02.19 - ice ice baby
what’s going on in d.c.
There’s definitely enough ice on the sidewalks this morning. Why not take advantage of skating across ice where it’s supposed to be - an ice-skating rink. Here’s six options across the D.C. area.
To honor Black History Month, look into a 90-minute walking tour in Alexandria that focuses on pre-Civil War history or the Underground Railroad.
It’s one of the last weekends to see the Kennedy Center’s free outdoor exhibit, Unity | Peace | Forward that offers three separate installations that feature D.C.-based artists.
Local artist Maggie O’Neill created a disco vibes studio at Union Market, complete with plenty of disco balls. For $20/person or $45/group, a professional photographer will capture your best shots in a half hour session.
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: Peanut and Citrus Chili Oil Rice Noodles at Yoko and Kota (based in The Roost in Hill East)
Breakfast sandwiches can be tricky if you’re vegan or vegan-curious. Luckily, there are six spots in the area specifically catering to vegan palettes.
what’s on our minds?
Although virus cases are falling in the region and vaccine eligibility is increasing, don’t expect restrictions to lift much in the immediate future. It’s possible restrictions will gradually lift in the coming month, but Mayor Bowser hasn’t signaled any immediate changes to the city’s restrictions (and D.C. is still well above the 5 cases per capita threshold for the next level of reopening at 17 cases per 100,000 residents). However, there is hope for some “normalcy” by summer - Dr. Fauci thinks Nats games will be able to have fans at some point this season.
Who among us doesn’t have a memory of slowly walking by the Newseum to check out the front pages of a newspaper from each state? The museum, featuring the iconic multi-story First Amendment alongside the front of the building, is sadly no more. Although the Newseum closed at the end of 2019, the First Amendment tablet held strong until yesterday, when crews removed the tablets.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
Trump Hotel Employees Reveal What It Was Really Like Catering to the Right Wing Elite - per Washingtonian, “Four years' worth of stories about VIP visits and grooming protocols, palm-greasing, rotten vegetables, and that time they lost Steve Mnuchin’s coat.”
“I Don’t Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection- per ProPublica, “Interviews with 19 current and former officers show how failures of leadership and communication put hundreds of Capitol cops at risk and allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.”
The Beach Bum Who Beat Wall Street and Made Millions on GameStop - per The Ringer, “Mike McCaskill spent years scouring the stock market and betting on long shots. Then he found the opportunity that changed his life—and helped spark the mother of all short squeezes.”
The Fight for Fifteen at an Orlando McDonald’s- per The New Yorker, “For Cristian Cardona and his co-workers, the pandemic brought new meaning to a nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage.”
what are we watching/reading?
17 Blocks via various virtual theaters. With an amazing breadth of 21 years of filming, this D.C.-centric documentary starts in 1999 and features a then 9-year-old boy playing a pickup basketball game in Southeast D.C. The doc provides an intimate look at his and his family’s life as they face gun violence, poverty, and trauma.
The Australian Open and U.S. Women’s Soccer. In a relic of pre-pandemic normalcy, there are two sporting events I’m planning to watch this weekend. The finals of the Australian Open are this weekend, with Japan’s Naomi Osaka (worth a follow on Instagram if you don’t already) facing American Jennifer Brady, while the men’s final features Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. The U.S. Women’s Soccer team is also back in action with the SheBelieves Cup, where they’ll face Brazil on Sunday at 3 PM.
‘til next time -courtney