You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. So anything good happen to you this weekend?

Bladensburg feels as though it’s full of pawnshops, laundromats, and ghosts. A pre-industrial victim of environmental change, what was once one of the busiest ports on the East Coast has been scraped away, replaced by warehouses and light industry – metal fencing, transmission shops, the kind of businesses where guys show up at 7AM and have a smoke in the parking lot, before they go in to stock plumbing supplies or pull a tranny (a phrase that has a very different meaning for me than it had when I lived on 11th and Mass).

But the ghosts are there. Patsy Cline on a mural. The sailors and marines that fell under the command of Commodore Barney (think Barney Circle), who’d burned his fleet and – with a largely African American force – tried to keep the British out of Washington, after the first line of militia had fled in the face of hardened veterans of the Napoleonic wars. The ones who couldn’t walk away from the famed dueling grounds, like Stephen Decatur and Francis Scott Key’s son, Daniel, and the almost 50 others who fell there. And the World War One veterans honored by a cross whose grace is only amplified by the grey traffic circle and grim buildings it’s set against. Courage, indeed.

The Fort Lincoln Cemetery claims to have the most impressive publicly-owned mausoleum in the world, and it is indeed impressive, looming just above the remnants of the Civil War fort and hillside where Barney’s men fought the Brits. And, at the edge of the cemetery: the dueling grounds. Walking through the grounds at dawn, in the mist and the dew and the flowers, you can almost get a feel for the top hats and greatcoats and seconds and pistols, brilliant mornings ending badly. The traffic of Bladensburg Road disappears and you begin to wonder what it was like, rubbing that flintlock, nervously checking your shot and powder, glancing across the lawn to try and divine who’d still be alive come noon. It’s sandwiched in between a subdivision and the graveyard, and looks and feels exactly like a dueling ground should. Continues after the jump. (more…)

DSCN8207, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

So last week an eagle eyed reader had noticed that the “coming soon” sign for Sake to be located on Irving Street, just west of 14th Street, had vanished. So I spoke with some folks and indeed Sake is no longer coming. What I learned is that the two spots pictured above are going to be combined into one restaurant/bar (much like Commonwealth is set up.)

So here’s the scuttlebutt, it seems that there is some talk of a bar opening up in this space that could fill a gap for this section of Columbia Heights. One of the ideas is to open up a spot that, in addition to having a nice outdoor area, would have pool tables, maybe a ping pong table, maybe some table shuffleboard etc. I imagine it would be a chill spot along the lines of a Stetsons (16th and U). I do believe you would be able to get bar food like burgers and nachos etc. But nothing is in stone here.

So (and I know for a fact that your comments will be read by those considering opening up here) do you think this would be a good addition to the bar scene in Columbia Heights? If not, what type of restaurant/bar would you like to see in this combined space?

DSCN8367, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I spotted this sign on H Street, NE and got a bit of chuckle. That’s insane, right? 23 Hours? I wonder what happens during the 24th hour…

DSCN8222, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Hominy, a new restaurant, had opened up above Bohemian Caverns at the corner of 11th and U. Well, I have a little addendum that I had to add. Apparently they have complimentary champagne for brunch on Sundays.

Now we have discussed some of the best breakfast and brunch options in the past but this has got to put them in the running. Now that the weather is getting better, I thought I’d ask a slight variation on the question – where is the best outdoor brunch spot in town?

12th Pl NW, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Super cool.

IMG_1804, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

A reader writes:

“I was in Mexico (Chichén Itzá) last month and took in some history in between daiquiris on the beach. I was so excited about wearing my PoP t-shirt that I jumped and did handstands. ”

DSCN8201, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Garden of the Day will be returning shortly. This Saturday could not have better to enjoy some sweet gardens.

DSCN8268, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

While the door itself is super cool I also really liked the font of the house numbers up top.

DSCN8231, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

You can’t really tell from the photo but this amazing home is up on a hill and makes the sight even more impressive.

Mother and Justin Jones at Rock n Roll Hotel (H Street, NE) Tonight!

In other music news Milkmachine will be playing Solly’s (11th and U) tonight!  Continues after the jump. (more…)

Solea Condominiums

The Looking Glass Lounge

Kevin Wood, Realtor

Fresh Off The Roast, Coffee

Chix, Organic Chicken

Capitol Hill Home Inspection

Som Records

Nevin Kelly Gallery

Upper Crust Maids

DC Yoga Week

From an email:

My name is Hannah Nielsen-Jones, I work at GALA Hispanic Theatre at 14th and Park. I’m emailing you with a somewhat bizarre request. In June, we will be premiering a new musical called ‘Momia en el closet,’ about the journeys of the embalmed corpse of Eva Peron. We are bringing actors and dancers to DC from Argentina to be a part of this production. We’ve already got several of them staying with our people who usually provide artist housing but we need spots for three more, ideally for $300 a month
per person (which is crazy, but theatre budgets are crazy!) either in Petworth/CH or near a Metro so they can get home late after rehearsals. The dates they would be here are April 24th through June 30th.

I think what we would get ideally are some people who have basement apartments they don’t want a long-term tenant in, or are
in-between tenants, who are interested in an intercultural experience, for whom the cash would be a secondary factor … we can offer free tickets to the show as well.

It runs Thurs-Fri-Sat at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm, from June 4th through June 28th, at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 14th
St and Park Road, NW. Rehearsals for the show start next week and we are looking for housing asap! People can call Mariana Osorio, the Production Manager, at the GALA office at 202 234 7174, if they have any leads.

I can’t remember if we’ve looked at this strip on 14th Street a bit south of P Street before. I think these buildings are super cool. I’m really hoping that they just get refurbished and not demolished. It looks like work is about to get started and if they do get fixed up I think this will be a phenomenal block. I particularly dig the one on the left. Anyone know what’s slated to happen here?

I thought this was a super cool shot from Wayan Vota who titled the shot, “Telling Time in a Graveyard”. This is from the Rock Creek Church cemetery. This cemetery was featured in the first PoPtrekker.

Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here.