ebenezers coffee space

Art Splurging and Culture Exploring at Eastern Market

Written by Aubrey Neal

Our first full weekend in D.C. has come and gone, and it has been a whirlwind of discoveries. Now, sitting in Ebenezer’s Coffee House, I can’t believe how much adventure we packed into the last 48 hours. Although listing everything I did would probably be more boring than enlightening as to my DC experience, I have to at least share the highlights of the incredible people we met, places we saw, and conversations we had.

Saturday morning started early with a trip to Eastern Market, an indoor/outdoor produce, meat, and pastry vendor paradise with a flea market stuck onto the side. Although it was below freezing outside, we made the 20 minute trek straight up 6th street, and as soon as we could see the ‘open’ sign, we headed straight toward Port City Coffee to warm up. This little corner café not only whipped up a delicious latte, but it also had little alcoves that made me want to curl up with a good book and order off of their full menu of breakfast sandwiches.

After getting the feeling back in our hands, now wrapped around our steaming coffees, we headed out to explore the actual market. A long corridor lined with meat coolers, fruit stands, and pastry display boxes, the options made us hungry immediately. Cruising through the aisle and avoiding temptation (by only buying one chocolate croissant), we made our way to the art displays. Thirty minutes later, we walked out with 8 pieces of art, a beautiful hand crafted necklace, 5 sarcastic greeting cards, and one antique red wooden mirror (not to mention much smaller bank accounts!). Lugging our treasure down the street, we passed by Capitol Hill Books, a must for any book lover and library scavenger, with books piled ceiling high on three floors and stacked so closely on the windowsills that no light is let in.

After having to drag my friend out of the store, we started our walk back to the apartment. Between the people we met from the Republic of Georgia and Poland and the art we bought that portrays this city in a worldly variety of mediums and character, we had an incredible morning and are still enjoying the new art that we already hung in our room.


Aubrey Neal is a junior at Hillsdale College, majoring in Political Economy. She is currently a participant in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program, interning in the public policy department at FreedomWorks. Originally from the mountains of Northern Idaho, Aubrey is excited to share her numerous new experiences and opportunities from the capitol with Hillsdale and its supporters.