Exploring Eastern Market

K- Sunday seemed the perfect day to walk around as it was a nice day and cooler than it had been the last few weeks so I decided to explore Eastern Market. It had been awhile since I had been there and I wanted to check out the produce and craft items.

Before I hit the Market I wandered through the flea market, which is every Sunday. There were some interesting items however I found much of it on the expensive side – well, at least for me! For example, there were old Mason jars with lids that started around $3 and went up depending on size and if it had a lid. Stands at the market included clothing, jewelry, copper pots and crafted mirrors.

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After the flea market I walked among the food and craft booths outside. Much of the produce was reasonably priced and looked delicious. Some of the people at the stands had samples of their tomatoes, peaches, and other fruits and vegetables as well as salsas and sauces. I tried a habanero sauce that was tasty and had a nice little kick to it.

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Inside the building, which according to Wikipedia was designed by Adolf Cluss and was in continuous operation as a public market from 1873 until April 30, 2007 – when the fire occured – I found more delicious food items including cakes, salads and cheese in addition to beautiful bouquets of flowers.

If you have a chance to walk over to the Eastern Market you can easily spend a few hours there and that’s not stopping to have breakfast or lunch at any of the stands or nearby restaurants. You can also get your grocery shopping done as there is everything there for a nice dinner such as poultry, beef, pork, fish, vegetables, fresh pasta, cheeses, baked goods, and whatever else you can think of… and you could set the table with a nice bouquet to boot!

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Hours of Operation

Tuesday to Friday – 7am – 7pm
Saturday –  7am – 6pm
Sunday –  9am – 5pm
Monday – CLOSED

 225 Seventh Street, SE    Washington, DC  20003

 

Quick trip – NYC

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K- This past weekend I went to NYC. The Big Apple is an easy trip from DC. There are various ways you can get there but the two most popular are train or bus. I’ve taken a bus to NYC for a day trip. There are many buses you can take with various price points such as Bolt, DC2NY, MegaBus, and Vamoose. It’s okay, for me it’s a lot of time on the road for a quick trip to the city, but I’ll do it. My preferred method of transportation is the Acela – specifically the “Quiet Car.”  I love the “Quiet Car” because it’s just that – quiet. No one talking on their cell phone, chatting loudly, and no kids running up and down the aisle and screaming. It’s a nice few hours where you can nap, read, listen to music with headphones, surf the ‘net on WiFi, etc.

The Acela stops at Penn Station – which was a few blocks walk to The Carlton Autograph – where I was staying at. I prefer walking to taking a cab for many reasons, one being that with traffic in NYC, sometimes it’s quicker just to walk.

While in New York I walked in Central Park, which is amazingly clean and green. Visited the Guggenheim and the MoMa. I have to say I was very disappointed in the collection that was being shown at the Guggenheim. The collection was a bit too “avant garde” for my taste – kind of like a big red “o” painted on a white canvas kind of art. Just not my thing. However the MoMa was fantastic. I loved looking at the Picassos, Rousseaus, Klees, Miro,  and Monets among the other artists that were represented there. Also walked around Chelsea, Greenwich Village and SoHo.

Went to a couple of great restaurants. Lupa, which is an Italian restaurant that serves very simple, delicious, food. I had some pea agnolotti that couldn’t have tasted any fresher and the Fried Lupa Baccala that although it was fried – I am so not a fried-food person but thought I would try it – it wasn’t oily in the least and very good. For dessert I had the Lupa tartuffo, that was a chocolate deliciousness. I also tried the Apician Spiced Dates & Mascarpone with my glass of red wine and that too was delightful.

The other restaurant Cuba was of course, Cuban. Instead of an entree, dinner consisted of a bunch of appetizers. The Empanadas Habeneras with spinach and manchego, Calamares Tamarindo, and Ceviche Mixto were wonderful – I wish I would have ordered more of them rather than the Camarones al Ajillo and Croquetas de Jamon Serrano – that I don’t recall seeing any jamon in. The shrimp and croquetas were not very impressive and I wouldn’t have missed them. In addition, the mojitos were great, not too sweet and just the right amount of everything. They also had a couple of musicians playing guitars, which added to the cozy atmosphere.  Both places are tight on the real estate especially on the weekends, where you definitely need to reserve a table as soon as possible. But, they are well worth it.

Heading back to Penn Station to return to DC, I had to stop at my favorite bagel place “Murray’s” to grab a bagel for the trip. Can’t wait to go back!

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