Great Escape: Trivia Night

I miss having dinner with Alex Trebek. 

There was a time when my husband and I would eat dinner at our coffee table and compete against each other while watching "Jeopardy."

We even had house rules. For example, giving a question before Alex finishes reading the answer results in an immediate disqualification. This rule was established when it became clear that I could read much faster than my husband.

Unfortunately, the days of dinner and "Jeopardy" are long gone now that we’ve grown up, had a son and felt the need to have dinner together around our dining room table. And anyway, "Jeopardy" now conflicts with "Go Diego, Go!"

Every once in a while, I yearn for the brain food that our nightly quiz show used to provide—and the idea of quizzing each other with questions from our Trivial Pursuit deck seems pretty lame.

I’ve heard about trivia nights at local bars and restaurants, and I like the idea of getting out of the house, having some food and beverages and challenging my brain. It might even be fun to get a bunch of friends together and compete against each other in our own friendly challenge.

Luckily, we have some trivia nights right here in our community, so there’s no need to travel in the District, where many of the pub quizzes exist. It seems that Tuesday night is the popular trivia night in Alexandria, because both bars chose that night for their weekly quiz.

In Del Ray, you can compete with other neighbors and friends at . runs from 8 to 10 p.m.

In Old Town, local trivia buffs meet at on Tuesday nights. Enjoy half-priced burgers from 4 to 9 p.m. and stick around for the Brainstormer Pub Quiz.

So consider checking out one of the local trivia nights on your night out of the house. It may not be dinner with Alex, but your brain will thank you!