Category Archives: Around Town

May 10, 2010 · 12:00 pm

High Winds Take Down Mature Maple

Man, Saturday night was windy, wasn’t it? It was so windy, a fully mature and completely healthy maple tree snapped right in half at 31st and R.

According to Casey Trees, the victim was a 45 foot tall Sugar Maple with an 11 inch trunk and 15 foot radius crown. It was probably 20-30 years old. It was estimated to remove 42 gallons of carbon monoxide a year. Casey Trees valued it at $2,338.

It looked like crews were already out on Sunday clearing the tree. The unusual Monkey Puzzle tree appeared to survive the collision.

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April 26, 2010 · 10:00 am

Thomas Jefferson St. Next Up For Bridge Reconstruction

A little less than a year ago, the city announced plans to reconstruct all the vehicular bridges over the canal. They’re all quite old and each require a complete tear down/reconstruction. Unfortunately, it was estimated that each bridge would take a year to reconstruct.

They started with 30th St. last August. Ever since then it’s been closed to vehicular traffic. The city built a small pedestrian bridge about 20 feet up the canal. It’s been about nine months and they’ve still got decent amount of work left to do: Continue reading →

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April 19, 2010 · 10:00 am

What a Difference 70 Days Make…

31st St. Continue reading →

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March 26, 2010 · 10:00 am

Whither Citypaper’s Love?

It was just last year that GM noted all the ways that Citypaper loved Georgetown.  Our neighborhood was all over their 2009 staffers’ listings:

  • Second Best Bakery – Pattiserie Poupon
  • Second Best Beer Menu – Off the menu choices at Birreria Paradiso
  • Best Frozen Yogurt – T-Sweets (way to fend off all the fro-yo-come-latelys T-Sweet!)
  • Best Salt Bagel – Georgetown Bagelry
  • Best Wine List – Citronelle
  • Best Cupcake – Georgetown Cupcake
  • Second Best Cupcake – Baked & Wired
  • Best and Second Best Jazz Venue – Blues Alley (read it to explain)
  • Best Absurd Window Display – Juicy Couture
  • Second Best Absurd Window Display – American Apparel
  • Best Place to Buy Clothing to Make You Look Like a Cupcake – Juicy Couture
  • Second Best Place to Buy Clothing to Make You Look Like a Cupcake – Betsey Johnson
  • Second Best Place to Ignore the Recession – Hu’s Shoes
  • Second Best Place to See Cherry Blossoms – Dumbarton Oaks
  • Best Media Business Model – The Georgetown Current

How’d we do this year? Not so hot Continue reading →

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March 18, 2010 · 10:01 am

The Famous Tenants of Oak Hill Cemetery

In the very northeastern corner of Georgetown lies the beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery. It was built in 1848 under the direction of Georgetown’s favorite son William Wilson Corcoran. Open daily (except Saturdays), the 22 acre cemetery is one of the most peaceful yet slightly eerie spots in Georgetown.

The bulk of its interments come from the well-to-do class of DC during the second half of the 19th century. There are generals, admirals, doctors and lawyers galore. But its also got more than a few Confederate spies and just about everyone involved in the Lincoln assassination minus Lincoln and Booth themselves. Even Confederate president Jefferson Davis was buried here until 1893.

After the jump, check out some of the more notable grave sites: Continue reading →

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March 17, 2010 · 9:01 am

18th Century Double-Barreled Pistol Dug Up at Tudor Place

Pistol

Last week an ancient double-barreled pistol was dug up on property that was once part of the Tudor Place estate on 31st St. It is a Belgian-made flintlock pistol dating from the late 18th or early 19th century.

At one time, Tudor Place took up the entire block between Q St. and R St. (then known as Stoddert St. and the oddly named Road St.). The land north of the current estate was sold off after the Civil War. Now that land is home to a row of rather large homes and the Dumbarton apartment building. Continue reading →

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March 16, 2010 · 9:00 am

Georgetown’s Thought Journal

Walking through the Georgetown waterfront park, you may stumble on a bench that doesn’t look like any of the other ones. As you can see above, it’s wooden and has a circular back to it. But what really sets it apart is a little yellow book that stashed away underneath the bench:

It’s an all-weather journal that’s been attached to the bench. It, along with the bench, was put there by an organization called the TKF Foundation, which seeks to create sacred spaces. At these sacred places, they install a bench just like this one with a book and invite people to contribute their thoughts.

Thoughts like these (you may have to click through to the slideshow to make out the words): Continue reading →

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February 11, 2010 · 10:00 am

Cheer Up, It’ll Be Over Soon

Yes, right now it looks like we moved Georgetown to Siberia. But cheer up, spring isn’t really that far away. Pitchers report in just seven days.

Just close your eyes and picture this:

Continue reading →

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February 8, 2010 · 10:00 am

Scenes From a Blizzard

You may be nursing a bad back from shoveling out your front stoop, but GM sincerely hopes you were able to get out and enjoy the scenery this weekend. It was truly something special.

GM was out with his camera at about 11:00 Saturday morning and caught these shots:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Most stores were closed, obviously, but a handful of bars and taverns were open. GM saw Cafe Bonaparte, Martin’s, J. Paul’s, and Clyde’s. Oh, and Georgetown Cupcake. With a line. Good on ’em! Continue reading →

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February 4, 2010 · 10:00 am

How Many Bars Do You Have?

Cell Phone Tower by Forklift.

Do you have a T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless cell phone? Congratulations, you’re cell phone service is about to get better. GM noticed on the No Action calender for last week’s ANC meeting that new antennas for those cell phone companies are going to be installed on buildings in Georgetown.

This won’t help out GM, who finally made the jump to iPhone last summer before realizing his block is an AT&T deadzone. But this got GM wondering, what sort of cell phone coverage do you get on your block?

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