Locals will be able to catch a free flick in Southwest tonight.
“Sharknado” will be screened at the Wharf’s Gangplank Marina Park (600 Water St. SW) tonight at 8 p.m., according to a Facebook event page.
In case you’re not familiar with the talked-about movie, here’s a synopsis from IMDB:
When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature’s deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace.
The development will show free “water-themed movies” every Friday night this summer as part of a promotion with Cantina Marina.
And in case shark tornadoes aren’t your thing, next week’s film will be “Finding Nemo.”
Police Discover Illegal Gun on Trip to Navy Yard Car Wash — Four members of the U.S. Capitol Police recovered an illegal gun during a trip to get their black Chevy Suburban cleaned at Splash Car Wash on I Street SE. The gun was found in another customer’s car, which the officers witnessed. [Washington Post]
The Wharf Modifies Plans for Pier 4, Eliminates Townhouses — The developers of The Wharf in Southwest have modified their plans for Pier 4, eliminating residential development along the pier and starting construction earlier. [SWTLQTC]
New Sport Pickleball Takes Over Sherwood Recreation Center — Pickleball, a game that combines tennis, badminton and table-tennis, is taking over Sherwood Recreation Center at 640 10th St. NE. [Hill Rag]
ANC 6C Commissioner’s Home Vandalized With Anti-Abortion Poster Alleging He ‘Supports Baby Killing’ — Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Chris Miller, a member of ANC 6C, found a sign taped to his home saying he “supports baby killing” after he wore a shirt saying “I Stand with Planned Parenthood.” [Washington City Paper]
Starbucks, Petco Coming to the H Street Corridor — Plans for a development on the 600 block of H Street NE, across from the future Whole Foods Market site show space for a Starbucks and a Petco Unleashed pet store. [The Hill Is Home]
Exterior of First Condo Building at The Wharf Nearly Complete — Construction continues on the first condo building of The Wharf development in Southwest at 525 Water St. SW with plans for condos to be ready by spring. [SWTLQTC]
Bowser Emphasizes Health Initiatives at New Year’s 5K in Hill East — Mayor Muriel Bowser called for a focus on health initiatives in the new year at her second annual Fresh Start 5K walk/run near Eastern High School on New Year’s Day. [WTOP]
With the Christmas trees going up and the holiday markets packed with gifts, the holiday season is in full swing in the Capitol Hill area. However, the winter temperatures haven’t caught up with us yet. The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang expects this weekend to be sunny and relatively warm, with highs in the 50s on Saturday and the 60s on Sunday.
The warm weather can’t put a stop to the holiday festivities this weekend, though. Whether you’re stocking up on Hannukah presents before Sunday, tracking down a tree for Christmas or just enjoying some outdoor fun, there are plenty of options to turn this weekend into an early holiday. Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of this weekend in the Capitol Hill area:
Events
For info on where to buy a tree or gifts this weekend, check out our Holiday guide.
The Wharf (690 Water St. SW)
Saturday 5-8 p.m.
Join us at The Wharf for a magical night of merriment on the Potomac River. Now in its 24th year, the annual Parade of Lights kicks off at the docks of Old Town Alexandria and concludes at the District’s Southwest waterfront.
Gallery O on H (1354 H St. NE)
Saturday 6-11 p.m.
Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure that accompanies Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children. He will be coming to Gallery O on H on Saturday, December 5 for a night benefiting Santa’s Cause, a local nonprofit that serves the foster children of Family Matters of Greater Washington.
Southeast Library (403 7th St. SE)
Saturday 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Learn what happens to your digital assets after death, and how you can create and protect the priceless memories on your computer, phone, social media accounts, and email.
Canal Park (202 M St. SE)
Saturday-Sunday 12-6 p.m.
Named the “Christmas future of holiday markets” by Washington Post Express in 2014, PARCEL Market will light up Canal Park’s three blocks with holiday cheer among the 10,000 square-foot ice rink, cozy fire pits, interactive art installations, and a festive showcase of DC’s emerging talent in retail, food, art, and musical entertainment.
Deck the North Hall Holiday Celebration
Eastern Market (225 7th St. SE)
Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Eastern Market is Hosting the ‘Deck the North Hall – Holiday Celebration’ every Sunday starting from November 29 to December 20. This Sunday enjoy cookie decorating, ornament making, gift wrapping and holiday music.
Looking for a new home in the Capitol Hill area or just want to see what your neighbors’ houses look like inside? We’ve highlighted a few open houses this weekend to get you started. But be sure to check out our real estate section for a full listing.
Road Closures
Parts of Pennsylvania Avenue SW and Independence Avenue SE near the National Mall will be closed from about 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday for the Jingle All The Way 5K
Metrorail
- Red Line trains will run every 18 minutes
- Orange, Silver and Blue line trains will run every 20 minutes
- Yellow and Green line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals
Capitol Hill Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in the Capitol Hill area. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out our event submission form.
For more events, be sure to check out our event calendar.
Wednesday
Magic & Miracles Benefit
Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St. NE)
Time: 6-9 p.m.
Join WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi and community leadfers at the 8th annual Magic & Miracles benefit for Ready, Willing and Working, a group that provides job training and opportunities to formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals. Tickets can be purchased online.
U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting
U.S. Capitol West Front
Time: 5 p.m.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will be lit by the Speaker of the House during a ceremony on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.
Thursday
Author Talk: Collecting Shakespeare
Riverby Books (417 East Capitol St. SE)
Time: 6 p.m.
The newly-reopened Riverby Books on Capitol Hill will host Stephen H. Grant, author of “Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger.”
Saturday
24th Annual Parade of Lights
The Wharf (690 Water St. SW)
Time: 5-8 p.m.
Join us at The Wharf for a magical night of merriment on the Potomac River. Now in its 24th year, the annual Parade of Lights kicks off at the docks of Old Town Alexandria and concludes at the District’s Southwest waterfront.
Digital Estate Planning
Southeast Library (403 7th St. SE)
Time: 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Learn what happens to your digital assets after death, and how you can create and protect the priceless memories on your computer, phone, social media accounts, and email.
Saturday-Sunday
PARCEL Market at Canal Park
Canal Park (202 M St. SE)
Time: 12-6 p.m.
Named the “Christmas future of holiday markets” by Washington Post Express in 2014, PARCEL Market will light up Canal Park’s three blocks with holiday cheer among the 10,000 square-foot ice rink, cozy fire pits, interactive art installations, and a festive showcase of DC’s emerging talent in retail, food, art, and musical entertainment.
Sunday
Deck the North Hall Holiday Celebration
Eastern Market (225 7th St. SE)
Time: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Eastern Market is Hosting the ‘Deck the North Hall – Holiday Celebration’ every Sunday starting from November 29 to December 20. This Sunday enjoy cookie decorating, ornament making, gift wrapping and holiday music.
Monday
The Holidays in Concert
Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian Church (1357 East Capitol St. SE)
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
The 257th Army Band, “The Band of the Nation’s Capital” presents The Holidays in Concert, a seasonal mix of classical and popular holiday favorites. Featured groups from the 257th Army Band include the Concert Band, Brigadier Brass, the Capital Woodwind Quintet, and the Capital Messengers. The concert is free and open to the general public; no tickets will be issued. For more information, visit http://hcschurch.org/ or call 202-685-8646. Donations of non-perishable food items to Holy Comforter’s pantry are most welcome.
Photo via Facebook/ The Wharf DC
Capitol Hill Residents Planning Bake Sales to Raise Money for Information From Department of Justice — When Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Denise Krepp told residents that the Department of Justice is charging her $1,000 for information on how many crimes in the area resulted in prosecution, residents agreed to hold bake sales to offset the cost. [NBC Washington]
Public Pier at The Wharf May Open Ahead of Schedule — Filings with the Zoning Commission suggest that the developers of The Wharf in Southwest could open the 7th Street Recreation Pier along with the first phase of construction. [Washington Business Journal]
Meet the Capitol Hill Chef Competing on Top Chef — The Washington Post profiled three area chefs who are competing on this season of Top Chef, including Garret Fleming, chef at Barrel on Capitol Hill. [Washington Post]
Sample Local Coffee On and Off Capitol Hill With the D.C. Indie Coffee Passport — Fans of local coffee and tea will soon be able to get 17 drinks for $20 with the D.C. Indie Coffee Passport. [Hill Now]
The District Office of Planning’s Historic Preservation Review Board is set to designate the two oldest buildings of Southwest’s Maine Avenue Fish Market, Washington City Paper reported.
The fish market’s lunch room building from 1916 and oyster shucking shed from the mid-1940s are expected to receive landmark status at the HPRB’s meeting today.
The District constructed the two buildings, located next to the concrete barges that hold the fish market, in an effort to more closely regulate cleanliness and working conditions for fishmongers by requiring all fish commerce to occur there.
The buildings are symbols of the government’s effort in the early 20th century to better regulate food and sanitation, according to the application for historic preservation.
A letter from the District’s Historic Preservation Office recommending that the Board grant landmark status to the buildings says that the application for historic landmark status is part of a joint effort between the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the developers of The Wharf to restore the dilapidated buildings.
Buffalo Wild Wings Opens Near Nationals Park — The Buffalo Wild Wings location in Navy Yard near Nationals Park opened on Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen. [JDLand]
Area 16- and 17-Year-Olds Are Ready for the Right to Vote — The Washington Post looks at how area teenagers feel about Councilman Charles Allen’s proposal to lower the voting age in the District to 16. [Washington Post]
H Street NE Eatery Wins Restaurant of the Year — Maketto Taiwanese restaurant on the H Street corridor won Eater’s award for Restaurant of the Year in Washington, D.C. [Eater]
The Wharf Secures First Vertical Permit for American Psychiatric Association Building — Developers of The Wharf in Southwest have received a permit for an 11-story office building at 800 Maine Ave. SW, the first building at The Wharf to receive a vertical building permit. [Washington Business Journal]
Southwest residents may have noticed cleaner streets in recent weeks. Cleaning crews employed by the newly formed Southwest Business Improvement District began beautifying the neighborhood in September.
The BID, which started collecting money from local businesses in April, aims to serve the rapidly developing neighborhood with cleaning crews, park and public space renovations and events.
The BID is led by Steve Moore, who has been working with developers in the area for the past three years. Before signing on to lead the BID, Moore was president of the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership, a group that promotes business opportunities and development throughout the district. Before that, Moore was the deputy executive of the Downtown DC BID.
Hill Now spoke with Moore about his hopes and plans for the BID and how he plans to keep up with the rapid pace of development in Southwest.
Hill Now: What areas does the Southwest BID cover?
In a way there’s like 3 bids here, our border is Independence Avenue in the north, the southern boundary is Maine Avenue and M Street, and east-west the boundaries are 15th Street SW and South Capitol Street. It’s a big BID. In essence there’s 3 worlds here: the federal world north of the highway, the waterfront and the area around 4th and M. Each area wants a transportation plan, a whole maintenance and safety plan and a little more thought looking forward about branding and identity.
It’s 850 acres, so in terms of size, it’s bigger than downtown or Capitol Hill.
I think some of the work early on is to ask what do [these three areas] want to be, what’s next? How clean is it? Those are the early concerns, each with a different emphasis in the three sub-areas.
What are some of the unique challenges for the Southwest BID?
What some people don’t understand about Southwest is the enormity of the development pipeline. We’re tracking about 36 development projects at this time: five hotels, two museums, 13 residential projects with about 3,400 residential units, and more. The amazing thing about all of that is most of that will finish in late 2017.
As a BID, how will you prepare for such a development boom?
That’s exactly the question. The first thing is to understand how different it will be here as all of these things come into play. Second, we have the opportunity to facilitate things and make sure all this stuff comes online more smoothly. This ranges from deciding where the Circulator should run to how to animate public spaces.
Can you elaborate on how you plan to animate public spaces?
There’s a little parking lot at 4th and M streets by the Metro where we’re saying this is the front door to the neighborhood, how do we make it come to life? The developers for that spot and us and some other groups experimented over the summer with little events and little markets. We’re going to meet in a few weeks and decide what that is going to be in the spring. I think we have the same question over at 7th Street and Maryland Avenue, in and around where the food trucks locate every day. There are probably five or six thousand people who have lunch there every day.
Lastly, we have other little opportunities, like this little duck pond on 6th Street. It could be a neighborhood gem, it just needs a little more attention. We said we would love to work with (Ward 6 Councilman) Charles Allen to make this a special place. We just had crews of guys go through there a couple times cleaning up. Those three places as stages for events and activities to be programed are where we’re starting. Public parks here need a lot of work, I think the community standard can be much higher.
What kind of changes are you preparing for in the area?
4th Street is now under construction for the Museum of the Bible, which intends to be a world center for religious studies. It will have scholars and symposiums and a collection of religious materials from around the world, and it’s huge. In it’s first year it will attract probably 3 million people, and it costs $800 million. There’s no sense of the scale of that and the Spy Museum moving across the street from the wharf and 3,400 residential units all happening within walking distance from each other. There are 5 hotels under construction here, it’s kind of like ‘where do you go first?’ The Southwest BID will rewrite literally every tour book of Washington, D.C. that’s in print because access to the wharf will change the way people will visit the city and the way they use it.
Southwest is already becoming, quietly, a very attractive alternative to other neighborhoods. It’s all just beginning though. There is a period of time in late 2017 to early 2018 where it all seems to hit and some of what we’re doing now is getting organized around that to make sure things happen on time.
Do you plan to be involved in sponsoring art and cultural events?
We went to the Urban Land Institute with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly and the Westminster Presbyterian Church and said we have a lot of cultural venues here. We asked in aggregate, is this or could this be a creative or cultural district? What are the best practices when people ask that question and what do people do when they’re trying to form one? What that does is function like an audit which is to say there’s a lot of different cultural venues that we can bring together. I think it’s forcing us to look at the event calendar that already exists which is anything from annual arts fests up to the events now that are really taking hold on the water.
Can you talk a little about the street cleaning teams that are already working?
We talked to three different groups at length, and we happened to like the Ready, Willing and Working group from Capitol Hill. [Ready, Willing and Working is a group that hires ex-offenders and homeless people to work cleaning and maintenance jobs for the Captiol Hill BID] We did a contract with them in August and put the crews on the street in an advance basis in September. There’s 15 of them and they have routes that cover all of the BID area. We’re just kind of getting our feet on the ground figuring out what areas need special attention.
We pay them well, about $15/hour. They all have full benefits, the same benefits I have. They’re good guys, they all have a story to tell. Some of them are ex-offenders, some of them are homeless or were homeless. It’s not easy to get hired for these jobs and I think these guys are great.
You also have plans to hire neighborhood ambassadors: what will that job entail and have you hired and ambassadors yet?
No we haven’t. That’s a different job, you see people like them downtown. These are people that on one hand they’re giving directions to people and functioning like a friendly presence in neighborhood. There’s a lot of training that goes with that. And on the other hand they’re also eyes and ears for disorder. There’s a particular kind of training for that. We would like to put a crew of five to six together and have them on the street by April 1st.
What are some of the signs of the BID’s presence that residents and visitors have noticed or will notice?
The simplest thing is that it’s cleaner. We’ve been up and down as practice, taking tons and tons of sand and dirt out of streets that looked to us like they hadn’t been cleaned in years. Initially, that’s what people will see first: there’s no loose trash, no twigs and branches, trash cans are empty, those kind of things.
In the spring it’s different. In the spring there’s a more deliberate launch of ambassadors, the areas we talked about being programmed, and us taking on the maintenance and care of the duck pond. Those would be things that people would see most readily.
How has the BID been received by residents and other stakeholders so far?
I get the on-the-street response through the cleaning team. I think the cleaning teams are surprised that people have been walking up to them to say thank you and speak to them. I stay close to, as you might guess, government officials, including all the federal officials and the ANC here. I’m kind of in regular communication with the ANC and my sense is there’s a nice partnership there, things that are of interest to them are of interest to us. And I stay close to the neighborhood associations. The fortunate thing is the relationships are good, people actually like each other. That’s money in the bank early on like this.
Are you planning to hire additional staff and, if so, what kind of things will they focus on?
I think we have to think through transportation in a much bigger way. It’s possible that there’s a whole look at transportation in Southwest that will require us not to be staffed with just our person, but a real team of people working transportation. Everything from shuttle buses to water shuttles.
When it comes to the events side, there’s so much interest in public art, performance space, programming the spaces we just mentioned, it would be easy to see a team of people working on those as well.
At the risk of sounding completely nuts, I think there could be a really highly trained team of horticulturists as well. Our level of expectation can go way way up. I think that we have that fortunate period of time to dream a little and think how high can we raise those standards, how much fun can we really have over here. Let’s do the best we can do or the best anybody’s ever done.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Photo courtesy of Steve Moore
Capitol Hill Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in the Capitol Hill area. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out our event submission form.
For more events, be sure to check out our event calendar.
Wednesday
FDR and the Holocaust: A New Appraisal
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW)
Time: 7 – 9 p.m.
Best-selling author Jay Winik will discuss the challenges World War II era leaders faced, including rescuing Europe’s remaining Jews. Other prominent historians to join the discussion include the New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker, American University professor Dr. Richard Breitman and museum historian Dr. Edna Friedberg. Admission is free.
Friday and Saturday
In Their Own Words: Soul Strolls at Congressional Cemetery
Historic Congressional Cemetery (1801 E St. SE)
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
The Congressional Cemetery will have a second weekend of night tours. The tours will tell the stories of some of the 65,000 “residents” there, as interpreted by cemetery staff. The event will also have a cash bar and music each night. Tours are held during the twilight hours. Tickets are available online and cost $20 for adults and $10 for children who are 12 years old or younger.
Saturday
Trick or Treat! Halloween Cookery with the Kids
Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE)
Time: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Families are invited to take a kid-friendly food cooking class with a twist in preparation for Halloween. Radio and television producer Peter Ogburn will lead the class, which might include making monkey brains (cauliflower). The class costs $49 for an adult and a child, and $15 for each additional child. Wearing costumes to the class is highly encouraged.
Gangplank Marina Park at The Wharf (600 Water St. SW)
Time: 12 – 4 p.m.
This free, family-friendly community event will give locals a chance to spend an October afternoon along the water of the Potomac. Guests can craft their very own “pumpkin” with the help of on-site Wharf artists. There will also be live music from the Wil Gravatt Band throughout the afternoon, with food available at nearby Cantina Marina and King Ribs.
Yards Park (355 Water St. SE)
Time: 1 – 5 p.m.
The Washington Animal Rescue League is hosting the Second Annual Barktoberfest, an event scheduled to have local craft beer, live music, food trucks, shopping, a canine costume contest and a puppy kissing booth. General admission tickets are available online for $35 and include unlimited beer tastings. Dogs must be leashed at all times. Rain date is Oct. 25.
Tim Krepp’s Activism Among the Absurd — Tim Krepp’s efforts to make Capitol Hill more livable often work because he understands the absurdity of District politics, Washingtonian Magazine said in a new profile of the neighborhood activist and one-time congressional candidate. [Washingtonian]
More Details on Cathal Armstrong’s Three Planned Eateries at The Wharf — The three eateries that restaurateur Cathal Armstrong is planning for The Wharf include a distillery and a rooftop lounge at the InterContinental Hotel. [SWTLQTC]
Developer Plans to Raze Former H Street NE Church for Condos, Retail — A developer is looking to demolish a vacant church on the H Street corridor to make way for a four-story, mixed-use building. [Hill Now]
Rose’s Luxury Hints at Winter Opening for Sister Eatery — Pineapple and Pearls, the sister eatery of chef Aaron Silverman’s Rose’s Luxury, might open on Barracks Row as soon as this winter. [Hill Now]
Man Charged in Fatal Stabbing at NoMa Metro Station Ruled Competent for Trial — Jasper Spires, the 18-year-old charged in the July 4 fatal stabbing of a Metro passenger at the NoMa-Gallaudet University station, was determined to be mentally competent to stand trial. [Washington Post]
Hill East Eatery Curbside Cafe to Close, Pretzel Bakery to Expand — Curbside Cafe at 257 15th St. SE will close at the end of the month and nearby bakery The Pretzel Bakery will move into the space, allowing it to have sit-down dining indoors. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Restaurateur Robert Wiedmaier Walks Away from The Wharf — Robert Wiedmaier, the owner and operator of 11 area restaurants who was in talks to open a restaurant at The Wharf, has pulled out of talks to open at the Southwest development. [Washington Business Journal]
New Renderings Show D.C. Water’s Planned Southwest Headquarters in Detail — Ahead of an Oct. 26 Zoning Commission hearing, D.C. Water has released additional renderings of its curvy, green-glass headquarters planned for Southwest. [JD Land]
Parents, Students Complain of Harsh Discipline at Capitol Hill School — Parents of students at John Tyler Elementary School on Capitol Hill have claimed that a third grade teacher at the school has a history of excessive punishment. [Fox 5]
Development in Southwest Disturbs the Peace at District’s Only Houseboat Community — Residents of the Gangplank Marina in Southwest, the only houseboat community in D.C., said that development at The Wharf has made their quiet corner of the city louder and made their future at the site uncertain. [Washington Post]
Man Arrested for Bathing in Fountain at Library of Congress — A man was arrested for indecent exposure after he was caught bathing in the fountain outside of the Library of Congress last week. [NBC Washington]
D.C. Fountains Ranked by Potability of Water — Several fountains near the U.S. Capitol got high marks when Stuck in DC taste-tested public fountains and reflecting pools around the District. The Southwest Duck Pond did not fare so well. [Stuck in DC]
Chef Cathal Armstrong Planning at Least Two Eateries at The Wharf — Chef Cathal Armstrong, an owner of Restaurant Eve and Eamonn’s in Alexandria, is planning to open an Asian restaurant and at least one other eatery at The Wharf development in Southwest. [Washington Business Journal]
Barracks Row Eatery Zest Bistro Closed Indefinitely — The owners of Zest Bistro at 735 8th St. SE posted a sign yesterday announcing that the restaurant has closed as the owners focus on their new restaurant, Agua 301, in Navy Yard. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Washington City Paper Casts Colin Hanks to Play Councilman Allen in Fictional Council Movie — The Washington City Paper Arts Desk gave their suggestions for which Hollywood celebrities could play D.C. councilmembers, picking Colin Hanks to play Councilman Charles Allen of Ward 6. [Washington City Paper]
School Within School Students Take Inspiration from Sunflowers for Exhibit at Hill Center — The Hill Center’s Young Artists Gallery will display artwork created by School Within School students inspired by sunflowers that they painted at the end of last school year. [Hill Rag]
Friday Night Fights at Eastern — Numerous fights broke out among attendees of Eastern High School’s first football game of the season at home Friday night. A teenage boy was arrested for possessing a BB gun. [Washington Post]
Mental-Competency Evaluation for Man Charged in Fatal Metro Stabbing — A man accused of stabbing a recent American University student to death on a train at the NoMa-Gallaudet University Metro station in July has been ordered to undergo a full mental-competency evaluation. [Washington City Paper]
Capital Dragon Boat Regatta Comes to Southwest — Dragon boats manned by teams of rowers raced by The Wharf in Southwest on Saturday. “Dragon boat racing is the fastest growing sport, believe it or not, in the world right now,” event organizer Jeffrey Kuhn told WTOP. [WTOP]
Frager’s Negotiating Deal to Rebuild on Fire-Damaged Property — Frager’s Hardware is close once again to returning to its property on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. [Hill Now]
Photo via Flickr/NCinDC
