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Crossing The Potomac: Suffering Our Region's Bridges


Escoffier

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For some reason, if dinner involves going to Maryland, I'd rather sit at home and eat TV dinners (are they still called that?). Virginians don't go to Maryland, Marylanders, don't come to Virginia and neither seem to go to DC all that much. Why? Discuss...

Seriously, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that we have gone to Maryland for dinner in the last four years. I have no problem getting on the metro and going to Dino (and do that a lot) and a lot of other places in DC, but driving anywhere in Maryland does not seem to be an option. Why is that?

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I live in Maryland and work in the District. There is just too much traffic to make it worth my while to go to Virginia to dine out. Besides, there are just too many good places to eat between. If the restaruant is exceptional, I might make a special trip, or if I happen to be over there anyway, but why spend an hour or more getting to a restaurant and then fighting the traffic to get back. It is just much easier to go to a restaurant in DC (where I won't get lost like I might in NVa) or here in Maryland than to try to make it across the river.

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I live in Virginia on the DC border and since I stopped working in Georgetown, it takes great effort for me to cross the border into DC; farless MD - the only way I'm going all the way up there is if I have to go out with the "in-laws" and that in itself is a stretch since they'd prefer drive to DC from Carroll County than eat anywhere in MD. I eat in DC if I am meeting someone or my other half feels the necessity to check somewhere new out and only if it's on the Metro. Our car sits parked 6 days out of 7 as neither of us will drive in DC only through to get in and out.

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It's not as convenient as it seems like it would be prior to deeper consideration of the logistics involved, and despite the deceptive geographical proximity of the two states and the District, mass transit options, and highway infrastructure.

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I am in Virginia, and with the exception of a rare family dinner at Sergio's in Silver Spring, I don't go to Maryland. There is just too much that I have not tried in Virginia, or DC. As for going to DC, I do it all of the time. I think that 25% of the dinners my wife and I have are in DC.

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I am in Virginia, and with the exception of a rare family dinner at Sergio's in Silver Spring, I don't go to Maryland. There is just too much that I have not tried in Virginia, or DC. As for going to DC, I do it all of the time. I think that 25% of the dinners my wife and I have are in DC.

Ah, Sergio's. One of the most underatted places in the D.C. area IMO. Love their braciole!

Thanks,

Kevin

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It's not as convenient as it seems like it would be prior to deeper consideration of the logistics involved, and despite the deceptive geographical proximity of the two states and the District, mass transit options, and highway infrastructure.

That pretty much sums it up for me. I live in downtown SS, so getting to DC isn't that big of a hassle. But going to Virginia really does tend to be time consuming. We're all so oblivious to it, but really, should it take me 30 minutes to drive 5 miles?

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ummm, because Maryland sucks...dah. :)

From Capitol Hill, getting into Virginia is pretty easy, but when we did the DR-Monica Passage to India dinner earlier this year it took me over 45 minutes to get to Bethesda...and that was, what, on a Sunday night...even though that dinner was tasty, it's not something I'm going to drive on a regular basis. As opposed to say the korean dinners we have done around Annadale, 20 minutes tops to get there even with rush hour traffic.

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Despite the relative suckitude of Maryland's restaurants I will continue to live here, rather than in the Old Dominion or the Taxation Without Representation diamond, but will continue to drive wherever I must for a good meal. But then I'm not terribly averse to driving, even though Arlington is one ginormous discontinuity in the space-time continuum. :) I've yet to identify the singularity responsible for it all, though.

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There are only a handful of reasons that I ever leave the district:

Steak dinner at Peter's Inn, brunch at Four & Twenty Blackbirds, mojitos of death at Gua Rapo, anything at Eve, beer drinking and making fun of hipsters at Brewer's Art, pho (duh) at Pho 75, eggs benedict at Blue Moon Cafe or grocery shopping at Wegmans (even though I think that Fairfax is the eighth circle of hell and it makes me itch).

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I live and work in DC, and I'd say the vast majority of our meals are in DC. I have no opposition to crossing the river-- it's an easy shot down Reno Road to Rock Creek Parkway and over Mem Bridge. Not only would I rather go to Virginia than fight the hordes on Wisconsin Ave/Rockville Pike, but there are virtually no places I'd drive to MD to eat-- which is not true of VA. Indeed, I'd go to the VA places much more often if they were closer (e.g. Rays, Taqueria Poblano, Majestic Cafe). By contrast, the times that I do eat in MD (mostly Bethesda, unfortunately) are largely out of convenience or meeting people who do not want to go into the city; there are few, if any, places that I would specifically go to MD to eat at. When I do eat in the 'burbs, I usually try to combine dining with a suburban errand (Target, Home Depot, oil change, etc.).

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

Mnahattan has a West side? I know there was something else besides the Met Museum and Barney's!

Bu aside, I go to VA to dine about as much as I go anywhere else once you take Wheaton, Joe's, Greenfield and Dino out of the picture. But our dining out is usually attached to doing something else. We rarely just "go out to eat" for obvious reasons.

We eat Korean in Annadale or Thai at Bangkok 54 on the way to the Signature Theater if we are not coming from work. If we are, then its in Chinatown usually. If we go to the KC its usually somewhere downtown. As has been stated elsewhere, I do hate driving in VA so there are places I don't go to because of that. I mean its just easier for me to try things closer to work (the swath from Dino to the American Red Cross at 21&E) than go to say Arlington.

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

To me it's less about the time spent driving than it is the fact that I have no reason to drive further than I need to. Because of where I live in Alexandria (King and 395) it's as easy for me to get to many parts of DC as it is for me to get to some parts of Northern Virginia outside of Alexandria, so our dining is split maybe 30/70 or 40/60 or so. However, there's little reason for me to go up to MD. There are few restaurants I know of in MD that there isn't something comparable or better either in VA or DC and that is thus closer.

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I was born in D. C., grew up in Takoma Park and Silver Spring, lived and worked in D. C. for five years, returned to MD for 15 years in Silver Spring, crossed the river to Reston and have lived-now-in Northern VA for 18 years. My wife is a native born Washingtonian who grew up in Arlington and thought that Maryland was the sticks. My sister lives in Bethesda and believes that Reston is beyond the sticks. Arlington, for her, is for those who cannot afford D. C.

...or Bethesda where she lives.

My best friend lives in Mitchellville, near Crofton. He rarely comes into D. C. for any reason, believing it is a cesspool and not worth dinner let along a show. He goes to Baltimore instead. His wife prefers Annapolis believing that Bawlmer is for "wannabees" who cannot afford Annapolis. She often mentions John Waters as a "representative" Baltimorean.

Of course my sister and my best friend's wife have not met...if they had they may find that they share similar values, just a different place in time and in geography. They both know another good friend of mine from Lubeck who loves Washington and tells his friends and neighbors in Germany that it is his favorite city on earth. He even likes D. C.'s food.

I, of course, go everywhere: Arlington, Annapolis, Baltimore (even Bawlmer) and D. C. Richmond, too. Even Cumberland, Crisfield and Chesapeake for a decent meal. For me "crossing the Potomac" is finding the same love for food on one side of the river that I had on the other.

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I was fascinated by the MD/VA divide when I moved here. It's about a lot more than just restaurants--I worked in DC with MDers who NEVER went to VA for any reason. And VAers who crossed a bridge to go to work and no other reason, and NEVER went to MD. And knew NW DCers who NEVER went to the 'burbs, if they could avoid it. As a Californian, who'd drive 50 miles for a meal in a Hong Kong live seafood place, I couldn't understand it at all. Exploring the underlying issues, I learned that the roots run deep--to the Civil War and probably earlier. VA is a Southern state, and primarily Protestant and (now is) Republican. Maryland is a Northern state, primarily Catholic and Democratic. I know, I know, there are lots of non-Protestants and Democrats in Northern VA, but the Potomac is a big cultural divide around here. I'm with Stephen B--I live in NW DC, overlooking the Potomac near Chain Bridge. Except at rush hour, it takes me ten minutes to get either to Arlington or Bethesda, and I am in VA as often as in MD. But then, I'm not from around here.

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I love to eat and try new things. I make special trips to go to Philadelphia. Or New York City. I go out of my way on trips to hit places I have only read about before, just to try something great and new (think Smitty's in Lockhart, TX). I plan my trip[s around the dinners I hope to experience.

But I'll be damned if I hardly ever make it to NoVa much to do the same. I know, I know, that's weird.

Maybe I hate the NoVa traffic (which from all of my experiences is generally worse (though not by much) than Maryland's traffic). Maybe I hate to drive 45 min or an hour just to eat someplace. It makes it easier if the traffic is light, sure, but we all know it usually is not. I try NoVa places I have heard about when the opportunity presents itself, like when I need to be down there for something else anyway.

I just thought of another thing. I drive to Arlington, and even sometimes Alexandria far before I'll go to Fairfax or Reston or anywhere out in 'western' NoVa. Why? Well, since DC is generally where I choose to dine, to hop over to Arlington or Alexandria isn't thaaaaat much further (ok, Arlington more than Alexandria), so it's not as much a stretch for me. Anyway, I'll make trips over there to hit some wine shops, maybe hit Cheesetique and a lunch of Crisp & Juicy. That's a good day IMO.

But to schlepp across the American Legion Bridge or the WW Bridge is agony to me. I do it only on rare occasions anymore mainly due to the traffic. I make exceptions of course (the couple times I have hit Maestro for example, some dinners at a super-foodie pal of mine's home as he cooks like a demon), but I far prefer to hit DC or places in MD and/or Arlington far before elsewhere in NoVa.

But give me a reason to go and I'm there. Give me a quest and I am there. Find me down there for another reason and I'll happily seek out a good food experience. But please, do not ring me up on a Thursday night at 6:30 or 7 and say 'Hey dude, let's schlepp to Reston for this great place I discovered!' BAH I say. Not worth it.

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I was fascinated by the MD/VA divide when I moved here. It's about a lot more than just restaurants--I worked in DC with MDers who NEVER went to VA for any reason. And VAers who crossed a bridge to go to work and no other reason, and NEVER went to MD. And knew NW DCers who NEVER went to the 'burbs, if they could avoid it. As a Californian, who'd drive 50 miles for a meal in a Hong Kong live seafood place, I couldn't understand it at all. Exploring the underlying issues, I learned that the roots run deep--to the Civil War and probably earlier. VA is a Southern state, and primarily Protestant and (now is) Republican. Maryland is a Northern state, primarily Catholic and Democratic. I know, I know, there are lots of non-Protestants and Democrats in Northern VA, but the Potomac is a big cultural divide around here. I'm with Stephen B--I live in NW DC, overlooking the Potomac near Chain Bridge. Except at rush hour, it takes me ten minutes to get either to Arlington or Bethesda, and I am in VA as often as in MD. But then, I'm not from around here.

Two problems I see with that reasoning:

1) Virginia itself may be primarily Republican, but Northern Virginia typically leans Democrat

2) Maryland is south of the Mason-Dixon line (which is just the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania), contributed a number of units to the CSA (as well as to the Union), and had a number of Confederate leaning officials during the Civil War. While Southerners wouldn't claim Maryland as their own, Maryland wasn't exactly a staunch Union state either during the American Civil War.

That having been said, I do feel like there is a marked divide between Maryland and Virginia (as evidenced by the fact that we're even having this discussion of why people tend not to cross from one to the other), just that the two reason above just don't quite cover it for me.

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

Call it self pampering if you must. As a born and raised NYC'er, I hardly ever crossed town to the UWS. Now, as a DC resident, I spend 99% of my dining time in town, leaving most recently to go to Maestro. Usually we'll hop across the river to Ray's, or maybe Eve's bistro in an effort to meet friends who live outside the city. In the end, where we eat is a function of convenience - with so many great places in town, there's not a compelling need to leave (frequently, as much as we would love to make Maestro a regular destination).

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

You made Escoffier's point. From DC it is easy to get to either VA or MD. But getting thru or around DC is a pain in the ass. While it doesn't take much time to go to Rays from downtown DC, getting there from Olney takes well over an hour, especially if it is rush hour. No, the traffic in MD, especially Bethesda, isn't great, but it is better than most of the NVa area. Besides, if you live in MD, you learn your way around and the shortcuts and less trafficed ways to get around MD, same thing if you live in NVa.

I seldom drive into DC, taking the METRO is just too convenient. But when I do drive to DC it takes a lot less time, and is less confusing than driving over to VA. There is no self pampering to not wanting to drive in snarled traffic in an area you are not familiar with when you don't have to. Personally, I find it easier to get to DC from MD, if one way is blocked (try getting in to DC from VA during rush hour if one of the bridges is out of commission due to an accident) there are plenty of other ways to get there. But again, why bother to drive when the METRO gets you into town.

BTW, I think your estimates of how long it takes you to get to places is wishful thinking. If you can get to Joe's in 20 minutes, you are living right at the edge of the DC MD line and driving at midnight. Now way you can get from Joe's to Ray's in 30 minutes (10 + 20)

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As I've often mentioned I live in the exurbs of Ashburn in Loudoun County, but when jenrus and I moved there we told ourselves we weren't going to be "those" suburban people - you know, the ones who never leave their neighborhood and their lives revolve around the nearest strip center.

We really make an effort to get into the city or somewhere that we need to make a significant drive at least three times a month.

That said though, it is considerably more convenient for us to go someplace in Rockville or DC than to get to certain places in Virginia - especially Old Town Alexandria. It all depends on location.

No, the traffic in MD, especially Bethesda, isn't great, but it is better than most of the NVa area.

This is all a matter of perspective. I've sat in many painful jams on the Inner Loop near Wisconsin or on Rockville Pike on a Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile there are a lot of parts of Virginia where I've not seen any slow traffic.

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

Having been born in DC, raised in Northern VA, and having lived in several locations in MD later, I think it's mainly a distance perception thing. Growing up in Annandale, I thought that Gaithersburg was the dark side of the moon. Later, when I became friends with some people from Gaithersburg and told them I lived in Annandale, they were like "Dear God, that's all the way around the beltway!" When I returned to the area after college, the VA friends I grew up with were horrified to find out I was moving to Bethesda-- they couldn't figure out why I wanted to move so far away and figured they'd never see me. I don't think this can really support much analysis about the civil war, religion, pampering, etc... it just seems like a long way to the "other" state for people!

In reality, if you avoid going the wrong way during rush hour, it doesn't take long to get to get to most places around here. At this point, I'm so used to commuting to various spots around the area, I don't even think about it. It doesn't take long to get to Baltimore (<1 hour) either, but DC friends think I'm nuts to go up there just to meet someone for dinner on a whim.

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Let's get real. A short car ride is no big hassle. I live in DC. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Ray's in Arlington and 20 minutes to get to Joe's in Rockville. The posts so far seem to be characterized by extreme self-pampering. They remind me of the story about the society dame on Manhattan's East Side who was asked if she ever goes to the West Side. "Oh yes,"she replied, "on my way to Europe."

And I see regular use of a car in a region so well served by public transportation and in a place with so many very close, very good options to be extreme self-pampering. I guess it's just how you look at it. :)

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I used to work at Seven Corners for a regional bank that is no more. Many people who worked there commuted from elsewhere in Northern Virginia. Many people who worked there commuted from Maryland. And all of them looked on my living in DC as an eccentricity, with some obviously considering it as bordering on derangement. No one I worked with ever went to a restaurant in the city. In that environment, anyway, the divide was far stronger between city and suburbs than between Virginia and Maryland.

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a region so well served by public transportation

I think you must be living in some alternative Washington area. Well served by public transportation? Washington?? If your beginning and ending points happen to be near a Metrorail station, you're pretty well served. Otherwise, public transportation in the Washington area is, to put it as gently as possible, piss-poor.

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I think you must be living in some alternative Washington area. Well served by public transportation? Washington?? If your beginning and ending points happen to be near a Metrorail station, you're pretty well served. Otherwise, public transportation in the Washington area is, to put it as gently as possible, piss-poor.

Oh I don't know that I'd agree with that in regards to Montgomery County. It was pretty easy living in MoCo without a car. More so than living in Annandale.

We almost never drive to Northern Virginia to eat because 1. we aren't familiar with the roads and 2. we prefer to stay as far away from the American Legion Bridge as possible. The two times in the last few years that we have driven to NoVa to dine have been in the last year, both times to Ray's. There just hasn't been anything else compelling enough to pay the babysitter for an extra 1 1/2 hours of commuting time.

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Two problems I see with that reasoning:

1) Virginia itself may be primarily Republican, but Northern Virginia typically leans Democrat

2) Maryland is south of the Mason-Dixon line (which is just the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania), contributed a number of units to the CSA (as well as to the Union), and had a number of Confederate leaning officials during the Civil War. While Southerners wouldn't claim Maryland as their own, Maryland wasn't exactly a staunch Union state either during the American Civil War.

That having been said, I do feel like there is a marked divide between Maryland and Virginia (as evidenced by the fact that we're even having this discussion of why people tend not to cross from one to the other), just that the two reason above just don't quite cover it for me.

This was how the origins were explained to me, when I tried to understand how the residents of two states divided only by a river would turn their backs on each other. Northern Virginia now is a heterogeneous place, but it wasn't when this all got started. And the rest of Virginia is not like the DC suburbs. Cultural patterns persist, old habits die hard. And they are passed on to succeeding generations when the rationale no longer makes sense.

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Remember though, some have to drive because of mobility issues. Also, given the recent crime wave I would rather not have to walk home from the metro in the dark. To me, my safety is worth the price of parking.

Sure. Everyone has his or her own priorities. Mine are: not owning a car in a polluted, gridlocked city, living and working near public transport for mobility, and popping for a taxi when it's late. Et voila.

I think you must be living in some alternative Washington area. Well served by public transportation? Washington?? If your beginning and ending points happen to be near a Metrorail station, you're pretty well served. Otherwise, public transportation in the Washington area is, to put it as gently as possible, piss-poor.

Trains that are clean, free of rats and insects, comparatively well-policed, and run every 1-3 minutes during rush hour? I guess "piss-poor" is a relative term. Metro's riders are by worse by far than Metro's facilities--and generally the reason why I won't sign on for a long train ride to the suburbs for a meal.

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This was how the origins were explained to me, when I tried to understand how the residents of two states divided only by a river would turn their backs on each other. Northern Virginia now is a heterogeneous place, but it wasn't when this all got started. And the rest of Virginia is not like the DC suburbs. Cultural patterns persist, old habits die hard. And they are passed on to succeeding generations when the rationale no longer makes sense.

I find this insight to be fascinating. I agree that NoVa is very different from the rest of Virginia. You don't have to go too far away from DC for it to change a whole lot.

I realized living in Richmond, Va for a few years, that all that history still clings heavily to the native Richmonders to the point of bitterness. But, here in NoVa I just thought like me, people just usally try to save time and avoid traffic most of the time, and that's why they don't cross the borders that often.

But, is it a "we're better than them " thing in 2006? Or, ya know, Va rules, Md. drools?....a pride thing?

For us, we usually dine in or near Alexandria, and do go to DC to eat, get culture and hit the farmer's market. Maryland, no. Not that there's anything wrong with Md. I can just as well find good food closer, that's all.

Also, have any of our beltway diners restricted thier dining commutes due to high gas prices?

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I have no problem crossing the river into DC for dinner or drinks & very often do face the harrowing task of finding a parking space near Dupont when the evening's prospect might keep me out past the last metro train to Virginia. It's a rare instance that I find myself in the Maryland close-in burbs to eat...more because the options "way up there" don't easily cross my mind when brainstorming a place to go with friends from the area and no one else offers up the option. Maybe next time...

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There is definitely a geographical gravitational pull at work here. When I lived in Adams Morgan, I didn't have a car and almost never left the District. When I moved to Arlington, I was commuting via car within Arlington and going into DC, much less Maryland, was way too much of a hassle except for special occasions. Living out in central VA now, I commute monthly for 90 minutes each way just to get to Trader Joe's, so I like to think my food/drink priorities have changed for the better :)

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I think the final consensus is that it is just too much of a hassle to go from NVa to MD or vice versa. In either case, it is easier to go to DC to go out to a nice restaurant. While those in VA pooh-pooh the restaurants in MD, I know of very few in VA that are so much better that they merit a special trip to VA and all that it entails. We have plenty of very nice places to eat here, especially ethnic food. Why go to VA for Thai when I can go to Wheaton, the dim sum is as good or better here. You can get better Korean, I can get better Salvadorian or Peruvian. As to "fine and fancy dining establishments" with the exception of Maestro, I can't think of any that merit going to VA instead of a much easier trip to DC (TIALW doesn't count, it is a trek even if you live in VA and is a two hour drive from my house at least.) And now that Ray's is in Silver Spring, I can go there.

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It's hard for me to follow the whole North/South Civil War thing since so many of us in the DC metro area are transplants from somewhere else. We don't carry that baggage. In fact, it seems to me that people are genuinely surprised when they meet a native!

It's the traffic, I guess. We live in Silver Spring but we're trying to eat in DC more often. Can you get to Palena by metro?

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besides why should I drive 45 mintues to eat crappy food in Bethesda when I can walk 10 minutes and eat crappy food on the Hill. :)

For the same reason people drive to, say, upper NJ to drink crappy beer at a soccer game when they can stay in DC and drink crappy beer at a baseball game? Because sometimes it's not about the crappy beer.

Have stomach, will travel. :lol:

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Trains that are clean, free of rats and insects, comparatively well-policed, and run every 1-3 minutes during rush hour?

Again, that's very nice if your beginning and ending points happen to be near a metrorail station. If not, the cleanliness of the trains and their frequency during rush hour are cold comfort. (Although "cold comfort" sounds kind of nice during this heat wave.)

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In the forty years I lived in Maryland I knew few, if any, people who would drive to the Blueridge mountains or take day trips visiting Virginia wineries. Trips to Waterford, Middleburg, Warrenton and other charming, intimate small towns of great character and personality were, for the most part, unknown and unheard of by them. In the nineteen years that I have now lived in Reston I know of almost no one who has explored Maryland's eastern shore. Even for a day trip. St. Michael's, Chestertown, Easton and other charming, intimate small towns of great character and personality were, for the most part, unknown and unheard of by them.

A shame since the Virginia countryside is a very real "American Tuscany" and Maryland's Eastern shore is one of the most beautiful areas on earth.

And both of these are within an hour or two of downtown Washington, one of the few cities on earth that can offer so much which is so close. More people-even my neighbors-should take advantage of where we live and explore. There is much to love on both sides of the Potomac as well as the city in between.

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I think the final consensus is that it is just too much of a hassle to go from NVa to MD or vice versa. In either case, it is easier to go to DC to go out to a nice restaurant.

We live just outside the Beltway near I-66, so no, that's not the case for us, at least for going to something on or near Rockville Pike or anything else in MD reasonably close to the Beltway.

Likewise, Dupont Circle, K St. or Georgetown, and anything else reasonably close to I-395 or I-66 or Key Bridge and so forth.

But I like to drive. Will happily drive to Culpeper, Fredericksburg, or Richmond for chow. Also, Baltimore, Annapolis.

Like Zora, I am not from here. (Louisiana.)

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I live in NW and work in McLean so I cross the river out of necessity. The 10 mile drive can take 25 minutes or 75 minutes. But when someone suggests that I meet them in Alexandria after work...? Gah, I'd rather take a sharp stick to the eye.

Recent posts are making me want to drive to Arlington for Guajillo though (I already enjoy RTS, but hate the idea of waiting for a table after work at primetime).

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Just another comment on the public transport around here: On another thread, someone was asking about getting to a restaurant at Bailey's Crossroads without a car. Hah! Good luck! Or for another example, say you're in Bethesda and you want to go to Thai Square on Columbia Pike. How well served you are by public transit! Or say you're ... oh ...me, and you live in Kalorama and work at 20th and C Sts. NW. How excellent the public transportion is! I love it so much I'm buying an electric bike to get away from it!

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I'm from Bethesda, go to school and work in Georgetown, and try to get around DC as much as I can. Despite the (less than) half-mile trek across the bridge to Rosslyn, however, I NEVER go into VA save for three reasons:

1. circular-route run along the river's edge

2. outgoing flights from National (not Reagan!) Airport

3. Visits to my godparents in Vienna, Va. Just because I love them very, very much.

Other than that, I find VA to be a scary, scary (and quite foreign) place.

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I live in NW and work in McLean so I cross the river out of necessity. The 10 mile drive can take 25 minutes or 75 minutes. But when someone suggests that I meet them in Alexandria after work...? Gah, I'd rather take a sharp stick to the eye.

You see, I just don't udnerstand this sentiment. In order to get to NW DC from McLean, you have to cross the GW Parkway, which leads straight into Alexandria. The traffic generally moves pretty well during rush hour (once in a while it backs up at the 395 interchange). A lot of this "fear" seems to stem from a lack of familarity with the roads.

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outgoing flights from National (not Reagan!) Airport

Bless you.

Other than that, I find VA to be a scary, scary (and quite foreign) place.

Sounds more like unfamiliarity. If you're going to National, come a couple of miles farther and Rustico, Restaurant Eve, Eammons are all within 5 minutes of each other. Just pretend you're going to the airport and keep going.

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Other than that, I find VA to be a scary, scary (and quite foreign) place.

My “on a whim” food road trips began as a student at UC Santa Cruz. We’d hijack a friend’s ancient BMW to drive up the coast and into San Francisco to go to Hunan, which at the time was a tiny place on Kearny St. Sweat popping chilis, three women tossing the woks, my first onion pancakes, water to wash it all down (not because I was only 17 at the time - but because there was no liquor license) – we practically blew back to campus on the heat from the dishes. Then the New Yorker did a piece on it, calling it "the world's best Chinese restaurant" and…boom! over night long lines grew up the block, then a move to a bigger place, new cooks, and eventually (and still) a mini-chain of “Henry’s Hunan."

Granted, we are not all as adventuresome as JoeH (that’s the right word Joe?) who thinks nothing of jumping in his car for a perfect tomato pie in Trenton, or flying round-trip to LA to bring back a bag of In-N-Out burgers. But if you are too “scared” to drive across a river because it goes from one state to another, you’re going to really miss out on some good stuff. Nothing lasts forever. Peter Chang’s best at TemptAsian is gone, and Ray’s the Steaks – well, it may soon be a Hunan déjà vu all over again.

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I grew up in Gaithersburg, work in Tysons, and live in Rockville. IMO, the traffic around here really isn't THAT bad if you pick and choose when and where to drive.

For example, as mentioned above, the GW Parkway is a great alternative and generally under-utilized even during rush hour. Same goes for Canal Road and the Rock Creek Parkway. Of course, things are better right now because folks are on vacation but I don't think it's usually horrible during the school year either. And if I want to eat somewhere that requires driving on nightmare stretches of Rockville Pike, Route 7, and 495 between Bethesda/Silver Spring, I'll put it off until the weekend.

Don't get me wrong, getting around the DC area is hardly a breeze. But it could also be much, much worse.

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