Sheryl Crow and Ray LaMontange Concert

Last night (Wednesday) I went with a few friends to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to see Sheryl Crow and one of my new favorite singers Ray LaMontagne. Sheryl was great! She has a lot of fun performing and she sang most of her old well known songs and a bunch of good new songs. As for Ray, while I have become since last summer a huge fan of this soulful and unique voice, he only sang one of my four favorite songs, and he is really shy on stage. But it was great to see him live! If you want to check out a sampling of some his music he has a mypsace page @ http://www.myspace.com/raylamontagne.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This is the ceremony of the changing of the guard at the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" at Arlington National Cemetery. It take places every 30 mins. during the summer months. The photo's were taken on Saturday!

Memorial Day Weekend 08

Thousands of flags have been placed in front of the graves of the thousands of fallen soldiers and their family members at Arlington National Cemetery. Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry (also know as the Old Guard) placed the flags in a three hour ceremony known as "Flags-In" earlier this week. While at the Cemetery today (Saturday), I also watched the "changing of the guard" and will post pictures from that tomorrow.

A Cool Picture

This was a cool picture I took in early April. Why I didn't posted it after I took in, not sure. But it's a timeless picture. It was taken at dusk, the fountain is part of the WWII Memorial with the Washington Monument in the back drop. The WWII memorial will celebrate it's 4th year since is dedication next week. It is one of my favorite memorials in DC.

U Street DC

So Saturday it was sunny and in the 70's... Sunday it's rainy in the 60's... at least we had one nice weekend day. After church today (and after brunch with a friend) I took a stroll down the famous U Street in the Shaw area of DC. U Street is a great story about how neighborhoods can rise from the ashes and become as what the NY Times said in 2006 "Cool Again" The history is too long to write but if you are interested here's the link to that article. http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/travel/escapes/14washi.html

The two pictures shot today are of the famous hot dog place Ben's Chili Bowl (now also open at the New Nats Stadium) and the African American Civil War Memorial dedicated 10 years ago this July.

Artomatic in DC

I Went to a unique art event in downtown DC Saturday Night.. it's was called Artomatic.. it's in this new vacant office building, and it features hundreds of artists on 10 floors. there was everything from photography and paintings to video's playing and live music. they also had bars and lounges set up. If you live in DC it runs thru June 15th and you can check out their website @ http://www.artomatic.org/. And the best part, it was free (although donations are requested)

Where to get a Great Hamburger on the East Coast

With Memorial Day coming up soon, a great Hot Dog and Hamburger holiday.. I just watched a Travel Channel Special about some of the best places to get a hamburger in US. Five of the them were on the east coast (and two of them my home state of Connecticut).. The one that I really want to check out is Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Ct. near Yale University. This apparently was the 1st place to make burgers back in 1895. They are still using the same small ovens, and they make the burgers fresh every day. They put the burgers on toast, but don't ask for ketchup because it's not allowed. they don't want anything taking away from the taste of the meat they made! Another really unique burger place is about and hour outside of Philly, called Half Moon Restaurant (in Kennett Square, PA). There you can sample burgers made from Buffalo, Alligator and Kangaroo. That place might not be for everyone? And a hip burger joint was featured from New York City... Pop Burgers they make small gourmet burgers with a "secret sauce"...the place is on the lower east side is very hip with a lot of "pop art items" Has anyone every been to any of these places? leave comment if you have been.

In the meantime, I know what I am eating tonight for dinner. You guest it, a burger with the works!

Another Quiet Week for the Blog

As you can tell.. this week I haven't done anything really exciting. But how could I top the Cathedral pictures and Cinco De Mayo? Anyways, in June I will be travelling and will post many pictures from my trip, in the meantime, I will try to find some cool places or events closer to home to go to so my blog doesn't become to old or boring.

Washington Cathedral "Lighting to Unite" Part 2

More Pictures from Saturday Night @Washington's National Cathedral. This was the first "lighting" of an American building for the Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter. Previous buildings/landmarks/churches he has lit include: Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Sphinx and Great Pyramid at Giza, Mont St. Michel in France and San Marco in Venice.

Washington Cathedral's "Lighting to Unite" Part 1

Last Night I attended the "Lighting to United" at National Cathedral. For three hours, they displayed a couple dozen images from the Swiss lightening artist Gerry Hofstetter on the front and side of the Cathedral. They also had a concert before hand. I will post more pictures later today. A assist in the photo's goes out to my friends Dan and Mary.

A Monument to the "Town Drunk"

Meet Norman Lane.. He has a bronze bust and a alley named after him here in Silver Spring. He was apparently known as the "Mayor of Silver Spring" and also the town drunk. Norman had a hard life, growing up an outcast, doing odd jobs but never really finding a home in DC. That until 1966 when he went north on Georgia Avenue and found Silver Spring. A family/business owner gave him a cot in their auto body shop not and he found a home! He went around telling everyone "Don't Worry 'Bout It" and eventually residents and business owners began not to worry about him (or his drinking) and dubbed him "Mayor of Silver Spring." He died in 1987 and the bronze was up by 1991.

Cinco de Mayo Day Silver Spring Style

Wish every Monday Night could be this exciting in Silver Spring! In case you missed it, today (Monday) is Cinco de Mayo Day which in Mexico commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Here in U.S., we celebrate the Mexican heritage with live music, margarita's and taco's (or at least that's how I celebrated it!!)

Sunday @ National Arboretum Part 2

In addition to the Bonsai's, there was plenty of other things to see at the Arboretum on Sunday. It had been years since I had visited, but I was happy to see again (and photograph) the old National Capitol Columns. These Corinthian columns date back to 1828. They were moved from the US Capitol to Arboretum. Also in bloom at the Arboretum are the Azalea's.

Sunday @ National Arboretum Part 1

Another great weather day in DC... So I took the camera and headed to the US National Arboretum in DC where they were having a Bonsai Festival this weekend. I didn't buy any Bonsai's but I did take a few pictures and watched a demonstration. under each tree there was a name of the tree and how many years it has been "in training" I will post more pictures from the Arboretum later.

Berwyn Heights Day 08

Spent the day helping out at Berwyn Heights Day. For those of you non-locals, Berwyn Heights is a town near College Park Maryland with close to 3,000 residents. Every year they have a day long town festival with rides, music, games and food. It's a great small town community event! This is my 5th Berwyn Heights Day, and even though I worked most of the day, it's something I look forward to every year. The weather was great (no rain and temps in the 80's) and my friend who help organize the day was very happy with the turnout. The day reminds (on a smaller scale) of the town I grew up in Connecticut annual day w/ rides, music, and fireworks. No fireworks today, but still a fun day!

May Day

Every May 1st I think way back to Elementary School where we marched around the Maypole.

Went to another Nats baseball game tonight (thursday).. and they are 2-0 when I am in the park. tonight they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2. another great game, tonight it was tied in the 8th when the Nats scored, and the Nats were able to close it in the 9th. Tomorrow is a big day for the Washington Wizards as they play Game 6 vs. Cleveland for their playoff life. Go Wiz!