The final sketches from our recent trip to Washington DC were very different from the other places, as this is not a museum or a marble monument, but a humble diner up on U Street, a few stops up from downtown on the Metro. This is Ben’s Chili Bowl. I’d seen it in an Anthony Bourdain episode on TV and even the thought of it made me feel hungry, indeed I’m feeling peckish right now thinking about those cheesy fries. Ben’s Chili Bowl is, as the sign says, a proper historic Washington landmark, having been an important local staple during DC’s era of the fight for civil rights. This area around U Street is historically known as the ‘Black Broadway‘, with the large Lincoln Theatre next door to Ben’s being one of the most iconic venues of a cultural and musical renaissance showing acts like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. A couple of blocks down, the Bohemian Caverns (formerly Crystal Caverns and originally Club Caverns when it opened in 1926) was the preeminent jazz club of the city. While Ben’s wasn’t here during the golden age of jazz, it opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali in a period of great cultural change in DC, a time when segregation was only just starting to end. Martin Luther King Jr regularly ate here, and the March on Washington in 1963 led to the Civil Rights Bill; Ben and Virginia were there and donated food to the marchers. During and after the DC Riots of 1968 Ben’s kept its doors open to provide food and shelter. Check out this fascinating interview with Mrs. Virginia Ali, widow of Ben and co-founder of the diner, who tells some amazing stories. You can learn more about Ben’s Chili Bowl on their website (but it will make you hungry).

I had the cheesy fries (not being a meaty chili eater myself) and sat inside to sketch quickly; I only did outlines and the people because I wanted to eat my cheesy fries, and go outside the draw the outside. Next door to Ben’s is a bar called ‘Ben’s Next Door’ which was quite popular, but I didn’t go inside. A massive group of schoolkids arrived with their teacher on some sort of field trip, and they were all going into Ben’s for a milkshake after looking at the large murals in the alley between Ben’s and the Lincoln Theatre, ‘Ben Ali Way’. The murals were painted a few years ago and show a series of black leaders and heroes, with the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama prominent at the alley’s entrance. Obama came here in 2009, knowing what an important landmark this was during the civil rights era. I miss them.

And so that concludes our little trip to DC, it was an interesting place and I’m glad I finally went; if I ever come back, I would want to spend more time in the museums, appreciating them while we can, and then come back up to Ben’s for some more cheesy fries. Next up, sketches from our trip to New York City. There are a lot!