Day 38 – Parliament & A Piano Man

Blog By – Kate
From - Baltimore (PA)
To – Washington (DC) via Delaware
Miles Driven – 56 Miles

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611154525289/

Standing on the steps on the pristine white Lincoln Memorial looking over the reflective pool towards the towering Washington Monument today I had a bit of a moment. It was the same feeling Id had at Niagara Falls and to a lesser extent a number of other times on the trip so far. I felt truly privileged to be standing there taking in something so iconic. Grant gets a bit frustrated by these moments as I go a bit glassy eyed and kiss him feeling glad we are getting to do this together. Luckily for Grant these moments don’t last very long because I start to question myself. Am I having this moment because I’m in awe of Lincoln or perhaps its being so close to where Martin Luther King stood during his most famous speech? Could it be that I can see Capitol Hill in the distance and I’ve loved the Houses of Parliament in London ever since a primary school trip there. It could be all of those reasons but a little part of me suspects that Im excited because of the Forest Gump scene and Simpsons episode that were set here. Whatever the reason (for the record Im going to go with all of the above) today was special and as first impressions of a town go Washington rocks.

We splurged on our hotel and so its pretty special. Tonight we will be sleeping just steps away from the White House. The house is kind of amazing to see especially as a US Air forces helicopter landed in the back garden while we were there which we decided to believe had the President in it. Earlier we’d seen group of cars with blacked out windows and more than 5 security guards and so we’d assumed it was the President driving past then too so maybe we are just a bit optimistic but lets pretend for my benefit that Grant and I have been within 500 feet of GW himself today. If it turns out he is in Africa this week please don’t tell us.

Georgetown is also right on our doorstep, its an upmarket part of town with lively bars, busy restaurants and cute shops. We headed there for dinner at Martins Tavern where the food was pretty average but the odd couple on the table next to us talking ridiculously loudly kept us entertained. We didn’t get it all despite them practically shouting in our ears but the general gist of their conversation was that there is something he has to tell her that she isn’t going to like about what he has been doing to deal with all of the stress. It was all pretty fascinating and if their night doesn’t end in divorce then denial is a river in Washington.

After dinner we headed to Mr Smiths self titled the friendliest bar in town. Adams girlfriend Katie recommended the bar to us and I have to say its one of the best recommendations we’ve ever had. Grant summed it up with “this is the best night out we’ve ever had in America”.
I want to set the scene for you. Picture walking up to the door which someone opens for you and asks if you want to sit at the bar or in the restaurant. There is no space at the bar so you sit at the piano bar which is unsurprisingly a small group of seats around a piano – facing the piano player if there was one. On your right is a hammered woman with her friends, she (Carrie) is in her late thirties or early forties and is hugging anyone she can saying its my birthday. On your left is a clearly socially awkward man reading a paper and a man as hammered as Carrie but about 40 years older. The other two seats are taken up by a young couple. Behind you there is a group of lads and the bar is filling up gradually with a very merry group of mixed ages. Along comes the Piano man with his list of songs and a tip jar, the bar maid walks passed and then begins two hours of pure entertainment.

Ive only been to a couple of piano bars before but generally my experience has been that the piano is either ignored or politely tolerated. The Piano man in this place (Jon) is different, he is part musician and part comedian. Jon starts playing to the audience and a few people namely Carrie and her friends start singing along. Hmmmm maybe this one will be a little more interactive than the others that Ive been too. The first indication that this wasnt going to be like any of the ones Ive been to was when Jon started playing Total eclipse of the heart and the four big lads behind us walked over excited hand on hearts and started to sing their lungs out. Grant and I are half singing half laughing at their excitement. Then Jon reveals he has a second Mike and will be inviting singers up.

Fast forward an hour and you feel like you know half of the bar because of the stories our piano man is spinning about them like Veronica the cradle robber and her young man Louis and even Barry the socially awkward guy is grinning. People are throwing requests in the jar, screaming for their songs. We know some of the words to some of the songs like 25% which everyone else in the bar knows by heart. Being in a prime seat with a thick crowd behind us and not knowing the words Im starting to feel distinctively British and shyness is creeping upon me. Grant on the other hand is swaying in time to the music with Carrie belting out words to songs he has never heard of and dying to hear one he does know so that he can grab the mike. With the whole bar singing along its pretty infectious and before I know it we have to leave to stop Molly from peeing in our posh hotel room so we get out of our seats which are filled immediately by excited singers and we head home singing “Sing me a song piano man”. I’m not sure it’s something you can really picture if you haven’t been so my advice is that you go – look out for Mr Smiths, Georgetown Washington. Thanks Katie

Tomorrow we will be being culture vultures and hitting up some museums.