FRENCH CHARM is all about tasteful tipsiness, isn't it? Maybe not.
Either way, the French embassy is having a classy summer champagne tasting, which will not, under any circumstances, devolve into a drunken karaoke sing-along of "La Marseillaise."
» Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW; 6:30 p.m., $79; 301-841-7609.
Photo by Rebecca D'Angelo/The Washington Post
MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY this month only, Black Salt in the Palisades celebrates its new tasting and wine rooms with a $20.07 three-course lunch featuring Maine lobster agnolotti with a lobster mushroom fondue, frisee and a Mediterranean bronzino in a saffron-smoked mussel broth, among other selections.
The wine room is a refrigerated walk-through linking the dining and tasting rooms with 450 bottles on display. The intimate new tasting room is adorned in rich, dark wood and features a fireplace — perfect for the season.
» Black Salt, 4883 MacArthur Blvd. NW; 202-342-9101.
Photo by Charma De Edmonds
WHILE ON A HIKE along the abandoned Glen Echo trolley right-of-way in D.C.'s Palisades neighborhood two Sundays back, this writer found the Jesse Baltimore House enjoying what would be its last week of existence.
Neighbors had debated for decades over whether the vacant house at the entrance to Palisades Park, built 82 years ago by plumber Jesse Baltimore from a Sears catalog design kit, should be demolished. Now, the house at 5136 Sherier Place NW is gone.
As The Post's Martin Weil reported on Saturday, city crews demolished the structure during the holiday weekend to make way for a more dignified entrance to the park.
Making a return visit yesterday, this writer found little left on the lot but police tape, splinters and debris waiting to be cleared.
Continue Reading "Controversial D.C. Sears Kit House Demolished" »
SHERIER PLACE in the Palisades is one of the District's most fascinating streets. Running along the old right-of-way for the No. 20 trolley line to the Glen Echo amusement park in Montgomery County, the neighborhood was a working-class suburb that developed in the first part of the last century, lined with simple bungalows on the heights of the Potomac River's gorge near Chain Bridge.
Today, you can still walk or hike much of the abandoned trolley line — we did last year — and at one point adjacent to Palisades Recreation Area, you can see the abandoned Jesse Baltimore House. Normally, the home of an ordinary plumber wouldn't get much recognition, but this house is a Sears "kit house," a residence picked out of a catalog and built in 1925. The home, which was bought by the National Park Service in 1958 as part of an expansion of the Palisades park, has been the subject of a historic preservation fight in recent years. Park supporters want the house demolished while others say the Baltimore House should be preserved or moved.
Continue Reading "Sears 'Kit House' Fails Historic Status Vote" »
AS PEOPLE WHO FREQUENT the Capital Crescent Trail worry about what might happen to their beloved rails-to-trail route if the Purple Line ever gets built, there's a much more immediate threat to the path. And fortunately, it's getting immediate attention, but there are some temporary inconveniences trail users will have to endure this fall in the meantime.
One portion of the trail, which runs from Montgomery County into the District via the B&O Railroad's former Georgetown Branch, has been undermined by erosion, and left to deteriorate. The section in question, in the Palisades near Chain Bridge, could slide down onto the Clara Barton Parkway below.
Part of the trail is being temporarily detoured as repairs are made over the next 90 days or so. And trail users are warned that construction trucks may be using the trail itself to access the trouble spot.
Continue Reading "Repairs Being Made to Capital Crescent Trail" »
FOR MORE THAN A YEAR after the 2004 elections, a Bush/Cheney campaign sign was tacked up on a utility pole across the street from Karl Rove's house in the tony Palisades. That sign on Weaver Terrace violated regulations governing campaign signs by staying up for more than 30 days after the election, but aside from that, its perseverance was heartening, as it weathered the rain, heat and cold. The sign disappeared sometime in early 2006, after its ends had curled so much that only part of the "U" and "S" in Bush's name were still visible from Rove's abode, a seemingly modest brick structure with underwhelming landscaping.
But Rove's neighbors, who have grown accustomed to the occasional protest and 6 a.m. photographers' stakeout, at right, on their quiet street, shouldn't expect the Roves to become D.C. homebodies and spruce up the place.
As The Post writes this morning, picking up comments Rove made to the Wall Street Journal:
Rove said he was finished with political consulting and plans to spend much of his time at his house in Ingram, Tex., with his wife, Darby, and near their son, who attends college in San Antonio.So if the house goes up on the market, might the Rove connection boost it's sale price? (Its current 2008 assessment lists the property's value at nearly $1.6 million.)
Although Rove might be leaving town, we'll always have the memories. So join us, won't you, for a look back at Rove's local life and times.
» ROVE SUPPORTS HOWARD DEAN? Yes indeed. Back at the 2003 Fourth of July parade in the Palisades, Rove was spotted cheering on Howard Dean supporters. He reportedly said: "Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, [Dean's] the one we want." ... "How come no one is cheering for Dean?" Rove then went on to say, cheering on the Deaniacs and parade-goers: "Come on, everybody! Go, Howard Dean!"
A POLICE SUV ambled down MacArthur Boulevard yesterday, carrying a swarm of ... waving children.
It was a strange sight in a neighborhood in security-conscious D.C., but the car — led down the street by an officer on one of the department's new Segways — was just one of the sights that delighted onlookers at the Palisades Citizens Association's annual July 4 parade on MacArthur Boulevard.
While the neighborhood is within the District's boundaries, it feels light years away from the political wrangling in the city's center. Sure, there still might be talk of Karl Rove's appearance in 2003, but as usual, this year's Palisades' parade was all about local D.C.
Continue Reading "Local D.C. on Display at Palisades' July 4 Parade" »
THE TIDAL BASIN'S SWELL, if you consider tourist-dodging a competitive sport. So, where should you take that red-and-white-checked blanket? Here are five local spots that haven't been overrun by the fanny-pack set (yet).
» THE LAWN OF THE OMNI SHOREHAM HOTEL:
Any driver who has zoomed off Rock Creek Parkway onto the Woodley Park stretch of Connecticut Avenue has passed this welcoming swath of grassland, freckled with buttercups and dandelion seedlings. Starting at Calvert Street, walk around the east side of the Omni Shoreham and claim a shady space beneath one of the voluminous oaks. Cyclists, pickup soccer games and runners with dogs create a relaxed backdrop that almost makes you forget the throng of cars behind you.
2500 Calvert St. NW (Woodley Park)
» CRYSTAL CITY WATER PARK:
This well-groomed area is ideal for picnickers who don't want to march through greenery to lay down their blankets. Here, loll on nice, clean concrete around the circa-1988 man-made waterfalls, seen at right. To the east, sturdy metal tables and chairs beg for leisurely lunch breaks. And as you walk by the gurgling geysers and waterspouts to the west, you'll do a double take … yep, those are two Bose speakers gently pumping soothing tunes into the air. Follow the western curve around the waterfalls to the top of the falls for the park's most private patch.
Crystal Drive between 15th and 18th streets. (Crystal City)
» WEST LAWN OF THE WASHINGTON HEBREW CONGREGATION:
The grounds of this Upper Northwest reform synagogue welcome folks of any religious belief or creed — provided they believe in the merits of a chill, honeysuckle-scented retreat. While hardly vast, there's still plenty of room for picnickers to do as they please. Although if you see a man whacking a tennis ball to his golden retriever at the other end of the field, you may want to move out of range. Just sayin'.
3935 Macomb St. NW at Massachusetts Avenue NW.
Continue Reading "Summer Guide: Shhh! Secret Picnic Spots" »
LET'S TAKE A MOMENT to remember a Washington classic. This week's Current newspaper delivers some sad, sad news for the ever-so particular locals of the Palisades, that out-of-the-way Upper Northwest neighborhood used to having very few restaurant options available within close proximity. Starland Cafe has closed — and without much fanfare.
Considering the neighborhood joint's ties to Grammy Award-winning music, perhaps there should have been more of a to-do. This was, after all, home to Bill Danhoff, who won two Grammys for the Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit "Afternoon Delight."
Continue Reading "In Memoriam: Starland Falls in Palisades" »
WITH FALL FOLIAGE in the Washington area at peak or near peak color, this writer decided this weekend was a good time to go on a six-mile nature-photo hike to take advantage of Sunday afternoon's beautiful weather. We took back trails (the Dumbarton Oaks Trail, which we've profiled before, plus the Whitehaven, Glover Archbold and Wesley Heights trails) between Rock Creek Park and Battery Kemble Park and continued on through the Palisades and ended at the old Dalecarlia railroad tunnel — now home to the Capital Crescent Trail. The starting point was 24th Street NW in Woodley Park near the William Howard Taft Bridge, seen here — always a beautiful point at which to enter Rock Creek Park, especially when framed in radiant autumnal colors.
While there isn't too much to report — besides running into some deer on the Whitehaven Trail and noticing that the invasive vines that like to strangle Rock Creek Park's trees to death don't really acquire autumnal hues — we did map our trip on this Wayfaring map, seen below.
Get more photos from our trip after the jump.
Photos by Michael Grass/Express
Continue Reading "An Autumn Hike: Woodley Park-Dalecarlia" »
Addison Road