DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Right along the historical downtown Washington DC area next to the Verizon Center in Penn Quarters, DISTRICT CHOPHOUSE opened May ’95 and grew to have affiliate brewpub-restaurants in Denver, Boulder and Cleveland. Though my wife and I only stopped in for a few mid-afternoon beers on our March ’12 Maryland-Virginia three-day journey, this upscale chain takes great pride in its seafood, steaks and sandwiches.

Since Bruce Springsteen’s in town tonight, parking’s at a minimum. But…

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA / SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA

In town for surprise birthday party to celebrate my Uncle Ed’s 60^th birthday May ‘02, found godsend Total Wine & More in Springfield. The store’s wide selection forced me to fill up trunk with much-needed Weeping Radish, Blue Ridge, and De Groen’s brews (all brewed in Maryland), Dominion Octoberfest and Octoberfest Special (Virginia) along with North Carolina middleweights from Rock Creek and Wild Goose.

The only D.C. bottled beer I scored was Olde Heurich…