An Eye on Travel extra… a special show we recorded earlier in Washington D.C., from the Conrad Hotel.
Click here to listen to Eye on Travel from the Conrad Hotel in Washington D.C.
This week, Eye on Travel presents an extra edition broadcast from the Conrad Hotel in Washington D.C. The show was taped just prior to Covid-19 reaching pandemic status. Joining Peter on this week’s program is Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congresswoman representing the District of Columbia, who explains new plans for improving infrastructure in a 2020 highways bill and comments on the state – pun intended – of the district’s continuing drive to become America’s 51st state. Peter Jakab, Chief Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, on the museum’s ever increasing special collections. And then, Washington Post writer Roxanne Roberts discusses museums, accessibility, and understanding America’s capital city as it writes our history every day. There’s all this and more as Eye on Travel comes from the Conrad Hotel in Washington D.C.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congresswoman representing the District of Columbia, explains new plans for improving infrastructure in a 2020 highways bill. Other than roads, many bridges are in disrepair, and so are the train tracks that Amtrak owns. The federal government owns 70%, and to improve efficiency, Amtraks must undergo a restructure on train travel operations. Currently, Amtrak is not on the list until the next appropriation, which is annually reviewed by the bipartisan committee.
Peter Jakab, Chief Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, speaks about upcoming anniversaries of achievements. The anniversaries include significant 75-year-old milestones such as observing the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid and the 75th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day. There are new exhibits in the National Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington and another Dulles Airport called Udvar-Hazy Center. The permanent exhibition includes the Concord, SR71 Blackbird, and the B29.
Roxanne Roberts, Journalist for The Washington Post, discusses the various free museums and the accessibility for walking in Washington. There are Civil War sites in and around the area — such as Gettysburg — that show the typography while illustrating the reality of the pace of battle as slow and sloppy by immersing you into the experience. She says that the way to understand Washington is to imagine what it was like to live 200 years ago in places like Georgetown or by visiting places like Ford’s Theatre Museum. The museum is under the basement of Ford’s Theatre, and you will learn about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and what led to it.
Josh Murray, Executive Chef of the Conrad Washington D.C., elaborates on the culinary influence of locations like the Chesapeake Bay, which allows for a diverse selection of seafood in the Conrad’s restaurant, Estuary. Even with a diverse range of seafood, the culinary choices among Estuary’s menu offer agricultural consumption. Josh discusses the partnership with renowned chefs like Brian and Michael Voltaggio, Aaron Silverman, and José Andrés that rethink the history of the local food but through a culinary lens. Josh’s thoughts on menus for children are to re-engineer them for healthier options. He also refers to it as the “young traveler’s menu” to include salmon and brown rice.
David and Nycci Nellis, Co-hosts of the Foodie and the Beast radio show, illustrate the growing trend of Asian style food with merging of other cuisines. An example of this is Cranes, a restaurant which is a fusion of Japanese and Spanish cuisine. There’s also Tonari, a fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisine. Other foods like Burmese restaurants and regional cuisines are also popular. Restaurants that opened in the last year to be on the lookout for include Rooster & Owl with an Asian tasting menu that is reasonably affordable and has an impressive wine list.
Michael McCarthy, ice President of the D.C. Market and Editor-in-Chief for Modern Luxury, describes Washington D.C. as a city of neighborhoods from famous Georgetown to places like Navy Yard and the Southwest Waterfront that have seen exponential growth in recent years. Navy Yard is home to restaurants like The Salt Line, on the Anacostia River. It serves crabs and oysters on a boat. Or there’s fine dining at the Thompson Washington D.C., which has a scenic view of the baseball field at Nationals Park. Michael also speaks of upcoming neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. at the Southwest Waterfront. The location is home to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater and the District Wharf, which has concert venues like The Anthem, an enclave of restaurants like Del Mar, and scenic views of the waterfront from a rooftop bar called Officina.
Laura Schofield, General Manager of Conrad Washington D.C., expresses the advantages of the interior design of the hotel through the multitude of convenient outlets and dynamic lighting provided throughout it. The Conrad has developed in a growing new neighborhood at City Center, which was not a relevant place five years ago. There is now an enclave of parks, farmer markets, year-round events, and the ability to walk throughout the city. Laura expresses that Washington D.C. is not just for politics and museums, but rather it has exciting, changing neighborhoods and fantastic cuisine that Conrad has been a part of for the last 10 to 15 years.
