Obama Visits Ben's Chili Bowl

On Saturday, while I was dining with a friend near 12th and U Streets in Washington, D.C. (see my next post), a flurry of police and jet-black SUVs poured into the block and cleared pedestrians from the sidewalk.

It turns out that only some 60 feet away, right across the street, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty was joining president-elect Barack Obama for a 1:00 p.m. lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl, a no-nonsense restaurant-cum-greasy spoon.

Here is the City Paper's summary of the Obama-Fenty lunch. Apparently, Obama likes his half-smokes with extra cheese. And he drinks his iced tea like they do in the Carolinas -- sweet.