November 15, 2010

forget all your cares and go downtown

last week i was in a four-day training course for work, which was... well, not nearly as painful as it could have been, all things considered. i was actually geekily excited for it, because it was held in downtown D.C., which meant i'd get to take the metro to work every day.

i realize that for those who take public transportation every day, it should read more like "i'd "get" to take metro," but when you live right next to the metro - no exaggeration, my window looks directly at the park & ride, and it's literally less than 500 feet from my room to the metro platform - it's pretty lame to have to instead get in my car every morning and drive 20 miles out into the boonies.

so for me, this meant not only getting to use the metro and READ on my commute every day (hooray for new kindles!), it also meant i would be downtown during the magical happy hour time to which i am so often invited yet can never make it, thanks to working in the opposite direction and thus being unable to get back to the city before happy hour is over.

you guys. happy hour in dc is AWESOME. $5 specialty martinis at DC Coast?! yes, please.

i also got to take advantage of an offer of free caps tickets since i was already downtown, and MAN was that fun. it's only the second hockey game i'd been to, and the seats were QUITE an improvement over the last time i was watching hockey in the verizon center.

and man, caps fans are FUN. the arena was pretty much a solid wall of red - check out the picture below, which for unexplained reasons came out weird and extra-poor quality, despite being taken by the same phone as the other pictures. plus, every time the caps score, the entire stadium chants in unison and points at the visiting goalie, which i imagine must be pretty demoralizing.
to sum up: anyone know of any job openings downtown? because DC happy hours aren't going to drink themselves.

14 comments:

  1. WHAT?!? I work right next to DC Coast, how come I didn't know about this?!? Please get a job over here, and let's go for a (or two or three) martini..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mm, DC Coast. That place is excellent! Though I've never had one of their martinis.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, D.C., I miss you. Yes, even you, WMATA.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I also work in the opposite direction from downtown, and it is kind of lame. No fun lunch places, everything is too far away, and there are NO good happy hour places. I feel your pain!

    ReplyDelete
  5. One day - ONE DAY - I will make it to DC and we will drink ALL THE HAPPY HOURS. All of them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's great being downtown but the commute will wear on you over time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Been commuting into downtown Vancouver for a month now. Getting a little tired of all the people I have to share VERY CLOSE QUARTERS with, but it gives me time to do 3 sudokus and 5 crosswords a day...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm kind of jealous by the people who work (and live) in the city. I'd love to have access to all that excitement on a regular basis instead of just once in a blue moon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This post leaves me torn between the awesomeness of all that a big city offers -- museums! happy hour! people! -- and love of my quiet live in the exurbs. (Yes, I live that far out of the city -- but next time you are visiting wineries, let me know!)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Still jealous of your great seats... but I'll have great tix for the Pens game on Friday night, 3 rows off the ice!! Good to see you at GB.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I went to my first hockey game ever last year and *loved* it - even though our seats were super high up.

    And I know what you mean about "getting" to take the metro - sometimes it's nice to zone out the commute. Not so easy (or safe) in the car.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm making sure Hillary keeps her word regarding what she said here. She needs to come to DC already!!!

    I've only ever been to one Caps game, and if I ever do again, I will make sure to take extra clothing because holy majoles I was cold!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I used to go to Caps games all the time -- it's really weird not being there for hockey season! I'm so glad you had fun, although it would be pretty hard not to with all the red and enthusiasm!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I do love going to hockey games! What are you reading these days on your Kindle??

    ReplyDelete