Birchmere

One of my favorite activities when I go to DC is to go to the Birchmere which is a live music venue. I like it because I don't often hear live music in an informal atmosphere, and I like the Birchmere in particular because it is basically a stress-less experience. You get the tickets in advance; you arrive prior or near to 6 pm when the doors open and you eat dinner (mostly pub food) first and the show starts at 7:30 so there's none of that frantic checking your watch 46 times (Ok, that's what I do) to make sure you're not going to be late for the show. When you arrive, you get a number and they call the numbers in order and you can pick out where you want to sit.

Here's Michelle and I waiting for our number to be called. Of course, we have our own routine of the table we want which is also ideal for any of us to easily get out to go to the restroom without having to crawl over people. Definitely another plus of the place.

This is the dining room -- Mary took this on her cellphone and she got just the right atmosphere with the unattached arm with the pitcher of beer. It's here where we saw Herman's Hermits, some Beatles tribute band, Sapphire, Livingston Taylor -- not quite the D list, maybe the C list. But it's a relatively cheap evening, fun and relaxed.
That night we saw a group that Michelle knew called the Sub-Dudes. Hard to describe their music -- kind of a Southern, country, rock and considering I didn't know any of their songs I really enjoyed it.