The Georgetown Metropolitan » Inauguration

Late Hours – The Coda

Topher — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:28:21 +0000

So after all that Sturm und Drang over the late hours at the restaurants and bars around town, the inaugural fest is over. According to DCist, crime was actually relatively low for the weekend. 4 AM is way past GM’s bedtime, so he didn’t get to verify whether those establishments identified as night owls would take advantage of the relaxed rules or whether M St. was turned into a all-night noise machine. So did anyone stay up till 4 pounding beers at Clyde’s, martinis at Bodega, and, err, baguettes at Le Pain Quotidien? What was M St. like?

Just no one try to claim they won a beefcake contest at Modern. We know you’re lying.

48 Years Ago Tonight

Topher — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:18:06 +0000

It was exactly 48 years ago tonight that the resident of 2720 Dumbarton Ave. heard a knock at his door and opened it to find John F. Kennedy standing there in the falling snow, less than 14 hours after being inaugurated President. That resident was journalist and socialite Joe Alsop and his was the only private residence Kennedy visited that evening. Some stories claim that Kennedy stayed there till dawn smoking cigars and talking with his friend Alsop. More stories, however, state that Kennedy stayed only for a few hours, had a bowl of terrapin soup, and headed back to the White House around 3:00 AM. (Although, yet another line of stories state that he stayed long enough for a brief liaison with Angie Dickinson, or some other young starlet).

Some in Georgetown may insist that the neighborhood is still at the center of the DC political universe; but there will be no doors in Georgetown knocked upon by Obama tonight. Maybe that shows how far Georgetown has fallen, or maybe it just shows how special that night was 48 years ago.

Georgetown’s Inaugural Balls

Topher — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:33:09 +0000

Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural Ball 1925 - Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Most of us are probably sick and tired of all the inaugural festivities before they even begin. But if you still have the energy, the lack of plans, and a desire to keep local, what are you to do? Well GM has identified three Georgetown balls (well, two Georgetown balls and one “Georgetown” ball) that you might be interested in. Find out more after the jump:

Georgetown Inaugural Gala

The first ball in question is called the Georgetown Inaugural Gala. This event will be held within the Shops at Georgetown and is being sponsored by B.B. Productions. The website promises music from the Old White Grand Piano and “Washington, DC’s finest harpist”.

The Lowdown

Cost: $125 General Admission, $195 VIP – “Distinguished Guest”
Special Offering: The Buffalo Soldiers and their well adorned ladies
Chance of Obama showing up: zero

The Georgetown Inaugural Ball

From the group that everyone loves to hate, Late Night Shots, comes the Georgetown Inaugural Ball. Or rather it should be called the “Georgetown” Inaugural Ball seeing as it doesn’t have any discernable connections to Georgetown. It’s located at Shadowroom (21st and K) in Foggy Bottom. It’s sponsored by a group of mostly non-Georgetowners whose connection to the neighborhood seems to be limited only to frequent attendence at two bars. So, you know, whatever.

Deets:

Cost: A bargain at $80, with reserved tables in a sliding scale up to $1000
Special Offering: One of those floozies from the unfortunately upcoming “Blond Charity Mafia” plus a bunch of dudes with last-name-first-names like Winston, Fletcher, and Trenholm
Chance of Obama showing up: Less than zero

Georgetown University Inaugural

According to Vox Populi, Georgetown University is hosting its own inaugural ball on campus. It’s sponsored by the student groups: NAACP, Women in Politics, GUSA, SOCA, CMEA and the Center for Student Programs, and it’s to located at the Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall. Dress is “Formal”.

Syllabus:

Price: $5, a steal even on a college kid’s budget
Special Offering: Hmmm, convenience?
Chance Obama will show up: zero point zero

From the Department of Peculiar Voluntary Agreement Clauses

Topher — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:31:17 +0000

The Georgetown Current this week chimes in on the late night bar issue (which, by the way, GM covered extensively already). Doing the things that real journalists do, Carol Buckley dug a bit deeper into the issue and discovered that some of the bars that have voluntary agreements will nonetheless be able to stay open late since the agreements say nothing about hours. That apparently includes Le Pain Quotidien, Neyla, and Modern.

Buckley found another priceless nugget. For whatever reason, the ANC didn’t think to insist on setting hours for Modern’s voluntary agreement. But what did they ban in the agreement?

Wet tee-shirt contests and “beefcake” competitions.

Seriously.

It truly bares repeating that at some point our elected officials apparently expressed a concern that M St. was turning into Venice Beach. Not mentioned in the article, but Rhino Bar’s voluntary agreement bans “kicking sand in our faces” and/or “breaking our nerdy glasses and stealing our girlfriend”.

WMATA Tries Out Bus Only Lanes For Obama Day

Topher — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:35:53 +0000

The Washington Post is reporting that there will be bus-only lanes through Georgetown from Wisconsin Ave. to Washington Circle in Foggy Bottom on Inauguration Day. They write:

Although widespread bridge and street closures will restrict personal vehicle access, Metrobuses will be allowed to use both and will use special bus-only lanes through Georgetown from Wisconsin Avenue to Washington Circle (23rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue), for example, bypassing regular traffic.

It’s a little unfortunate that the Washington Post feels the need to explain to its readers where Washington Circle is. But that aside, what they don’t do is say what road will have the bus-only lane. It could be either M St. or K St. Which is it? Find out that and how you might want to get used to the lane for the future, after the jump:

It appears from the inaugural bus corridors map that the bus line in question is the normal 31 bus rather than some ad hoc K St. line. Thus it is M St. and then Pennsylvania Ave. that will have one lane closed to personal cars. A bus-only lane on K St. to Washington Circle would probably be less disruptive. But then again, one bus lane will be just a rain drop to the rest of the street closure tempest that day. Unless you have some dire medically required need to drive that day, you’d be nuts getting behind a wheel.

So why might you want to get used to these lanes? Well, last year DDOT conducted a comprehensive study of Georgetown’s transportation issues. In their final report, the consultants recommended the creation of a bus-only lane on M St. and Wisconsin. See the plans below:

This recommendation was in the “Long Term” category, so don’t expect bus-only lanes within the next five years or so. Eventually though, DDOT may install something along those lines.

GM definitely supports the idea of bus-only lanes. It will speed the 30s and Circulator through Georgetown, and will encourage more Georgetowners and people visiting Georgetown to leave their car at home. Plus, we may eventually get a streetcar on this route. If we had a streetcar with its own lane going through Georgetown, that would cut down significantly on the demand of people to drive here, which would benefit everyone.

ABRA-Cadabra: A Final List of Georgetown Bars that Will Stay Open Late

Topher — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:30:15 +0000

According to the Capital Spice blog, the final list of bars and restaurants that will be open late in the District for the inauguration was released by the Alcoholic Beverage Regulatory Administration on Friday. Some of those establishments are in Georgetown, however only a handful of them are going to be able to serve alcohol late due to them not having a voluntary agreement. Find out who after the jump:

Establishments that can stay open as long as they choose, but can’t serve drinks after their normal hours:

Cafe Bonaparte
A Neyla Mediterian Grill (no liquor license)
Billy Martin’s
Aditi Indian Cuisine (no liquor license)
Modern
Le Pain Quotidien

Establishments that will be pouring drinks straight through till 4:00, if they choose:

Clydes
Nathan’s
Bistro Francais
Four Season’s
Bodega (old Manhattan’s)
News Cafe

This is not to say that each of these establishments will take advantage of all the allowances. Many might not even be open to the public, and may be rented out for private parties after the balls.

What Georgetown Bars Might Be Open Late

Topher — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:24:13 +0000

As the Washington Post reports, 213 venues have applied to the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to stay open late on Inauguration weekend. Apparently a large number of those are in Ward 2. As reported on this blog, any bar in Georgetown with a voluntary agreement was not able to apply to ABRA to stay open late since neither the ANC nor CAG gave their consent to amend the VAs. When reporting this, GM was surprised to find out there were any Georgetown bars without a voluntary agreement. Well a review of ABRA records shows that there are lotsof bars in Georgetown without VAs, many of which are the type of place that would apply to stay open late and the type of place that a lot of residents really wish wouldn’t. Full list after the jump:

According to ABRA records, as of December 2008, the following bars in ANC2E do not have VAs:

Cafe Bonaparte
Don Lobos
Georgetown Inn (may include Daily Grill)
La Chaumiere
Mendocino
Mei N Yu
Miss Saigon
News Cafe
Taj of India
Tombs(!)
Additi
Amman Vegetarian Kitchen
Arisu
Bistro Francais
Bistro Lepic
Blues Alley (late night jam session perhaps?)
Bodega
Booeymonger
Casbah/Ledo’s Pizza
Chez Mama San
Riverside Grill(!)
Clydes(!)
Filomena
Harmony Cafe
J Pauls
La Ruche
Mortons
Nathan’s
Pizzeria Uno
The Guards (!!)
Sea Catch

As soon as GM gets confirmation on which of these applied to ABRA for the late hours, he’ll let you know as soon as possible.