Classic & Adventurous
NP Roadtrip – Days 97 – 101 – Pennsylvania – Virginia – Washington D.C.
The night before we left Ohio, I asked G an important question that ended up impacting our driving route the next day, but also impacted some of the places we will visit on the rest of this adventure. I simply asked, “Where is Fallingwater?” After taking a quick look at the map, we altered our path at the last minute to include one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most iconic masterpieces. It was really only 45 minutes extra drive time, so not a huge deal. But first, we had to stop at Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh. And not just any of their locations, I wanted to go to the original down on 18th Street in the Strip District. Primanti Bros. was on the original list (The List) that I gave G 3 months before we embarked on our trip. I have always seen it on TV and needed to see if it was as good as everyone says it is. We parked (somewhat illegally) across two spaces down the street from the restaurant. G suggested we get to-go, but I was determined to have the FULL experience. We sat down, were served quickly, and examined our sandwich order. I ordered the “Cap & Cheese” or Capicola and Cheese for those needing further explanation. G ordered the Cajun Chicken Breast Sandwich. Both come with a huge handful of fries smooshed between all the fixin’s. Adding fries on the sandwich is the signature style of Primanti Bros. The verdict: I don’t like fries on my sandwich, but I loved the Cap & Cheese. Great flavor, not too much meat or cheese (which is the death of most sandwiches for me) and cheap. Our two sandwiches totaled a little over $14. I would definitely say it’s a must stop in Pittsburgh.
Next, we navigated out of Pittsburgh and headed toward Mill Run, PA, where Fallingwater is located. I have always loved architecture. I am not a student of architecture, nor do I claim to know styles, architects, and/or materials. I know what I like, though, and Fallingwater has always been one of those places I wanted to see in person. I’ve been to Taliesin West outside of Phoenix, which was amazing. I have also been to a handful of other homes, but Fallingwater is one of the most famous I’ve had the pleasure of touring. The setting is pristine, surrounded by lush greenery and huge mature trees. A winding driveway takes you to a parking lot, where the RV parking is closer than the regular parking! Wow! They have an architecturally striking visitor center complex, complete with a café and shop. We signed in (having purchased a tour time already online) and waited for the tour to begin. It takes an hour to do the tour. They are very strict, allowing no photography during the tour at all, so if you want to see it, look online. The home is breathtaking. It rendered me absolutely speechless as it came into view. The views of the water and surrounding forest from every room, the way Mr. Wright incorporated the waterfall into the structure of the house, and how you can open the windows to let in the fresh air from outside while also being able to hear the water and experience nature around you. It was such a fantastic home, I would encourage anyone to go see it. Even if you don’t appreciate architecture, the home itself and the property are out of this world and we are very lucky to have been able to go there.
After spending about 2 hours at Fallingwater, we continued on our whirlwind, 5 state driving day, ultimately ending in Virginia. And I must note that while we tried to eat in West Virginia, the only thing that was available was fast food, so we opted to eat at Bella Luna Wood-Fired Pizza in the adorable town of Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was POURING rain by that point, the wait to eat was at least 45 minutes, but we didn’t care. We were hungry and we didn’t want to walk through the rain to go somewhere else. While we were waiting for our table, G got to chatting up a nice tall gentleman about our trip and who knows what else. Unbeknownst to G, it ended up being the owner, who had the hostess seat us right away. While he didn’t have to do that, it was a really nice gesture and a customer service experience I will not soon forget. If you’re in Harrisonburg, go to this spot. Awesome food, service, setting, etc. Fantastic in every way. We braved the rain to drive the 50 more minutes to our campground at Misty Mountain Camp Resort. It was so wet outside and we were so tired, I don’t even think we put the stabilizers down.
The following morning, at the suggestion of someone we met on the road, we arranged to take a guided tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home. On the way there, we stopped for breakfast in Charlottesville at Ace Biscuit and Barbecue. We ordered a few biscuit sandwiches and ate them in their cute and tiny restaurant. At Ace, someone told us that Charlottesville is considered the “Portland of Virginia”. These “Portland” type cities are seemingly popping up all over the place (this is not the first time we’ve heard this). Pretty soon, the entire United States are going to be the place where young people go to retire, have an organic coffee shop/brewery/natural winery on every corner, have neighborhood poetry boxes, wishing trees and free boxes, and offer hip fast food for every known food allergy that exists. Well done! Not to make fun of Portland. We CHOOSE to live there. And we LOVE it. But perhaps, instead of calling themselves the “Portland of…”, maybe they should take pride in the diverse direction these respective towns are moving toward and give themselves more credit than just being like another town. Next, Portland is going to be the Charlottesville of Oregon. Mark. My. Words.
The Monticello grounds are expansive, including the visitor center and store at the bottom of the hill. A quick shuttle takes you to the top where tour groups are brought into the home every 10 minutes. While you wait for your tour to start, though, you can walk around the grounds, gardens, slave quarters, and the area below the home that used to keep the important supplies for the home, i.e. the liquor. The tour guides impart a great deal of information about all the details in the home, the artwork, Thomas Jefferson himself, and the life he led at Monticello. It really was a great tour. Afterward, we walked one more time around the grounds and admired the blooming peonies, roses, etc., though we needed to get on the road before noon so we could see Shenandoah Valley during the daytime and aim to get to our campground outside of Washington D.C. at a decent hour.
The Blue Ridge Parkway, that we drove in the Smokies in North Carolina, goes all the way to the South end of Shenandoah Valley National Park in Virginia. The same road then continues through the park, under the name “Skyline Drive”. In the park, we stopped at multiple turnouts, visitor centers, and campgrounds along this drive, in all taking about 6 hours to drive the 105 mile road. Highlights included the sweeping views at the Byrd Visitor Center, the beautiful lodge and overlook at Skylands, and our roadside turnout lunch spot which I don’t recall the name of. Though, the last 40 miles, or so, were probably the some of the scariest of the past 4 months! Buckets of rain pouring out of the sky and dumping on the windshield like a strong waterfall mixed with periods of relative sereneness and sun and rainbows. Wacky, wacky weather. I’m glad we made it out of there while it was still light outside, though G was pooped after all the tense driving. We made it to Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland around 9:30 pm, got into our site quickly, and called it a night.
Cherry Hill Park is about 5 minutes from the College Park Metro Station. You can park your car in the Park and Ride parking garage for free on the weekends and $5 during the week. Taking the metro into DC is far easier than trying to navigate the roads around there, no matter how awesome your navigation system is. We set out into the wilds of D.C. with a plan of attack: Museums and Galleries on Day One and Memorials and Historic Sites on Day Two. The first day we toured the National Archives, the National American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Castle, National Air & Space Museum, and also walked around and up the steps of the Capital Building. We had written our representative weeks in advance and as soon as we knew the dates we would be in D.C., but no more tickets were available to do the Capital and/or White House tour. Our favorite stop of the day, by far, was the National American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, as well as the National Archives. So amazing to see these things in person. After a long day of walking, we walked some more over to the Eastern market and went into an old little tavern called Boxcar Tavern to cap off the early evening before taking the train back home to cook dinner at the trailer. It happened to be the day of the Kentucky Derby and the manager at Boxcar was from Kentucky. For those who wanted to participate at a $1 buy-in, you would be handed a piece of paper with a horse’s name. If you had the winning horse, you won the pot. I pulled McCraken, which was one of the favorites, but as we all know, the winner of the most exciting 2 minutes in sports was Always Dreaming, so both G and I went home empty-handed.
The next day was our memorials and historic sites day. We skipped breakfast in hopes we would find some awesome crab cakes downtown for lunch. We started off at Ford’s Theatre and were starving by the time we got out of the hour-long tour (and 20 minute wait to get in). On a recommendation from our server at Boxcar last night, we headed to Old Ebbitt’s Grill. As expected, the wait was about an hour long, but last night were told to head to one of the bars that not a whole lot of people know about. They serve the full menu, and it’s a great way to eat a quick meal and get back out on the street to explore the city. The crab cakes were yummy, and we also shared some oysters and a salad. It’s the kind of place that deals are made and alliances broken. It’s an institution. And it was a fantastic recommendation!
After lunch, we walked over to the White House and the then went over to the Renwick Gallery across the street. G had never been to D.C., and I personally had the most amazing memories from my own family trip to D.C. in the mid 90s. We got to go on a tour of the White House and see the inside of Congress. It was amazing. All of it. Our visit this time around was a little more somber. More real. More sobering.
The Renwick Gallery was as refreshing as a cool breeze in the thick of summer. It is located in a beautiful brick building and has a central staircase leading up to several galleries surrounding an enormous light fixture. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because I hadn’t looked at any of the exhibits online or done any research at all, really. Our neighbor recommended we go, so we did. The works of art in this museum are wonderful. My kind of place. The artwork ranges from small pieces of jewelry in glass cases to one gigantic room filled with a woven sculpture by Janet Echelman that represents the map of energy given off in the Pacific Ocean during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. There was a 3D printed copy of the Greek Slave. A grandfather clock draped in a cream cloth, made entirely of clay. A fast food paper bag, transformed into a tiny tree “art box”. Crystal brass knuckles. A light fixture from someone we ALMOST bought a chandelier from in Portland. Unbelievable, right? I could probably have stayed there all day, but the memorials called our name, so we ventured on.
We walked the National Mall to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. Isn’t it amazing to see the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial in person? You see them all the time on TV, but nothing can prepare you for their size and presence. I saw these when I was in D.C. over 20 years ago, but they are still just as impressive, no matter how many times you’ve seen them. G said we could venture around a little bit more, if I wanted, but I called it quits. No more. We had walked a total of 19 miles in 2 days and I was pooped. It was our 100th day on the road, and I had wanted to celebrate by going to Rose’s Luxury for dinner. Our friend recommended it, and a Yelp check confirmed that THIS WAS THE PLACE! We took the metro over to the Capital Hill area and walked over to the restaurant excitedly. This is the only place that would befit such an auspicious occasion. Nothing could stop us…except that it was closed on Sundays. Cue the sad music, the exhaustive expressions on the both of us, and the realization that we would have to find somewhere else to eat. Too much whining? Ok. We moved on. No big deal. We walked over to Hanks on the Hill and had an ok meal with terrible service. C’est la vie.
Our last full day in D.C. was spent doing laundry, mailing packages home, and generally organizing things in the trailer in the morning. We grabbed a bite for lunch at a sandwich shop and took the train into D.C. one last time. We went to the Hirshhorn Museum first, because the other two days we were in the city, it had closed early. There was a very popular exhibit there by Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrors. We would have loved to go see her exhibit, but all the tickets had been distributed for the day. The only way you could go see it was to join the museum as a member! And at $250 for the least expensive membership, that was never going to happen. But we did enjoy the rest of the museum, although liked the Renwick Gallery much more.
After the Hirshorn, we took the metro over to the Spy Museum. We had avoided it the first day, even though we were across the street, namely because it’s one of the only museums that cost money to go in, but it was a zoo on Saturday. However, we had a recommendation to see it, so we went. Overall, I didn’t love it. There are a lot of interactive things and cool spy gear, but there was so many people there, you couldn’t do a lot of the more interactive stuff. I can’t even imagine how busy it would have been had we gone on Saturday. Ugh. Plus, I think we were museum-d out. We were “over it”. So we did what any normal person would do when they were “over it”, we walked over to the Dirty Habit at the Hotel Monoco and had a fancy cocktail while figuring out where to go for our make-up “100 days on the road” dinner. Honestly, we had planned on eating back at the trailer, but a nice dinner sounded more intriguing and we were able to snag a table at Jaleo DC. We decided to do it up and order Jose’s Way, a tasting menu of the chef’s favorites, both classic and adventurous. What a perfect way to end our trip to the nation’s capital, and also works as a fitting description for our 4 days in D.C., “Classic and Adventurous”.
