Perry

Perry is a global nomad, and as a result has friends scattered across the country and all over the world. He enjoys visiting those who live in far off glamorous locales, but prefers that friends visit him when they live in not so exotic places. He was thus very happy to find out that a friend was in town from Indianapolis (a city he has no particular desire to visit and that his friend would like to escape). They met up at Poste, in the Hotel Monaco, and enjoyed a lazy evening sitting outside, catching up over sparkling rosé and snacks. Perry wasn’t too impressed with the misshaped homemade pretzels, although they were presented very nicely.


Perry is an outgoing guy, so even when catching up with old friends he likes to make new ones, in this instance Marilyn Monroe and JFK, the hotel lobby's goldfish. Unfortunately their bowl was rather small, so there was no room for Perry to jump in and go for a swim.


Sunday is always treat day, and since Perry wasn’t able to cool off with a swim the previous evening, he was really craving an icy delight. Perry typically ventures outside of the neighborhood in search of edible delicacies, but he was feeling lazy this past weekend. He realized he had never tried the nearby Rita’s, so decided to head there. The girl serving him tried to convince him to sample the Swedish Fish Italian Ice, but Perry is much more of a dairy dessert kind of guy, so he opted for a frozen custard hot fudge sundae (which he thoroughly enjoyed).

Cheeky

Cheeky is a master bargain grocery shopper, and is always on top of the weekly specials at his local stores. He finds no shame in clipping coupons, and gets incredibly excited when it’s double or triple coupon day (anyway, isn’t it fashionable to be frugal in these economic times?). Armed with coupons and a carefully constructed shopping list, he saves bundles, which he happily spends on much more fun things like accessories, treats and travel. He frequently shops at the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter, where he has become good friends with the coupon guy.


Cheeky has also made friends with the GW hippo. He’s heard that hippos are mean but he doesn’t believe it, and isn’t at all worried that he’ll end up as lunch one day. An added benefit of visiting his hippo friend is that he resides near Cone E. Island, a tasty ice cream and yogurt shop. For Cheeky, like many of his penguin friends, it’s all about the peanut butter frozen yogurt, a delicacy he thinks is much too hard to find in Washington. He’s rather unimpressed with the tart yogurt that is taking over DC (years after everywhere else, he’d like to add). He would, however, welcome a branch of Mexico’s Nutrisa, which has the yummiest tart frozen yogurt anywhere. If you happen to find yourself in Mexico City he suggests you stop by and order a sundae with the creamy lime topping and yogurt covered cereal.

Mary

Mary thinks that one of the problems with Washington, besides too many politicians, is that people are always coming and going. She doesn’t mind the coming when it involves interesting new people, but she really doesn’t like the going when it applies to friends (the past administration, on the other hand…). All of the going means that she regularly attends goodbye parties, most recently at Donovan House. Unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate, so the poolside party got moved to the hotel bar. Mary had a fun time regardless, and is already planning a trip to Nashville to visit her friend.


Mary was not feeling too productive the following morning, so she opted for a lazy Sunday in Georgetown. She went to Booeymonger for lunch; she loves their sandwiches, especially the Pita Pan, a vegetarian delight with avocados, mushrooms, spinach, cheese and a tasty house dressing. As she ate her lunch she stared out at the line for Georgetown Cupcake, contemplating how people could wait so long on a hot sticky day for a not exactly light treat - not that she hasn’t enjoyed their cupcakes on many an occasion, but when in Georgetown on a summer day nothing beats Thomas Sweet.

Mo

Mo is a social guy, always up for a good party. A fan of the Hirshhorn’s After Hours, he joined some friends at the museum this past Friday. Mo perused the exhibition Directions: Walead Beshty: Legibility on Color Backgrounds, and took advantage of the unusually pleasant summer evening, hanging out in the atrium and enjoying a beverage or two. Sadly he got so caught up in the gossiping that he did not make it to the dance floor…but there’s always next time!


Due to the absence of vegetarian food at After Hours (which resulted in a liquid dinner), Mo did not feel his best the following morning. Nevertheless, he found the energy to hit the gym and run errands.


He loves grocery shopping at the penguin friendly Trader Joe's, where he can always find new and tasty treats, as well as healthy food to get him through a busy week.


He then hit the German Gourmet, where he picked up some cheese, red sauerkraut and a Zopf. He even found time while running errands to make a new friend. What can Moe say, he loves a fellow drinker.

Bluebell

Bluebell ♥s New York, so she recently decided to visit her aunt, who has a lovely, albeit penguin free, flat in the Lower East Side. Bluebell took the Bolt Bus (her very first time) - it wasn't a particularly glamorous way to travel, but the price and schedule can’t be beat. Because New York offers diverse culinary delights on every corner, indulging in as many treats as possible was high on Bluebell’s agenda. The first night she feasted on a mushroom and cheese crepe from Creperie NYC, and pizza margherita from San Marzano (she thinks it’s hard to beat food based on carbs and cheese). And of course no meal is complete without something sweet, so Bluebell stopped by 16 Handles to try a variety of its self serve frozen yogurt flavors (she recommends the pistachio and peanut butter, but thinks you should pass on the too sweet banana).


A somewhat vain penguin with a sweet tooth, Bluebell knows the importance of daily exercise, so the following day she waddled all the way up to the Americas Society, located in the Upper East Side, to check out the Dias & Riedweg exhibition …and it becomes something else. She decided to complement culture with some shopping and fun; after the exhibition, which she thoroughly enjoyed, she went to FAO Schwartz to make a new friend or two.


All the waddling, culture and shopping made her hungry, so she stopped by one of her favorite New York City treat spots, Tasti D-Lite, to refuel (she recommends all of the peanut butter based flavors as well as Snickers).


That evening she met up with friends at the wine bar Terroir. Bluebell is a lover of German wines, so she was pleased to see a long list of diverse and tasty Rieslings. (She is tired of all the anti-Riesling snobs who have only tried the overly sweet ones and probably just drink Chardonnay anyway.) She loved and recommends the Schumann Nagler 2007 bubbly, and also enjoyed the Trocken Spreitzer 2007, both from the Rheingau region. After drinking on an empty stomach (she’ll never learn), she decided to be healthy and stopped by Angelica Kitchen for some yummy vegetarian food. The restaurant has no liquor license, which in this instance was not a bad thing, and she fully enjoyed her dinner, a tempeh Reuben sandwich and some cornbread (one can never have too many carbs).


Sadly the visit went by much too quickly, but Bluebell made the most of her time, and was able to fit in some quick pre-departure socializing. She first caught up with a friend at Cocoa Bar; despite the numerous chocolate treats available she stuck to the iced coffee, not only because she needed the caffeine but because she had one more Tasti D-Lite date before heading back to DC. Only for Tasti D-Lite would Bluebell brave the throng of tourists making their way into the Empire State Building, the location of the franchise closest to her bus stop.

Binney

Binney is always up for exploring Washington’s many nooks and crannies, so this past Sunday he happily accepted a friend's offer to take him to Bolling Air Force Base. After a quick tour they got iced coffees at the on base Dunkin’ Donuts, and took a leisurely walk along the Potomac, enjoying the unusually pleasant summer weather. What Binney liked most about his visit, however, was sneaking up on a plane and practicing his flying moves, wishing for a moment that penguins really could fly.


Later that day Binney put on his party clothes and headed to Maggiano’s in Tyson’s Galleria, for a dinner celebrating the recent wedding of a friend’s brother. After catching up with friends at the cocktail hour he sat down for a feast of bread, salad and pasta, and then dug into his favorite course, dessert.


He admired the beautiful wedding cake, but was much more excited for his friend’s mother’s homemade baklava! Now if only he could convince her to give him the secret family recipe.

Skipper

Skipper, one of the newest members of the penguin clan, is a social butterfly who appreciates good food and drink. It was thus not surprising that he chose to celebrate his recent adoption with a night out on the town. Skipper is a fan of Italian cuisine, both for its wide array of vegetarian options, and because it’s very tasty (pizza and pasta, who could ask for anything more?). After much agonizing over where to dine, he decided on Posto, and enjoyed a meal of mixed wild mushrooms and pizza margherita, two of his favorite things. It was then off to a birthday party at the Ritz Georgetown’s Degrees Bar, where he socialized with friends, new and old, and indulged in birthday cake and bubbly.


Skipper had so much fun that he decided to repeat the socializing, wining and dining formula the following night. He joined some fabulous friends at Founding Farmers, where he spent the evening sipping interesting cocktails and gossiping away.


He is not in the least bit ashamed to admit that he opted for dessert as dinner, and polished off a bigger than himself slice of red velvet cake. He can always have his fruits and vegetables tomorrow.