For the Love of the Game: Drinks and Board Games Galore

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WHEN THE TOURISTS come — and if you've missed them, you've probably been living in the bunker underneath the Washington Monument. Oops. We've said too much — D.C.'s smugness shows its ugly face.

"Look at all these stupid people from Kansas," we say, waving our arms dramatically. "What are they doing standing on our Metro escalator? And on the wrong side! Morons!"

OK, hotshot. Time to prove how smart you are. Or rather, how good you are at taking a random collection of seven letters and configuring it into an awe-inspiring single word. Or at buying up fake properties using fake money and represented by a tiny dog.

It's time for board games.

Anyone who has been part of a family Thanksgiving knows that board games are better when alcohol is involved. OK, until Uncle David starts screaming "My name is Inigo Montoya" and swordfighting with a fireplace poker while playing Risk, but let's not talk about that. There are plenty of places in D.C. that will allow you to indulge your love of board games while getting intoxicated. Oh, and it's cheap.

First off: Rocket Bar. There's a collection of games (including Battleship and Scrabble) that you can rent for a dollar apiece. Add to that $3 PBRs, $5 rail drinks and wine and plenty of $4 beers available every day, and you kind of can't beat it.

If you want something a little classier, go for the Majestic Lounge in Alexandria, where the board games are built into the table tops. Make sure to get there early in order to get a table. Happy hour is 4 p.m.-7 p.m., and there are $3 beers to be had.

» Rocket Bar, 714 7th St. NW; 202-628-7665. (Gallery Place)
» Majestic Lounge, 2000 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 703-549-5051. (Braddock Road)

Photo courtesy James M. Thresher/The Washington Post