http://burgerdays.com

It's been four-and-a-half months since the Burger Days crew last took to the streets of D.C. for a day-long beef smorgasbord and now that our cholesterol levels have finally come back down to non-life-threatening levels, our doctors have given us the OK to go and do it all over again. That's right, Burger Days IV has been greenlit. The fourth installment of the everlasting series that pits the stomachs of intrepid, hungry, ground beef connoisseurs against the tastiest burger joints in the D.C. area has been set for Sunday, July 3. If you ain't in the know on the gloriousness that is Burger Days, let us school you on the details: (Brief history lesson: What we call "Burger Days" are the reason this site came to be. Now, we love burgers, but you probably picked that up by now. And nothing makes us happier than eating good burgers. We had tried all the big boys-- you know, the ones that are always on the "Best Of" lists of D.C.'s newspapers, magazines, etc. Don't get us started on them-- those popularity contests are rarely representative of the best of anything. Anyway, we knew there were so many other spots out there putting out the goods and it would be near-impossible to try them all at the pace we were going. Plus, we wanted to hit up the lesser-known joints. The hole-in-the-walls. The unheralded dives. The places that don't have celebrity chefs or brand-name recognition. Spots that could end up producing the proverbial diamond-in-the-rough. We're busy guys, so in the interest of time management, we needed a way to hit up the most joints possible. And that's how Burger Days were born.) Just before noon, the BD crew sets out for the first in a trio* of burger destinations. Only the first joint has been pre-selected, the rest of the stops are decided upon throughout the day. All Burger Days participants must order a burger at each location visited. Sliders, mini-burgers and non-beef, four-legged animal burgers are acceptable, however, bird and fish burgers are NOT. The places we hit up need not be limited to just burger joints-- any spot that serves a burger is game. Burger Days first started as a means of burger discovery in the D.C.-area, and while we are open to revisiting past conquered joints, we try to limit these days to new-to-us burgers. The neighborhood destination of Burger Days IV has been set for Adam's Morgan. Our kicking-off spot? The Black Squirrel. This is all that will be determined ahead of July 3. Everything else will be decided upon the day of. There really are no rules. Just burgers. Lots and lots of burgers. Just because we begin in Adam's Morgan, doesn't mean we'll end there. In fact, most Burger Days conclude far from our starting point. For a look at past and future Burger Days' destinations, including potential BD IV spots, see our official map. Up until now, Burger Days has been a smaller affair and has been mostly limited to members of the BD crew but with Burger Days IV, we would like to extend an invite to our readers to join us on our beefy adventure. If you do decide to come along, we will welcome you with open, greasy arms, but please don't expect anything too structured or organized. We will be drinking, eating burgers and engaging in a lot of off-color commentary-- much like you see here on burgerdays.com. If this sounds like your kind of party, RSVP on our Facebook page or just shoot us an email. As the day gets closer, more details on when and where we will be meeting will be available. This is a casual affair-- pants and cummerbunds are optional. Some tips for BD participants: 1) These ain't your fast-food style burgers. Most of the spots we hit up on Burger Days do not serve up the smaller patties. No, these burgers are, more often than not, of the 1/2 lb. or more variety, so pace yourself! Far too often we've seen crew members moaning, groaning and begging to throw in the towel because they've eaten too much, too fast. 2) Building on the above tip: Burger Days is a marathon, not a sprint. Many are tempted to come out of the gates and inhale the beef with the gusto, but if you go that route, you won't last long. This is not an eating competition. We like to imagine the Tortoise was thinking of us when he said "Slow and steady wins the race." 3) Preparation is key. Don't starve yourself leading up to Burger Days. If you eat nothing but salad and veggies in anticipation of your body's upcoming beef invasion, you will be hurting. Not only will your stomach shrink and you'll be unable to hang with the rest of the crew, but the onslaught of red meat will do a number on your innards. If you plan on participating, then now is the time to prep. Roughage (whole heads of lettuce, cabbage, etc.) and drinking large amounts of water will do wonders on increasing stomach size, or so we're told. And be sure to continue eating meat. 4) Sides are NOT your friends. While it's near impossible to avoid the accompanying fried shitz served up with most burgers, they fill up the belly with the quickness. Hard as it may be, it's best to limit the intake. 5) Boozers ARE our friends. We tend to wash down our burgers throughout the day with mass quantities of booze. Now this is NOT a requirement to participate, but it's something we have found helps us maintain our hunger through our beefy adventures. (Really, who doesn't get drunk hungry?) The lineup mostly consists of beer, though we have been known to take a few shots to the face as well. (On Burger Days III, we had quite an adventure with absinthe at 1905). To give you an idea of what to expect, on BD III we started out at Stoney's on P St. around noon. After that, we hoofed it to Desperado's on U. We had a brief pit stop to cleanse our pallets at The Saloon (boo), before venturing on to 1905 on 9th. Prep yo' bellies....   * or more if stomachs cooperate