continued… We hailed another ride share to take us to a restaurant called Old Ebbitt Grill, located directly across the street from the US Treasury. Eric was dismayed to see the ride share app showed it would take 20-minutes and cost $28 to take us the two miles. Per the Map app, the bus would take 45-minutes and there was no Metro stop nearby. We debated about walking, but it was 80-degrees and humid, which would make it an uncomfortable walk. And we were hungry… we decided to pay the money.

Our ride share driver said that traffic like this was normal on the weekends. The bright side of being stuck in slow moving traffic was that we were able to take in the city. Since there was no place for him to safely pull over near the restaurant, he dropped us off a block away, on the Treasury building side of the street. The Treasury building:

The building that Old Ebbitt was in used to be a theater called B.F. Keith’s. It opened in 1912 and had a six-story-high auditorium with 1,850 red leather seats, walls covered in red silk, and a stage curtain that was ruby red with gold fringe. The lobby walls were marble.It started as a vaudeville theater, and in 1928 started showing motion pictures, too. We’re not sure when the vaudeville acts faded away, but it stayed a movie theater until 1978. Since the building was a national landmark, the exterior was kept intact and the entire inside gutted and renovated.

Old Ebbitt Grill was founded in 1856 and is self-described as DC’s oldest, most historic saloon. According to legend, William Ebbitt ran a prestigious boarding house in DC. Allegedly, President McKinley lived there while he was a congressman. Many other famous statesmen, naval and military heroes were guests of the house. Old Ebbitt became Washington’s first known saloon. Presidents Grant, Andrew Johnson, Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt, and Harding all were allegedly bar patrons. As the years passed, Old Ebbitt moved to a number of new locations. By 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill had fallen on hard times. An auction was held to satisfy a federal tax claim. Clyde’s of Georgetown bought it. In 1983, the Old Ebbitt Grill was uprooted one last time when it moved around the corner to its current location in the old theater.

The restaurant had several rooms. Most had walls made of dark wood and Victorian decor, which was popular for upscale saloons at the turn of the 20th century. 

However, one large room in the back was more modern, with white walls and light maple accents.

Every room had a prominent bar, some were replicas of bars in previous iterations of the saloon. The decor was a bit eclectic, ranging from gas lamps and fancy chandeliers to etched glass to animal trophies. There were a lot of paintings and many of them were… interesting. The sign said most of the art and other decor was “a priceless collection of antiques and memorabilia.”

The food was incredible. Eric and Keith have gotten really into mocktails. Up until today, the best mocktail they’d ever had was at Dog Street Pub in Colonial Williamsburg. They couldn’t remember what was in it, but what made it special was it had a whipped egg white on top. When they saw the Tortoni Sour on the menu here, which was basically a non-alcoholic amaretto sour with egg white on top, they ordered it. While it was definitely not the same drink that they’d had in Williamsburg, it was just as good.

Eric had ordered deviled eggs that were topped with fried oysters and a pretzel as appetizers. For his main, he’d ordered the Oktoberfest platter, which had tender beer sausage, potato salad and yummy sauerkraut. Keith ordered the chicken and waffles. All the food was great, but the sauces were what took the food over the top. The pretzel came with two sauces, a bacon-beer-cheese and a a mustard that he thinks may have had horseradish in it, too. The maple syrup had a smoky flavor.

After eating such a huge meal, we decided it was best to walk back to The Wharf. The Treasury building was on the eastern edge of the National Mall, and we took a walking trail on the southern side of Treasury that led past the White House. We were disappointed that we couldn’t see much of the White House up close.

From the White House, we walked south along the grass towards the Washington Monument.

Ironically, the farther away we got from the White House, the easier it was to see!

From the Washington Monument, we took a different route back than we had last time. We walked southeast to 15th SW street, which eventually merged into the road that led to The Wharf. We passed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and made a mental note to find out if they offered tours.

There were several large construction projects on the road to The Wharf.

At the east end of The Wharf, we passed a marina for small boats.

Next to it was a fresh seafood market. We hadn’t realized there was a seafood market here!

We passed a few buildings that we hadn’t seen before. We believe the tall building at the right was the building The Grill was in, so beyond the tall building, the scenery was familiar.

There was a concert happening at the outdoor arena that was near Shake Shack. Several people were dawdling outside the venue, enjoying the show.

In the evening, Eric and Keith played D & D with Blue Heeler in the Yacht Club. It was a colorful twilight.