16 DC Life Hacks: How-to MacGyver the District

Food and Drink

1. 
   

   Iron Horse in Chinatown has a great selection of beers but they don’t serve food. Problem right? Absolutely NOT. By DC law, you are allowed to bring in your own food. This also applies to other bars that don't have kitchens, like the Boardroom in Dupont.

   
   


2. 
   

   Did you know that you could order a bottle of wine at a restaurant, have 1 glass, and have the restaurant cork it to bring home?

   
   


3. 
   

   Put ScoutMob on your smart phone. It's like Groupon & LivingSocial, but it's free discounts. Most places are 50%!

   
   


4. 
   

   There are multiple opportunities in D.C. to get free food and drinks. Frequently visit websites like ours, Gregslist, and WAPO's Going out Guide to know where to go for events, receptions, and more.

   
   


5. 
   

   For those who don't have the luxury of owning a car to go grocery shopping, one way to make it easier to haul your loot home is to attach a Carabiner (with grip) through your bag handles to carry multiple bags at once without losing a finger.

   
   

   

   
   


6. 
   

   On the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery lies a small room with free tea and coffee. Good for those looking to hydrate in the Chinatown area.

   
   

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   Transportation


7. 
   

   Setup your metro card for auto-reload. The first time you barely make the train because you didn't need to reload your card, you'll thank us.

   
   


8. 
   

   If your Metro card is broken or you have run out of money on it (see rule 4), take the bus. You can pay with cash or a lot of times the bus driver will let you slide and ride for free. DC bus drivers seemed to be trained to wave you through to keep the bus on time and to get you safely seated before they pull away from the bus stop. Don’t abuse it. Side note: Get a BusTrackDC app.

   
   

   

   
   


9. 
   

   You can opt to walk through a metro station on a hot or freezing cold day (especially from one end of Chinatown to the other, 7th and H to 9th and G on a DC summer day can feel like a marathon). Is it worth roughly $2 in turnstyle fees to stop sweating before a big meeting or staying warm during the cold months? We think so.

   
   


10. 
    

    You can absolutely negotiate flat rate fares with cabbies late at night, as long as you come to an agreement before they start the meter. One of our contributors admitted to successfully bartering 3 cigarettes and $6 for a ride to Virginia. Mileage may vary.

    
    


11. 
    

    Never pay full price for a new Capital Bikeshare or Car2Go account. There's always a free code plus extra mileage.

    
    


12. 
    

    Never ever use K st, M st or NY Ave in rush hour. Especially when you’re in a cab.

    
    

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    Entertainment


13. 
    

    To save money on purchasing a movie ticket at the Regal Cinema in Chinatown, spend $7.50 pre-tax at California Tortilla across the street and buy a movie ticket voucher from them for $7.00. Now you'll have dinner and a movie for the same price as a regular ticket.

    
    


14. 
    

    There's a free shuttle bus between Kennedy Center and Foggy Bottom metro. The Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center has a variety of free shows every single day at 6pm.

    
    

    

    
    


15. 
    

    Mostly everyone is gone in August and December. This is the perfect time to finally get a resorvation at that new restaurant and actually finish that "to-do list" of museums or monuments to visit.

    
    


16. 
    

    All monuments are better at night.

    
    

We hope you liked our DC life hacks. Feel free to comment below some of your own and share on Twitter and Facebook!

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Lady K Street – Marijuana and What To do for 7 Weeks

Lady K is a lobbyist on K Street, and here to answer your questions. Have one for her? Use our contact form!

With Congress leaving for seven weeks, what a lobbyist going to do until after the election?

The next few weeks are eerily quiet on K Street. For those who aren’t stressed with the prospect of bringing in new business, working at a firm right now is like being in the office when your boss is out of town. You can duck out a little early, take a lunch/nap on your office roof, and feel somewhat less guilty when a VP catches you on Twitter (it’s for work purposes, I swear). But for those of us watching the purse strings, a lack of business can be brutal.

Clients are hesitant to invest in any significant lobbying campaigns until we know who’s going to lead the free world for the next four years. Who wants to play chicken with budgets when you know you’ll need to spend more in a few months? That being said, many firms are contractually obliged to spend a certain amount of funds before the calendar year ends. So when Congress enters a lame duck session this November, work will pick up substantially. It’s kind of nice having that tiny October break, don’t you think?

Lady K, There is a large amount of alcohol on K Street, how about marijuana, mary jane, pot, cannabis, weed…you get the idea?

Ahh, it was the winter of 2010. A new dusting of snow covered the ground, it was so cold even the dancers at Camelot were wearing jackets, and I found myself at a house party up in Columbia Heights full of Hill staffers from the Midwest. A few others there worked at the White House, and when they started talking about smoking — while some dude played acoustic guitar for a barely-awake girl still wearing her staffer badge — I couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you guys have to get a security clearance?” They laughed. I felt like an idiot.

I don’t smoke, but of course there are folks that do on and off K Street. It’s more of a solitary thing: there aren’t work-sponsored hash parties like there are happy hours. To each his or her own.

You know who tends to get high more often, though? Journalists. It makes you wonder how many brilliant investigations were conducted because someone smoked a joint or two and said, “Dudddde, let’s sneak into a Romney fundraiser with a video camera.”

What would you say are the Lobbyist Dens… you know the bars where lobbyist go to be with just other lobbyists?

“Lobbyist Dens”? I love it. DC is not The Godfather. If you want a dark enclave with strong martinis (are there any other kind?) and posh overstuffed lounge chairs, go to Russia House or Eighteenth Street Lounge. But don’t expect lobbyists wearing with prominently displayed nametags to be jumping out from corners. We’re a little classier that that.

Much like sharks will eventually eat one another if left in close contact for too long, lobbyists don’t always like hanging out with other lobbyists. You know how in Mad Men, Don Draper always breaks out in a sweat when he sees an ad guy from a rival firm start bragging about some big campaign? We’re the same way. It’s because we don’t want to see our competitors, especially in a booze-fueled situation. Also, we generally don’t want others to know our footprints.

If we do want to get together with folks for a business purpose, it’s usually somewhere close to the Hill: Bullfeathers for drinks; Charlie Palmer’s, Fiola or Hunan Dynasty for dinner. Hotel bars also work well, since often times we’ll do fly-ins or entertain clients from out of town. And of course, we spend lots of time at company happy hours and dinners, but that’s more specific to each firm. Personally, the $12 martinis get old quickly, even if you’re in a mysterious dark room with fancy couches. When I’m not at work, having a Stella on the roof of Marvin is much better than any dimly lit den could ever be.

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INFOGRAPHIC: Living at Home

Created by College At Home.com

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Caption Tuesday! Joe Biden

In a recent stop in Ohio, Vice President Joe Biden was greeted by this friend. And it’s landed as our Caption Tuesday Photo!

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Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference Wrap-Up

This year’s Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative conference was steeped in the business of examining the political impact of the legislative process in the black community. However this year’s conference called attention to new voting rights laws passed since the 2010 election. The conferences National Town Hall meeting and the First Lady’s speech at the Phoenix Awards dinner held Saturday night addressed the significance of these laws.

In her keynote address Saturday night, the First Lady told the audience that no one should feel uncomfortable in the voting booth and that this issue of voting rights is the country’s most momentous civil rights issue of our day. “This is the movement of our era — protecting that fundamental right not just for this election, but for the next generation and generations to come. Because in the end, it’s not just about who wins, or who loses, or who we vote for on Election Day. It’s about who we are as Americans. It’s about the democracy we want to leave for our kids and grand kids”, she said

In addition, the Foundation distributed a voter guide toolkit on flash drives. These drives included information on voter registration the identification laws in each state and the latest developments regarding voter identification legislation.

One of the highlights of the conference this year was a panel hosted at the George Washington University law school and was hosted by Michael Hardaway & Ifeoma Ike the team behind Stars for Trayvon. The panel of leaders and celebrities included Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and an address by Congressman Danny Davis. The panel discussed social issues of the past year through the black man’s perspective and highlighted the importance of mentorship and the US Dream Academy, a non-profit organization that connects mentors with children of incarcerated parents.

As the conference came to a close, the event to not be missed was the Chicago and New York delegation party at the Mead Center at Arena stage. The party was packed with the Hills young and up and coming politicos. I look forward to next years Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, and until then keep visiting ClotureClub.com for more events!

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