Wednesday, December 28, 2005

A few matters of note

The first thing that has come to my attention is that the era of Stoney's, a delightfully seedy bar at 13th and L which has been there forever, is coming to a close as DC continues on its path of rampant Bethesdafication. Here is an article from the Washington Post (forwarded to me by Al) which sums it up:

Stoney's Set for Last Hurrah at L Street (original article here)

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The venerable D.C. watering hole Stoney's, one of the few true dives left downtown, will shuts its doors Jan. 14, after 37 years.

The building at 1307 L Street NW was sold months ago and is slated for redevelopment. But Stoney's owner, Anthony Harris, said yesterday he is close to completing negotiations for a new lease nearby.

"We're going to come back, somewhere," Harris said, withholding details until a deal is signed. He promised an all-day, all-night closing bash Jan. 13 at the L Street location.

Stoney's is known among D.C. residents and business types as a place to grab a burger and beer and avoid the suburban sameness of chain restaurants that line most city blocks and the high prices and complicated entree descriptions of fancier dining establishments.

The air smells of cigarettes. Regulars include lobbyists, lawyers and ladies of the evening.

Patrons who would like to be notified of the bar's future plans can e-mail stoneysdc@gmail.com .


On a more positive note, I discovered today that Meiwah, a delicious Asian restaurant at 22nd and New Hamster, has opened an express shop at the renovated food court at National Place (14th and E). This food court used to be a dark, dingy place overcrowded by tourists; now it is skylit and much more pleasant, and the dumplings from Meiwah are just great. It's possible this is all old news, in which case you'll have to forgive me -- I've been gone for seven months.

Finally, in my absence Five Guys popped up all over DC. I'd never heard of this chain, which is locally-owned, before. They basically just serve burgers and fries, but unlike Mickey Dee's, the burgers are hand made and cooked up fresh to order. And terribly yummy. The fries are reminiscent of Thrasher's in Ocean City; that may be good or bad, depending on your point of view.

One last thing is that if you didn't watch Saturday Night Live on December 17th, you missed something terribly funny, in a way that SNL usually just isn't funny anymore. This New York Times article gives you a summary and also contains a link where you can watch the video in question online.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Signal at 21st Street, NW


Signal at 21st Street, NW
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.
Today was a beautiful December day, warmer than it's been in weeks, still nippy but not unpleasant, with crisp blue skies. So I decided to take a walk around 3, with the shadows already growing long as the brilliant winter sun hung low in the sky. On Christmas Eve, the streets were nearly empty, and I walked all the way down through the quiet city to the mall, past 21st and Constitution (pictured), down near the Vietnam Memorial. Even in the middle of winter, tourists were walking the mall; most of them seemed to be coming to the Vietnam Memorial to pay their respects. I walked over to the river, and along it for a while, before turning back uptown along 23rd Street.



A walk along the edge
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.
The other thing I saw as I was out walking today, not far from the Kennedy Center, were the steps across from the Potomac river, all lit up to a firey golden color by the rapidly setting sun.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Tonight was Rock 'n' Shop at the Black Cat:

Rock 'n' Shop - Black Cat 12/18/05

An impressive array of stuff on sale, all handcrafted by local artisans, being sold to the tunes of excellent music spun by folks like DJ Neville Chamberlin. If you missed it and the Black Cat does this again, by all means go!

Last night I went to Frednecksburg to a friend's housewarming. It took almost two hours of hellish traffic down I-95 to get there, but the party was fun. And J and I made up for the trip by checking into a seedy Fredericksburg motel rather than going home the same night. It was one of those places where most of the residents appear to be living there, and the rest are there for illicit liaisons. I can see now why people request non-smoking rooms, because our room smelled like 100 people had been chain smoking in it for a month. Added to this was a sketchy heating system that made an incredible amount of noise.

The one bonus was that "South Park" was on TV when we checked in, a funny episode about Jared, the Subway guy who lost weight. Also, the window was cool:

Motel morning, Fredericksburg

The other bonus was a great diner where we had hot cakes the next morning for breakfast. And there was no traffic on the way home, 30 minutes door to door.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

South Capitol


South Capitol
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.
And here's the U.S. Capitol, from one of Pierre L'Enfant's less storied vistas.

South Capitol - smokestacks


South Capitol - smokestacks
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.
Here's another image from South Capitol Street. This is looking towards the Capitol, and the Southeast/Southwest Freeway.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

South Capitol Street


South Capitol Street
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.



Here are some images from the south side of DC: South Capitol Street. Click the photo to see more.