I’m playing host this weekend to several out of town guests who’ve come to DC for an academic conference over at AAAS. We had a happy hour over at Cap City, and walked to dinner at Jaleo. In that short eight blocks, though, we saw some of DC’s absolute finest moments.

The first was an incredible ten-piece New Orleans Jazz Band, six trombones (including a wailin’ main ‘bone), a sousaphone and a tuba, as well as two guys on percussion. It was just about the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. They went for a good solid 15 minutes without so much as a break, playing call and response improv jazz, and people just stopped and danced along, despite the evening drizzle in Penn Quarter. Didn’t hurt that there was a 3-year kid playing with the backup slide, either.

From there, I walked south down 7th street to Jaleo, and caught the image snapped above. He crossed ahead of me on 7th, and I couldn’t help but notice the perfect chinstrap beard, the greying temples, and the beautiful silk stovepipe hat. Just brilliant. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to tell him to avoid the show at Ford’s Theatre, or that maybe the White House was just a few blocks over. Instead, I passed him by, and thanked my lucky stars I live in such an amazing place.

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.