Happy 4th from the 14thandYous

Hi everyone--we hope you're having a great Fourth of July weekend in our nation's capital. We're taking a couple of weeks away to head off on a (much-needed) vacation, and so...no blog updates during this time. We hope you are enjoying your summer, and will be back soon with more ANC meeting updates, city services discussions, pontifications on the next small plate restaurant to open on 14th Street and all of the other great neighborhood stuff.

While we're away, perhaps you would enjoy the Five Most Ridiculous Internet Memes Ever. And boy, they aren't kidding.

See you in a couple of weeks...

The 14thandyous are headed off for a (much needed) vacation, so updates to the blog will be pretty much nonexistent. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their August, and we'll be back soon.

Cheers!

What to say?

At least the parties involved used protection for their romantic alley encounter. (This is behind the south side of the 1300 block of R Street and the north side of the 1300 block of Corcoran, not too far off from where that infamous Knee Deep in Mud incident took place.)

We're Ba-ack

Hi all. After a 10 day assault on the French language, we have returned from the Province of Quebec. It was fabulous to see the historic sites and to experience an honest-to-goodness fall season. We also ate our fill of fattening food from Swiss fondue to cheese plates and plenty of French onion soup.

The plane travel was also relatively pleasant. The trip is only an hour and a half from gate to gate, and we were able to disembark at National, collect our baggage, and return home by Metro within an hour of landing. However, we did experience some unusual security measures.

The departure area for our return flight was a human corral; after arriving at the gate a half hour early, as required, our passports were checked for a third time by security personnel. Some passengers were pulled aside at this checkpoint for random bag screenings. We then entered a sterile gate area with no trash cans and no bathrooms. During the boarding process, our passports were then checked a fourth time and compared to the passenger manifest. We couldn't help but notice that Denver-bound travelers did not appear to go through the same rigamorale; we stared jealously as they freely roamed the terminal.

After we boarded an inspector of some sort searched the bathroom and the cockpit thoroughly and spoke at length to the crew, which seemed interesting for a 26 passenger plane flying such a short distance. In all the search delayed us a half hour past our scheduled departure time. I am, however, grateful for one thing: the restriction against leaving your seat within a half hour of landing at National has been lifted.

The whole experience left us wondering if there was some sort of specific threat to DC-bound flights. Has anyone else had an experience similar to ours? We're just curious if we can expect this sort of security on subsequent trips. We're also unsure if the measures taken are that protective: Can't passports be faked? Are random bag searches as unproductive as some say? Can one person successfully detect a sabotaged plane with a half hour visual inspection?

In unrelated news, I unfortunately lost my aunt to organ failure two days before returning home. Accordingly, postings will be somewhat less frequent in the coming days. Thanks for your well wishes. We'll be back soon with more editorializing.

Virginia: Not Just for Moonshine Anymore

We returned home yesterday from a very relaxing weekend in the Shenandoah Mountains, a regular excursion for us. Reminded once again of how much I love the Blue Ridge, I have to put in a plug for the area and for its wineries.

Over 100 wineries call Virginia home, and clusters of tasting rooms have formed around Leesburg, Charlottesville, and Shenandoah National Park. Every wine drinker has his own opinion, but some of us believe that the best Virginia wines are competitive with Napa’s products. Even better, the snobbery factor is much lower than in California. The upcoming harvest season as a great time to visit. After all, a spot at a tasting room bar is only an hour to an hour and a half away from DC.

Some wineries to try: Gadino, Linden, Farfelu, Rappahannock Cellars, and Naked Mountain, all within driving distance of each other. Between Labor Day and early October, there are also bunch of harvest festivals and special events all over the state, http://www.virginiawines.org/events/index.html. For a hands-on experience, consider volunteering at Gadino for harvest and crush.

Let me also state the obvious: Drunk driving on winding country roads, or any road, is beyond a terrible idea. If no one in your group can be a designated driver, limo services are a good option.