Christmas, Wonkabout Style
As the city tries to dig itself out from mountains of snow, and the DC Tweeter snowball people try to make sense of what that mean old officer did, what's important is that everyone's favorite holiday when Baby Jesus came into the world is just DAYS away. The city's all frozen, Obama's going to get health care for Christmas, and no one has killed Robert Byrd yet -- all good reasons to celebrate the season with last-minute shopping, fancy (and empty!) restaurants, and Handel's opera about the president's fabled birth in the Persian town of Kenya, Hawaii.
Chirstmas in DC:
Messiah: Singing along to Handel's Messiah isthe thing to do on Christmas. The Kennedy Center is offering this concert for free, and if you can score a ticket, you get to sing along with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, a 200-person choir with professional soloists. [ Kennedy Center ]
Shopping: If you're still holiday shopping, go to the Downtown Holiday Market before it closes tomorrow at 8PM. You can refer to our handy dandygift guide for ideas on what to get people, especially those you really don't like. [ Downtown Holiday Market ]
Christmas Trees: Check out the National Christmas Tree near the White House, or the Capitol Christmas Tree on the west lawn of the US Capitol (it came all the way from Arizona!). Or, head to Union Station where it's Christmas Norwegian style, because Christmas is best in Norway. [National Christmas Tree , Capitol Christmas Tree , Union Station ]
Food: Plenty of Restaurants are serving festive meals for the holidays. Best bets are the Christmas Feast at 1789, Bistrort Lepic where you can indulge in chestnut soup with duck confit, or small plates of Christmas goodness at Jaleo. [1789, Bistrot Lepic, Jaleo ]
Fret not Jews: Jesus was part of the tribe, so he always makes sure that there are plenty of things for Jews to do on Christmas:
MatzoBall 2009: On Christmas Eve, hundreds of single Jews will be packed into Ultrabar for this Judeo-Christmas orgy. If all goes according to plan, over Kosher Pizza, said single Jews will find love, and go home and make lots of Jewish babies. [Gefilte Fish Gala ]
Movies: As they have done for centuries, Jews on Christmas see movies and eat Chinese food.The Washington Post has a guide to what to see at the movies and, for Chinese food, best bets are Meiwah and City Lights of China. [ Meiwah, City Lights of China ]