Bethesda, MD August 30, 2018

Mrs. Adventures and I escaped to Bethesda, MD for dinner and a movie. Our plan was to eat Spanish food at Guardado’s and catch Won’t You Be My Neighbor at the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema. 

We are still MoviePass subscribers despite the diminishing features of this movie deal. Originally, with a $10 MoviePass subscription, we could see 1 movie every day of the month. Over time, we experienced restrictions on this terrific deal;  first, we could never repeat a movie, later, we could only see 3 movies a month, and now, most movies are unavailable and the AMC Theater near us in Columbia no longer shows any MoviePass movies.

The Mr. Rogers movie, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, was playing in Bethesda and available there through our MoviePasses, so we drove the 45 minutes to Montgomery County.

Plans for the proposed new Columbia downtown are modeled after Bethesda, so this was a great excuse to experience the future Columbia, now. Pedestrian-friendly downtown Bethesda has wide brick sidewalks and many bike lanes full of cyclists and pedestrians hustling to the countless nearby restaurants and shops.

We enjoyed a 15-minute walk to Guardado’s, a Spanish restaurant that offers tapas and paella. We were seated in a cozy corner and listened to Spanish guitar music. I had a fabulous cup of gazpacho, then Mrs. Adventures and I split a paella negra. This unusual paella, colored black with squid ink, was a spicy delight.

Embracing the Spanish theme, I chose a Spanish beer –Estrella Galicia. This pilsner was a pleasant surprise, with a subtle sweetness upfront, ending crisp and dry. It paired well with the paella.

We found Guardado’s a delight and are already making plans for our next visit.

We strolled back, dropping off the leftovers in our car at the parking garage. MoviePass allowed entry to Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a charming but rather slow movie.

Bethesda seems a great date destination for us. Whether we keep MoviePass, time will tell.

Cheers!

Warren