By 
DC Carnival ’07
Originally uploaded by IntangibleArts
…on welcoming their baby girl, Aerin Alexandra Fenty, in the early hours of this morning.
Our best wishes to Mayor and Mrs. Fenty and their children.
Monthly Archives: November 2008
By Don
Gobble Locally
I’m no one’s Thanksgiving dinner!
courtesy of philliefan99
If you’re planning on cooking this Thanksgiving but haven’t let procured your bird – or other creature – you might try one of the local sources for fresh turkeys listed by the Washington Post this past week. Another option they don’t mention is one of the vendors in Eastern Market. We purchased a goose there and were very pleased with the experience, in no small part because it yielded the following story.
After she placed the order, my darling fiancée had this exchange with the butcher.
“It’s fresh, right?”
“Let me put it this way. At the moment it’s still wandering around the yard enjoying its lunch.”
By brownpau
Peregrine Falcon Alert
If you like birds, keep an eye out for peregrine falcons! These lovely birds of prey pass through the area around now (some stay for the winter) and have a taste for the local wildlife — mammals, as well as other lesser birds. There’s one falcon that’s taken to hanging around the parking lot at Arlington Central Public Library, much to the consternation of area squirrels. I also saw a pair of falcons worrying stragglers out of a flock of starlings over Key Bridge. Like DCeiver, I despise starlings with a black heart of pure hatred, so I was definitely cheering for the predators.
But the best peregrine falcon sighting I ever had was one in April 2005, when one of the birds decided to perch in a tree right by the Smithsonian Metro entrance on the National Mall, with half of an uneaten squirrel hanging from a nearby branch, while cherry blossom tourists gawked at the scene. Fun times. (Pictures after the jump, with a mild gore warning.)
By Jonathan
We Love Travel – Thanksgiving Craziness Edition
Long Lines at Dulles, by cafemama (Creative Commons)
It’s that time of year again! Time to head to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving Food (and the required naps after eating all that food). Now there is only one thing standing in your way: Getting There.
In this Thanksgiving issue, I’m going to cover a few of the tips I’ve learned over the last several years on how to survive the holiday madness. I know everyone has their own way of getting home, so I’ll cover a few of the majors. Let me know if you have any other tips – I’m always looking for great ideas.
Avoiding the Airport Crush
The first thing I tell everyone traveling this week – especially on Wednesday, the insane day – is to be patient. Before you leave, realize that most of the people working at the airports were up at 4 or 5 am this morning. Holiday travel is an “all hands on deck” time of year, so all the desk people, TSA crews, and everyone else will be running on coffee and little sleep. Be patient with them – it’s a long hard slog for each and every one.
We all know there will be lines. They won’t be as bad this year as last year, according to AAA, but I would still expect to run in to a few. Here are a few ways to work around them: Continue reading
By brownpau
American History Museum Reopening Day: First Look
Above, some fuzzy cellphone camera video of my walk around the newly reopened Smithsonian National Museum of American History. A lot of the museum off to the sides has stayed mostly the same, but the change to the central chamber is startling. Alas, the old-fashioned ice cream parlor is gone, as well as the Information Age Exhibit with its Stephen Hansen carousel.
By Rebecca
Soup for you!
Split Pea Soup, photo by rjohnson
The dramatic turn from Fall to Winter weather had me thinking about warm soups all this week. As convenient as canned soup is, making your own is super easy as well and a great indoor activity on these cold and blustery days. One of my favorite soups is the good, old NY deli staple Split Pea. Most of the time ham or pork hock is used in the recipe to give the dish its classic salty and smoky flavor, but you can easily leave it out and still have a very tasty and hearty meal.
Here’s my take on a classic recipe from Better Homes and Gardens‘ New Cook Book. I like my split pea soup very thick, almost to the consistency of mushy peas, so if that’s not your style you should add approximately 1/4 cup more water and 2oz more chicken broth. Enjoy! Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
Metro Website for Inaugural Events
foggy-metro
Originally uploaded by frozenchipmunk
WMATA & Metro have opened up a new section of their website for events surrounding the inaugural. They’ll be closing the Mall entrance of Smithsonian Metro, and the whole station at Navy/Archives. In addition, the system will be running rush hour scheduling through 7pm that day, and they’ll be opening early and staying open late.
But, will the fix the escalators? Foggy Bottom’s a mess, and a commenter tells us that Capitol South is just as bad. Get ready for a day in the national spotlight, Metro. Here’s hoping you’re ready.
By Katie
Fun Friday Time-Waster
Originally uploaded by ellwoodite
It’s not like you have any actual work to do, right? It’s Friday, after 3 p.m., and you’re on We Love DC.
So let’s entertain ourselves by grossing ourselves out looking up the health ratings of all our favorite restaurants. All Food Business.com has a collection of where to find all the scores. It’s got DC, Maryland and Virginia links, so search away, dear reader.
I live in Arlington, and so I was mostly concerned with the Virginia ratings, of all my favorite places. Not so shabby, most of them, but you can find out some pretty gross stuff on here. Some of my regular places had problems like mouse droppings, moldy food, and food not kept at temperature.
I respect that the food industry is tough, and I’ve worked at my fair share of places, but that roach problem the food inspector saw two weeks ago… nuh uh!
By Wayan
We Love Cemeteries
photo by Wayan Vota
I love me some cemeteries. Green oases in an urban landscape, history on a personal scale, they are a touch of the past we should all appreciate. Personally, I appreciate Rock Creek Cemetery the most.
Officially known as Ministry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parish, the cemetery is the final resting place of those famous and not so much. Mary Ann Campbell came here in 1816, while Tim Russert came just this year.
I come often myself, to walk the Taxi Dog under the city’s largest trees and remark on how we remember. I hope I am remembered too.
By Don
Working the Polls: All over but the waiting
courtesy of erin m
Did you read part 1 and part 2?
If it seems like forever since part 2, you have only the smallest inkling of what the second half of the day was like at the polls. It wasn’t just that we had less than a hundred people – under 10% of our total for the day – come through between 2pm and closing time at 7. It was the three hours it took to do the closing procedure once we did close the doors.
The lack of any kind of afternoon rush was a surprise to all of us, particularly considering the debacle it was if you tried to vote in the evening of the primary earlier this year. For five hours we had a steady trickle of folks, though such a small number that the eighteen of us workers usually outnumbered voters by more than 5 to 1. If there had been people in line at 7 we’d have been required to stay open till we’d processed them all, but you could have fired a cannon down the hall without hurting a soul. So we closed the doors right on time, and that’s where the truly long wait began. Continue reading
By Jonathan
It’s Snowing!
Sugar Plum SnowFlake, by CaptPiper (Creative Commons)
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Snow showers were predicted for this afternoon, but weather is a finicky thing. So imagine my surprise when I heard something clicking against my office window, and turned around to see snow flakes gusting against the glass.
Nothing welcomes the holiday season like seeing the first flakes coming down.
I don’t think and of the snow stuck to the ground. Even so, if you are driving, we all know that the first snowflake coming from the sky sends traffic in to an unpredictable mess. Drive home carefully!
By Rebecca
Tourism: Fells Point
Fells Point, photo by rjohnson
If you take a 42 mile northeast jaunt up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, you’ll find yourself walking through the historic Baltimore neighborhood of Fells Point. A home to Frederick Douglass and drinking spot for Edgar Allen Poe, the area was established in 1730 by William Fell, and bore the names “Fell’s Prospect,” “Long Island Point,” and “Copus Harbor,” before finally settling on Fells Point in 1763.
Home to the Fells Point Ship Yard, area shipbuilders produced world renowned schooners (aka Baltimore Clippers) whose easy handling and quick speed helped U.S. Privateers plunder British shipping vessels during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.During this era the shipyard also produced the USS Constellation, a 38-gun frigate that was the first US Navy warship to engage with, defeat and capture an enemy. However, make no mistake; this vessel is not to be confused with the same named 1854 sloop-of-war that now resides in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
DCRA says Rent Away!
Dupont Town Houses
Originally uploaded by tbridge
One of the things that’s kept us from running a piece on renting out your place for the inauguration is that it can be an incredible hassle to operate as a bed and breakfast in DC. There’s inspections from DCRA, licensing, paperwork and you’d probably want a lawyer by the end of all of it. Fortunately, though, Mayor Fenty issued an executive order yesterday that make it all on the up and up to rent your place out for the Inaugural without having to jump through all the hoops.
You can rent your place from January 13th to January 27th, 2009, without having to do all the paperwork hoops.
So. I, uh, I guess we better start writing that feature. Look for it next week some time!
By Katie
Thrifty District: Dine Like a Congressman on an Aide’s Budget
FoodSign
Originally uploaded by brownpau
Welcome to the first post of our new feature, Thrifty District. Inspired by the New York Magazine “Cheap Living” feature, we’ll post ideas designed to help save you money, while still living large. Bad economy + already steep DC prices = OUCH! We’re here to act as your band-aid (ahem, generic-priced bandage, that is…) for otherwise painful prices.
We’ll explore where to get a great yet cheap haircut, how to dress up for less, the best place to find an affordable drink, among many more localized money saving ideas and tips. The first installment though, is how to eat great for less. I’ll do head-to-head (or is it fork-to-fork) comparisons of some of the cities most delicious yet expensive restaurant dishes and suggest you try their cheaper (and equally delectable) brethren.
By Don
Google Rat-view
I could have sworn we covered this here but I can’t find it in the archives. Perhaps I saw it on DCist or another local blog. Anyway, I was just looking for something in Georgetown in Google Earth and saw the big rat. Poor carpenter’s union – I can’t quite read the name of the business they’re protesting in front of from the street view.
The last time we discussed street view someone pointed out that the pictures aren’t all taken on the same day. I wonder how many other places the rat shows up in street view?
By Ben H. Rome
WMATA Talks Inauguration
Working better to serve YOU, courtesy of afagen
Metro dropped a press release today outlining tentative plans for Inauguration Day.
That’s right, “tentative plans.” Since we still don’t have any official word on expectations (ranging from the FBI’s 800,000 to Mayor Fenty’s 4 million), it’s kinda useless to plan anything at this point. But I’ll give Catoe and Co. credit – at least they’re trying to do something about it.
I mean, it’s more important than escalator repair, right?
By Tom Bridge
National Museum of American History Reopens Tomorrow
Star Spangled Sculpture by tbridge
It was sad to me, back in 2006, when the National Museum of American History (NMAH) closed its doors. My wife and I, when first we met, had a very delightful time wandering its halls when she had first come down from Pittsburgh. It’s a special place, for us. I knew that they were working to make it a brighter, more modern place, having not undergone significant renewal since its opening in 1964. It was due for a renovation. Tomorrow morning, at 9am, the ribbon will be cut, and the NMAH will again be open to the public, a combination of new and old, of historic talismans and of high technology.
Yesterday, at the re-dedication of the museum, there was no shortage of fanfare and pomp. The Army District of Washington’s fife and drum corps was present, a brass quintet from the Army Band played, and one of their vocalists sang the national anthem. The President gave a short speech on the importance of the Smithsonian, and what their collection represents in terms of national ideals. President Bush and the First Lady have arranged for the handwritten White House copy of the Gettysburg Address to be on display with the Museum until early January, and you can stand just inches from the famous text, handwritten by President Lincoln. Around the corner is the book in which that speech appeared, as it was part of a fundraising effort in 1864 for the Union Army. Also included was the original copy of the Star Spangled Banner, in Francis Scott Key’s own hand. Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
Car Chase in MoCo
Car Chase Terror
Originally uploaded by Fancy Speed Queen
A bank robbery in Howard County this morning has resulted in a shootout, followed by a car chase in Montgomery County. One suspect was shot and taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds, while two escaped from the police in a chase that exceeded 85mph in places. Six schools in Montgomery County are in Code Blue lockdowns until the suspects are found.
By Katie
City Gem: Landmark Theaters
Noir City
Originally uploaded by LaTur
Looking for a warm way to spend this weekend? Both the Bethesda and E street Landmark Theaters are amazing. These two local movie theaters have all the hot indie films on show. In my regular zip code search, E Street is the only theater with a reliable showing of straight red tomatoes on rottentomatoes.com, my go-to source for movie reviews. And the ability to bring alcohol into the theater along with your popcorn makes these two places movie heaven.
Landmark Bethesda is playing Slumdog Millionare, which I’ve heard is this holiday season’s must-see movie.
Off to the movies…
By Ben H. Rome
Ovie’s Back!
Another Celebration in the Spotlight
Originally uploaded by clydeorama
In case you were wondering, Alex Ovechkin is finally back on track with the Capitals. The Russian star and city favorite knocked in a power play goal and added three assists in last night’s 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, bringing his points total to 14 on the season.
It’s about time. Alexander Semin is starting to cool a little after his red-hot start and was absent for the second game in a row, nursing an “undisclosed upper-body injury” (oh, come on!). Having the Caps captain superstar slip back into gear after such a rocky October has to be relieving to many Caps fans as well as Coach Boudreau.
Next game is tonight against the LA Kings, continuing the Caps’ West Coast swing.