Snow Patrick's Day at Jake's American Grille

It snowed again.

Rather than spend another day snowed in with the kids, I decided to brave public transit and join some friends in Chevy Chase, DC to eat and drink St. Patrick's Day away in the Boiler Room of Jake's American Grille. The Boiler Room's normal weekday hours are 4pm-close, but they were open and running some specials for St. Patrick's Day.

Jake's is on Connecticut Avenue just south of Chevy Chase Circle, across the street from the amazing Politics & Prose Bookstore (check out programs for kids) and the kid-friendly Comet Ping Pong. Getting there on the bus in the snow was a bit of an adventure, but I think it would normally be an easy bus ride from downtown.

The Boiler Room is in the basement of Jake's. It is your basic bar, with concrete floors and flat screens on the walls and a mix of dining and cocktail height seating. There's a pool table, shuffle board, and a few video games.

What sets Jake's apart from most bars is a large supply of family-friendly board games in one corner. You can select your games and bring them to the table to play.

We played several games, including The Ladybug Game, which seems like a good game for learning and reinforcing counting for little kids. My two year old really enjoyed filling up the Connect 4 board and then dumping it out.

The kids' menu features the usual burgers (sliders, actually), macaroni & cheese and chicken strips, as well as veggie sliders and veggie sticks. They also offer a kids' brunch on weekends. The regular Boiler Room menu offers a variety of salads, burgers, and wings, as well as 18 beers on tap.

We stayed for a few hours before venturing back into the cold, and I am sure we'll be back again to meet up with friends and kid-friends.

Getting There
Jake's American Grille
5018 Connecticut Ave NW
Closest Metro: From Tenleytown Metro, walk down Albemarle and left on Nebraska about .5 miles
Bus: The L1, L2, and L4 bus lines run up Connecticut Avenue from Farragut North Metro and stop across the street from Jake's

This post is not sponsored, but it does include affiliate links that may result in a small commission for me if you happen to make a purchase.

DC's St. Patrick's Day Parade

Did you know that DC has a St. Patrick's Day Parade? I remember going as a kid, but I haven't been lately (OK, in at least a few decades), so I wasn't sure what to expect.

This is no small production. The parade route runs along Constitution Avenue between 7th and 17th Streets, NW, and the parade website says that it lasts about two hours.

Last Sunday, we met up with some friends and took Metro to the parade route. It wasn't too crowded and we got a spot right along the tape line at 8th and Constitution.

There were lots of Irish Step Dancers

 Irish dogs

fire trucks and police cars from long ago
and, of course, marching bands.

The kids' loved the people handing out green beads and candy.

We watched the parade for about an hour before the kids got tired, then we walked up to Gallery Place/Chinatown to try to find a place to eat. This area has changed so much in the last few years and I sometimes forget that it is now a popular destination, especially when there is a Caps game (there was). We tried and failed to get a table at several restaurants and decided to leave the area to find food.

Exploring the National Portrait Gallery with Kids

The National Portrait Gallery hosts an impressive array of family-friendly programs. Best of all, they are all FREE (some require advance registration).

I've taken both kids to several of the Saturday "Portrait Story Day" programs, where you read a book about someone whose portrait hangs in the museum, then do an art project based on that person's story. We love to pack a lunch and play in the museum's large glass-enclosed courtyard, and we often make a day of it by visiting the MLK Library across the street before the museum opens at 11:30am. The building houses both the Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum. Between the two museums, there seem to often be special events happening in the courtyard on the weekends. Last spring we happened across traditional American music and dancing. This fall we went to a "Day of the Dead" event with crafts, music, and face painting.

On Monday, K & I made our first visit to the National Portrait Gallery for one of their "Young Portrait Explorer" programs for toddlers. On select Mondays - check the schedule - the Gallery holds a class to help little visitors explore one of the portraits in their collection.

Monday's class was about Georgia O'Keefe. We arrived at 10:30am and met up with some friends and others who registered for the class, which is limited to a total of 25 adult and child participants. We walked down the hall to a black and white photograph of Georgia O'Keefe, where the class leader handed out a copy of the portrait to each child. We talked for a few minutes about the different things we noticed about the portrait before heading to the Gallery's education room.

We gathered on a carpet for a story about Georgia O'Keefe and we talked about her paintings. Then we all got a plastic magnifying sheet and a silk flower to examine close up. We experimented with how close or far away to hold the magnifying sheet to see the most detail in the flower.

After that, we headed over to tables set with real flowers to examine, paper, and oil pastels. The kids were encouraged to draw the flowers. Let's just say that my 2 year old is not quite ready to do representational drawing, but she really enjoyed drawing with the oil pastels and exploring all the different colors.

 

When she'd had enough of drawing, we headed to the courtyard to have lunch. When there isn't a special event happening, the museum has a very unique water feature that kids LOVE to run through. These water fountains are about 5 feet wide and run the length of the  courtyard with small breaks at the doorways, and the water is maybe a half centimeter deep. I forgot how much fun these were and in retrospect I should have dressed K in better shoes (kids are not allowed to run barefoot) and brought a change of pants.

The museums themselves are fun to walk through, too. You can see some of the most well known portraits of our country's founders as well as interesting exhibits of more contemporary icons and artists in both the Portrait Gallery and American Art wings of the museum. The upper floor of the museum is incredibly ornate and worth a visit just to marvel at the beautiful details. This museum is less well-known and visited than some of the other Smithsonian museums because it is not on the mall, but it is definitely one of our favorites.

Getting there: 

Green/Yellow Line Metro to Gallery Place - exit at 9th Street

Things to know:

Museum does not open to the public until 11:30am

MLK Library across the street has a lovely children's area

Bring shoes that can get wet and a change of pants

Check the schedule online for special events and programs for kids