Adams Morgan

30th Annual Adams Morgan Day Festival Coming This Sunday! (By John who includes future street fairs upcoming)

By Prince Of Petworth

This Sunday, September 14, is the 30th Annual Adams Morgan Day Festival.

As always, the festival is centered on 18th Street, with live music stages at the intersections of 18th and Columbia Road and at Florida Avenue. The stages will feature Latin rock, salsa, jazz, soul, funk and American rock.

The opening acts begin around 11:15 am and the music goes until after 6:00 pm.

The festival is billed as the longest continuously running neighborhood Festival in DC and attracts around 25,000 people to the day-long event.

Official Highlights (Adapted from the excellent Adams Morgan Day website)

Dance Plaza – Located on the grounds of the Marie Reed Community Center, the Plaza also features Afro-Samba Reggae, Bolivian Folk dance, Cuban Salsa , Afro-Brazilian Capoeiras and Ghana Tribal Dancers

Jazz Oasis in the Park – Was a new venue in 2007 and is located in Kalorama Park. The Jazz Oasis is aimed at residents with children who may want a quieter, more contained area and features a few vendors in addition to the jazz.

Arts on Belmont – A huge range of glassware and metalwork, paintings, jewelry, sculpture & photography for sale on beautiful Belmont Street.

The Cultural Stage (located at Columbia Road and Euclid Street) also boasts a variety of acts, including poetry, theater, dance and music, even the Sitar Arts Center of Adams Morgan.

Kids’ Fair – Located off of 18th St. at the field of Marie Reed School. Families can sit on bleachers set into the hill near the tennis courts for a day of family entertainment, including a moon bounce, puppet show, face-painting, magicians and more.

Unofficial Highlights

The Peyote Café Karaoke – Experience the wonders of karaoke without actually having to hang out in a karaoke bar. The Peyote karaoke team brings the action to the streets allowing you to massacre your favorite tune in front of an adoring audience.

 

Meat-on-a-Stick – Just as people rarely eat Jumbo Slice pizza sober, has anyone ever eaten one of those teriyaki chicken-on-a-sticks other than at a neighborhood street festival? Corn dogs are also available.

The Weather – Without trying to jinx the entire festival, Adams Morgan Day has historically been blessed with superb weather. Forecasts are calling for 89 degrees and sunny skies on Sunday so hopefully this tradition will continue. Future fairs throughout the city after the jump. (more…)

Dean Martin Is King

By Prince Of Petworth

Oddly this was found in the window of a locksmith on Columbia Road. Right on, right on.

New Market and Frozen Yogurt in Adams Morgan by John

By Prince Of Petworth

New Street Market in Adams Morgan

A new street market was looking lively over the Holiday Weekend at the Unity Park (Columbia/Champlain/Euclid) in Adams Morgan.

There were a dozen or so stalls selling food, crafts etc. – including a Prince of Petworth favorite – hammocks, marked at a surprisingly expensive $75.

Most of the food looked to be the usual, familiar neighborhood offerings – pupusas, tamales, bags of sliced mango, shaved ice etc. as well a stall selling prepackaged bags of nuts and other dried goods.

There was also a cool looking leather goods stall selling belts and other western items. Who doesn’t want a keychain shaped like a cowboy boot?

I’d never seen this market in action before and a quick search online yielded little. Does anyone know more about it – how long and how regularly it will run?

I sometimes feel that the humans surrendered Unity Park to the pigeons. Maybe this market will help claw back some of our territory.  More on frozen yogurt coming after the jump. (more…)

Mural of the Day

By Prince Of Petworth

I noticed these on a number of alleys in Adams Morgan. The one below was previously in this spot. Which do you like better?

New Hotel To Open In Adams Morgan? by John

By Prince Of Petworth

John was a bit prolific last week as he was fully rested from a holiday overseas. Below, he tells us a bit about the plans for a proposed new hotel in Adams Morgan.

Without wishing to re-ignite the debate over gentrification, Euclid Street between Columbia and 16th perfectly encapsulates the socio/economic/demographic changes occurring in DC.

A brand new Harris Teeter grocery store and upscale condominiums have opened on blocks where violent crime is a serious concern.

All this makes a rumor that a boutique hotel is slated to open in the vicinity all the more intriguing.

According to reports from Hotel Chatter and the Washington Business Journal, the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Euclid and Champlain streets NW will be converted into a 150 room “Edition” hotel – a Marriott brand.

According to the development plans, the Euclid Street entrance will become a lobby leading to hotel’s grand ballroom (currently the church’s second-floor sanctuary.) The sanctuary’s balcony will become another gathering spot, and a 9,000-square-foot space on the first floor will become a restaurant and bar.

The guest rooms, pool and other amenities will be built on a parking lot behind the church and on property that houses the Washington City Paper.

Whether or not this plan ever comes to fruition, it is interesting to consider how much demand there would be for a hotel at that location, and the impact of such a hotel on the neighborhood as a whole.

18th Street Streetscape Project – Changes Coming Our Way by John

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. note: John does a phenomenal and thorough job detailing the changes coming to 18th Street. It’s hard to imagine what it will look like when completed. Do you think it’ll be an improvement?

Most residents agree that the sidewalks and intersections in Adams Morgan could do with a facelift.

On 18th Street the sidewalks themselves are too narrow to accommodate the crowds, especially over the weekends and particularly after the smoking ban banished tobacco aficionados to the sidewalks.

The intersections at Columbia and 18th and at Florida and 18th are generally considered pedestrian unfriendly to the point of danger with “slip roads” allowing cars to come from seemingly all directions and confusing even those walkers who try to obey traffic laws. (These “law-abiding” pedestrians can become fewer and further between as the night progresses and drinks are consumed).

Although the strip of 18th between Florida and Columbia is often derided as the locale of choice for “bridge and tunnel/VA frat boys/suburbanite interlopers” (feel free to add to this list of disparaging generalizations), the area is an important nightlife destination for Washington, DC and more importantly, the neighborhood is home to thousands of residents, many of whom do not own cars and rely on bikes, buses and pedestrian power to get around.

While most agree on the need for improvements, there remains a great deal of debate over what these improvements should ultimately look like and how the work should be carried out. Story by John continues with lots of details after the jump. (more…)

Judging New Condos

By Prince Of Petworth

DSCN2253, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

This one is located at 2426 Ontario Road. You like the look? Here’s their Web site for the curious.

Judging Buildings

By Prince Of Petworth

Can’t believe I haven’t asked about this one before. So what do you guys think about Felix in Adams Morgan? Actually in addition to the architecture what about the place itself? Any fans out there?

View More Stories