Circulator Spotted in Adams Morgan!

AHHH -- it's here!!

Working from home today, I noticed that there was a Circulator bus crossing 16th Street at the 16th/Harvard/Columbia intersection. The front of the bus said "Training Bus" ... does this mean Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights is getting its new Circulator bus asap?!


UPDATE: The Circulator training bus came back around about 20-30min later and was full of metro employees in reflective yellow vests. It was following the 42/43/H4 route around the 16/Harvard/Columbia park. Here is a photo of the bus across from the Embassy Apts. It went up Mount Pleasant Street after this, and I don't know where after that.

The Raven

Sooooo I've lived in the Mount Pleasant/Adams Morgan neighborhood for 5 months now. I've enjoyed the eclectic restaurants, the plentiful bus lines, the not-to-subtle police presence, and hell -- I've even grown fond of the that crazy homeless lady that rolls around in her wheelchair at 16th and Harvard. Yet somehow, despite my many adventures in Mount Pleasant/Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights, I had never before found myself in Mount Pleasant's hidden gem -- The Raven. Thanks to DCist's double (albeit sarcastic) mention of the Raven this past Wednesday ... I had to discover what made this little establishment worthy of such renown.

Last night, my friend GWDrew was in town and I took him out to show him the 'hood. As with anyone who rarely ventures outside the boundaries of Foggy Bottom during his tenure in the Distrcit (read: any GW undergrad past or present) -- Mount Pleasant was not exactly familiar territory. So, it required a little coaxing, but I took Drew and a few of our friends to Haydee's (3102 Mount Pleasant Street NW), my favorite Mexican/Latin American restaurant in town. Haydee's is an extremely wonderful treasure in Mount Pleasant -- it has cheap margaritas, fried plantains that will change your life, and conversations with the waitstaff that often improve (or rather, force you to employ) your basic understanding of the Spanish language. I adore it.

After we were properly sloshed from our margaritas, we proceeded to skip stumble mosey across the street to the world-class establishment known as the Raven Grill. We were immediately transported into some type of time warp that simultaneously encompassed the late 50s, mid-80s, next Thursday afternoon, and those (all-to-frequent) nights in college that you involuntarily have erased from your consciousness.

The Raven has cheap beer (none on tap, though), great prices on liquor, and incredible music. The jukebox alone is worth the trip, actually ... but I'll also give a nod to the good company (read: not a tourist for miles), fantasticly ridiculous wall art, and a true dive-bar atmosphere rarely found in Washington. The place makes Matchbox in Chinatown look like a vacuous warehouse, but this tiny watering hole has enough personality to rival any major bar in the city.

If you've never been - you're missin' out.

Fire in the Argonne

Yowzers!! Happy first night of Hanukkah ... we had a little festival of lights of our own this afternoon at the Argonne, located at the confluence of Adam's Morgan, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights.

I heard the fire alarm and first thought it was a bicycle handlebar-bell that an obnoxious toddler was ringing incessantly in the hallway ... but then realized that the fire engines were stopping in front of our building. I quickly threw on a coat, grabbed my camera and computer, and went downstairs to see what was going on. I ran into a good dozen or so firefighters barreling up the stairs as I was coming down (computer and slice of pizza in hand, mind you). The fire was not on my side of the building, but I can smell it now ... gross. The fire was contained rather quickly, but I was able to get a few shots of the smoke pouring out of the building.






In addition to learning what the fire alarm here sounds like, this morning was fairly educational, I'd say. I now know what some of my neighbors look like, for one, and I also discovered that my internet works from the sidewalk - delightful information to remember in ... oh, 4 months or so. We received an enormous showing of fire engines, one that said Columbia Heights, and another said Adam's Morgan, I believe ... but all responded very, very quickly - I was pleased. One person was pulled away on a stretcher (smoke inhalation, I presume), but I don't believe there were any serious injuries.