25 Ways to Celebrate Noah’s B-Day

Today’s Noah’s birthday. He’s a bit bashful about this particular notch in his birthday belt, so I won’t betray him by telling you how old he’s turning. But in honor of the big day, I present you with 25 Noah-appropriate ways you can celebrate the occasion in D.C. (I promise, 25 is just a totally random and unrelated number plucked from one of Noah’s extra-large hats.) Note: Some of these ideas aren’t all that seasonally appropriate. Deal with it.

1. Belly up to the bar at the Red Derby, duking it out over Connect Four while guzzling a Sea Hag IPA (or PBR, if you’re a true hipster).

2. Savor the sweet goodness of a coconut macaroon from the Eastern Market bakery.

3. Spend the afternoon pretending to be hard at work but actually watching The Wire.

4. Head to Borders or, better yet, Kramerbooks, to geek out flipping through the colorful pages of the book Transit Maps of the World.

5. Dance like Noah a fool at a show at the Black Cat.

6. Crash the rowdy fan section of a DC United soccer game.

7. Discover pure bliss in a margarita pizza and Smuttynose draft from RedRocks Pizza in Columbia Heights.

8. Canoe along the Potomac at Fletcher’s Cove.

9. Go for a bike ride along the C&O Canal.

10. Cruise around Logan Circle on Vinny, our Vespa. Oh wait, that’s just for us to do. Suckers!

11. Ask the barista at Big Bear Cafe to write “Happy birthday, Noah” in foam atop your latte.

12. Go on a cookie tour of D.C.: Steal one from a Doubletree guest, then head to Firehook for a sweet dreams cookie, followed swiftly by an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie from Potbelly’s. Then roll home.

13. Stock up on quarters for gobs of gumball-chewing.

14. Ride metro all day, hoping for a glimpse of one of the fancy new trains.

15. Blog about the Metropole for hours of entertainment watching the defensive comments come rolling in.

16. Pull out your old punk albums and wax poetic about how it makes you reconnect with your faded youth (then go buy some Smash Mouth CDs and, uh, smash them).

17. Admire the beer list at the Brickskeller. Order a Rogue Dead Guy Ale for Noah’s sake.

18. Elect Barack Obama president. Check.

19. Climb on your soapbox and spread lefty propaganda.

20. Head to Dupont Circle for free wine and art. It’s First Friday time!

21. Scarf down a few red velvet cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake. Sure you’ll feel a little tool-y standing in the long line and leaving with a pretty pink box, but they’re totally worth it!

22. Grab vegetarian chili and french fries at Ben’s Chili Bowl. Note the recent addition to their “who eats free” list.

23. Admire the awesome city view from the lofty intersection of Clifton and 13th Streets NW.

24. Gorge on vegetarian sushi and tempura at Sushi Taro! Or try to be as cool as we are and make it yourself at home. (Hint: sweet potato sushi is incredible.)

25. Dress up like Zorro, like a young Noah did in the adorable blast-from-the-past photo above.