Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant.

This week, I got a suggestion from my friend Greg to ride along the Anacostia river walk. He had run along the river and enjoyed it, so I decided to ride it. I managed to stay on bike trail for just about the entire ride, and for the parts that I wasn’t able to – I modified my GPS map for your benefit. I made a wrong turn and strayed into Virginia, which takes away from the directness of the route, despite the benefit of additional mileage.

I started the ride in Rock Creek Park, and followed the bike path all the way down to Haines Point. From there I did a hot lap around the point, and took my favorite path across to the Fish Market and Water Street. That’s more or less where the Anacostia river walk begins, and you are able to follow signs for the rest of the ride. The final river walk trail is still in development, so this path represents the current detour down by Buzzard point. I had never been there, and was surprised at how industrial that part of DC looks. It was kinda cool to see that part of town, and to ride by the Coast Guard Headquarters, but it’s not exactly picturesque.

Once you get to the Frederick Douglass Bridge, it’s smooth sailing across the bridge and onto the trail. Upon crossing the water, you can blast off up the trail. There were some folks playing and fishing, but it’s a lot less crowded than the trails that follow the Potomac river. The day I rode the weather was spectacular, and I was the only cyclist on the trail when I was out. I followed the trail as far as I could – there is a fantastic looking bridge over the train tracks that is blocked for the time being. The bridge looks really nice, and I am looking forward to it’s official opening. Using the magic of mapping, I went ahead and drew the path as it continues on for a while longer. I rode around to the end and found the paved path ending in a pile of trail work equipment.

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Environmental Film Festival: Rock the Boat:

Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
1901 Fort Place Southeast
Friday, March 22nd, 2013
6:30pm – 7:45pm | FREE!

(2011, USA, 54 min, directed by Thea Lucia Mercouffer) This fun, high-energy, and moving documentary follows the 2008 unlikely tale of a group’s 51-mile boating expedition down the notorious Los Angeles River. The waterway was channelled by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent flooding in Los Angeles. Hoping to have the Environmental Protection Agency declare it navigable, thus gaining protection under the Clean Water act, local satirical writer George Wolfe led this group to boat down the fenced-in waterway in an absurd act of civil disobedience. Introduced by museum staff Tony Thomas.

See all of tonight’s and the week’s events here.  To add your event, click the events tab up top and then click “add an event”.  You can add concerts, museum/gallery exhibits, fundraisers, sporting events, bike rides etc. You can add anything you think will be of interest to PoPville.

Dear PoPville,

Maddie is an 11-week old puppy who escaped from her foster home in Anacostia yesterday and we’re still searching for her. She is a City Dogs Rescue foster puppy.

Maddie snuck out under her foster family’s backyard fence at 15th and U St SE at 4pm yesterday. She is a sweet puppy, and wouldn’t hurt a fly, but she is most likely pretty scared so nobody should chase her. Her most prominent markings are the white star on her nose and white on her neck and belly. She has a black nylon collar on.

If anyone spots her or hears anything, please call (703)350-9630.

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From the Mayor’s office:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor L. Hoskins, through the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), officially submitted one site in the District of Columbia for the General Services Administration (GSA) to evaluate in its consideration of a new location for a consolidated Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters. The site is Poplar Point, located at Anacostia’s border at the nexus of Interstates 295 and 695, in walking distance to public transportation, and convenient to bikers traversing area bike paths.

“In Poplar Point, the District of Columbia offers a prime real-estate location that presents the GSA with an opportunity to recommit to the District – our nation’s capital,” said Mayor Gray. “Here, the federal government has the opportunity build a new facility tailored to the needs of the FBI on an accessible parcel with ample space to meet the federal agency’s square footage, parking, security and sustainability requirements.”

Poplar Point is one of the last great urban waterfront redevelopment opportunities on the East Coast and the only viable District site to meet the new FBI headquarters facility requirements. Bounded by South Capitol Street, I-295 and the 11th Street Bridge, the site is largely unused but contains some National Park Service and U.S. Park Police facilities. Yet, the 110-acre site is a signature District parcel that boasts attractive views, outstanding transportation infrastructure, and a host of nearby urban amenities with its location just minutes from downtown. Additionally, 70 acres at Poplar Point are reserved by the federal government to be maintained as parkland, leaving a total of 40 acres to construct a new FBI headquarters and a private, mixed-use waterfront development.

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On Aug. 27th Uniontown Bar and Grill closed at 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE in Anacostia. At the time WJLA reported:

Late last week, Uniontown Bar & Grill owner Natasha Dasher pleaded guilty to two felonies and may face up to 20 years in prison. According to the Washington Post, she pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and a conspiracy charge. Then, on Friday, her landlord evicted her and the restaurant, which was housed at 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, because Dasher owed $18,000 in back rent.

In the meantime, the closure of Uniontown leaves another hole in a market that has a dearth of sit-down restaurants and is leaving residents lamenting its loss.

Well that hole may be filled by none other than Busboys and Poets. Busboys has two other locations in the city at 14th and V St, NW and 5th and K St, NW (plus one in Shirlington and one in Hyattsville.) I’m hearing rumors that they’d like to open a 5th location in the former Uniontown space. More info as it becomes available.

“Dear PoP,

A pomeranian was stolen from someone’s house in Anacostia by teenagers. could you help us in getting the word out? They could have taken it to any neighborhood.”

“Monday, November 7th, between the hours of 12pm and 2pm, my home was burglarized by 7 African-American teenagers, 6 males and 1 female.

Our home was burglarized of all valuable items. Among them they stole one of our three dogs. We believe we were targeted. It was the second successful attempt at stealing him. The first attempt we prevented less than a month prior.

If you see a teenaged African-American female, about 5’5 to 5’7 in height, with a miniature Pomeranian please call 202-904-0048 to collect the reward. Miniature Pomeranians are rare in Washington DC.

$1500 Reward

Description of Dog:
3.5 lb., Blonde & White, Male, Pomeranian
Please call with any pertinent info.: 202-904-0048″

Back in January Big Chair Coffee opened up in Anacostia (2122 Marthin Luther King Jr Ave SE) to much fan fare. It turns out they’d also like to add some more options and are applying for a liquor license. The application says:

“New restaurant serving American food and coffee with Sidewalk Café. Occupancy load is 52″

Restaurant hours including a sidewalk cafe will be open until 2am.

I wonder if they’ll have an easier time than another coffee shop trying to get an alcohol license?

David Garber is a DC neighborhood blogger and real estate entrepreneur. His mission: help bring back DC’s neighborhoods, one rotting house at a time. You can read David’s previous posts here.

It took seven long months to finish this place, but it’s finally done. For some
reason it’s always the last few things on the renovation checklist that end up
being the most gruelingly difficult to finish. Even though I swore this would
never happen again after it did during my own home renovation, my general
contractor ran off with a couple thousand before finishing the job, so I had to
squeeze out the final touches on my own. With each project I do, I keep
learning that you pay for what you get. If you’re pinching pennies, you have
to be extra careful about the quality of work completed and how the
contractors are managing your money. As much as I don’t enjoy
micromanaging people, it’s a total must – especially on tight-budget projects –
to take charge.

Take the interior paint, for example. Absolutely grueling. Why? Because my
contractor made the assumption that I wanted the entire house the exact same
color. When I agreed to only do one color on the walls as a way to save
money, somehow that translated to painting the ceilings and the trim the same
linen color. To be honest, after countless similar episodes throughout the
project, it was almost a relief when he left the job.

The interior of the house is totally new. Nothing original from its humble c.
1890-1905 birth year remains. So, I chose a dark stain for the red oak floors
because I wanted to give the house a rich, oozing with history feel. Not to be
fake about anything, but to restore some dignity to this home that had it all
stolen away over time. Matte black doorknobs offer a crisp contrast to the
white doors. Crown molding is made of three separate pieces of trim and
makes the transition from wall to ceiling all the more graceful.

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Well this is totally wild. Thanks to Carly & Art for uploading this shot to the PoPville flickr pool. They write:

“One of at least three we were able to see. Poplar point, Anacostia River, SE Washington, DC”

I think this tops the hawk.

David Garber is a DC neighborhood blogger and real estate entrepreneur. His mission: help bring back DC’s neighborhoods, one rotting house at a time. You can read David’s previous posts here.

U Street in January. Hint: stucco is best applied in the warmer months.

As much as I like to keep up the appearance as someone who 100% knows what he’s doing in all renovation matters and has done this and that with houses a thousand times before – this is actually one of the very first times I’ve done this scale of project. Over the past 5 months I’ve been managing about five renovations, and every day at each job I learn about two or three new lessons about who to hire, how to communicate, and which steps to follow to make sure that the final outcome comes fastest and with the most satisfying result. Might sound easy, but the learning part is typically paired with the worst kind of president-going-gray-in-his-first-year frustration. And yet somehow I still love my job.

the Big Blue Bubble, which gave the exterior work some much-needed momentum

Over the past four months the U Street House has evolved into something a lot more livable and likeable than the mess it began as. The snowstorms contributed about a month of downtime due to our forced timeline: the exterior had to be sealed and stuccoed before most of the interior work could begin, and the exterior could only be worked on in temperatures above 40 degrees. Enter the big blue bubble, above, which added a touch of whimsy, but also enough warmth to allow the stucco to dry in sub-par conditions. Post continues after the jump. (more…)

I thought this was a great shot from DG-rad of a vacant house in Anacostia on W St., SE.

Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here.

3662972633_12ae62f92c_b, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Thanks to a reader for sending:

“This is the corner of Maple View and High in Anacostia. Don’t know the name of the abandoned public housing complex, but the neighborhood has been trying for years to get the city to demolish this junk. The guerilla art tactic is new. I guess that’s a reference to Jacob’s Ladder? My theology is a little thin.”

Well this certainly seems like a good Horse’s Ass Award nominee. I can’t say I dig the art too much but I respect the effort. Think it’s a Jacob’s Ladder reference? What’s it gonna take to get this run down complex demolished?

The reader says:

It is a “painted sign for a farm and garden supply store”.

The reader then wrote back that my man from And Now, Anacostia found the same sign. Scroll to the bottom and he’s got some better angles. It is a beaut.

On Saturday I went to Anacostia (about 10 minute walk from the Anacostia metro) to take a tour of St. Elizabeth’s campus sponsored by the DC Preservation League. As many know, St. Elizabeth’s is slated to become the new DHS headquarters so it’s not clear how long these tours will be available. I believe the next one is scheduled for May but you can check the DC Preservation League’s calendar here.

The campus itself is huge. There are lots of cool buildings similar to the one above all with red boarded windows. We had two very knowledgeable guides but I most enjoyed wandering the grounds. You can read about the history of St. Elizabeth’s here. For those that follow this issue, are there any supporters of turning this property into DHS headquarters or do you think it should be used for something else?

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Welcome to the third edition of PoPtrekker. In case you missed it, you can see Vol. 2 here. This week I visited Anacostia. I’d like to thank Jacqueline who filmed and edited this volume. (Ed. Note: Intangible Arts will be back to film and edit Vol. 4 so don’t hesitate to email me your suggestions for future PoPtrekkers.) I’d also like to thank David from the blog And Now, Anacostia who created a map for me as I had never been to Anacostia before. Good times.