View of the Old Post Office Tower from the BBQ Festival.
June 25, 2011 – As usual the we took the metro into DC. In a departure from routine, we went to a BBQ festival. While we like the ones out west better, and this one had an entrance fee, that money went to charity (boys and girls clubs in DC) so that was good at least. It was very crowded, though, warm and the crowd was fenced in (to ensure everyone paid the entrance fee).
We used our advanced Photoshop skills to edit out the fence... Or we just took the photo through it.
Post-festival was a stroll by the White House walk. The second departure from the norm was a protest in support of Libyan rebels. It was mostly men, as well as a few small boys whose fathers were some of the leaders. The women were in various headscarves; one late 30 something was participating on the fringes, shouting along with the men. The other women were in more brightly colored clothes, and had their own separate, quieter, circle next to the main one.
The Friendship Arch is one of the prominent sights in Chinatown.
We slowly wandered by the protestors on our way to Caribou coffee. By the time we finished our treats the protest circle had grown. We skirted around them and walked on over to Chinatown. Gotta love the Starbucks and other American signs written in both English and Chinese.
This peacock put on an impressive display.
Next up was a metro ride over to the Zoo. The buildings were going to be closing soon so we focused on the indoor bird house and outdoor aviary. Watching the male peacocks displaying their feathers was one of the highlights. We closed down the aviary, so by then it was getting on towards dinner time. Of course we still had a bit of a trek to get to our dinner location, so we got fro-yo at FroZen Yo (vanilla, chocolate and cheesecake yogurt, with sprinkles, huckleberries and white cake). The yogurt was very tasty; Louisa preferred the vanilla and chocolate, while Tony liked the cheesecake. The white cake is a great topping, too – if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and create your own concoction. 
After enjoying a bit of pre-dinner dessert it was time to catch the metro again.
You can't go wrong with homemade meatballs on a pizza!
The destination was Eastern Market station, then a short walk to Matchbox for some pizza! There was a bit of a wait, but nothing too bad. Once seated on the outdoor patio we perused the menu and decided on the meatball, bacon and garlic pizza. Louisa also wanted to try the gazpacho. Food arrived fairly quickly, and was quite tasty. The soup was chilled and fresh, and the wood-fired pizza is highly recommended. We overheard some other customers suggest the bread pudding, so of course we had to try it as well! The serving is perfect to share, and was some of the best bread pudding (emphasis on the pudding – it was quite creamy!) we’ve had. The bread is actually chocolate chip bread, and it comes with bananas and caramel rum sauce.
The views are unique when walking the Mall at night.
Before leaving the city we took the metro to the Smithsonian stop and did another night monument tour. First up was the Washington monument, then the WWII Memorial and over to the Lincoln Memorial before circling back to the Smithsonian metro stop to head out of the city.
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