Ellen and I went to Washington DC on Wednesday for a live Survivor event with Rob Has A Podcast. Here’s the recap – and the Survivors we met in real life!
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The winner of Survivor 42 – Maryanne (left) – and fan favorite, Omer (top)!
Survivor IRL!
As you likely already know, my friends Ellen, Hillary and I are huge fans of Survivor. We’ve seen all 42 seasons – and counting!
And we’ve even done our own Survivor weekends.
Rob Has A Podcast aka RHAP
We all listen to Rob Has A Podcast, which is the most famous Survivor podcast produced by by former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino, who was on Amazon (season 6) and All-Stars (season 8).
Every week Rob and his team produce recaps of the show and interview players.
Our event on Wednesday was a gathering of RHAP Survivor fans and a live recording of the Know It Alls Episode, which you can watch here.
Ellen and me with Rob at the after party
Pre-Show Dinner at Zaytinia
Ellen and I drove up in the afternoon and spent the night at a Courtyard by Marriott that was in walking distance to the events.
After we donned our Survivor buffs, we went to dinner at Zaytinya. Ellen researched great spots in the and we both love Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese cuisine.
All the flatbread!
Cocktails
Ellen had the Za-atar Margarita with “za’atar air” foam, and I loved my spiced mezcal drink.
The Food
We ordered 5 dishes, ending with the famous grilled octopus.
HTIPITI
marinated roasted red peppers, feta, thyme
FALAFEL
traditional crispy chickpea fritters, tumeric pickles, cherry tomato, tahini
This was my favorite dish!!
BANTIJIAN BIL LABAN
crispy eggplant, roasted garlic yogurt, pistachio, mint-cardamom spice
MUSHROOM KAPNISTÁ
smoked mushrooms, dates, roasted walnuts, cumin, labneh
OCTOPUS SANTORINI
grilled Mediterranean octopus, marinated onions, capers, yellow split pea purée
Everything was incredible!
Walk to The National Press Club
We took a brisk walk to the National Press Club where the event was held.
We got there an hour early and snagged some great seats.
Rob Has An Announcement
Our host for the evening let us know some Survivors were in the house! We knew this was likely, but it was SO COOL to get to mingle with former players!
Ellen and I jumped up right away with our seat-neighbor Maisie to meet Maryanne and Omer from season 42.
It was madness in there! (Also really hope our boosters keep us healthy…..!)
We also met Tori from 42, who was super nice! We ended up going down 13 flights of stairs with her later and now we are BFFs. Haha.
We met all the Survivors in attendance. So so fun.
And then we all watched the live episode.
Live Podcast
After the episode concluded (with lots of gasps and cheering), Rob came back on stage with Maryanne to discuss what happened.
You can listen to the live podcast here.
Mike Turner + Omer joined the panel
Also on the stage: Wendell Holland, winner of Survivor 36: Ghost Island and Brice Izyah of Survivor 28: Cagayan.
This was our first live event, and it won’t be our last!
The After Party
Brice and Wendell hosted the after party across the street which was more time to mingle with players and fans.
Ellen fangirling so hard
I was up way past my bedtime and sipping ice water : )
Night night Maryanne!
We walked home at midnight and slept till almost 8. I was so thankful my body clock didn’t wake me up at 6. This old gal can’t stay up late anymore.
Breakfast at Tatte
After a quick shower, we went to Tatte for coffee and breakfast. I had the best coffee and eggs with tomatoes and whipped goat cheese on sourdough. We need a Tatte in Cville!
