Category Archives: Events

This Sunday, Friends of Volta Park will hold its annual Breakfast with Santa. This is one of those great events that happen around Georgetown that you don’t become aware of until you have kids. Last year GM went to his first and he was blown away at how many families were out socializing over coffee and donuts, and watching their kids go crazy over Santa.

Make sure to get there early to get near the front of the line for a picture with Santa. GM can’t find a notice for this year’s party listing the time, but last year it was 10 – 12, so that’s probably still the case.

So come on out!

As expected, DDOT is shutting down some roads to traffic tonight in anticipation of Halloween crowds. The restrictions are identical to those last year.

The governing theory is to keep traffic off the side streets (because of the kiddies walking around in the dark) and to push all the traffic onto M and Wisconsin. So even though it would be great for the partiers on M St. to shut the whole road down to traffic as they used to, this is probably a safer plan overall. Plus it has the benefit of allowing partiers to catch a cab on M St. and Wisconsin rather than off on a side street.

Here’s a map of the closings. The red streets are streets that are closed to everyone except residents and employees (if it’s a commercial street). The purple streets allow traffic but don’t have any on-street parking:

The parking restrictions will be in place from 4:00 PM tonight until the early morning hours of tomorrow. The traffic restrictions will start at 6:30 pm.

So be careful out there, and have fun!

Tomorrow afternoon at the Georgetown Library, GM’s friend Tim Krepp will be giving a spooktacular talk about his new book Ghost of Georgetown.

Check out the book description:

On the banks of the Potomac River, Georgetown has had three centuries to accumulate ghoulish tales and venerable apparitions to haunt its cobbled streets and mansions. In this historic Washington, D.C., neighborhood, the eerie moans of three sisters herald every death on the river, and on R Street, President Lincoln is rumored to have witnessed the paranormal at a séance. Along the towpath of the C&O Canal, a phantom police officer still walks his lonely beat, and on moonlit nights, he is joined by a razor-wielding ghoul. From the spirit of a sea captain who lingers in the Old Stone House to the strange ambiance of the Exorcist Steps, author and guide Tim Krepp takes readers on a chilling journey through the ghostly lore of Georgetown.

That’s some seriously creepy stuff!

So whether your house is haunted or not, come on out to hear tales from those lucky few who have had their wits scared out of them.

Tim’s a tour guide for his day job, so he knows how to keep people entertained. The talk starts at 1:30, so you’ll have a few hours of sunlight afterwards to race home and hide under the covers.

The Georgetown 2028 planning project has been humming along. As you might know, this is an ambitious effort lead by the BID to gather many stakeholders together and chart out what challenges the Georgetown business district will face over the next 15 years and plan how to face them.

The project is structured with a steering committee (full disclosure: GM is on the steering committee) and three working groups focused on transportation, economic development, and public space. Continue reading →

Tonight Georgetown’s newest music venue opens: Gypsy Sally’s. It is located on the second floor of the old ice house that now contains the equally new Malmaison.

Conceived as a Americana roots version of Blues Alley, Gypsy Sally’s is a welcome concept. And its a concept that used to typify Georgetown, back when the Cellar Door, Desperado’s and the Bayou (which once stood just down the street from where Gypsy Sally’s now is). Continue reading →

Thursday July 25th at 7:00 pm, the Peabody Room will be hosting an interesting book talk about one of Georgetown’s most famous (although today mostly forgotten) former residents: E.D.E.N. Southworth.

Southworth was one of the most popular authors in the 19th century (or as the postcard above describes her: an “authoress”). She wrote over 60 novels in the second half of the 1800s. She was also a long time Georgetown resident, residing in the “Prospect Cottage” on Prospect Street, which stood until 1940.

Read here for a great background on Southworth and the Prospect Cottage.

The talk will be given by Rose A. Neal, in connection with her book on Southworth: “Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth: Teacher with a Golden Pen”.

Come on out!

Photo by John McCarthy.

Remember a few weeks ago when GM told you about the exciting Georgetown 2028 effort by the BID, and how there would soon be a chance for you to weigh in on what you want Georgetown to look like in 15 years?

Well that time is nigh. The first community engagement meeting will be held next Thursday, June 13th, at the Foundry Building on Thomas Jefferson (across from Baked and Wired) at 5:30 – 8:00 pm. Continue reading →

GM doesn’t pass on every request he gets to plug a charity. If he did, that’s all he would write about. But when a request comes from a Georgetown-related cause GM cares about, he makes an exception. And that’s the case for Rose Park and Volta Park.

Both parks are treasures for Georgetown. While Montrose Park is probably the prettiest park in Georgetown, Volta and Rose are truly hives of the neighborhood. Volta park packs a playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, a softball field, a community center, a pool, a garden, and more open space, all in a city block. Rose Park a larger and a little more sprawling, but also offers a wide variety of activities with a little league field, two playgrounds, the best tennis courts in Georgetown, basketball courts and a ton of open fields.

These parks share something else in common: a “friends of” group that helps maintain and enhance these treasures. And you have an opportunity to help both of them right now. Continue reading →