for the trip home. They're going to look great on the red futon in that room.
We ended the convention by attending two panels. The first I found less than satisfying. It was called State of the Galaxy and consisted of five people speculating about what was to come in the Star Wars universe. They didn't know anything for sure and just talked about what they did and didn't want to see. The only thing I found useful was learning that all the books that have been written since the first movie and through April are now considered "legend". Canon consists only of the 6 movies and their novelizations and The Clone Wars animated series. That seems foolish to me. That's a lot of work that Lucas supposedly approved now just tossed out the window.
That panel made us late for Star Trek vs Star Wars. There were two representatives of each who discussed the relative merits of each. It was interesting. The crowd was large and engaged. It was the last panel to end and was a good closing to the convention.
We headed down the street for our 5:30 reservation at Zaytinya, an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant on 9th Street. They offer some very interesting small plates that encourage sampling. My husband chose Blue Catfish Skordalia and Vegetable Kebab. My daughter and I do not like fish. So, we ordered Labneh for the table and a Family Kebab Plate to share. Big, fluffy pitas were brought, which we dipped in olive oil with a marvelous balsamic vinegar as well as the Labneh, which was a delicious, creamy Lebanese strained yogurt with za'atar. The kebab plate lacked the skewers, but the five sets of ingredients were arrayed on a toasted pita, which absorbed the juices and was delicious at the end. The kebabs were chicken, lamb, beef, tomato and onion, and kofte, which was mixed beef and lamb. A dipping tray with a garlic cream, onions, and roasted pepper was brought, too.
It was a great meal. When it came to dessert, it was difficult to choose small portions,because I don't do nuts and the waitress recommended not trying to do the Galatopita ( semolina custard espuma, crispy phyllo, almonds and honey crisp apple sorbet) in a shot glass. So, we decided on full portions of it and Chocolate Rose, which is rose ice cream, chocolate custard, and spiced berry purée, to share.
Oh, my goodness, were they amazing! The Galatopita was a treat, with a variety of textures and a good blend of flavors. We were surprised to find chunks of apples at the bottom. We didn't know what to expect of the rose ice cream. At first it was just ice cream, but then the scent of rose hit the nose and you suddenly felt this is what roses taste like. It was incredible! Roses and chocolate together- I was in heaven. At $8 each, they were a great deal. The restaurant was an excellent choice and we appreciated our daughter introducing it to us.
We crossed the street to yet another entrance to the Gallery Place Metro station at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We had a bit of a wait, as it is Sunday. Our daughter decided not to ride with us, even though the train was going out of service at our stop. She would wait there for the next one going on to her stop.
It was a good day!
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