You Can Drink Near Van Dorn St., But Not Cheverly
Map It:
Cheverly Dunn Loring East Falls Church Federal Center SW Fort Totten Greenbelt
THREE MEN IN LONDON recently completed a liver-quivering task: a pub crawl featuring stops at all 275 stations on the British capital's Underground rail network. That's not 275 stations in one trip, mind you — it took place over five years. It's still quite the feat, though. And too many pints to count...
Since our Metrorail only has 86 stations, it'd be much easier to do a D.C. subway pub crawl, right? Not exactly. While stations like Gallery Place-Chinatown, Clarendon and Bethesda have plenty of options to choose from, there are some stations that aren't known for being hubs of nightlife — they're better places to park a car than to throw back a pint.
So we used our very own Metro Links mapping tool to see whether there are drinks to be had near some of Metro's outlying stations.
» VAN DORN STREET: Yes, sort of, but you have to walk over the CSX tracks to Pickett Street. Options include Shenandoah Brewing Company (you make your own beer) and Nick's Nightclub ("a well-known spot for county music and line dancing").
» CHEVERLY: No.
» GREENBELT: No, but wait a few years.
» EAST FALLS CHURCH: Well, sort of. You just have to walk 10-15 minutes into Falls Church.
» FORT TOTTEN: An emphatic no.
» DUNN LORING-MERRIFIELD: Yes! There's a Shark Club billiards location nearby. Who knew?
» FEDERAL CENTER SW: Yes. The hotel bar at the Holiday Inn called 21st Amendment Bar & Grill. (We've actually been there. It's the crown jewel of the neighborhood.)
» "Five-Year Pub Crawl Tours Entire Tube" [This Is Local London via Londonist]
» "MetroLinks" [Express]
THERE'S NOT MUCH TO DO out at Fairfax County's Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metrorail station — the Orange Line stop is little more than a commuter parking lot. But as The Post's Lisa Rein and Alec MacGillis report, county officials have OK'd a plan to build a mixed-use development on Metro's 15 acres of surface parking. A six-level commuter garage, housing, retail and a Marriott hotel will rise from an area adjacent to the station at Gallows Road and I-66, just outside the Capital Beltway. A similar mixed-use development is slated for the Orange Line's Vienna terminus.
» "Project For Dunn Loring Is Approved" [WaPo]
Graphic by Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso/The Washington Post
» DISTRICT: Speaking of parking, if you live in the District, you can ignore residential street-sweeping parking regulations until April 2 — except those on major traffic arteries. So that means you could let your car sit on most District streets — there are exceptions — for the rest of this fall, all winter and into spring. Just remember that during declared snow emergencies, cars must be moved from designated snow routes. More from the D.C. Department of Public Works' notice. As blogger Time I'll Never Get Back writes: "... [C]an someone make a note to e-mail me on April 2 and remind me to move my car?" [DPW; Time I'll Never Get Back]
» ALEXANDRIA: The Old Town Theater on King Street is in danger of closing its doors permanently if its owner can't raise $200,000 immediately and $700,000 in the long run to fix building code violations. The problems were spotted by city officials after the theatre's owner illegally built a second screen, The Examiner's David Francis reports. [Examiner]
Notes From Around Town: Whither Mies' Library
Map It: Dunn Loring Gallery Pl-Chinatown Silver Spring Waterfront White Flint
YOU MIGHT NOT immediately recognize the view here, but that is the reflection of the Old Patent Office Building in the windows of the District's Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed public library, named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The building, just 34 years old, has been neglected and in many ways, the library is hampered by the structure's inadequacies. Some people love the building and appreciate the fact that neoclassical Washington can boast it has an edifice designed by one of the big three architects of the 20th century standing downtown on G Street NW between 9th and 10th streets NW. Others want it torn down. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams wants to kick the library out of the building and lease the structure to an as-of-yet unnamed tenant who would help pay for a new library that would rise at the old Convention Center site.
At a public hearing back in April, Williams never elaborated on his vision for what he would do with the Mies building, only vaguely saying that he "appreciates" the International style used by the great architect and wants the building to "contribute to the vibrancy of 9th Street." Benjamin Forgey, The Post's architecture critic, takes Williams to task for treating such "a significant work of architecture as if it were a trifling leftover." Says Forgey:
Resurrecting a moribund planning department just happens to be one of the tremendous accomplishments of the Williams era. But if the city persists in ignoring the historical and aesthetic values of one its most important public structures, Williams will be leaving on a sad note.Photo by Michael Grass/Express
» "Through Glass Darkly: D.C.'s Poor Vision for Library" [WaPo]
» "D.C. Diary: Diving Into Library Rhetoric" [Free Ride]
» "D.C. Diary: Great Architect Says District Is Dull" [Free Ride]
SILVER SPRING: Over at 8045 Newell St., flat-screen television sets are apparently flying out windows of the condo building. [Silver Spring, Singular]
WHITE FLINT: Heads up: The 13-foot-by-17-foot cabin that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" will be open for tours the weekend of June 24-25 as part of Montgomery County's Heritage Days. The cabin is located on Old Georgetown Road just south of Tilden Lane, near the White Flint Metrorail station. [WaPo]
WATERFRONT: The Anacostia Waterfront Corp. has narrowed the list of potential developers for D.C.'s 47-acre Southwest waterfront. A final decision is expected by the end of the summer. The revamped waterfront will boast new mixed-use development featuring retail, parks, housing and potentially a hotel. [WBJ]
PALISADES: Talking head/MSNBC host Tucker Carlson is buying a $4 million house upriver from Georgetown. Now that the bow tie is gone, he'll fit in more with the casual crowd at Black Salt on MacArthur Boulevard. It's too bad the place is so loud that he won't be able to hear himself talk. Imagine that. [Reliable Source/WaPo]
DUNN LORING-MERRIFIELD: At a Marriott Residence Inn off Gallows Road south of the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metrorail station, Fairfax County police broke up an illegal Texas Hold 'Em gambling operation last Friday. Nobody from the hotel was involved. [Examiner]
Addison Road