My Oyster

Going on a Low-Car-Diet...

I just found out that I am one of 30 people chosen for Zipcar’s 2009 Low-Car Diet in Washington, DC.

It kicks off on July 15th and lasts a month. I actually have to turn in my car keys and find other ways to get around and get my business done. For 30 days.

I can walk, bus, subway, hitch, cycle, skateboard, and Zip. Whatever. I just can't drive my Volvo (see above) which I have come to despise. Grrr.

I hate, hate, hate cars. I drive maybe 10 miles a week - during those weeks that I am even in Washington. So this kind of makes sense for me and I have been thinking of going car-free anyway.

I think I can do this. Of course it will help that I am out of town for 2 of the 4 weeks. But that is really pretty typical for me - often traveling.

So maybe I am the perfect Zip car candidate.  The press event and kickoff are next week.  More to come...

Culchah in Maine - not just lobstah...

Maine has some really good small art museums.  I have been wanting to check out the one at Bowdoin College in Brunswick for some time - and I did this afternoon.

OK, so the pic above has nothing to do with culture or lobster, but it is the state flower of Maine and I liked the shot - dangling high above my head on a huge pine tree on the Bowdoin campus. 

The Bowdoin Art Museum is in a beautiful small building that was actually only the second museum in the country built specifically for a college.  Stanford was first. 

I couldn't take pics in the museum, but I really enjoyed this Rodin sculpture of the Three Shades. 

It was created for (in some way) The Gates of Hell - a monumental sculptural group depicting a scene from Dante's Inferno.  I walked around it several times.  So much detail.

After the art museum i walked a few steps to Hubbard hall and the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum.  He was the first person to reach the North Pole and he had something to do with Bowdoin.  That's all the details I have on that one.  I was mostly looking at the fur coats - on the animals and on the people...

While I was soaking up the visual arts my parents were taking the performing arts at the Maine State Music Theater - also at Bowdoin.  We met up after and had a nice dinner. 

Brunswick is a cool little town.  I need to explore it some more.

"Coming Out...

...from the harbor but you don't see where."

That is the meaning of the Abenaki word "Wiscasset".  And that is the small town where we had lunch today.

It is a beautiful village on the mid-coast of Maine.  Settled in 1663, it has grown to around 3600 people now. 

We ate at Sarah's, a favorite spot for soup, but the lobster roll shack across the street seemed to have generated some buzz and a line.  I love the lobstah pots right next to it...

After lunch the sun actually came out so we walked around and checked out some of the antique shops. It is coastal Maine afterall.

Sarah and stuff...

 

Kinda creepy...

 

Love a tin ceiling...

 

And pie even more...

Sweet & Spicy...

...and I'm not just talkin' about the mangochow!

Today is DC's Carribean Festival Parade.  I have always heard it is a wild and colorful time.  But in 17 years, I have never been. I guess I am usually out of town.

But not this year.  Not today. 

Jean and I went to represent his Haiti. 

 We met up with Christian (from Trinidad) and the two Davids (from Colombia - though not the caribbean part).  I thought that the US was also part of the Carribbean (Miami & South FLA?) - but I guess I was wrong.

The Parade was...Late.  Long.  Slow.   I think it's a cultural thing.  But very entertaining. 

Here are some pics and words that capture some of the day...

T&F (F is for feathers)...

Crowds...

 

Pride...

More T&F...

Food...

Fannies (too close and being tarred?)...

Colors...

Cocks...

Smiles...

Friends...

It's Raining on our Pride Festival...

Raining men!  Atul, Jean, and me. 

But nothing says gay pride like Martha Wash and here's the video...

Jean and I took in the last few hours of the festival this afternoon.  It's a pretty amazing location here in DC...

And my favorite - the Gay Men's Chorus jumping for joy...

I Love a (Pride) Parade...

I try not to miss the Pride Parade in DC.

It's really not that big but it's big enough.  It's goes on forever and is not spaced out well.  But, it always feels like a real community affair - especially on 17th street - where I watch it.

I think the parade was especially meaningful this year because of everything that has been happening, good and bad, with the gay rights movement over the past several months.

Here are some of my favorite pics...

 

Our Mayor - tossin' some beads...

  

And here we are at dinner at the Duplex Diner after the parade...

I Never Knew...

...That Adams Morgan was once so posh.  Cuz it certainly isn't now - though it is still very cool.  Back in the day, it was the place for fur coats and lots of rich folks were moving in.  Today it is one of the most diverse and interesting parts of the city.

The pic above is of the historic Adams Morgan firehouse - built in 1908 and a sort of hacienda style - maybe a hint of the rich hispanic culture that was coming.

Jean and I did the DC Cultural Tourism walking tour of Adams Morgan.  We got a lot of good info on the history of this very diverse neighborhood - and we got to enjoy it on a sunny and warm early Sunday morning.  Here we are brunching at Tryst...

I think the most notable point I remember from the tour was the fact that the neighborhood fought to avoid the urban "renewal" disaster that was nearly forced upon it.  At one point there were plans for huge apartment buildings to replace the beautiful rowhouses and even a highway where Florida Avenue is now.  Think of Southwest DC - but in my backyard. 

OK, so the second most memorable point for me was that U2 once performed at the Ontario Theater on Columbia Road.  This is the theater now...

And I just loved this cat in a not yet opened used bookstore on 18th street. Standing guard? Awaiting customers?

Washington's Most Blissful Moment Every Week...

...has got to be the drum circle every Sunday evening in Malcolm X Park in Columbia Heights.

The music.  The movement.  The diversity.  But mostly, everyone just seems so content.   So happy.  It's the best way possible to wind down the weekend. 

It is pretty amazing the way all these different people - mostly strangers who probably never interact during the week - converge on the park every Sunday afternoon to share an experience with each other.

Here is a video (watch the hands)...

And here are some more snaps - with lots to see and soak in...

Sunday Outings on Two Wheels...

Jean bought a bike this week - a blue Trek. So now we can expand our Sunday morning outings here in DC to include cycling.

This morning for our first cycling adventure we wanted some nature - so of course the "natural" choice was Rock Creek Park.

We loaded the bikes onto the new bike rack, picked up some breakfast at the local Dunkin' Donuts, and headed down to the Creek.

We got there at 9am and still were lucky to get a parking spot. It is a beautiful weekend here in DC and I think everyone who didn't go to Rehobeth or Bethany was down in RCP.

I have spent many, many, many hours running and cycling and driving in Rock Creek Park, but always appreciate it enormously. It's just beautiful. And soooo convenient.

Here is where we parked for breakfast.

We biked for a couple hours - up into Maryland and back.  I already have some ideas for our next outing.

Urban Woodlands in Washington...

Cleansing the mind and body.

This morning Jean and I hopped over to the National Cathedral to explore the Olmsted Woods. 

These woods, over five-acres, are one of the few old growth forests still standing in the city of Washington.  They are the last vestiges of an extensive oak and beech forest on Mount St. Albans.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (not the senior) was the National Cathedral's first landscape architect.  He saw the woodlands as an enhancement to spirituality and the pefect entrance to the Cathedral - allowing visitors to enter "cleansed in mind and in spirit".

We also spent some time enjoying flowers in the Bishop's Garden at the Cathedral. Talk about "raindrops on roses"...