Category Archives: Essential DC

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Technology, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, We Green DC
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“Smart” Buoy Deployed

Photo courtesy of
‘Buoy Red ‘6’ took a pounding’
courtesy of ‘Tony DeFilippo’

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) deployed a “smart” buoy just south of the Wilson Bridge on Friday, May 4.  The new device will provide scientists and local area boaters/educators with real-time information about the Chesapeake Bay.

The buoy is part of the the CBIBS (Chesapeake Bay Interpretative Buoy System) program and will collect weather, oceanographic and water-quality observations along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.  The program hopes to not only provide relevant data for restoration efforts, but also provide insights about the waterways’ history and encourage stewardship and protection of the Chesapeake Bay.

All of the eight buoys’ measurements, along with historical information, can be accessed at www.buoybay.org (www.buoybay.org/m for mobile devices) and by phone at 877-BUOY-BAY (877-286-9229).

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Get Your Seersucker On


DC Tweed Ride 7 by maxedaperture

I say, old chap, have you heard about the Seersucker Social?  That’s right, it turns out that last fall’s Tweed Ride was such a huge success, Dandies and Quaintrelles has decided to organize another ride this spring that will be even bigger and better.  While the time and route haven’t been determined, the date has been set, so oil up your chain and mark your calendars:

“The Seersucker Social, scheduled for Saturday June 12, is set to offer the same delightful kind of unique and alternative entertainment experience by encouraging folks once again to mount their bicycles in high style. While the fall event called for tweed, seersucker has been selected as the ideal vintage fabric of choice to keep cool for the spring ride. Our event partner Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens will provide a fabulous dreamlike setting for the post-ride social.”

While the ride itself will be free, the post-ride festivities at Hillwood will set you back $20.  Check back on the Dandies and Quaintrelles website as well as Facebook for more details.

Adventures, Essential DC, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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My DC Baby Is Cuter Than Your DC Baby

Photo courtesy of
‘Two Teeth’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

Not sure why but the Washington Post is building a library/photo slide show of the cutest babies in town. To submit a photo you need to have a WaPo login and as always be sure to read the Terms & Conditions for photo submission. There doesn’t seem to be any photo date restrictions, so if you want to submit an uber cute baby photo of your great grandmother, go for it.

Adventures, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Glover Park-Burleith Farmers Market Debuts Tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘_MG_0683’
courtesy of ‘logan.brown’

Even though I won’t be around to witness its opening weekend, I’m super pumped that the Glover Park-Burleith Farmers’ Market debuts this Saturday from 9am-1pm.

This producer-only farmers market features local fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, bread, eggs, plants, cut flowers, handmade soap, pasta, gelato and more. A different bluegrass band will be there every week to provide live music to the dog-friendly market. In 2010, the market hopes to offer additional features, such as bike clinics, live-chef demonstrations and garden/composting workshops.

The market is located in the parking lot of the Hardy Middle School, just across the street from the newly opened Social Safeway.  The market will run every Saturday, rain or shine, until October 30th.

Business and Money, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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I Declare the Grocery Store Games Officially Open!

SupermarketGladiators

At 8:05am this morning, literally minutes after the new Social Safeway opened its doors to public, and the competition between the super giant and the Whole Foods up the street had already begun.

As I walked down Wisconsin Avenue, the former Pizza Hut, located directly across the street from Whole Foods entrance and parking garage was being decorated with a big bright banner/decal that read “Hungry Georgetown? Safeway: We are just down the block.” How neighborly and friendly of the Safeway to let Whole Foods know they’re there for them. I mean WF might indeed be hungry and in need of a good sandwich.

In all seriousness, I’m all about some good competition.  WF has had it made  since the Social Safeway closed last year for renovations leaving Glover Park, Burleith and Georgetown residents sans a non-organic, “non-gourmet,” whole paycheck devouring grocery store. Advertising the new Safeway directly across the street from WF is a genius marketing maneuver by Safeway. Well done sirs. Well done.

Shop Around The Corner

Essential DC, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: May Music Preview

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

April showers bring May flowers, but what does the May DC music scene bring to all of you? Good question. Here’s the answer: Freedom. Complete freedom … as far as prices are concerned. There’s a whole bunch of free concert series and performances to keep your ears occupied and dancing shoes satisfied. Here are a few of my picks as we begin this transition month into the dog days of summer. The way I see it, May is a good practice-run for the overwhelming amount of free events throughout the city come June, July and August. So train well, my young musical padawans, train well. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Essential DC, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: May 2010

Adventures Among Ants, by Mark Moffett

©Mark Moffett, courtesy National Geographic

The 2010 National Geographic Live series continues in May with a mix of lectures, authors, and food. The National Geographic Museum is offering up another two pairs of tickets for WeLoveDC readers, unless otherwise noted. Simply comment below (PLEASE use a legit email address and your first name) with what two events – in preferred order – you’d like to attend. We’ll do a random drawing on Monday, May 3 at 2 pm and get the winners set up with their first (or second, if your first choice is full) selection. Keep in mind that tickets are for single events only; both food events are unfortunately not eligible for the free tickets.

In the Empire of Ice ($18)
May 4, 7:30 pm

For a National Geographic-supported expedition, writer Gretel Ehrlich circumnavigated the Arctic Circle to document the indigenous cultures inhabiting its starkly beautiful landscapes, as advancing climate change threatens traditional ways of life. In her new book, Empire of Ice: Encounters in a Changing Landscape, and in this presentation, she tells the story of her journey to explore the “ecology of culture.”

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, Media, The Daily Feed, The District
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U.S. Census Workers To Hit The Streets Starting In May

Photo courtesy of
‘Census #3’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

If you haven’t yet filled out your 2010 Census form, starting in May chances are you’ll be getting a friendly knock on the door from your local census worker. The U.S. Census staffer will be asking you the same questions that are on the census mail form with the hopes of upping the 69% DC’s current response rate.

The big question is, how do you know who is a legit census worker and who might be scamming you. Well, fortunately the good census folks have put together some fantastic informational videos, including what to expect/look for from a real census employee.

YouTube Preview Image
Dupont Circle, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, People, The District
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Legends of DC: Diego D’Ambrosio


Jack Evans, Diego’s Wife, and Mayor Fenty by Max Cook

About five years ago, shortly after I moved to DC from Philadelphia, I was in search of a place to get a haircut as everyone does when they move to a new city.  Those of you who know me are aware that it doesn’t require a great deal of effort to cut my hair, just some electric clippers and a straight blade.  But as a kid, my dad and I went to the same barber for years, and despite not having as much hair as I did when I was eight years old, it’s a tradition that I still enjoy today.  As a resident of Dupont Circle, it didn’t take me long to stumble upon Diego’s Hair Salon at 19th & Q Street NW.  Little did I know that I’d stumbled upon one of DC’s legends.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Panda on Preggers Watch

Photo courtesy of
‘Panda sign’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Starting at 4pm, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s female giant panda, Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), will be a 24-hour pregnancy watch.  FONZ volunteers and animal care staff will closely monitor the panda for maternal behaviors (nest building and cradling of small objects) through keeper interactions and a series of 38 cameras set up throughout the giant panda habitat.

You can check on Mei Xiang through the National Zoo’s pandacam and view a birth should it occur. FYI: Because of increased traffic levels, pandacam visits will be limited to five minutes per session. You can refresh the page to continue viewing, unless there’s just way too much site traffic.

Zoo scientists instated the 24 hour watch as tests of Mei Xiang’s hormone levels approached baseline and indicated that the end of either her pseudo or real pregnancy is near.  If the pregnancy was legit, we should see a new cub within 24 hours.

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Essential DC, News, The Daily Feed, The District, We Green DC
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Zipcar Acquires The UK’s Streetcar, Car Sharing Across The Pond

Photo courtesy of
‘zip’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Zipcar, the world’s largest car sharing service, announced it has acquired Streetcar, the UK’s fastest growing car club. The acquisition will benefit both Streetcar and “Zipsters” (Zipcar members) by offering more vehicles, a greater variety of hybrid and other green cars, and more locations, and give members access to both networks’ vehicles located in cities in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom.

Zipcar currently offers hundreds of cars in the Metro DC area that members can rent out by the hour or day.  Car sharing services, like Zipcar, are a fantastic way to get the benefits of having a car without all of the associated costs.

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, People, The Daily Feed, The District, The Great Outdoors
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Help Send A DC Kid To Summer Camp

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

The  Ernest W. Brown Summer Camp, located in Scotland, MD and operated by MPD officers and staff of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, is in need of donations from the DC community.

The camp makes it possible for children to escape the stress of inner-city living for one week during the summer to experience camp in the country.  For some of these children, it is their first experience outside of the city.

Although The Boys and Girls Club pays for all the costs of the camp, it cannot cover the $100 individual registration fee and due to the economy and layoffs this year, there are more children than ever who cannot afford the registration fee.

You can assist in this effort by making a donation to either sponsor a child ($100), or several children or whatever contribution you are capable of. You can make checks out to the Joseph K. Smith Memorial Summer Camp Fund (a 501C3 tax deductible organization) and mail them to Samantha Nolan, 2940 Northampton Street, NW Washington, DC 20015. All contributions will be acknowledged with a letter for your taxes and will be gratefully received.

Downtown, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, Special Events, Technology, The Daily Feed, The District, We Green DC
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Flowers for Phones, April 13-14

Photo courtesy of
‘ting’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11-2pm drop off your used cell phones at either Farragut Square Park or Triangle Park and you’ll get a free potted flower to take home and a chance to win one of many cool prizes.  Collected phones will be recycled as part of the Golden Triangle’s Clean, Green & Golden week to make the District’s central business district look better than ever.

In addition to receiving some flower power, cell phone donors will be automatically entered awesome prizes from Eye Street Massage Therapy, Public Bar, Green & Blue, Taberna del Alabardero, etc. Show up at noon on Tuesday and hang with Ward 2 DC Councilman Jack Evans and possibly snag one of four $50 gift certificate for BLT Steak.

Make sure your phone has been deactivated from service, there aren’t security or privacy concerns. All makes and models of mobile phones, pagers, and PDAs are accepted—along with batteries, chargers, and other accessories. For more details on what can be recycled visit Earthworks, the Golden Triangle BID’s partner responsible for recycling the phones. Continue reading →

Essential DC, Fun & Games, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Obama’s Slew of Social Activities

Photo courtesy of
‘Scary Bunny’
courtesy of ‘shbaker99’

President Obama had quite the social schedule to tend to today. Granted, he played to the occasion and appears to be having the time of life. He even snuck a White Sox cap onto the diamond before taking the mound clad in his Nationals jacket to wear atop his head during the ceremonial first pitch.

But before there was afternoon baseball, there was the Easter Egg Roll. Sadly, I was not selected for Egg Roll tickets in this year’s ticket lottery. As a result I was unable to attend or get any photos of the cute kiddies on the White House lawn with the cast of Glee or the Easter Bunny (sad, I know).

NBC4, on the other hand, got some great shots of the event in case you’re interested in recapping it for yourself. Click here for their photo reel.

Adventures, Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, The District, The Great Outdoors, Tourism
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Tourism: Dumbarton Oaks

Photo courtesy of
‘Stairs’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

If you’re looking to escape from the Cherry Blossom hoards and find your own little piece of Washington DC for a few hours, the Dumbarton Oaks house, gardens and museum have your name on it.

In 1920, U.S. Foreign Service diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss purchased a large portion of land and a 1801 Federal style house in the northern most section of Georgetown. The Blisses made significant architectural renovations and additions, such as the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (DORCL) structure, which includes the 1963 Phillip Johnson designed Pre-Columbian Pavillion.  And more recently DORCL has welcomed a new library in 2005 and an extensive renovation of the house and museum was completed in 2008.

The museum houses, amongst other things, the significant art collection amassed by the the Blisses during their State Department life overseas.  This includes two fascinating collections of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts, as well as displays of tapestries, sculptures, paintings, and furniture dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, which can be seen in the Music Room.  Continue reading →

Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Technology, The Daily Feed
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Ben’s Chilli Bowl, There’s An App For That … On The Way

Photo courtesy of
‘Just what I wanted’

Can I get an iPhone App with my half-smoke? Pretty soon you can.

Son of the late Ben of Ben’s Chili Bowl, Nizam Ali, is looking for you tech-savvy DC residents to develop the latest in Chilli eating technology.

The Washington Examiner reports that Ali hopes that the contest designed for people who know and love Ben’s will encourage them to share their good ideas for what the app should be.

Final contest rules and guidelines aren’t set in stone, but the date is – April 5.

If you want to be the one to create an iPhone app for a 50-year-old business, get to thinking! Opportunity is a-knockin’.

Essential DC, Interviews, Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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She Loves DC: Meredith Peruzzi

Photo courtesy of
‘Gallaudet Chapel Hall’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Reader Meredith Peruzzi, a lifelong area resident and a current Gallaudet student, approached We Love DC eager to share her perspective on the city. Here she explains why she loves DC…

I always thought that people who weren’t native to a place didn’t really identify with it – that if you asked somebody where they were from, they’d name their hometown.  I grew up in the DC area, so whenever someone asked where I was from, I’d always say “here” – this has always been my home, and I can’t consider myself “from” anywhere else.  I’m a Washingtonian because I’ve always been one.

So I assumed that DC was “my city” and that people who moved here didn’t necessarily feel that they were Washingtonians.  Until I started reading We Love DC, and realized that even transplants love this town and feel a connection to it.  People who like to move from city to city may not identify with DC, but anyone who makes their home here is a Washingtonian.

So DC is my city, but it’s also your city, our city, and everyone’s city.  Tourists flock to DC every spring and summer because they want to see where their tax dollars are going, where their senators and representatives live, and all the famous monuments and buildings that grace their money and their history books.  Across the nation, civic pride is personal – the Statue of Liberty belongs to New Yorkers, and the Golden Gate Bridge belongs to San Franciscans.  But the Washington Monument and the White House belong to all Americans, and I love that they come to experience DC because America means something to them.  It’s not so much “welcome to my home” as it is “welcome home.” Continue reading →

Downtown, Entertainment, Essential DC, Special Events, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: March 2010

America's Endangered Species, ©Joel Sartore; courtesy of the National Geographic Museum

The spring season of National Geographic Live – a series of dynamic lectures, concerts, films and more – continues this month, with more great offerings.

Thanks to the awesome response from last month, the National Geographic Museum is offering up two pairs of tickets to our readers for any of the following events. Simply comment below (PLEASE use a legit email address and your first name) with what two events – in preferred order – you’d like to attend. We’ll do a random drawing on Friday (March 12) at 10 a.m. and get the winners set up with their first (or second, if your first choice is full) selection. Keep in mind that tickets are for single events only.

Note that the photography exhibitions that open this month do not require tickets and are free for visitors to enjoy.

Okay, enough about rules. Check out the March offerings after the jump.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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Cultural Tourism DC Opens A New Visitor Center On U Street

Photo courtesy of
‘U Street’
courtesy of ‘Rolenz’

Cultural Tourism DC opened a new Visitor Center on U Street last week to introduce a new audio tour of the historic  neighborhood. Local residents and tourists are encouraged to stop by the new center and take the audio tour to learn more about the rich cultural history the neighborhood has to offer.

Stops on the tour include the restored Lincoln Theater, Jazz hot-spot Bohemian Caverns, The Whitelaw Hotel, and The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage.

For more information, email Trail@CulturalTourismDC.org or call 202-661-7581.

All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Someone Doesn’t Like The New Parking Laws

parking sign in the C&O Canal

parking sign in the C&O Canal

Someone in Georgetown is clearly not a fan of the new parking regulations that took effect in January. And I have to admit the addition of Saturdays has been the bane of my existence, however instead of throwing signs into the historic C&O Canal, let your voice be heard by contacting Mayor Fenty, your Ward representative and/or your ANC with your complaints/comments/suggestions.