IMG_1382, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Last week I wrote about a new Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Viet, Coming to 14th Street in Columbia Heights. In the comments we heard it was going to be near Parkwood. This past weekend I was lucky enough to walk by and catch one of the owners, (sadly/stupidly I didn’t catch her name). At any rate, it will be located at 3515 14th Street, NW (pictured above) just south of Parkwood and next to the Cavalier liquor store. As you can tell it is not a huge space but the owner was super enthusiastic. She said the restaurant hopes to open at the end of September or early October. Can’t wait to check it out!

DSCN2112, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Freecycle DC gone bad from Digest Number 7385. A friend of mine found this and I knew immediately I had to share it as well. Since I’m not a member of freecycle my friend emailed me the text:

“OFFER: Bag full of dog hair exc. for pillow – NW

I have a supermarket-size bag full of dog hair. I was going to make my own pillow but never got around to it.”

Oh man, I think I should end this “two good two good” feature right now because I don’t know how this one can be topped. However, if you can top it with something truly absurd send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com.

“Dear PoP,

Thought folks might be interested in seeing a top-down view of the streetscape/fountain construction going on in Columbia Heights. They definitely re-claimed some of the eastern part of 14th Street for the sidewalk project, especially out in front of the new Chipotle location. The fountain seems close to completion and in the mosaic style you seem to be fond of. Looking forward to seeing a finished product and the community reaction.”

So far I think this is going to look awesome. What do you guys think?

IMG_1318, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

It seems the issue will be addressed at ANC 1 meeting Tuesday. Do you think the festival should be on Mt. Pleasant Street, 14th St. or elsewhere?

The reader writes:

“Fiesta DC wanted to move the festival to 14th Street. The fire department would not let them block off the street and so now they’re in a bind and want to return to Mt. Pleasant. The reaction seems generally negative, but it’s hard to tell if that’s just who is speaking up about it all. The concerns are:

– Road closures. Apparently in years past the festival blocked off a lot of streets, including Irving, which caused a huge cluster for the residents. There was also little notice about what roads were going to be closed, which added to the frustration.

– Safety. Apparently security has been an issue in the past.

– Clean up. Last year there wasn’t good clean up and the Mt. Pleasant residents/businesses were left to deal with this.

– Size. From the forums on this, it seems like a lot of people are concerned with how large the festival has gotten and the fact that it’s a city-wide Latino festival. There’s no Mt. Pleasant draw/relationship to it and no benefit to the neighborhood. Several people on the boards are suggesting the festival move to some place like RFK as there is no Mt. Pleasant tie and that the neighborhood put together their own festival.

– There seems to be some issue about money in all of this. They are a registered 501(c)3 charity, but at a meeting yesterday someone said they were a for-profit venture. That is causing some dustup and there’s concern about transparency.

The whole thing will be resolved on Tuesday at an early ANC 1 meeting.”

IMG_1369, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Highlands located on 14th Street, NW between Crittenden and Decatur got some great new art. And the coffee was really good too! Not a bad place to hit before or after going to the Upshur pool (around 14th and Webster).

LOTH Poster, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

A reader writes:

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IMG_1428, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

This great one is in Adams Morgan on Adams Mill Road towards the back of the zoo. I remember this one from last year, they did an equally great job this year.

IMG_1440, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

It’s a bit obscured by the tree but I really liked this one in Woodley Park.

This spot at 14th and Church opened relatively recently back in March ’08. There is big sign saying they are moving and offering lots of sales:

The original store is located up the block at 1801 14th Street (at the corner of T St.). That spot will reopen in September. The location at 14th and Church is pretty prime, it’ll be interesting to see what goes in there.

I never really appreciated this sign on the boarded up building next to Velvet Lounge on U Street. An awesome name for sure. Any long time residents who had the opportunity to check this spot out when it was open?

We’ve looked at this home in Mt. Pleasant in the past before it was fully completed. Initially I thought the partial brown top looked a bit odd. But I took a look this weekend and I think it actually came out looking pretty good. The place is gigantic, not sure if the photo conveys that. I assume it has got to be a multi family residence, yeah? Also a pretty big garage in the back. What do you think now that it’s completed – thumbs up or down?

I thought this was a pretty funny shot by rjs1322 titled, “she’s got legs; she knows how to use ‘em”.

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

This house is located at 2127 10th Street, NW:

View Larger Map

The flier says:

“Sweet c. 1900 row house in the heart of the U Street Corridor. Metro, shopping galore, lots of dining, and nightlife are all within a few blocks! Two bedrooms, two and one half bathrooms, wood floors, gas fireplace, washer/dryer, kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite counters. Whole house was renovated within the last five years (all systems replaced).”

More info found here and a virtual tour found here.

As with houses like this let me know what you think of the renovation itself. Does $535,000 sound reasonable for this 2 bed/2.5 bath? I guess I should ask her, how much value do you add to a basement? Is that a big deciding factor on whether or not to purchase a home?

Photo by PoPville Flickr user McGhee Street Photography

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

“In 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott and his surveying team placed 40 boundary stones around the perimeter of the District of Columbia, one at each mile of the original diamond shape…Ellicott’s team embarked on a 40-mile journey that took nearly two years.”

On August 16th, we set out to recreate Ellicott’s journey, one 10-mile side at a time, over the course of four (nonconsecutive) days. Why? Because we can. We started out with the NE boundary, which runs a conveniently straight path along Eastern Avenue (with a few notable exceptions). Not knowing what to expect, we decked ourselves out with excessive urban adventure provisions (CamelBack, beef jerky, camera, etc.).

www.boundarystones.org provides locations for all the stones. Those directions, combined with fences the DC chapter of DAR put around all the stones in 1915 to protect them, makes them relatively easy to find, though our iPhones proved invaluable for the trip.

Some high/lowlights:

* NE 1 was accidentally bulldozed in 1952 and is now marked by a plaque in the sidewalk in front of an Ethiopian restaurant called Tiramisu – good smoothies!
* In between NE 4 and 5, Eastern Ave dead-ends, with an “Emergency Exit” sign leading into a field…
* NE 5: white stone within white fence in front of white, vacant house – the most aesthetically pleasing stone on the NE side
* NE 6 and NE 9 are fully enclosed in private front yards; we tried to remain inconspicuous to the family sitting on the floor with the front door wide open trying to stay cool in the heat as we leaned over their fence to snap the photo (NE 6)
* NE 7 sits in the very back of the Fort Lincoln Cemetery; coincidence that the temperature reached near that of the fiery pits of Hell as we roamed the cemetery paths?
* Finding a faucet to douse your head in cool water. Invaluable.
* Emerging from the woods, leaping a fence onto the side of Route 50 to the confused stares of passing motorists (the mile between NE 7 and 8 includes the cemetery, an arboretum, a golf course, a state park, the Anacostia and two highways – just begging for trespassing and Frogger). Sense of adventure (stupidity?) necessary.
* Side of the road BBQ in the parking lot of Sammy’s Liquors. Who knew mac & cheese, pork and beans, and potato salad were vegetables?
* Approximately 20 Not In Service buses!
* Celebratory beer at Wonderland

Time elapsed from boarding S2 bus in search of first stone to disembarking at Columbia Heights metro after visiting last stone of the day: ~8.5 hours

Time between NE 7 and NE 8: ~3 hours

Total miles covered: ~15

Number steps taken: ~33,000

High temperature for the day: 93 degrees

Liters of water consumed: 4

Number boundary stones photographed (damn you, elusive NE 8!): 9

One quarter down, three to go!