Katie wrote:The kind of place I'm always most hoping to find is cozy, quiet, dark, ideally with a fireplace, tasty food, glasses of wine, somewhere to go be by myself for a while, right some letters, make some journal notes, and escape the conference crowd. Any suggestions for that, former DC dwellers?

You are looking for Domku:

http://www.domkucafe.com/Welcome.html

Thanks for all the suggestions. The timing is perfect. I'm headed to DC on Saturday. I'll report back.

On Sunday I'll also be driving up to the Harrisburg area, about 2 hrs away, to visit my oldest brother. It appears I'll be passing right by Gettysburg, although between the early nightfall and late morning, I don't know if I'll get a chance to see anything there. I have the option of going, there or back, by an alternate route through Baltimore -- should I go in search of what's been recently described here as the world's best crabcakes? I was in Baltimore once, a few years ago (and took some great foodie pictures that I sill haven't figured out how to post here), and had a plate of raw oysters at Faidleys.

Okay, until I figure out how to show you the pictures, let me just tell you (and I know some of you must have seen this too) that somewhere near the big market where Faidleys is, is a Chinese restaurant with a banner displaying its name in Chinese, and what I guess is the owner's best guess at an English translation:

"EAT MUST BE FIRST"

I couldn't have said it better myself.