Leopold’s Kafe (Cady’s Alley on M St):
Leopold’s is a delicious, authentic Austrian/German café in a beautiful, romantic, sunny courtyard. It’s right off M St, so it’s conveniently located to anything else you guys might want to do there afterwards (walking around, shopping, etc). Anyway, they have really fun cocktails and a great selection of Austrian/German wines and beers, with a varied and authentic menu (http://www.kafeleopolds.com/).
Clyde’s (M St):
This place is one of my favorite brunch places in DC so far. The bloody marys are excellent, and when I went, we ordered a cheese plate with this wonderful strawberry coulis. They also have great crab dishes.
Daytime/cocktail hour activities
Fridays: Jazz and sangria on the mall:
Really fun, lined with people sitting on picnic blankets, listening to jazz and socializing (see pics below, I’m a nerd). It’s in the sculpture garden, and it’s a really mixed crowd with families, groups of friends, couples, etc. One bit of advice though—the sangria line can be really long, so it’s less stressful (and maybe more economical) to bring your own wine and cheese or whatever other snacks you’d want.
Mon-Fri: Free wine tasting at Vidalia:
The southern cuisine restaurant offers a free wine tasting from 5:30 to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday, w/ complementary hors d’oeuvres. This might be fun to do the Monday she’s here. (btw this site has a list of some other free things to do in Washington, if you want to take a look: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/artsfun/afterhours/6845.html)
Kayaking on the waterfront:
I haven’t done this but really want to—it’s $8 I think, and not that big of an ordeal, but fun and different.
Nightlife
Lounges
Skye Lounge:
I’ve heard great things about it, and from looking at the website, I really want to check it out! http://skyedc.com/about/
18th Street Lounge:
I was actually supposed to go there last night, but our guy friends were turned away b/c they were violating the ‘no shorts allowed’ dress code. Either way, it sounded fun, but definitely more of a “scene” than a casual, laid back place. http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/washington-dc/18th-st-lounge-washington-dc.htm
Here’s a clipping from Modern Luxury DC’s pick of the top summer lounges, to add to the list:
And this website http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/washington-dc/chi-cha-lounge-washington-dc.htm seems to have a list of other sweet lounges—U Street’s Chi Cha, with its Latino theme and hookah, definitely seems different!
Jazz
Here’s a link to a list of jazz places in DC—click on the name of a bar/restaurant and you’ll go directly to their website. Places on U St that I’ve seen are the most authentic, but also slightly dingy. http://www.dcjazz.com/jazzscene/index.cfm
If you end up not going to a jazz club one night, Chef Geoff’s has a Sunday brunch with live jazz, which definitely sounds kind of fun!
Salsa dancing
A really fun thing to do on a date! Here’s a list of places to salsa dance.
Festivals/Museums/Other fun stuff
Screen on the Green (Movies on the Mall):
Weekly outdoor movies on the mall, that just so happens to start this Monday! Cute, fun, summery thing to do. http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/Screengreen.htm
Smithsonian events:
There’s actually a wide variety of fun things going on this weekend, and the Smithsonian’s website makes it really easy to browse through upcoming events. Highlights include screenings of films from Hong Kong (http://www.asia.si.edu/events/index.asp?year=2008&month=7&day=13 ), and even creating your own chalk art. The following website offers in detail, events occurring at basically every hour of every day. Hopefully, you can find something appealing from this list: http://www.si.edu/events/all.asp
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