KICK OFF CHRISTMAS with this year's lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree. Join members of Congress, senators and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in the traditional ceremony of lighting up the "People's Tree" -- one that's of the people, for the people and by the people, of course.
Hailing from Montana, this 144 year-old, 78-foot fir tree will be decorated with more than 5,000 handmade ornaments and 10,000 LED lights. Chris Gabrielsen, a 4th grader from Montana, won a statewide drawing and will have the honor of flipping the switch to light the tree.
» West Lawn of the U S. Capitol, Tue., Dec. 2, 5 p.m., free; 202-265-0930. (Union Station, Federal Center SW)
Photo courtesy Office of the Architect of the Capitol
GO WINDOW SHOPPING this holiday season with "Windows to Wonderland," at the U.S. Botanic Garden, opening this weekend. The show features miniature Santa's Village and other Christmas-y locales, as well as an adorable seasonal train and, if you overshopped or overslept, it can all be viewed through the museum's windows after closing time. And try to stop yourself from saying, "It's so cuuuute" over and over.
» U.S. Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. SW; through Jan. 4, free; 202-225-8333. (Federal Center)
Written by Express' Jason Koebler
Image courtesy U.S. Botanic Gardens
SUNLIGHT POURS into the West Gallery of the U.S. Botanic Garden as local chefs and mixologists garnish hors d'oeuvres and cocktails with the freshest seasonal ingredients. Some of the area's hottest chefs are here, serving up beautifully crafted bites for D.C. foodies and locavores alike. They've all come together to celebrate sustainability -- the theme of the USBG's current exhibition, "One Planet, Ours! Sustainability for the 22nd Century."
Thirty-eight organizations are presenting exhibits at the Garden. Some focus on renewable energy, some on green building and some on sustainable food systems. FreshFarm Markets, a group notorious for bridging the gap between field and plate, is represented with a beautiful organic vegetable garden designed by local farmers Zachariah Lester and Georgia O'Neal of Tree and Leaf Farms in Purcellville, Va.
FreshFarm co-hosts Thursday's reception, one of its many events that bring members of the community together to taste, talk and spread ideas. Co-director Ann Yonkers says this is what farmers' markets have always been about.
"Historically, the marketplace was always the meeting place for any town," Yonkers explains as she walks me through the USBG exhibit. "Markets have always been at the center of any civilization, and farmers markets in the U.S. are bringing back the qualities of ancient marketplaces."
Continue Reading "A Garden of Delights: The U.S. Botanic Garden" »
FEDERAL BUILDING NO. 6: If you've driven by it on Independence Avenue across from the Air and Space Museum, you probably don't remember it — it blends all too well into the blandness that is Federal Center SW.
The building, which houses the Education Department, has now been officially named in honor of former President Lyndon Johnson, who doesn't enjoy too much recognition in the nation's capital besides a memorial grove off the George Washington Memorial Parkway and a room in the Senate where cots were rolled out during this summer's all-night session on the Iraq war.
But Johnson will have to share the neighborhood with another president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. A planned memorial will eventually rise from the plaza outside, where Maryland Avenue meets Independence Avenue at 4th Street SW.
The LJB-Ike pairing is a telling bipartisan throwback in our bitterly divided capital. When Eisenhower, a Republican, was president, he often found that working with Johnson, the Democratic Senate majority leader, to be far easier than with the Republican minority leader.
» "Department of Education Building Renamed to Honor Lyndon Baines Johnson at Ceremony in Washington, D.C." [DOE]
» "It's Time to Build a National Memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower" [Eisenhower Mem'l Commission]
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]
WHEN YOU LOOK AT HISTORIC photographs of the Capitol taken from the west, there's always some sort of greenhouse in the foreground. A few years after the British burned the Capitol (and other parts of the capital in 1814), the first greenhouse and gardens took shape at the foot of Capitol Hill. Though there have been different structures under different organizations, what is now the U.S. Botanic Garden should be considered one of the city's most historic institutions. And for Capitol Hill staffers, or anyone else working near the Department of Health and Human Services, the place offers up a great escape from the nearby offices of federal bureaucracy.
SOMEONE, quick, call the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission! Wasn't there a federal directive handed down during the Lyndon Johnson administration banning the color yellow from the city's bureaucratic quarters? This might be too much for L'Enfant Plaza and Federal Center SW to handle.
» "On the Street: Awkward Cool" [Project Beltway]
FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, the District has had to rely on federal agencies and others to conduct its local forensic work. Today, outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams announced that District officials' wish for the city to have its own facility will be granted, with a new building to be built in the normally bureaucratic environs near the Federal Center SW station.
The new structure will house the District's police forensic lab, public health lab, Chief Medical Examiner's Office and the D.C. Pre-trial Services Agency. The building will be constructed on 4th Street SW between School and E streets.
The site is currently home to a D.C. fire station and a Metropolitan Police Department division headquarters. The fire station will be rebuilt as part of the new building. The D.C. police division will move to leased space at 225 Virginia Ave. SE.
Construction is slated to start in 2008 and finish in 2010. The building is expected to cost $250 million.
» "New Forensics Lab Will Help District Police Solve Crimes" [D.C. Mayor's Office]
Addison Road