Baseball in May
It was a lovely day for a ball game. The Nats had a 4:05 start and looked good until the 6th. They ended up losing 3-1 to the Padres. The weather was perfect and Peter and I were in our usual section 401, row M seats.
I think the Nats were running the special “Pigeons in the Park” promotion.
DCA / Zoo
Catching an early flight out of DCA. I like airports in the morning. / I went to the zoo yesterday.
I have mixed feelings about zoos. The one in DC is pretty great though. I look at this zebra and feel bad that he or she is not out running around the Savannah enjoying what would be a normal life.
But then I go over to see the lions and I realize that at least the zebra isn’t constantly worrying about getting chased down and et by one of these guys.
The prairie dogs were not out and about, but it was nice to see this little sculpture near their exhibit.
I’ll upload more suitcases soon.
DC / Van Ness
They have been working on the escalators at the Van Ness Metro stop for quite a while now. Two down, one to go. The LED lighting is very nice.
Washington Capitals / Metro Closed
Peter and I went to a Caps game tonight. It was great, and they beat Carolina 2-1 in overtime on a (slightly) contested Ovechkin goal.
On our way to the arena, a guy sitting near to us on the Metro told us that the entire system would be closed for 24 hours starting at midnight. We figured he wasn’t kidding when we saw this ⇧. Should make the morning commute really interesting.
Sulgrave Manor / La Reine
Cris and I are in DC for a few days visiting Peter. There are so many nice apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue, and these two caught my eye this morning.
These residential prewar buildings are so common throughout the district. They sure don’t build ’em like they used to.
Van Ness Metro Station
I’m in DC for a few days visiting Peter. / The Metro is starting to show its age, but is still a pretty amazing system, and most of the stations photograph pretty well. I love public transport.
Off to see the Nationals tomorrow night, then home on Friday.
DC Tidal Basin
Peter and I were hoping for some cherry blossom action today, but it was about a week too early. It was a beautiful day for a stroll, and the crowds were out. As we were starting to walk around the Tidal Basin I asked him if he knew anything about Fanne Fox and Wilbur Mills and the famous incident that happened in 1974. I was hoping for a “History Happened Here” plaque, but no such luck so we sat on a bench overlooking the water and read about it on my phone. What a great story, and the amazing thing is that Mills won his next reelection campaign in spite of it all.
As I mentioned, the blossoms were just about ready to pop.
The only ones that were out were on this tree, and there was a queue to get the shot.
When I was a kid, I used to love playing around with cherry tree sap. I haven’t thought about doing that for ages.
We were thrilled to stumble across the new Martin Luther King Jr. monument. It is really powerful, with lots of King quotes sprinkled about.
We kept on walking around the tidal basin and soon came to the FDR Memorial, which we had also never seen. I love this sign for the restrooms. Kind of surprising that they didn’t include an ideogram of someone in a wheelchair.
Peter is fascinated by World War II, and we always stop by the memorial. What a lovely day. DC is fantastic.
Ben’s Chili Bowl / Codmother
I’m in DC for the weekend before heading out to Tilghman for a few days. Last night Peter and I went over to U Street for some eats. I couldn’t be this close to Ben’s without stopping in for a Half Smoke. It was amazing.
Afterwards, he wanted to take me to Codmother for fish and chips. What a place. Great fish though.
As I was driving down of Friday and listening to BBC Radio 4, I heard this commentary by A.L. Kennedy and found it interesting. You can either read it here, or better yet listen to the podcast here. I found it very touching.
Tilghman(‘s) Island/DuPont Circle
I have spent the last two days on Tilghman Island shooting more artifacts and a bunch of really interesting artwork. It is a remarkable place, and I just love working there. The above shot is a detail from a very old linen map of oyster beds near the island. It was literally falling apart but is an amazing remnant of work life on the bay.
After 6 months of really hard work, it looks like Peter has found a job. It will be a few weeks before he starts, but we are so happy for him. I took a quick shower after the drive back to DC from Tilghman’s and we went right out to buy him some work clothes. There is a GAP practically next to Nando’s so we ate some chicken and then went to Larry’s for ice cream. It is a wonderful place on Connecticut Avenue. I had lavender, which was probably the most interesting flavor I’ve had in years.
Home tomorrow.
I-95
I was meant to be driving to DC as I am writing this, but due to the winter storm nailing the I-95 corridor, I ended up leaving last night. I stopped just North of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, got a room for a few hours and was on the road again by 6.30 this morning. It started snowing just after I parked in Peter’s apartment building in DC, and now at 2.15 it is really coming down. And cold to boot. I really wanted to make it here today as it is his 25th birthday. We’ll get to spend the whole day together and then go out to dinner somewhere in the neighborhood this evening.
Tomorrow I am off to Tilghman to shoot Chesapeake Bay related artifacts for the Watermen’s Museum. Originally Peter Carroll was going to be shooting video as well, but he basically had no safe way of getting here from Ithaca due to the weather. He and I have been working on the island on and off for over 5 years now and it is such an interesting place. / The second of his films about the watermen and their families will be shown on Maryland Public Television Tuesday, 23rd April at 8.30 PM. Here is a teaser. And here is a link to an earlier post of mine about one aspect of the project.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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