07.09 - she's so lucky, she's a star
what’s going on in d.c.
If you have a car, The Station at Riverdale Park (about a 20-35 min drive from D.C. depending on your quadrant) is hosting free Friday “After Hours” with DJs, games, mini golf, and giveaways.
Black Cat, a 20-year staple of D.C.’s music scene, reopens its 14th St. location with two free shows tonight and tomorrow - Back in Black Cat.
It’s Alexandria’s birthday weekend. The city will celebrate its 272nd birthday (yes, it’s older than the U.S.) on Saturday with 9:30 p.m. fireworks over the Potomac.
The Copa America Final and the Euro Finals are this weekend and a bunch of bars/restaurants are offering viewing parties, including Navy Yard and Ivy City’s Atlas Brew Works, Dupont’s Lucky Bar, and NoMa’s Wunder Garten.
Adams Morgan Movie Nights kick off on Sunday with Punk the Capital at 8 p.m.
A bunch of new museums and monuments opened during the pandemic. Washingtonian pulled together a list, including Planet Word and the National Native American Veterans Memorial.
looking ahead: The local Citi Open tennis tournament secured a major competitor yesterday, with Rafa Nadal set to participate in the tournament from August 2-8. It marks Nadal’s first trip to Washington and the biggest name yet to join the competition. Tickets sold out yesterday, but Citi Open opened a waitlist in case they’re able to increase stadium capacity (h/t to Kevin for the early heads up here)
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: The Vegetables Arracheras at Cuates Grill in Georgetown
Colada Shop’s annual Piña Colada Festival runs through next week, with DJs at their 14th St and Wharf locations on Saturday
what’s on our minds?
D.C. lost 2.6x more people in 2020 than in 2019, with about 10,000 people likely permanently leaving the city during the pandemic - and about 70% leaving the D.C. region entirely. In particular, the Dupont, AdMo, Columbia Heights, 14th St, and southern Logan Circle areas saw the highest rates of moves out, while some of the less densely populated areas of the city such as Takoma and Chevy Chase were relatively unaffected. Navy Yard also had the highest rate of intracity moves - likely as individuals moved into the densely populated apartment buildings popping up in the area.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
Britney Spears’s Conservatorship Nightmare - per The New Yorker, “How the pop star’s father and a team of lawyers seized control of her life—and have held on to it for thirteen years.”
Their neighbors called covid-19 a hoax. Can these ICU nurses forgive them?- per The Washington Post, “For the nurses in the Appalachian highlands who risked their lives during the pandemic, it is as if they fought in a war no one acknowledges.”
In awe of Simone Biles' greatness, with my daughter and 25,000 others - per ESPN, “As we watched Simone Biles, it felt like we were part of a pilgrimage. We'd traveled to Missouri for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, a huge crowd of strangers now bonded by this collective coming-together. We were yearning to witness greatness, but we also felt protective of her, invested in her. All of us knew, without needing to verbalize it, this was likely our last chance to see her competing in the flesh.”
what are we watching/reading?
Gossip Girl on HBO Max. Ok, haven’t actually watched this one yet, but what sort of nostalgic millennial would I be if I wasn’t intrigued by the reboot of the classic NYC wealth and privilege series that had us Midwestern teens pining to move to the big city. The remake is getting decent/good reviews thus far as it tries to tie in socially conscious/self-aware elements without losing the fans that devoured the unabashedness of the OG series. (also on the docket for a fast turnaround remake? Dexter - only 8 years after it ended in 2013).