For the Love of Lists — Things to do in D.C. while you're waiting for Godot

"Did you hear about the volcano in Iceland?" my husband started, before giving me the details last Thursday.

"Stop playing with me," was my refrain.

If only.

We read the headlines, we dialed the toll free numbers and waited on hold, we even made the 45 minute trek to Dulles airport, fruitlessly looking for a human being to explain to us what would happen with our imperiled flight plans.

What it ultimately boiled down to was this: We had no idea if we would ever actually make it to France and I was going to have to make D.C. — my hometown and a place I'd long-since taken for granted — as fun a consolation prize for my daughter as I possibly could. There was no Playmobil exhibit at the Musée Des Arts Décoratifs, no cavity-baiting at Ladurée and no shopping at DPAM. Here are the highlights of what we did instead.

There was the sight-seeing...

...I mean, can you go to D.C. with a kid and not visit the National Zoo? The free-ness, alone, is a draw. We giggled

at naked mole rats, strained our necks to see a shy panda and marveled at the crowd-pleasing orangutans. If you

time your visit just right, you may see them on walk-about on their O Line. As long as you stand far enough back to

keep them from peeing on your head, you can watch them walk, or swing directly overhead as they go back and forth

between their two living spaces.

...We escaped chilly winds by browsing the blossoms in the humid Botanic Gardens.

...My dad drove us to Baltimore for some Inner-Harbor paddle boating and a visit to the National Aquarium, an

attraction I hadn't visited since I was in the sixth grade. The dolphins and sting rays were interesting and all,

but that dark, musty place is seriously overdue for an overhaul.

...And, of course, my daughter has to ogle the Smithsonian's taxidermied animals every single time we're in town.

...My personal favorite moment, though, was walking my daughter to and from the adorable little brick Takoma Park

library that I loved so much as a kid.

And then, there were the meals...

...I was reasonably satisfied with a mason jar of lemonade, delicious biscuits and shrimp 'n' grits (too light on the grits, I must admit) at cool Zora Neale Hurston-inspired soul food eatery, Eatonville.

...Dukem doesn't have the best Ethiopian food I've ever had (Ghenet, in NYC, earned that distinction), but the dinner entertainment was spell-binding.

This isn't what we saw, but does demonstrate the dancing style.

...Across from Dukem, the grown-ups hit up Ben's Next Door, where my "good" mom jeans were no match

for the Essence-mag-fabulous bar crowd. Everybody was far too fly for after-work drinks in the middle of the week.

...My kid did get to scarf down some pâté after all at out-of-the-way french bistro, Et Voila.

...We weathered the yuppie zone that is Dupont Circle's Pizzeria Paradiso and were rewarded with the lamb,

potato and feta pizza of the day.

...We lunched on more soul food at the renovated Eastern Market. The ladies at the famed and historic Market Lunch

counter may have nicer new digs than they did before the building's fire in '07, but that has improved their stank

Soup Nazi-esque demeanor not a bit. It's all part of the experience, though.

Less notable experiences at Kramer Books & Afterwards, Good Stuff (inaccurately named, over-priced burgers and

soggy fries brought to you by Top Chef's Spike Mendelsohn) and Tex-Mex Lite hot spot, Lauriol Plaza rounded out

our dining outings.

For a non-"vacation" trip, we actually managed to cram in quite a bit of goings-on, I'd say. Nonetheless, the universe

owes me another getaway! Where should it be? I'm definitely thinking somewhere in this same time zone because

there is not enough melatonin in the world to tame my jet lag disorder...