Tripping DC fantastic

Let me get this out of the way first, because the people whom it concerns probably won't read all the way down this entry: time is dwindling on the 2007 BigFlax.com NCAA Tournament Challenge. We are now just ten days from tipoff, and that means it's ten days until things lock up. I hope my ultimatum on that front isn't what has kept people from signing up. Confirmed participants (for now; * means paid):

Me*
Tyler*
Drew
Dad
NJ Dave
Ryan

Which means we're missing all sorts of previous entrants: 2006 champ Stan, 2005 champ Craig, 2003 champ Nemo; James D, James Q, Jan, Rudnik, Justin, NU Dave, Rich, Rob R, and many others (although besides the ones listed and a couple who aren't likely ever to read this, I don't think most of the others - most of them WNUR Sports people - are likely to be back anyway). Surely the interest can't be as low as six - I'd really like to get at least to ten, although 17 is the optimal minimum (since it means a guaranteed prize for first, second, and last places). So if you're one of those people, or even if you're not, and you want in, comment below or shoot an e-mail to bigflax (at) gmail (dot) com.

Now then.

Over the last few days Alma and I were in Washington, DC (and environs). Alma was there on business; I was along for the ride and to see the family. On Thursday I got to see Alma present her paper on the characteristics of help-seeking youth (both street youth and non-street youth) which she had spent the last six months or so alternately working on and fretting about. As everywhere else, it was well-received, and she displayed a lot of composure in front of a large group of people working in the field. Good job, baby!

Thursday night we had dinner at Raku in Bethesda with Marian and Sam. I had sushi for the first time in a while - though sushi can be very good, there was a period a couple months ago or so where I ate too much of it in too short a period of time and just got kind of sick of it. (It's not exactly a turkey and provolone sub with extra vinegar, which you could eat every day.) I opted for a crunchy unagi roll, the "What a Match" roll, and the special Tasmanian ocean trout nigiri (as usual, I enjoy ordering things with fun names). The unagi roll was great, as unagi rolls tend to be. The "What a Match" roll was interesting; the "match" in question was mackerel, scallions, ginger, and apple. Sounds like it would be weird, but the light sweetness, with a little tartness, of the apple worked surprisingly well. "What a match!" is overstating it, but it wasn't bad at all. The ocean trout was fine, although I had to peel it from the rice to avoid getting a mouthful of wasabi. I swear the first couple times I had sushi there was never wasabi hidden between the fish and the rice in the nigiri, and now it's there every time. What's the point? If you don't want to taste fish you shouldn't be at a sushi place.

Oh, I almost forgot. On Wednesday night we got to the hotel late, only to discover that they had overbooked. We were shunted to the Sheraton, which wouldn't have been that big a deal except that (a) Alma's symposium was in the original hotel and (b) she now had to get back there during morning rush hour. To show they were sorry the hotel sent up wine, cheese, and fruit on Thursday, and then more fruit and bottled water (which sounds cheap until you realize it's $3.75 a bottle in the room) on Friday. The wine was a Riesling ice wine from Germany (making it eiswein), and combined with the cheeses it left me feeling exceedingly good. Most ice wines appear to sell by the half bottle, which I can understand - after (finally) getting the cork out, I probably downed the whole thing (save for the third of a glass that Alma drank, about her limit) in about 20 minutes. If there's such a thing as too drinkable, this was that. Fortunately I never got behind the wheel of a car in DC.

Friday Alma was at the symposium all day, so I slept in and then took the train up to Silver Spring to get some Mega Millions tickets, which I had forgotten to do when in Maryland on Thursday. I didn't win, of course. I also stopped by a Blimpie while up there for a little nostalgia. Sadly, the lettuce and onions they use now (or at this location, anyway) much more closely match those used by Subway, but the bread was distinctly Blimpie. It was all right but nothing special.

I had a weird experience getting back on the Metro; when I put my farecard in, a totally different card - an unused one-week short-trip pass - popped out. I didn't really think about it, which ended up necessitating a long conversation with the station attendant at Judiciary Square. He eventually let me walk out with the pass, which might have been a good deal if I had been planning to do a lot of sight-seeing, but then I wasn't. In fact, I didn't ride the Metro again for the rest of the trip.

Friday night we took a cab out to Flying Fish in Alexandria to meet up with Megan, a friend of Alma's from college and from an online community of which they are both part. Megan's friend Jamina was also present, and let me tell you, if you can finagle your way into a dinner date with three beautiful women, you really owe it to yourself to do it. Conversation was lively, reaching a high point when it was discovered that Jamina was not only from the same city as one of our friends (Craig), but that she had been in the AP class that he student-taught while in college. Small, small world. Jamina, Megan and I polished off a bottle of 2005 Firestone Riesling with dinner (toasted-rice-crusted escolar tuna for me, and I ate a few maguro rolls off the enormous sushi plate that the women ordered; I had no plans to order sushi straight up for myself after having it the previous night), and then preceded dessert by consuming a sake bomb each, yet another first for me. (In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's like a Japanese "car bomb" - a shot of sake is balanced on chopsticks over a glass of beer. When you hit the table, the shot drops into the glass and you drink it quickly.) I was worried I wouldn't be able to get down that much beer but it only ended up being about a third of a mug of Kirin, and then I drank it quickly enough that I didn't really notice. That sort of thing, I think, is more about the experience than the taste anyway, and it was fun, as was the whole night. I do think that I had probably ended up a little on the "getting drunk" side of the line by the end of the night, as I started discussing loudly how I had owned a fish that looked exactly like the one in the tank behind us (this was true, it was a blue gourami and I had one named Toronto who may have been my favorite fish ever) and then declaring, "Those clown loaches are enormous!" (They were.) Alma asked Chris, the funny, super-patient waiter, "You're hearing the same conversation I am, right?"

Saturday we headed up to Chevy Chase to see my family. Alma got to meet the Flaxniece, Aurora, who added a major piece to her cuteness arsenal by learning how to walk shortly before we got there. The whole family plus Alma went for tapas in the mid-afternoon, and then Alma and I went with Marian and Sam for sandwiches and ice cream at 9:00 that night. It was kind of like being in college again, with the "late night" food run, and it was good fun. The heartburn from eating too much was not quite as good, reminding me quite heavily that I'm not in college anymore, but let's not let that detract from the overall experience. It was, of course, great to see everyone; my parents were gracious hosts as always and everyone had a good time. I get to go back to Washington in April, but I won't have as much time to spend with them then, so it's good that I was able to get some now.

Alma, Megan, Jamina, Mom, Dad, Marian, Sam, Aurora, Chris the awesome waiter from Flying Fish - thanks for a great trip, everyone!