Coffeeneuring #6: Grace Street Coffee and Dog Tag Bakery (3210 and 3206 Grace St., N.W., Georgetown)

Sunday, Nov. 6; 6 miles
Masala chai and roasted pear and ginger tart (split with Rudi)

Rudi’s and my plan was to ride up to Beach Drive, enjoy the fall colors of Rock Creek Park, and then find someplace for a drink. It started out fine, but at the Taft Bridge, cyclists were coming up the hill to say that the gate was locked at the zoo, making that route impassable. I didn’t fancy going up and around, just to get back down again, so I decided we’d seen enough foliage and, after fooling around on the exercise equipment and snapping a few photos, that we should just skip to the hot drinks.

Rudi said a friend had recommended Grace Street Coffee, a new coffeehouse in Georgetown, so we decided to check them out. Located down the street from Dog Tag Bakery and Chaia Tacos, Grace Street shares its modern space with a juice bar and a gourmet sandwich shop. They also have a back garden with seating, which probably gets some nice sun in the early part of the day.

We took our drinks across the street to the park along the canal, and I ran into Dog Tag to get us a munchie. The ginger-pear tart was delicious and substantial enough I didn’t mind sharing with Rudi. My masala chai was, however, the spiciest drink I have ever had; I’m pretty sure there’s now hair on my chest. (Ew!) While this makes a nice change from the overly bland chais I often encounter in D.C., it would have been inedible without a snack and water to clear the palate.

Grace Street has hardly any space for bike parking, which is really its only drawback, and its sidewalks are very narrow. Rudi and I ended up finding an alcove and locking our bikes together. If you end up going, I’d suggest bringing a cable lock, rather than a U lock. (Or, even better, there’s a Bikeshare station at the end of the block…)

The knitting is a hat I hadn’t picked up since fall, with a complicated pattern, a misplaced stitch marker, and no notes on a pattern stored on my phone. The book is the second part of the Vivian Apple series of apocalyptic, feminist YA fiction.

Coffeeneuring #7: Booeymonger and Macaron Bee (3265 and 3261 Prospect St., N.W., Georgetown)

Saturday, Nov. 12; 4.2 miles
English breakfast tea from Booeymonger and two macarons, pumpkin spice and raspberry

I got off to a late start to the day, problematic in the weeks after a return to Standard Time, and had a book waiting for me at the Georgetown branch of the library, so the neighborhood I’d end up in was pre-ordained. I wanted to capture the last bits of sunlight, so biked down to the Cady Alley location of District Doughnuts, but they were sold out, so I backtracked to Macaron Bee, which I hadn’t visited since they left Wisconsin Ave. a year or two ago. At their old shop, they sold tea, but in their new location, they’re attached to a tearoom, so their take-out spot is literally a walkup alcove in the entryway of the brownstone. So, I walked next door, where I knew they sold Twinings tea and got myself a cuppa. The water was hot, which I appreciated as dusk (and the chill) came on quickly. As for the cookies, the pumpkin spice was less spicy than I would have liked, but their raspberry is always a solid choice, with plenty of flavor.

The nice thing about this particular block is that there are on-street bike racks on 33rd Street.

The book, Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon, got off to a good start, and I wound up this pretty skein of yarn to start a new knitting project.

Coffeeneuring #8: Kristina’s Café and Pastries (4418 MacArthur Blvd., N.W., Foxhall Village)

Sunday, Nov. 13; 5.1 miles
Chai and a Boston Cream Pie cupcake

Because we had a limited window between two events on Sunday afternoon, Rudi suggested this recent addition to the cupcake scene as a destination. The day was pleasant and sunny, and Rudi knew of a “shortcut” (the sidewalk for a block on a one-way side street) that cut off the steepest climb.

Kristina’s has an outdoor deck, although when we sat down the only table in the sun was already occupied. But as time passed, the sun emerged from behind the awning, warming us back up again. It was a nice place to figure out where I was in my knitting project and to start a new book, Grace Lin’s National Book Award finalist, When the Sea Turned to Silver.

I’m sure the shop does good business, being the only cafe in the vicinity, but in a city with above-average cupcakes, theirs falls far short of the bar. The cake was dense and a little dry, and the cream of mine had a weird boozy taste to it. Similarly, the chai, while made in-house, was just okay. I’d probably skip it in favor of a less expensive tea if I stopped in again.

We ended up locking our bikes to a street sign around the corner, but Rudi says he’s brought his bike up onto the deck on previous stops.

One final weekend of Coffeeneuring. I’ll be sad to see it end!