The capital of cool

It’s high noon and we get a hankering for chili — a British guy, a Norwegian girl, and I (this jetlagged writer: a bag of flesh and bones zigzagging time zones) — once we see Ben’s Chili Bowl beside Ben Ali Way in the U St. neighborhood called “Black Broadway” in Washington, D.C. Miles Davis, Duke Ellington (a native son of the city of Washington), Barack Obama and, yeah, even Bill Cosby had visited this restaurant, which was set up in 1958, maybe even relished a bit of bestselling chili-on-a-dog or some half-smoke. Modern-day patrons enjoy those same treats as murals of Prince, Beyoncé and Dave Chappelle amaze in the alleyway. 

It’s one legendary joint: Ben’s donated food to the Washington marchers in 1963; it remained open during the 1968 riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, providing food and shelter to those working to restore order; and Obama had lunch here 10 days before his inauguration as POTUS. You know, D.C. tour buses even make a special stop at Ben’s (from the White House to the house of chili).

Lincoln Theatre next door is just as legendary. And the legends who performed in the historic venue built in 1922? Well, there’s Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louie Armstrong and…

“When someone from The Pixies says, ‘Wow! It’s great to be on the same stage as Duke Ellington was’ — it’s a nice meshing of cultures,” shares Rosanna Ruscetti, our Lincoln Theatre guide. “You know there was even an underground ballroom here where Duke Ellington played for President (Franklin Delano) Roosevelt on his birthday — but we can’t seem to locate it.”

The renaissance of the Black Broadway area dissipated the nefarious reputation of the streets of 14th and U as a place to score ladies of the night and heroin. Rosanna explains, “A Metro stop opened just across the street. And in the last five years, tiny boutique restaurants started to pop up, as well as dress shops and cocktail bars. Now, the neighborhood is bustling constantly.”

Lincoln Theatre itself was renovated in ’91, but only in the last three-and-half years did things start picking up. Now, the theater has become a choice venue in the D.C. area for diverse acts — from Brian Wilson to Louis C.K., from Dwight Yoakam to Feist.

From the Lincoln Theatre, we walk a couple of blocks to Howard Theatre in T St. to watch a local, all-female, African-American R&B-funk band called the Bella Donnas play. Hot grooves, cold cocktails, half an hour in the bar surrounded by giant posters of Aretha, Satchmo and Lady Day — well, it doesn’t get any better than this. Except when we journalists get on the bus again to ride up to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, passing by the Potomac River and Watergate Hotel (yesterday’s Kremlingate according to CNN).

Remember when Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart performed Stairway to Heaven with Jason Bonham on drums in 2012 and up in the balcony were Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and a teary-eyed Robert Plant remembering Bonzo? That was at the Kennedy Center, which has honored Led Zeppelin as well as the Eagles, Herbie Hancock, Carole King, George Lucas and Sonny Rollins, among other icons.

The performances here are quite diverse: everything from the Washington National Opera and San Francisco Opera’s epic Ring cycle, to a production of Hamilton with a musical score that is “equal parts Sondheim and Notorious B.I.G.” Ellery Brown of Kennedy Center informs us, “Tomorrow night will be a fund-raising event by the David Lynch Foundation featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Hugh Jackman.” The rock opera Hedwig & The Angry Inch, according to one poster, is slated for the Kennedy Center with Euan Morton in the title role (and with Mason Alexander Park on standby).    

A wickedly musical little town, indeed, to paraphrase John Cameron Mitchell’s transvestite East German glam rock singer.

This tour that we’ve booked is called “Sounds of D.C.” and is part of the 2017 International Pow Wow (IPW) program hosted by Washington, D.C. for the first time in IPW’s 49-year history. The IPW, presented by the U.S. Travel Association, is the largest trade show in North America in which US businesses and destinations market themselves to an influential mix of international travel buyers and journalists.

This tour has shown us another side of the city of Washington that is not confined to the three “Ms”: monuments, museums and memorials. Just add “M for Music” to the mix: what with D.C.’s roots in classical, jazz, the homegrown go-go scene, as well as punk (Fugazi and Bad Brains are from the neighborhood; Dave Grohl went to school at Jefferson High in nearby Virginia). D.C.’s newest music venue, The Anthem, will open this October at The Wharf with the Foo Fighters as headliners. It’s just fitting since Grohl long ago played at D.C.’s legendary 9:30 Club on F Street with bands like Scream and a little group called Nirvana.

Washington, D.C. is truly one of the must-see places in the United States.

“Forbes magazine calls Washington, D.C. ‘the coolest city in America,’” shared Elliott Ferguson II, the president and CEO of Destination DC, during a press brunch that morning at the Newseum. “The Capitol Hill neighborhood happens to be where I live, and I love its dog parks, green space, and the indoor/outdoor Eastern Market.” 

Other accolades earned by the city include “Best City to Visit” (Lonely Planet in 2016), Best Museums and Galleries with the Smithsonian as No. 1 (National Geographic in 2014), Best Sports Travel City (Hotels.com and SeatGeek in 2015), and Restaurant City of the Year (Bon Appetit in 2016), to name a few.

Ferguson added, “Through our DC Cool campaign, we bring the unexpected side of Washington, D.C. to life: our diverse neighborhoods, delicious restaurants, incredible arts and culture, theater, nightlife, shopping and more.”

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser agreed. “Washington, D.C. is a place to live in, work in and play in. We are the nation’s capital, but we are proud to say that 681,000 call the city home. We have tremendous neighborhoods. And we have been breaking records — we’ve attracted over 20 million domestic tourists. We are attracting more international visitors year by year. And we expect that — with our new flights from Beijing and soon a direct flight from New Delhi — we’ll see those numbers continue to rise.”

Bowser was a volunteer tour guide when she was in high school; she knows those monuments, museums and memorials by heart. After the press brunch, the mayor herself gamely presided over a double-decker Big Bus tour and talked about “the city from my eyes.”

But what about from her ears? The sounds emanating from the old neighborhoods — hip-hop, punk, urban poetry, the eloquence of American leaders up on the hill, the resonance of historic events both good and bad, the ghost of Duke Ellington’s big band and its flurry of liberating beats.