EXPLORING D.C.'S BAR SCENE

A D.C. couple was entertaining out-of-town visitors when they decided to head to U Street to check out the night life.

Still being relatively new to the area, the couple led their guests, a Wisconsin man and woman, from bar to bar, hoping to find an adequate drinking hole for their friends to absorb the District's party scene. After a couple hits and a few misses, they finally ventured to what appeared to be a happening sports bar on the corner of U and Ninth: Nellie's.

The guys went to the bar to order a round while the girls headed to the washroom to freshen up. They watched a bit of the game on the TV and downed their beverages, not taking much notice of the scene around them.

Their dates descended from the bathrooms, and the men handed them each a beer. The girls, laughing, asked the guys: "You realize this is a gay bar, right?"

The confused men looked around and for the first time realized they were surrounded by other males, many of whom were paired off. Laughing, the group ordered another round of drinks and enjoyed the music.

A HOT SHOWER AWAITS

As weekly brunch in downtown Bethesda was winding up Sunday around noon, a few raindrops began falling -- despite the weather forecast calling for partly sunny skies and a small chance of late-day thunderstorms.

The group of seven hurried inside, to the protestations of one man, who had happened to bicycle to the brunch: "This'll pass in a second," he said.

Perhaps he was just hopeful.

An hour later, he gave up on trying to wait out the torrential rain and headed out into the downpour to begin the long, wet slog home.

A GRADUATE OF SIDEWALK CHALK

A NoMa woman taking her usual route to work noticed that someone had decided to get creative with the sidewalk.

On the tar spots scattered on the pavement, someone had drawn heads and eight legs -- making it look like the sidewalk was crawling with huge spiders.

It appeared the prankster's marker had also made it to a nearby "Road Work" sign, but his grammar wasn't the best -- the sign now read "Road Work A Head."

NOT SO SALAD DAYS

A downtown D.C. employee was starving. She had been at work for hours and hadn't eaten all day.

She walked to a nearby Cosi and ordered a salad. When the cashier asked if she needed a bag, the woman declined, figuring she didn't need one since her office was close and it wasn't raining.

As she made the short trek back to her office, there was a spring in her step. But the excitement was short-lived. She was only able to take a few steps inside her office before the salad spilled out onto the floor. It was completely unsalvageable.

Lesson learned: Always take the bag.

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