Tag: Washington DC

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Walking Washignton, DC. Thanks Metro!

Last week I was in Washington, D.C., and ran into a conundrum. The Metro was closed for safety inspections and I had planned on using it to get back and forth between my hotel and office where I was working.

For those of you who don’t know, the Metro is the subway in the D.C area. Unfortunately it is aging and they haven’t done a good job of keeping up with all of the maintenance. 

i was able to get a ride to the office, but how to get home? 

it was a beautiful day so I decided to walk. It was only 4.5 miles and took me by the Washington Mounument, World War II Memorial, Tidal Basin, Martin Luther King Memorial, FDR Memorial and Jefferson Memorial.

Here are some photos of my adventure. 

World War II Memorial looking west towards Lincoln Memorial. 
World War II Memorial looking west towards Lincoln Memorial. 
Washington Memorial
Washington Memorial
Dedication spot looking through the cherry trees towards the Jefferson Memorial. 
Dedication spot looking through the cherry trees towards the Jefferson Memorial. 
Martin Luther King Memorial. 
Martin Luther King Memorial. 
FDR Memorial
FDR Memorial
My favorite photo, looking across the tidal basin towards the Jefferson Memorial. 
My favorite photo, looking across the tidal basin towards the Jefferson Memorial. 
Crossing the 14th Street bridge towards Virginia. You can see the Air Force Memorial in the background. 
Crossing the 14th Street bridge towards Virginia. You can see the Air Force Memorial in the background. 
Looking back at Washington, DC
Looking back at Washington, DC
Planes taking off at Ronald Reagan National Airport
Planes taking off at Ronald Reagan National Airport

All-in-all it was a good walk and a good way to spend an early evening in the Washington, D.C., area. 

Somif you are in Washington, D.C., to see the cherry blossoms this week or next, coming in to see other sites, or just there on business. It is a great walking city. Take some time to enjoy it. 

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Problem with being on the east coast

The problem with being on the east coast is adjusting to the time difference. From Denver, it’s only 2 hours. But it’s a long 2 hours.
It’s almost midnight right now and the pub is closing in the hotel but there are still west coast games going on. Plus, I’m not even tired.

The good thing is that I don’t have any thing in the morning. This is different from my other trips here where I have to get up early to get into our office.

I can take it easy and possibly go for a nice walk around DC before the conference gets going at 1.

If you didn’t know, I’m in DC for the 2010 PRSA International Conference. It’s looking to be a great conference with over 3,000 participants. I’m a little disappointed in the keynote speakers, but thworkshops look really good.

More soon!

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Snowball fight takes dangerous turn when police officer draws gun

Snowball fight takes dangerous turn when police officer draws gun – washingtonpost.com.
This is just a pretty stupid move by the Washington, D.C., detective. You don’t pull your gun if you get snowballs thrown at you during a neighborhood snowball fight.

Watch the video:

http://specials.washingtonpost.com/mv/embed/?title=D.C.%20detective%20admits%20to%20pulling%20gun%20at%20snowball%20fight&stillURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Fphoto%2F2009%2F12%2F20%2FPH2009122001374.jpg&flvURL=%2Fmedia%2F2009%2F12202009-1v&width=480&height=270&autoStart=false&clickThru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Fvideo%2F2009%2F12%2F20%2FVI2009122001310.html

A police officer should only pull their gun on someone when they fell their life is threatened. I don’t think getting snowballs thrown at you equals a life threatening moment.

It is just a bunch of neighbors out there enjoying the snow.

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Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe a definite place to visit in Washington DC

I have been distracted from writing about my experiences at restaurants I visit and I have missed writing about them. It is time to get back to that and I want to start with my visit this evening to Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe.
Kramerbooks is becoming a place I need to visit whenever I am in D.C. Their selection of books is something that you don’t usually find in the chain stores.  I always find something different to take with me and read.

I had eaten at Afterwords Cafe before and enjoyed it, so I thought I might as well combine the two and find something and then grab dinner.

Well I checked out the books and nothing jumped out at me.  They seemed to have a lot of books about the election and I am quite tired of that. So I grabbed the new “The Atlantic” magazine. Sometimes that is almost like a book.

With reading material secured, I walked through the store and to the cafe.  I got settled in my seat and was soon enjoying a Peak Organic Ale from Maine. Quite tasty. (If you go to their website, they have several ales, just don’t know which one I had.)

For dinner I started with a mescaline salad that included apples, mushrooms, walnuts and a wonderful vinaigrette.  I had to have every last bit. For the main dish I had the crab cake platter. It was delicious.

The crab cake is served on top of fresh pasta topped with roasted corn, tomato, sweet peppers & scallions. It has the right about of spice. It all flows together for a wonderful taste.

The service was good and being a Sunday night they were training new waitstaff, but that was not a problem. Both were quite attentive.

If are in DC and find yourself in the Dupont Circle area, find Kramerbooks & the Afterwords Cafe for a wonderful read and nice meal.

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Marble for Unknowns tomb just sits

Marble for Unknowns tomb just sits – The Denver Post
This is where the government procurement policies and procedures have gone wrong.

The marble of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is failing and needs to be replaced.  A retired car dealer, John Haines, has donated a piece of marble from the same quarry and has even lined up donated transportation to get it to Arlington National Cemetery for free.

But Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Army are balking at the free donation. Instead they have estimated it to cost $2.2 million, including $80,000 to just accept bids on the project.

In the article, this is what Thurman Higginbotham, Deputy Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery had say about the donated marble. 

“It’s not doable. A citizen can’t just give us any piece of marble and say, ‘This is what we’ll use to replace the tomb,’ ” 

As a taxpayer and a citizen I think the Army and Arlington National Cemetery need to investigate whether the marble will work for the tomb or not.  Not just dismiss it outright.

If it works, great.  You have a free piece of marble that will save you the $90,000 you think it will cost to purchase and transport.  If it doesn’t, that is fine, but at least look at it.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a special place and means a lot to people.  They were doing this out of respect and have found a special piece of marble to serve as the replacement.  Arlington National Cemetery should recognize that.

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Severe Storms Rush Through Washington, DC

Severe Storms Rush Through Region, Killing One Person – washingtonpost.com
I am in Washington, D.C., for work and the storms have been crazy.  When this story came through it got really dark and it started pouring rain.  The lightning was right over downtown and the thunder was almost right after it.

Tonight, another line of storms came through and hit just as I was headed to my hotel at 9 PM.  I am glad that I had brought my umbrella.  It was coming down pretty good and there was lightning all over the place.  I was pretty nervous.

I am glad that I didn’t know about the tornado watch.  I would have been more concerned than I was.

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Flight from Washington, DC, to Denver is a long one

The flight home to Denver is quite a long one, about four hours long.Flying east, the trip is almost an hour shorter than the return flight.

The anticipation of getting home might play into the length of the
flight even longer.

As you can tell, I am ready to get home. I should be home in time to
surprise the kids and pick them up at school.

It should be a fun weekend, even though I was gone only a couple of
days.

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A flophouse of bloggers…

When I got out of college, we headed to a ski town, or nearby, and settled with a bunch of similar-minded people and skied all winter long. We had a bunch of parties and worshiped powder days.
But there is a new kind of flophouse and that is in Washington, D.C. where several bloggers have moved in together and now have a flophouse of bloggers.

According to an article in the New York Times, Washington Doesn’t Sleep Here, “The Flophouse bloggers may not be part of the traditional mainstream news media, but they are certainly part of the mainstream blogosphere that is helping drive discourse in the city and the country.” Continue reading “A flophouse of bloggers…”

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Stephen Colbert’s Portrait Garnering Great Attention

Well the National Portrait Gallery has garnered great attention lately by placing a photo of Stephen Colbert in the National Portrait Gallery. According to the Smithsonian, Colbert wanted his portrait to hang in the National Portrait Gallery.
After much thought and contemplation, they found an appropriate site to place the portrait, between two bathrooms and above a water fountain. I think it was appropriate.

Stephen Colbert's Portrait

It is amazing what attention this portrait is garnering. Throughout my stay at the National Portrait Gallery, I walked through most of the exhibition and it was quite enjoyable. All of the artwork is excellent and they have some wonderful exhibits that are there.

But the one portrait that is garnering the most attention is the portrait of Colbert. When I first went up to the second floor I saw this big crowd standing near the portraits of the Presidents. I thought this was a group touring the Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum and I went the other way.

Well, it wasn’t a group. It was a large crowd, that all look like they are in college, waiting to get the photo and look at the portrait of Colbert. It has certainly brought a lot of people to the museum who probably wouldn’t have come to visit. It is bringing in a lot of publicity and I think it was a good call to post the portrait.

Stephen Colbert's Portrait

So if you are in Washington, D.C., take some time and go enjoy the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. And the portrait of Stephen Colbert.