Gangsta Style

Last Friday a group of friends from Cheltenham met at the I-195 Park and Ride to catch a limo down to DC for dinner and to cruise around the monuments at dusk. I arrived first with my friend, Nancy, right behind me. We chatted for a few seconds and the limo pulls up and it was all we could do to not burst out laughing. The limo was a Humvee type and shiny white. We definitely felt a bit gangsta. I will say it was really fun to not be the driver into DC on a Friday afternoon and to sit back and relax whilst drinking champagne and ignore the niggling thought of how much gas the gangsta mobile was guzzling.

This excursion was the brainchild of Nancy who planted the seed. I saw a Groupon for a six-hour limo ride for eight people including two stops and the rest was history. Our driver, Arlester, was very familiar with DC and was a real treat.

Our first stop before dinner was the USMC Memorial in Arlington. We stopped and got out for a few pictures and Arlester took a few photos of his own. I think he was as excited to be there as we were.

 

 

Then we headed to a Turkish/Lebanese restaurant called Zaytinya. 

Absolutely delicious. Impeccable service.

Hummus and hot out of the oven flat bread to die for.

Everything is served mezze (as a small dish) which lends to sharing so we paired up with our nearest seatmate and chose two or three dishes each to share. This was a great idea. I think my favorite dish was the carrot, apricot and pine nut fritters with a pistachio puree. 

 

In addition, the Turkish coffee was the.real.deal.

After dinner, we cruised around the Mall, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. I was surprised at how many groups of people there were at 9PM! I definitely want to play tourist in DC overnight sometime soon.