Mrs. Peck Goes to the Smithsonian Zoo

You might very well assume that because I ride my bike most days, albeit at a somewhat leisurely pace, that all the walking involved with being a tourist would not present a problem. Well, you know what they say about assumptions don't you?

So, when I saw on the zoo website that despite the Woodley Park exit being labeled as the Metro stop for the zoo, the Cleveland Park exit was preferable for those who are slightly wimpish like myself. Flat from Cleveland Park, uphill all the way from Woodley--which would you choose? As my calves were still aching from the previous days activities, I chose Cleveland Park and am glad that I did. A lovely walk it was.

A smallish little shopping area, followed by what I'm thinking are park grounds with terrific ironwork defining them along the road.

I knew I was getting close when I saw the giant lions at the entrance.

Speaking of lions, I was very keen on seeing them, but what I really wanted to see was the pandas. Well, duh, who doesn't want to see the Giant Pandas while at the zoo? Accompanying Bruce to the area in July 2009, while he was building a Capital Grille in the nearby community of Chevy Chase, I visited the zoo with the express purpose of seeing the them. Well, I did not see them because they were inside staying cool, and can you blame them? Well, this time I was not disappointed, watching one of them during the early part of my visit, and returning later seeing the other panda as well. The new cub, Bei Bei is only on display from a panda cam which may or may not interest you.

Well, let me just tell you, it was great fun watching the bear play with that tube. Guess what? I lied. I went back three times! I so wish I had done a better job on this photo, the focus is on the front tree branch rather than the panda, but it's still cute. Just after I took this, he/she climbed right up into that tree!

Well, there are other animals to see so let's begin with this Fishing cat from Thailand! Can you imagine a cat that swims underwater for long distances?

And then there are elephants, quite a few actually, however, their large area to roam was being repaired so I saw them with their trainers closer to the "Elephant House." A posted schedule of their daily activities includes exercise and training which is what you are seeing here.

As you can imagine, I was very keen on going to the "Bird House", however, refurbishment is ongoing so the birds, without exaggerating, were few and far between. I did see a Red Crested Cardinal that was quite pretty.

Guira Cookoos, very interesting birds,

and a burrowing owl that just stared and stared.

I sure wish it would have done some burrowing! So that pretty much sums up the birds--a big disappointment to be sure.

The kids barnyard area was fairly small, with cute Miniature Donkeys, along with a few cows and goats. Oh yeah, a llama too.

Next stop was the Amazonia exhibit with fascinating fish swimming in huge aquariums, including this gigantic Arapaima.

Furthermore, a 15,000 square feet rainforest habitat includes huge, well as huge as they can grow with a roof over their heads, kapok trees, as well as a Chicle tree!

Watching your step is a good idea in there because it is very wet.

I was delighted to see a Roseate Spoonbill there, but wouldn't it have been neat if I'd seen a monkey?

I will say the shade of pink on this bird was beautiful!

Finally I made my way to the big cat exhibit. The tigers were sleeping in their den, as was the big boy male lion, Luke.

I presume this is one of the females?

I only wish I'd watched this video before visiting! Turns out they have a pride of lions at the zoo!

I'm now inclined to think what I was seeing were some of the young ones, grown much larger than in the video because they are now 1 1/2 years old?

The zoo was getting ready for Halloween festivities with many workers putting up decorations. I now know how they get lights way up in the trees.

It was a good day to visit the zoo, not too hot, not too cold. I only wish I'd seen more birds, the cheetahs (hiding), and that the elephants were roaming around. All minor complaints that are easier to swallow now that I've been able to watch the Giant Pandas in person!

Leaving the zoo, I walked back to the Woodley Park station to make my way back to Tysons Corner. Some hardy folks I talked to were tired, but pressing on to visit Arlington. Not this girl.

We stayed at the Hyatt, located off the plaza I mentioned in my last post. A very sophisticated hotel decorated with neutrals only, well except for the art piece in our room on the 14th floor.

The plaza hosts people exercising, festivals, and there are giant game boards set up, including chess and checkers. Not to mention, ORANGE benches for relaxing.

It is a little difficult to see, but on the tower across from Earls the sign says, Limited Trophy Space Available. That's a new one on me...trophy space. Tysons Corner, or so I've learned, is an extremely wealthy community with a median family income of $131, 717!! In comparison, the median income for a family in Orlando is $56, 634. Of course our taxes are lower, but still. That may explain why there is a Tesla store in the mall!

With actual people in there! I spent very little time there aside from getting a bagel in the mornings at Panera. There are loads of food options including Wasabi, pictured below, which I've just learned has a location in Florida Mall as well.

Sushi in a mall? My, how times have changed.

The zoo in a nutshell, or make that a blog post! Can you stand one more of a Giant Panda?

Of course you can!!! (no earthly idea what the food is!)

Memorials up next,

Gail

A Volcano Erupts

Notwithstanding the chaos that can be a construction site, Bruce generally remains poised and pleasant, a small smile on his face, while others around him are freaking out. That is not to say he too, is not freaking out, but rarely does he let it show. The box kicking incident was inconsistent with his character. His toe nail bed is still black btw.

Now that the restaurant is up and running, all those months of frustration had to finally erupt, happening on Friday at home. I, was not the recipient of anything, however, the people at Fed Ex will not be considering him a client they want to deal with again any time soon!

Here's what happened.....

A new desk chair I'd ordered for Bruce from Crate & Barrel was, according to the email, to be delivered on Friday. Yeah! A treat for Bruce. Checking my email Friday morning I learned it was on the truck to be delivered. Woo hoo! A little after lunch, he asked me to recheck when it might arrive. Much to my chagrin I read that it was already delivered at 10 in the morning. Except that it wasn't.

Where, pray tell was said package? NO ONE knew. My first call to FedEx was answered in the Dominican Republic with a response that they would get back to us within 48 hours. Well, as you can imagine, Bruce was having none of that! HOURS later, after multiple calls, the driver returns to our door around 5:30 PM. Mind you, no one, up to this point, could tell us where the package was. Reading this narrative, two questions probably have come to mind. Did we check all of the front porches of the seven houses in our cul-de-sac? Several times. Why don't they just call the driver? Turns out the drivers are mostly contract workers who work under multiple bosses, most of whom Bruce talked to. Well, realistically, he had some very LOUD conversations with said bosses.

Anyway, the driver arrives, apologizing for leaving it on a neighbor's porch. Asking the driver to stay put until the package was in our possesion, I had B go over to another neighbor's house to get their phone number as no one answered the door when the driver tried to rectify his mistake. If you can imagine, John Utley, whom we have lived across from for TWENTY years claimed it was his policy not to give out phone numbers! Instead he said he would call them. Bruce then knocked on Matt and Lauren's door, and again no answer, in spite of the fact that John said someone was home because the dogs were out. With no response, the driver left. About ten minutes later Matt arrives with package in arms. Apparently Lauren brought it inside and could not be bothered to walk three doors down to check on our availability. The exchange was not as pleasant as you've come to expect from this easy going couple.

The good news is the chair is assembled, comfortable, and Bruce likes it as much as he'd hoped. As well, once the volcano erupted, things settled down, not without damage mind you, but he's once again cool, calm, and collected. :)

Now back to DC! Bruce has been using the Ronald Reagan airport, and when not using the Metro to get to the job, he drives the scenic George Washington Parkway, running alongside the Potomac River. He stopped for a moment to let me have a look for myself.

Very lovely indeed.

My first afternoon I went to a super cool place I found on Trip Advisor...the Newseum. Dedicated to journalism and news photography, was it ever cool. With only a few hours before closing time, I covered a fraction of the place, but I'll show you a few of my favorite exhibits. Beginning with every Pulitzer Prize winning photograph since the awards began in the 1940's.

Sadly the above photograph did not turn out the way I would have liked, however, the image of the escaping immigrant children is worth showing for it's beauty. There are explanations on how the photographer took each image; in this instance, he was laying on top of a MOVING train!

Then there are others, that you had to be in the right place, at the right time, like the one below of the couple on a beach.

It is an incredibly moving image, taken by a photographer who lived within blocks of the beach and heard something was going on. Grabbing his camera, he ran, taking the image of grieving parents as their 19 month old child was washed out to sea. This 9/11 image, shot by a freelance photographer, was developed at a one hour drugstore because his regular lab was unavailable.

He took it at the moment the second plane hit, thinking it was a bomb. Speaking of 9/11, an exhibit of the front page of world wide newspapers is really something, as is a film about the local reporters, including a feature on the first report of the tragedy from a traffic helicopter.

You are seeing the mangled antennae from one of the towers. On the upper right wall is a message from a visitor, penned at a station for remembrances.

An exhibit about the Berlin Wall, with six actual pieces of the wall, is seriously mind boggling.

I learned that although the West side of the wall was covered in graffiti, the East side was constantly being repainted white, all the better to see people trying to escape over it.

Magazine covers from the 60's begin the exhibit about reporting on the Viet Nam war.

As you can see, it is all incredibly well done. On the fifth floor there is a large outdoor patio space with wonderful views of the city, including the Canadian Embassy and the Capital building covered in scaffolding.

Center bike lanes along Pennsylvania Avenue...

The lack of traffic? Columbus Day is taken seriously in our nation's Capital. Barely a soul anywhere as I walked the streets.

Back in the museum, a news satellite is displayed along with a helicopter.

It is crazy hard to imagine how a satellite conveys so much information on a daily basis, or at least it is to me! Another neat display is on Lincoln and the SEVEN editions put out by The New York Herald, the most widely read newspaper of the time, on April 15, 1865. I learned the reason the newspapers look as good-as-new is because they were printed on rag paper, rather than pulp, as is the custom today. Rag paper, it seems, does not yellow or fade.

Howard Buffett, one of Warren's sons, is spending his time and fortune on world hunger solutions. His daughter gave him his first camera and since then it has been an important part of his life. His portraits of hungry people from around the world are striking.

Although the Newseum is not free, unlike most museums in Washington, I can't recommend it enough. I decided that I can see art in other cities, whereas, this one is really unique. As is my wont, I overheard a fellow speaking quite loudly to a couple, and figured he was "somebody."

Pictured above, he is wearing the dark jacket and light pants, I saw this group again in the room with newspapers, beginning with the first ones printed shortly after Guttenburg invented the printing press. I decided to ask him who he is, and it turns out he is "somebody", Shelby Coffey III. The third! Wonder what number I and number II were like? Anyway, he proceeded to tell a funny story about Katherine Graham and Art Buchwald during the Watergate scandal time. I'm dating myself...

Reluctantly, having seen not nearly enough, I made my way back to the Judiciary Square Metro station, which, as you exit on to F Street, a fantastic view of the Building Museum presents itself--- probably right up my alley as well.

The Metro was my friend, once I got the hang of it!

Whew...this is only day one, and you're probably thinking yikes...will all the posts be this long?

Probably,

Gail

A Restaurant is Born

It may seem a little crazy to compare building a restaurant to birth, however, surprisingly there are some similarities. Just as it takes nine months for a baby to form, it takes at least that long, and in most cases, about twice that amount of time to secure the space, get all the permits, have architectural drawings made, and then of course the actual building of the restaurant. Just as all the body's systems need time to develop, so too does that happen in a restaurant. You begin with a blank space, adding systems one on top of another. For example, all of the plumbing and air conditioning is installed in the ceiling; when you see the finished product, you can now imagine what is behind it all.

So, let's get started having a look at the brand new Earls Kitchen & Bar located in Tysons Corner, VA! My first view was from the plaza...

and here's a look at the back side, which in addition, shows a leather guy who is doing some repair work on a few of the bar stools.

Now you understand how it is situated in the bottom of a thirty story residential tower. On the bottom right is the bridge that spans the eight lane highway leading to the Metro station that I traversed multiple times in the three days I went into the city. Those stories will have to wait for another day, however, one photo I really like I took on my return to Tysons when the sun was beginning to set. This is the front door area.

What does it look line inside you ask?

Open kitchen line with gorgeous marble above it. Another direction..

And yet another direction...

The light fixtures are super great, as are the furnishings. So far you've been looking at the main dining area. Those are huge concrete beams that support the ceiling throughout the space. Adjacent to the areas above is the bar area, and more dining tables, overlooked by the art work created for the space. Remember when Bruce kicked the box because a part of the artwork was thrown out? Well, now it makes sense.....a pewter map of Washington, DC streets, times two.

The patio adjacent to the front door looks like this in the day time:

Bruce remained at work on Monday night until dark when I took this before we went to dinner.

The plaza area connects the Tysons Corner Center to the buildings, one of which is a residential tower, and one is an office building.

Tuesday night arrived and with it the opening party!! All of the glass you saw on the front of the restaurant is actually what is called a Nano wall, basically glass doors that fold like an accordion. The weather was pleasant on party night, allowing all the doors to be open when Steve (Bruce's boss) gave a little speech before the party kicked off.

I had Steve pose with Bruce for a photograph while both are breathing a sigh of relief that they've nearly made it!

Folks started pouring in, and the bar tenders started pouring as well! A good deal of the furniture was removed so folks could move around more readily to the food stations that offered bite-sized food from the menu. The chefs prepared the food on the spot.

The large piece of art on the wall you see pictured above was created by Tim who lives both in DC and California. In his younger days he actually painted on local Washington DC trains, thus the piece above. Earls is all about local. Here he is with Ellie who works out of the main office in Vancouver as part of the design team. I'm sitting across from them and both were very nice.

Sadly I did not get many photographs of the patio area which is really something, with seating for more than 100 people.

You can just see that not only are there lights on those huge umbrellas, but heaters as well! Inside here is Steve, once again, talking to Mike who was the superintendent for the general contractor. To say that he worked crazy hard is putting it mildly, seriously almost losing his mind on this job. Bruce told me he was a big guy and he sure wasn't exaggerating.

Without Mike's expertise the job would still be ongoing. Below is George who is an IT guy from Vancouver. He spent quite a few weeks on the job making sure all the systems work as they should. He's talking with a sweet young woman, whose name I've forgotten, who is an Earls manager from Calgary, here to help with the training, and the first few weeks of operation.

I told you it takes an army to build something like this, with the light fixture below as an example of that. Nearly a week of work by three men to make it happen.  Of course the carpenters first had to install the wood, following the plumbers, electricians, and ac guys work in the ceiling. Not to mention the $75,000 price tag for the fixture!
Outside, once again, the man seated on the far right is Dylan, the general manager who arrived about two months ago to begin hiring staff and coordinating training.

It really shines at night--no pun intended.

Well, the night was a success with the drinks flowing like water, evidenced by the multitude of empty glasses at our table.
The fellow on the right is Ricky, the Vancouver artist who created the pewter map, who kept telling me I reminded him of his Mother which I took as a compliment.  To say he was crazy about Bruce is putting it mildly.

People gathered around the bar. As the evening wore on, we gathered around the fire pit, and much to the Earl's folks delight, Bruce was finally having a good time.

Seated next to Bruce is Wendy, the head of design for Earls, and Jen's boss who was the designer Bruce worked with on this project. Here she's giving him a bemused look.

Yes, she is just as young as she looks! It was a long haul, but in the end, the space is gorgeous, and each and every part of the army should be very proud of their part in it, from Steve securing the space, to the guys who were washing the windows on Monday night before the party. I sure know I am proud of my darling husband. :)

And tonight, they open to the public.....

Part of the support staff,

Gail

p.s. sorry, two more photos of the small lounge area with super great furniture, and a small bar that is actually one of my favorite parts of the restaurant...

the bar...

And to think I even left stuff out...