DC Restaurant Week:
$20.08 3-Course Lunches
$35.08 3-Course Dinners

Book your reservations today on OpenTable.com as most of the time slots at the more expensive fill fast.

This has inspired me to finally launch a new series here that I have been mulling for some time.

Here is how this will work: I will take on the challenge of finding the “best in DC” – one thing at a time. Be it cupcakes, shoe stores, or dj nights, I will solicit recommendations of competitors, do some research, and then go try out those which claim to vie for title of “best”.

In other words – one girl’s highly subjective search to sift through mediocrity and mass-name-recognition (is Potbelly really the best sandwich place in town as it is consistently voted – or just the only one that a majority of the voters have been to?) to bring you what I think are the best bets around.

For this to work, I will need a lot of input from you. I want you to send me on missions that you want to read about. In the comments below, I would love to see suggestions of things you want me to review for you! I also need your suggestions of where to go. Do you think you know about the best beer selection in town? Let me know! Hopefully, other people will have different ideas, and I will try to put them all to the test.

One stipulation: I am not finding out the best fetish club. If you want to know, you will have to wait for the City Paper’s results. (Also, I reserve the right not to be sent on any missions I consider immoral or generally icky. You know.)

Also, we are going to need to think of a name. I thought about calling it “The Decider”, but that seems pretty dated at this point…

photo by erin m on flickr

While typically, some of these “escapes” are not traditionally vacations in the usual sense (usually only a few days), there are plenty of places both near and far to get away from it all, even if it is only for a short bit. Some folks head internally, staying at home, or spending entire days at the movie theater. Others head out past the potential “blast zone“, to places like Shenandoah, Ocean City, and even Philly (which has King Tut right now, BTW). Others will head further afield…

Tom and Tiff head to Pittsburgh, but have been heard to hit the Eastern Shore. Carl’s on leave of mind to head to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, while Doug slips off to the local mountains of the Shenandoah. Paulo has yet to have a real honeymoon, and feels a strong pull to Harpers Ferry and the John Brown Wax Museum. Jenn loves Cape May in New Jersey, even though another city such as Philly or New York could also top the bill for rapid exit from our fair city. I’m heading to Beantown (to visit the Samuel Adams Brewery as well) and Cape Cod. Even Stacey escapes… at home in Vienna… Virginia, not Austria… just by having moved there. And we all know, DC is good enough for Wayan!

Jenn did bring up a good observation about coming back from these “breathers” from DC; How do you feel about the city when you return? Better or worse than when you ‘escaped’? Have you noticed anything interesting upon your return that you may have not observed or felt being here 24/7?

I found this on a construction site on 23rd Street next to the Department of State…and you wonder why you get incorrect prescriptions?!

As we enter our first spring like week of the year I am starting a series of profiles of area bike trails. I begin with my personal favorite, the Washington & Old Dominion Regional Park trail. In 2005 I rode the length of the trail from west to east in one afternoon.

An early example of the “rail-to-trail” phenomenon, W&OD was simply known as the “bike trail” to me and my friends when I was growing up. Now forty-five miles long, the flat, straight trail starts in Arlington, near Shirlington, and extends all the way past Leesburg to Purcellville. In actuality, the trail is part of W&OD Regional Park, which is the old railroad and current Virginia Power right-of-way (hence the high tension power lines), giving it dimensions of about 45 miles by 100 feet. Those 100 feet provide a buffer of nature through the most populated region of the commonwealth. Much of the Arlington portion traverses Four Mile Run Park while it parallels the windier Four Mile Run trail. Think of W&OD as I-95 to Four Mile’s US 1 and you get the idea of how the two trails exist together.

As it approaches Falls Church, W&OD joins the Custis Trail as part of the I-66 multimodal corridor (I-66, Metro Orange line, bike path) for a few miles before breaking off onto side streets briefly. A beautiful bridge spanning Broad Street (VA 7) keeps the trail moving. At the foot of the bridge there are displays chronicling railroad and Falls Church history. Some of these displays are repeated along the trail, providing an interesting historical context.

After Falls Church, the trail parallels local streets and climbs up to the Virginia Lane overpass of I-66, before paralleling I-66 up to the Capital Beltway (I-495) interchange and into Dunn Loring. Once past the Beltway, the trail returns to separate right of way into Vienna where users are greeted by a small Civil War marker near the community center as well as the last opportunities for food and refreshments until Reston. Highlighting the Vienna portion is Vienna Centennial Park, home of a vintage red caboose, as well as an old train station, home to a large model railroad that is open to the public on some Saturday mornings. A local business park has also painted a large railroad mural facing the trail, giving the town a nice ambiance.

Beyond Vienna, the next four to five miles feature a few ridges as well as soccer fields and wetlands. One of the most substantial hills along the trail is just beyond Hunter Mill Road as you near Reston. Once down the hill, a more business oriented suburbia emerges with more boulevards to cross (mostly on recently built overpasses) as you pass through one of the “edge cities” of D.C. Fast food and convenience stores are also available, allowing you to fill up. One interesting note is the trail passes Michael Faraday Square, which includes the “monkey house” from the book, The Hot Zone, though it is not distinguishable from any of the other business park buildings.
Past Reston and closer to Herndon, W&OD once again takes on a character that is more residential than commercial. Downtown Herndon reveals itself to be quaint as you pass through with more refreshment options and another caboose. It the last concentrated downtown that you pass through along the trail, since west of Herndon was until recently fairly rural.

The end of Herndon means the beginning of Loudon County, starting with Sterling. Again, the trail travels through residential and light industrial (or at least the Northern Virginia equivalent) areas. As Sterling comes to an end, the W&OD crosses Sully Road (VA 28 and now Darrell Green Highway) on an overpass and enters a rapidly growing residential area. A decade ago, the housing boom reached these parts (especially north of the trail) and the once rural landscape was transformed into new subdivisions. All has not changed though, with the Ashburn General Store providing a tangible link to days long since past as well as plenty of snacks. This portion of the trail itself can be deceptively steep at times though.

Through Leesburg, the trail bypasses the historic downtown, but not by much. Having not traveled this portion in many years, I cannot recall the specific amenities available, but there are some.

Past Leesburg the W&OD takes on a rural flavor for the rest of the duration; A few trips across VA 7 on overpasses notwithstanding. The highest point of the trail is at Clarks Gap, where VA 9 splits from VA 7. The trail only has a few more miles before it terminates in Purcellville, a pleasant town that seems to be blending its history and emergence as a far suburb well.

The other big news is that some Yoko Ono art will be part of the festival. The art “is called “Wish Trees” and will enable festival-goers to attach written wishes to the empty branches of the trees.” Not only that, she’ll come to town at some point during the festival. Oh Yoko!

Culminating next week is the annual “Craft Brewed Strong Ale” tasting, on February 14th and 15th at RFD (Regional Food & Drink – also managed by the Alexander family). This is quick on the heels of last month’s “Lovefest” with Russian River (CA) and Allagash (ME) breweries at the Brickskeller’s upstairs tap-room. Call 202-289-2030 for tickets, they do sell out fast, as this is one of the annual highlights of the “beer tastings“. Support craft brewing and regional brewers such as Capitol City, Sweetwater Tavern, The D.C. Chophouse and others by trying something out of the ordinary with your sweetheart.

Also on “tap” this year for “The Brick” is a series of lectures and tastings about the Philosophy on Tap series in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution entitled – “What Is the Nature of the Mind?”. Also, “The Beer Hunter”, Michael Jackson is set to return for a fundraiser for Parkinson’s Disease (which he, himself, just revealed he has been battling) later this spring. If you think a Budweiser, Miller or Coors is all there is to beer (really, they are NOT beer), I highly recommend trying something out of the ordinary with your sweetheart this Valentines Day. (and at the very least, with a batch of strong ales [> 9% abv], you can forget about the evening’s events if they go south!)

Yesterday, while lamenting the loss of District movie theaters Post columnist and blogger Marc Fisher mentioned rumors of the Uptown Theatre closing. Corporate consolidation (Loews Cineplex and AMC merged) seems to be the possible catalyst.

Obviously, Uptown closing would be a HUGE loss for moviegoers in the area and the District itself. No other venue says “blockbuster” like Uptown; seeing a movie there is an event in itself. Hopefully, the rumors are based on fears of moviegoers and not on actual plans. If there is something to the rumors I hope prospective councilmember Mary M. Cheh and other elected officials come out support the Uptown remaining open, it is too important to let corporate beancounters kill it without a fight.

On the Web

Cinema Treasures (source of rumors, scroll down)

washingtonpost.com profile

Well, some things do. I guess a better way of putting it is that a photograph can make you see something from a different angle, in a different light, or make you think of something in a different way. I’m not sure Kenneth Snelson, the artist who created this “Needle Tower” in 1968 would agree with that statement, however most photographers would. It’s one thing to view the world through the amazing human eye, but photography allows you to focus on only part of your subject, remove color to accent the structure or contrast, and remove things from the field of view that may be distracting.

This photo by Flickr photographer furcafe (don’t ask me how he came up with that name) demonstrates all of these points. While I’m guessing this was shot at a relatively high f-stop, the structure blurs, giving the impression that the pattern is repeated to infinite. His use of black and white really emphasizes the symmetry of the pattern as well as the contrasting shades of the metal and the clouds. Finally, he has done a square crop on the photo with the focal point being directly in the middle. See I told you that it makes sense to center things sometimes!

To illustrate my point even further, here is another photo of the same Hirshorn Museum sculpture:



Spodie Odie’s shot tells a completely different story. He chose a side point of view which gives the viewer a sense of just how tall this structure is (especially relative to the museum), and yet you can still imagine it continuing up into outer space due to the soft focus. Furcafe’s black and white approach was completely blown out of the water with this crazy yellow/green/black color scheme, adding an abstract or futuristic touch. And finally the composition or framing of the sculpture is off center as it should be.

These guys both executed beautifully in giving their take on the Needle Tower. The question is, “Is a photograph of another artist’s art, really art in itself?” That is a question that’s been debated many times and is sure to come up in future posts.

PS – Submit your photos!