Do not be deceived. Dollar Star, at 3219 Mount Pleasant Street is no Dollar Store. The Mount Pleasant Main Street Business Directory (yes, this exists and I own it) bills it as “a mini-big box department store.” I am not sure what the owners bill it as, but in the 30 minutes I spent wandering the aisles I found only 4 items that sold for one dollar; bleach, rubbing alcohol, single rolls of toilet paper, and some Spiderman pins.

Dollar store or not, this place is totally insane and filled with all kinds of crazy junk. I read a review on Yelp that said places like this are “amusing to look through, but contain little of value.” I beg to differ. Where else can you find anything quite like this!?!

 Story continues after the jump. (more…)


Thanks to Heather for sending:

“If you’re a Mt. Pleasant resident or work in the bar/restaurant industry in the Metro area, you can submit your work to hang (and sell) in the newly renovated Tonic bar space.

More details here:

http://www.districtplayground.org/TonicArt.html

For those of you outside the precise neighborhood but interested in participating, take note of this tacked on at the bottom of the page:  “We define Mount Pleasant by the ANC 1D map. Harvard St. on the south, Adams Mill Rd. to the west up to Piney Branch Rd on the north and 16th St. on the east. If we learn of significant interest from residents of Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan/Petworth who want to participate, we may reevaluate our submission requirements for future exhibitions.”


You know these stickers you’ve probably seen on cars that usually feature vacation spots like the outerbanks or Veil, or some place in Vermont? MtP’s hitting the big time. At least this sticker was a scooter…


I stopped in the other night and had the pleasure of meeting store owner Barbara Cameron. She is a Columbia Heights resident, and married to the Dentist downstairs. Together they spend lots of time travelling the world to keep Boveda stocked with all sorts of great stuff. They often travel to places where they have no connections and just network with local artists and communities to see what they can find. A visit to her store shows that they usually have pretty good luck; silver jewelry from the Hill Tribes in Thailand, pottery from Morroco, and for the entomologist – some cool butterfly and insect displays from Ecuador. I even found a sweet looking frog that kind of looks like a PoP mascot!

Her son (who helps out in the store when home from college) recently started a project that provides shoes to children in impoverished countries. You can find out more about that here: http://www.walkinmyshoesglobalproject.com/home. They accept donations in the store, so if you have kids shoes – bring them by! Even if you don’t have shoes to deliver…this place is well worth a visit, and there’s a sale going on right now 20 – 30% off most items in the store! More photos after the jump. (more…)


From a reader:

Hey everyone, please come by Haydee’s Restaurant tomorrow, Tuesday 7/22 and hang out with me for a good cause! Haydee has generously agreed to donate a percentage of the proceeds to Mount Pleasant Mainstreet Association Drop by Haydee’s Restaurant at 3102 Mount Pleasant Street NW (at Irving Street NW) on Tuesday, July 22nd from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Bring all your friends and neighbors! There is no cover charge – just enjoy some food and drinks while supporting Main Street! We may even get to see a live Mariachi band perform!

 

For more information, visit www.mtpmainstreet.org. Mount Pleasant Mainstreet is dedicated to promoting the cultural uniqueness and enhancing the economic health of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Mount Pleasant is a culturally diverse neighborhood located in the heart of Washington, DC. The juxtaposition of our compact and independent businesses district with quaint residential streets gives us a distinctive “small town” feel.”


I can’t remember if I’ve ever posted this before but it made me laugh again so I had to put it up just in case. I wonder how the light bulb lit above the owner’s head – “Oh yeah, I know, I can cover the window with a twin size mattress. Of course! Why didn’t I think of this earlier?”


Meridian Hill Baptist church is of course the church that was damaged by the terrible fire that decimated the apartment building on Mt. Pleasant Street a couple of months ago. It is located on some prime real estate on 16th Street. That’s really sad if they were forced to sell because they didn’t have proper insurance.
Now having said that, if they do end up selling what do you think this spot will become? Another church? Condos? Restaurant/club? Full photo after the jump. (more…)


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