Category Archives: Essential DC

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Downtown, Essential DC, Media, People, The Daily Feed
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DC’s Fifty Most Powerful

Photo courtesy of
‘Don’t Let Mr. Emanuel Down 1680 x 1050’
courtesy of ‘sdpurtill’

Calling DC the “center of power” is about as cliched as a description can be, but, it is, never the less, a truthful description.  GQ has delved a little deeper into the power structure of our city and released a list of its 50 most influential occupants.  At the top is none other than Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s angry, 9 fingered, little chief of staff.  Speaking of Obama, he failed to make the list, but I’m assuming that the editors of GQ just assumed that he was a given.  The rest of the 50 are pretty much cabinet members, committee chairs and lobbyists.  No surprises, really.

Dupont Circle, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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High Heel Race Date Set

Photo courtesy of
‘Are you gonna take me home tonight’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

OH MAN I JUST GOT RULL EXCITED because I just remembered that not only does October mean my birthday, it also means THE BEST EVENT OF THE YEAR, the High Heel Drag Queen Race! Squee!

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 27th, to watch all the ladies (and hot tranny messes) parade up and down 17th street. If you can’t wait ’til then, (and who can, honestly?) check out our past coverage including a photo gallery.

Adventures, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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Big Kids Block Party was EPIC

Photo courtesy of
‘Kids in the Air’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

According to the Q Street Neighborhood Association, the Big Kids Block Party was a rip-roaring, rocking and uber-successful event.

Here are some stats:
-1,048 people in attendance
-26 tapped kegs
-200 Ben’s half-smokes eaten
-585 other hot dogs devoured
-500 oz Mr. Yogato fro-yo grobbled
-100 Julia’s Empanadas consumed
-100 Rice Krispie Treats inhaled
-Countless pounds of popcorn, cotton candy, regular candy, chips, etc. scoffed up
-50 butchered (carved) pumpkins

Most importantly the block party raised $20,151.32, **More than DOUBLED the original goal**, all of which will go to four deserving non-profits.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, they’ll be throwing the 2nd Annual Big Kids Block Party in 2010, after a much deserved recovery.

Essential DC, Interviews, Life in the Capital, Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Extra: Capitals Hockey 2009-10 Season Preview

Photo courtesy of
‘Net Lit In Red’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

Ok DC, ready for a real sport, now that the Redskins have imploded, the United tanked and the Nats…well, they’re the Nats. Anyway, are you ready for some hockey?

The Washington Capitals open up their season tomorrow night in Boston against the Bruins, the first step in their 2009-10 quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Last season saw the Caps suffer the most ignominious of falls, crashing in a critical Game 7 against the eventual Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Even more galling to Caps fans was the fact that the Caps led that series 2-0 before running out of gas.

Will this year be any better?

It depends.

While I’m sure a few of you actually care what I think about the Caps this year, most people I’ve talked with casually about hockey are skeptical of my Capitals analysis, considering I’m a Penguins fan at heart. Never mind the fact that last year, I was only two wins off predicting their season record and correctly predicted their playoff exit. So rather than take flak again this year, I turned to ESPN’s John Buccigross for his invaluable insight. (And for the record, Bucci picked the Flyers to win the Cup this year. That’s right, Philly. But we won’t hold that against him.)

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The District, The Features
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We Love Events: Big Kids Block Party

Photo courtesy of
‘The Good Stuff’
courtesy of ‘DaveFayram’

In last weekend’s Washington Post, the article “Tips on Throwing a Neighborhood Block Party,” detailed the ins and outs of how to–legally–plan, promote and execute a block party in DC.

So now, my friends, it’s time to get the block partying on!

Look no further than the Big Kids Block Party, Saturday, October 3 from 6pm to midnight at Marion and Q St NW in DC’s Shaw neighborhood.  The party is being hosted and organized by the Q Street Nehighborhood Association, is properly sanctioned by local DC authorities and, as a BIG kids block party, is for the 21+ crowd (photo ID will be required for entrance.)

Did I also mention all the local restaurants/shops that are providing provisions for the event? I’m talking 200 half-smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl, Mr. Yogato fro-yo (and they’ve got some sort of 100 yogurt cup competition up their shelves AND gift card giveaways,) lots of tasty goodies from Julia’s Empanadas, a cotton candy machine, rice crispy treats and more. Continue reading →

Essential DC, Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Food
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Post-Restaurant Week Deals

Photo courtesy of
‘Indigo Landing Sunset’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

Summer Restaurant Week came and went this year without much fanfare. Some of my friends said they hadn’t even heard about it. I’m usually uber-competitive about it, but this year I barely blinked. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the extra five dollars tacked on to the normal price, but mostly, I feel like it was the fact that in the middle of this recession you can get better deals all year round for the same or less than the $35 price tag that comes with Restaurant Week. To prove my point, I checked out a selection of Restaurant Week favorites, and came up with a hefty list of regular all-the-time prixe fixe menus at some of the area’s best eateries. You can eat at some of a DC’s foodies favorites if you’re willing to do a little leg work, or eat a bit on the early side.

Most of my favorite places in Chinatown and Penn Quarter, especially, do pre-theater menus. You usually have to arrive before 7 p.m., but that’s perfect for an after-work dinner date. Or, alternately, head to some of these places for lunch, where you can grab otherwise super pricey food for cheap. The other option is to saunter up to the bar at some of the city’s best, where you snag some of the same dining room meals for less.

When compiling this post, I wanted to stick with full meals here (for happy hours, refer to my fried happy hour food and healthy happy hour food posts) and so I only feature full meals offered at the bar for less than $35. So, foodie, there are ways to eat your way through the city for less all year long, you just have to be smart about it! Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, Talkin' Transit, The District, The Features
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Talkin’ Transit: Passed Inspection

Photo courtesy of
‘Going nowhere fast.’
courtesy of ‘jerseygal2009’

In a cost-saving move, the Fenty administration and DC DMV has persuaded the DC Council to end its safety inspection program for private cars. Emissions inspections will still be required every two years, however.

The mayor’s office has said that the city would save $400,000 with the move, which goes into effect on October 1. But is it the right move?

Yesterday, many safety advocates and city mechanics questioned the mayor’s wisdom with the move, saying that thousands of residents already fail to properly maintain their cars. Last year alone, 35 percent of those inspected in the District failed on their first look.

So are our streets about to be flooded with unsafe cars and an increase in wheels on the road? Many residents cite the hassle of the inspection process as one of the reasons they don’t own a car in the District. (Parking is another big one, in case you cared.)

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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The Lost Symbol Can Now Be Found

Dan Brown’s long awaited book The Lost Symbol hit stores today.  The latest in Brown’s series of books involving super sleuth Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) takes place here in D.C., the city we all love so much.  According to Wikipedia:

“The book’s story takes place over a period of 12 hours in Washington, D.C., with a focus on Freemasonry. Langdon is summoned to Washington by his mentor, a Mason named Peter Solomon. When Solomon goes missing and a ghastly clue is left, Langdon is sent on a rapid chase through the concealed passages of the city. He joins forces with Solomon’s daughter, Noetic scientist Dr. Katherine Solomon, while matching wits with a tattooed and brilliant villain who is in search of an ancient source of power.”

I can’t wait to see what crazy underground tombs of evil Brown has in store for us.  Perhaps the Washington Monument is actually a giant handle that when pulled will rotate the entire city by a magical 33.3 degrees, awaken the founding fathers from their graves who will then rewrite the Constitution to suit today’s needs?  Maybe the Capitol has a secret basement that only a select group of senators know about, containing an ancient recipe for half smokes topped with chili and melted cheese?

I bought my copy today, did you?

Essential DC, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Best. Service. EVER.

Photo courtesy of
‘photo.jpg’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Meg over at 2birds1blog tweeted about this GROUNDBREAKING service of… wait for it… COFFEE DELIVERY! AAHHH!!! YESSSSSS!!!!! I just had that brilliant idea a few weekends ago when I was moving apartments and really, really needed coffee but couldn’t go get it. (See? See, I did, I swear.)

This. Is. Life. Changing! The Craigslist Ad says: “We currently deliver to the entire Washington DC NORTHWEST district, and BETHESDA/CHEVY CHASE, MD area. This will soon change as our company is projected to grow very quickly. While in the future we intend to have an on-call service, coffee orders need to be placed at least 5 hours in advance at the moment. Hot coffee will be delivered hot, and iced coffee will be delivered cold. We are in the process of negotiating discount prices with several coffee retailers, but the pricing right now is still only $5 plus the price of the coffee. Order 5 coffees for the office for only $20. Place your orders now to ineedajavagirl@gmail.com”

I will be their most loyal customer, unless somewhere in the subtext of that description I’m supposed to get that they’re actually strippers or um, shady masseuses. But if they for real deliver coffee, as in, the Caribou kind, not the scantily clad kind? Best Business Idea EVAR. EVARRRR.

Downtown, Essential DC, Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill
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Ethnic Food Survey: Greek

Photo courtesy of
‘Mykonos; Î�λληνική Ï�ημαία’
courtesy of ‘Global Jet’

Welcome to the first installment of the WLDC Ethnic Food Survey.  The idea here is not to provide you with an exhaustive list of your ethnic food options, but to give you a brief overview of what we feel are your best bets for any particular type of regional cuisine in the city.  Doubtless, there will be outrage from you at the glaring omissions in these articles, but we’ll do the best we can.

This time around, I’ll be giving you a tour of the wide world of Greek cooking. Greek food is widely available, albeit generally poorly executed.  You can get a mediocre gyro just about anywhere, but once you visit a proper, Greek establishment, your eyes will be opened to the awe that is Hellenic cuisine. Here are my favorites in DC:

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All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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DC Restaurants – Recession Proof Or Not?

Photo courtesy of
‘Chairs and table’
courtesy of ’emvii’

Tierney Plumb of the Washington Business Journal wrote up a pretty little article about the health of the restaurant industry that struck my fancy. According to the article, “on a national scale, 2008 and 2009 have been the most challenging years for the restaurant industry in several decades” Plumb reports despite a slow start to the year, “Restaurant operators have an improved outlook for sales growth, with 31 percent predicting higher sales in six months, up from 24 percent.”

Plumb goes on to quote a few DC restaurants, including Morton’s Steakhouse who said “July and August were good months for us.” Even the slow month of August was privvy to some major chef moves, opening announcements and major buzz around the DC foodie scene. On the flip side, others would disagree. One of my favorite WaPo writers and someone I respect very much, Going Out Guru Julia Beizer, wrote a brief article on the desolate Restaurant Week scene last week that began “Is it just me, or is it kind of deserted out there?” Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The District, We Green DC
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Revamp: Stoddert Elementary & Recreation Center

EEK schematic of proposed Stoddert entrance

EEK schematic of proposed Stoddert Elementary School

As WeLoveDC’s Georgetown/Glover Park resident reporter, I considered myself fairly well informed on the general neighborhood on-goings. However, I was completely stumped about a month ago when on my daily commute a passed the Stoddert Recreation Center fields to see them completely fenced off. I was even more confused when the only construction sign announced a “Geothermal Renewable Energy Project.” What the heck did that mean? And how would this project affect the adjacent elementary school and the playing fields that were now fenced in?

It turns out that both Stoddert Elementary School, built in 1932, and Stoddert Recreation Center are getting a much needed overhaul. The existing 18,000 square foot school, which provides pre-K to 5th grade education to approximately 300 DC children, will grow by about 46,000 square feet. The addition will include classrooms, a publicly accessible gym and multiple purpose rooms to service the neighborhood community. Grounds work will affect both the school and the accompanying recreation center with a new entry plaza, new trees, a 40-car parking lot; reconstruction of the existing softball and soccer fields (from a personal point-of-view, this is HUGE as the existing fields were a twisted ankle/busted knee waiting to happen), a refurbished playground and a new tot lot. While the construction is still ongoing, you can check out Ravenscroft’s offering to enroll your child the upcoming school year. Continue reading →

Essential DC, News, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Mish-Mash Morning

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_0115’
courtesy of ‘bankbryan’

Mish-mash of transit for your morning perusal.

HOT Lanes Delayed: While the Beltway HOT Lane construction continues forward, Virigina has decided to delay building additional HOT lanes on I-395 and I-95. The economy is the answer that’s been trotted out; state leaders fear that they won’t be able to get money from the bond market and the state has no more money to spend. The Beltway project is expected to be completed by 2012, with the outer lanes opening as early as next year.

Officials were pretty specific in stating the project has been delayed, not abandoned, though there is still a lot of concern with local officials, who feel the proposed project will adversely affect their communities and neighborhood traffic patterns.

Construction was supposed to begin next summer.

ICC & I-95: This week began a traffic pattern shift along I-95 as construction continues on the Intercounty Connector in Prince George’s County. Several lanes are being closed or shifted in both northbound and southbound directions from Route 198 to Route 212. Closures begin as early as 8 p.m. and re-open before morning rush. The closures will be in effect until Sept. 29.

VRE Gets Stimulated: The federal government has awarded $9.8 million to the Virginia Railway Express, money needed to purchase 12 more locomotives. The funds fall under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be administered by the Federal Transit Administration.

The current locomotive fleet consists of 20 engines that can pull an average of six cars; the new engines the VRE is purchasing are more powerful and efficient, capable of pulling 10 cars each (at 144 passengers a car) and will help the service expand its current capacity.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Golds Gym Cuts Towel Service, Grossness Ensues

Photo courtesy of
‘GOLD’S GYM’
courtesy of ‘Leo Reynolds’

I’m a member of my friendly, local Gold’s Gym. I even say it in my “about me” authors profile. I have a gym crush on my Gold’s, and it’s the cheapest membership I can find in the locations I need my gym to be and I have the best personal trainer in all the land. But ya’ll, Golds is taking a turn for the seriously nasty, as they’re cutting their free towel service. Now, I realize we’re in a bad economy, and I realize that washing a bajillion loads of towels isn’t cost effective for their bottom line, nor is it very environmentally friendly. But the alternative? The alternative is bad.

Here is how I envision this working – I pop into the gym, and spot burly big men, sweating all over the weight machine, having nothing but paper towels to wipe it up with. You see where I’m going here? SWEAT, is nasty. Big burly man sweat? Even nastier. Paper towels? Very un-environmentally friendly, as people pull of yards of towels in one fail swoop. Here we have a sanitation, customer service, and environmentally conscious EPIC FAIL.

I get that I can go to Target and buy some wash cloths and bring them to the gym with me. I will do that, in fact. I hope EVERYONE at Gold’s will do that. But not everyone will (looking at you big burly sweaty paper towel loving man) and we’ll be stuck with a nasty problem. Also, I pay good money for my membership, and towels were included when I signed up. I also pay for my laundry, stupid coin operated apartment complex machine, and so it’s now an added expense. Sigh. What’s next? Taking out the water fountains and forcing us to bring our own or buy bottled?

Downtown, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Media, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, The Mall
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Screen on the Green: On the Waterfront

Photo courtesy of
‘Screen on the Green – 7-14-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

For the third movie in its ressurection run, Screen on the Green will feature On the Waterfront this evening. For those of you not in the loop, On the Waterfront is arguably one of the greatest movies of all time. It won 8 Academy Awards and features Marlon Brando in his prime (ladies). The weather is supposed to be beautiful tonight and I highly recommend that you get to the mall to enjoy this film with a thousand of your closest friends. The feature should start around 8:30.

Adventures, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, The Daily Feed, The District
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A Movie Location Tour Of DC

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

DC’s become a hot spot for filming these days! Real World, Real Housewives of Orange County, Blonde Charity Mafia, as well as Reese Witherspoon, Night at the Museum and so many more. It’s a wonder that we didn’t get a DC movie site bus tour any earlier. But it’s here now, better late than never.

Screen Tours has arrived to take you and other interested parties around DC to all our hot film spots. Shop in the mall where No Way Out and True Lies were filmed; stand on the steps where Father Damian fell to his death in The Exorcist; visit the bar used in St. Elmo’s Fire; go to the park used in The Sentinel and see locations from Wedding Crashers, Thank You For Smoking, Election, X Files, Independence Day, Forrest Gump, and many others. From classic films of the seventies such as The Godfather II, All the Presidents Men, and Being There to the recent Transformers, Mission Impossible III, West Wing, 24, and The Visiting, the tour of Washington DC TV and movie sites takes tour guests on a journey of the timeline of filming in DC.

Tours run Saturdays at 10 am and depart from Union Station. Detailed information on all tours can be found at www.screentours.com. Advance purchase is required, as tours normally sell out. To purchase tickets call Zerve at 800-979-3370 or visit them online.

Essential DC, Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Chicken Bones

Photo courtesy of
‘Chicken a la mayor’
courtesy of ‘Steve Punter’

Below is a suggested story that we received from a concerned reader calling herself “chickenbone.”

“What do you think we should know about?
Who or what? the vast amounts of chicken bones in certain areas of DC. It seems like people just throw them out the window. These are extremely hazardous to my dogs and others. its like eatting nails.
What makes it interesting? i swear sometimes i walk down the alley and there are like mounds of chicken bones. what is the deal? through them in the garbage. ”

Sic, Sic, Sic, etc.

So there you have it: chicken bones kill, through them in the garbage. Seriously.

Downtown, Entertainment, Essential DC, Media, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The Mall
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Screen on the Green Returns Tonight!

Photo courtesy of
‘Screen on the Green’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

In case you didn’t already have this marked down on your calendar, Screen on the Green makes its triumphant return tonight with a showing of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The screen will be set up on the Mall between 4th and 7th streets (you can’t miss it) and the showing will start at sunset. There is a 30% chance of rain, so pray that it holds off till after the movie.

Adams Morgan, Essential DC, The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: Adams Morgan

Photo courtesy of
‘Adams Morgan’
courtesy of ‘citron_smurf’

Welcome to another edition of Where We Live. This week we’ll be covering the ins and outs of one of the District’s coolest neighborhoods, Adams Morgan. Adams Morgan is unique in DC in that it actually feels like a neighborhood during the weekdays and weekend days, and completely changes character on weekend evenings as it transforms into a concentration of drunk non-residents.  Unfortunately, some people only ever see the drunken frat party of 18th Street in Adams Morgan and don’t get to understand the really wonderful neighborhood behind it.  Here’s your chance to learn what else there is to it!

History: Adams Morgan gets its name from the two formerly-segregated elementary schools in the area, the all-white John Quincy Adams school and the (now closed) all-black Thomas P. Morgan school (therefore, the area is not actually called Adam’s Morgan or Adams’ Morgan, both of which I’ve seen everywhere).  In 1956 the Adams-Morgan Better Neighborhood Conference formed to improve the neighborhood, and jump-start urban renewal (not the Southwest Waterfront kind, though).  Interestingly enough, the neighborhood’s name was hyphenated as Adams-Morgan in the Washington Post up until 2001.

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