BIRTHDAY: 3rd Annual '90 Bus' Pub Crawl

You know I hate Evite ... so not creative ...

YES, I DON'T REALLY BLOG at The Washington Oculus anymore (you know where to find me), but I thought it'd be good to use my blog as an vehicle to advertise my 3rd annual "90 Bus" Pub Crawl, where birthday celebrants have followed me across town to eat, drink and be merry, all the while celebrating public transportation -- in this case the No. 90 bus, which snakes its way across town from Anacostia to McLean Gardens via Capitol Hill, U Street NW and Adams Morgan.

There were earlier stirrings that I would be celebrating my birthday with fellow blogger Alex Pareene of Wonkette, but because Pareene will be in Minnesota, that's complicated efforts. Anyhow, please join me this Saturday, July 22. It's open invitation. Details below the map.



I've created a Wayfaring Map for you to plot out the route. The way the pub crawl is mapped out is that you don't actually have to follow me across town, just pop in at one of the stops. Last year, we started Woodley Park and headed east ... this year was return to the westbound track, starting at Stop No. 1, Tunnicliff's Tavern, across the sreet from Eastern Market at 222 Seventh St. SE. I will be there starting at 6:30 p.m. for dinner and hope that early birds can join me then or come on by until approximately 8:30 p.m., when the pub crawl will head on to catch a 90 bus.

After two years of swinging by DC9, I've decided that it's just too confined a space, so we're headed to that old stand-by, Stetson's on U Street NW, just west of 16th Street, for Stop No. 2. I really don't like the place since they installed track lighting, but it's a location that seemingly everyone can agree on. I predict we'll arrive around or just after 9 p.m. and we'll drink for two hours.

Around 11 p.m., we'll catch a 90 bus, bypass the mess in Adams Morgan and try to liven up the normally sedate Cafe Deluxe on Wisconsin Avenue, which is Stop No. 3. If we have a large enough crew still with us, we'll take the bar by storm and close out the place ... and then find taxis and be on our merry way home. I can't stay out too late. Aunt Louise has a birthday brunch planned that Sunday morning ... (Please note that the final stop could and is likely to change depending on circumstances. We may cut it short in Woodley Park.)

It's an odd assortment of places in an odd assortment of neighborhoods, but that's the point. Please join me.

Places visited in year's past: the bar at the Omni Shoreham hotel (does it have a name?) ... Pharmacy Bar ... DC9 ... Stetsons (an unintended stop on the first pub crawl) ... Finn Mac Cool's ...

I'm hoping that next year, we'll be able to stop by Mike Benson's new bar/restaurant in the old fire station at North Captiol Street and Lincoln Road.