Runners to Take Over Hill Streets Saturday
Saturday morning’s National Marathon and Half Marathon will lead to a number of street closures around Capitol Hill. All racers will pass through the Hill once, and those completing the full marathon will run through twice.
The race begins at RFK Stadium and proceeds toward the Capitol down East Capitol Street, which will be closed between 22nd and Second streets from 6:45 to 7:15 a.m. and from 7:50 to 10:45 a.m.
The route then takes runners south on Second Street and west on Independence Avenue past the House office buildings. Independence will be closed between Second Street Southeast and Third Street Southwest from 6:50 to 7:40 a.m. and from 7:55 to 10:35 a.m.
After passing through Northwest, the racers will return to Capitol Hill, closing a number of other streets from roughly 7:30 to 10 a.m. Those include H Street Northeast between Fourth and 13th streets, 13th Street Northeast between H Street and North Carolina Avenue, and C Street Northeast between North Carolina and 22nd Street.
For a map of the race route and more information on street closures, visit nationalmarathon.com.
Ditch the TV, But Not the TV Dinner
Spring recess brings a rare thing to Capitol Hill: normal business hours. While staffers are usually stuck in the Dome working until well after sunset, the recess workday often ends around dinnertime, providing more time to explore Washington’s latest cocktail and dining options.
Zola (800 F St. NW), the restaurant and bar attached to the International Spy Museum, awaits those with a sense of wanderlust and a love of kitsch. The restaurant recently unveiled a particularly creative new bar menu, which includes TV-dinner-style appetizers and a basket of food samples filled with goodies like pretzel bites and house-made sausage wrapped in brioche that will be passed around the bar.
The menu has been broken into three sections: “I Feel Like Sharing” (costing $8-$14), “It’s All Mine” ($11-$17) and “Zola TV Dinners” ($17-$24), which are served at the bar only during evening hours. The TV dinners include such foods as rabbit Salisbury steak with truffle gravy, mashers and green beans served in a ceramic plate reminiscent of the meals eaten before the boob tube in the 1950s.
In addition to these fun foods, Zola, which received Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence four years straight starting in 2003, offers a wine list with some 350 varieties, many of which are available in half bottles or magnums to better suit your party size. The bar also offers 20 wines by the glass for less than $10.
Because Zola doesn’t have a specific happy hour, these wines and menu items are available at the bar all night.
— Daniel Heim and Alison McSherry