Petworth

Dear PoP

By Prince Of Petworth

Dear PoP, Hope you are well. I really love your blog! Its so nice to see the old neighborhood alive and well! My grandparents bought the row house @ 3912 8th Street in August 1929, just before the stock market crashed in October. They later bought 3914 8th Street as well and my folks lived there. The old building a few doors down used to be a Synagogue up unto the 60’s and then became, I believe a Baptist Church. My grandmother moved up to MoCo in the 70’s and sold the row houses some time later. Would love to see a photo of the old place if you happen by. How is 8th Street holding up???

You’ll be happy to know 8th Street looks great! Thanks for providing some history. Photo of block and old Synagogue after the jump. (more…)

Friends of Rock Creek Cemetery Tree Planting Saturday, Oct. 4th

By Prince Of Petworth

“Friends of Rock Creek Cemetery are invited to help Casey Trees and St. Paul Parishioners plant trees from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Who’s a friend? Anybody who enjoys the cool of the Rock Creek Cemetery in the summer, the quiet on any afternoon, the green surroundings and a place to stroll with dogs, children and friends. We will be planting in the historic Oak Grove behind the Parish House.”

For more information, contact Carol Herwig at 202-722-4385 or [email protected]

Holy Cow: DC National Guard Troops Deployed To Taylor Street Friday Night!?!

By Prince Of Petworth

Am I living in a war zone? This is the question I kept asking myself after witnessing the scene above. What you are looking at is a DC National Guard Humvee with a huge spotlight and the photo below shows three National Guard Troops and one MPD office on the corner of 5th and Taylor, NW. (Sadly, I only had my cell phone and it was pretty tough to get proper photos with the 50,000 watt spotlight shining.)

I mentioned last November how my neighbor and I heard a shooting in the middle of the day and hardly flinched. That for sure was disturbing. The not flinching that is. But I think I am even more disturbed that I didn’t flinch at the sight of the DC National Guard Deployed in my neighborhood. I mean at first I walked right by them. I said to myself “oh there must have been a shooting, so this is the response” and just kept walking. Then I thought, holy shit this the national guard, I’ve never seen them deployed before. How bad does it have to get for the guard to be deployed? I think sometimes I focus a little too much on the beautiful life and let the absurdity I sometimes experience slide. I dare say it is not “normal” to have a guard humvee and troops on a residential block in DC. Maybe in Baghdad at the moment. But my relatively quiet little block?

So when I gathered my wits I walked up to the MPD officer and asked what was going on? She replied, “we’re lighting up the block.” Um, ok. I said I found it odd that Guard troops were with her and she said “we do it all the time”. Um, ok. Has anyone else ever seen Guard troops in full camouflage fatigues deployed in their neighborhood? Maybe the police don’t have enough resources and needed to borrow the Guard’s humvee with spotlight and a few troops? Maybe. Or maybe I really am living in a war zone?

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have them there than read (or hear) about another shooting. But is this really the solution? Do/would you feel safer having National Guard troops deployed around “hot spots” in the city?

New Restaurant on Upshur Street: Ainsworth & Alexander

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to a reader for sending, sounds very promising:

“I was walking my dogs this evening and for the first time in a long while decided to walk up Upshur towards Soldiers Home. I found this place Ainsworth & Alexander at 221 Upshur St.. You can see from the picture (sorry, cell phone pic while trying to hold 2 dog leashes) that it’s kind of bare bones inside. I took the pic meaning to send to you to see if you’d heard of this place and a man came out to ask if I needed anything. I told him I just wanted to tell a friend or two about the place and he offered me a few carry-out menus. His name was Grant and seemed really nice. He told me they had just opened up 5 weeks ago and that things were going well so far. They plan on offering WiFi service in the near future and adding more furniture. Menu looks decent.. Chicken and Waffles, Wraps, Salads, Sandwiches, Mac-n-Cheese, etc. They even have desserts! Perhaps if they were open later I’d walk down the block for a piece of cake after dinner at El Limeno. Also, it’s a bit late for them to set up now, but in the Spring they have a nice little patch of sidewalk out front where they could set up a few outdoor tables for dining.

Their hours are posted as 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM Tues- Fri, and 8:30AM to 4PM Sat. Phone number is 202-541-9501”

Looking Glass Lounge Gets New Juke Box

By Prince Of Petworth

Nice! I can’t stand those internet juke boxes. I get a bit too overwhelmed with all the choices. I think it’s far more fun to have a nicely stocked proper juke box like this. I always tend to play music that I don’t own on jukes like this one.

In other good LGL news. They now also have a new single malt scotch – OBan a 14 year old single malt. Plus they have a new bourbon – Blanton’s single barrel bourbon. Plus they have a new Irish whiskey, sadly not Powers, Clontarf which is supposedly a bit better than Jamesons. And finally they have a new seasonal beer by Post Road which is a Pumpkin Ale.

But back to the juke box.  Which do you prefer the classic ones like this or the internet ones?

Last Night’s ANC Meeting Notes by Kalia (Church Parking Discussed)

By Prince Of Petworth

A million thanks to Kalia for her extremely detailed notes.

Oh boy!  So tonight I went to the ANC meeting and let me just tell you, it was very hard to keep up and try to collect all the info as people were talking as well as try to retain what they were saying so that when it was my turn to speak I knew what to say.  There were a couple of interesting topics tonight.  I bolded the topics for each paragraph so if you don’t care to read about it you will know which paragraphs to skip.  I will not lie and say that anything here is unbiased.  I tried to relay the points however as honestly as I can remember while trying to keep my own thoughts on it afterwards.  If any of you reading this are named in this I apologize if I misspelled your names, organizations, or even did not convey your points correctly.  I am only human and I tried my best.   Kalia’s notes continue after the jump. (more…)

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