Washington, D.C
Washington DC: a stately city at the heart of American culture
On a heat spring morning, I woke early (thanks, jetlag), made espresso, showered, and set off on a stroll. I dodged early morning cyclists and sleepy pigeons on my leisurely stroll, and 20 minutes after leaving my lodge, I turned my telephone round to take a selfie in entrance of the White Home.
Regardless of the tight safety, you may get fairly near the world’s most well-known presidential residence, and I took some group photographs for my fellow early risers and paused to look at the everlasting protesters arrange their stalls and manifestos.
It was a wonderful day, and I used to be in one in all my favorite cities in America.
Washington DC will not be the primary place you consider while you’re contemplating a US mini break. You may consider New York with its power and purchasing, or Chicago with its nightlife and nice meals, or Boston for historical past, Irishness, and craic, and, certain, you’d have a good time in every of them – however in Washington you get all of it.
Direct Aer Lingus flights to the US capital make DC an important choice for an extended weekend.
Dulles is a well-run airport, and with the convenience of immigration achieved in Dublin, you possibly can skip proper out to your transportation and be within the metropolis an hour to 90 minutes after touchdown. In your route in you’ll see the Kennedy Centre, a working shrine to tradition the place U2 had been awarded their presidential medals, and the Washington Monument, lit up like a beacon welcoming you to town.
On this journey, we had been staying within the DuPont Circle Resort which is a part of the Irish-owned Doyle Group which additionally owns The Westbury and Croke Park lodges in Dublin, and the River Lee Resort in Cork.
The property has lately been utterly redesigned and is gorgeous — one million miles from the fusty outdated concept of an Irish-owned American lodge as you would get.
It was about 9pm once we arrived and we went straight to the Doyle bar for some meals and a nightcap. The situation means that you’ve got the right lodge bar mixture of vacationers, locals and enterprise (on this case political enterprise) individuals.
With a (good) margarita in hand, I sat again on my luxurious banquette to individuals watch: a clumsy first date and intense work dialog, and two hapless younger males attempt to impress some feminine associates on the bar. If requested to explain my good night, it could be this.
We didn’t keep too lengthy because it had already been a busy day and we had been up early to discover and revel in all town has to supply, which is, so much.
Rooms within the DuPont Circle are very, very good. The multi-million greenback refurb has given the lodge the type of delicate luxurious you dream of bringing into each factor of your life. Colors are muted and smooth however not boring and beige.
It’s the work of designers Martin Brudnizki and the singularly named Clodagh — the New York-based Irish designer who, at 82 years outdated, is as in-demand as ever.
An important a part of any lodge design, the mattress, is you’ll be glad to know like sleeping in a cloud, and even with the aforementioned jetlag, I managed an important evening’s sleep.
By no means one to overlook breakfast, the general public areas of the lodge are equally as stunning because the bedrooms above and the eating room, with its trace of artwork deco and plentiful foliage, is a good place to drink espresso and other people watch. Caffeinated, it was time to depart for our first full day within the metropolis.
We crammed as a lot into our brief go to as we might and began with the Spy Museum which is an immersive take a look at spycraft and the key service. You can spend hours right here and in case you travelled with kids or teenagers, it could be the right place to whereas away various hours.
As a whole and utter counterbalance to the wacky world of spying, our afternoon was spent within the Library of Congress.
Our backstage tour had us climbing via doorways hidden within the stacks to emerge onto balconies many tales above the hallowed studying rooms.
It’s an unimaginable residing museum, ever-changing, devoted to the written phrase and a go to is a should for any fan of historical past or literature.
This busy day was intermingled with breaks to drink extra espresso, go to unbiased bookshops and wander the waterfront, a brand new addition to town since my final go to.
The next day we went to the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
A part of the Smithsonian, it’s not an exaggeration to say that that is the very best museum I’ve ever visited.
You begin within the basement and start a one-way tour via African American historical past. It’s a deeply transferring, generally upsetting, phenomenally vital hour.
You stroll via segregated buses, sit at lunch counters within the Deep South, see homes that enslaved individuals needed to survive in, and perceive the complete depravity of the Jim Crow legal guidelines.
It’s a humbling expertise, however one you hope that hundreds of thousands will go to.
Upstairs, the museum is an ode to African American tradition and there are glorious displays devoted to music, leisure, artwork and trend and is a superb solution to spend many hours.
The constructing itself is gorgeous as is far of DC, the structure here’s a vibrant combine and looks like an outside museum itself.
I spent the afternoon in Georgetown, one in all my favorite elements of DC. It’s packed filled with nice purchasing, enticing streets, galleries, bars and eating places.
I walked via hordes of scholars on the best way again to the lodge and handed (effectively, went into) a Dealer Joes, the very best of all American supermarkets. There’s nothing like carrying purchasing luggage filled with ridiculous American snacks to make you are feeling like an area.
Meals performs an enormous function in DC life. A weekend farmer’s market operates simply beside DuPont Circle and is a good place to earwig and other people watch (are you sensing a theme right here?).
There are gorgeous native producers with some unimaginable produce. Perusing the stands and shopping for bagels, sandwiches, and pastries for a park picnic breakfast is excessive on my suggestions.
There are nice eating places within the metropolis and a favorite of ours was L’Ardente, a comparatively new eatery by the group behind the very well-known Unconventional Diner.
We’re advised a former president was in for dinner simply weeks earlier than us and we are able to see why, it’s a buzzy spot with glorious Italian meals. You may assume at first look {that a} 40-layer lasagne goes to be a little bit of a gimmick however it’s, like all the pieces else we tried, completely scrumptious.
If superb eating isn’t for you, Chinatown is a superb choice. It’s the place you’ll discover many DC locals on the weekend having fun with dim sum and hand-pulled noodles. Espresso tradition is massive right here too and Kramer’s, the historic ebook retailer and low store, is simply throughout the road from the lodge and an important place to dip your toe in.
Three nights in DC is an effective way to discover town and get a really feel for what it’s wish to dwell within the seat of probably the most highly effective capitals on the earth.
There’s an power right here that’s onerous to beat however there’s extra than simply politics; there’s unimaginable tradition, unmissable artwork, glorious meals, good enjoyable, and an important Irish lodge.
Washington, D.C
Preparations underway in DMV for snowstorm
Local and state snow crews are preparing to treat secondary and neighborhood streets throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
“It’s me and three other fellas, so it’s fairly small,” said Jason Swain with the Department of Public Works in Kensington Maryland.
He says his team may be small, but they’re mighty and ready.
“We get the plows ready, make sure everything’s working,” Swain said. “We have salt, which has been kindly given to us by the state, ready to put into the spreaders.”
He says the biggest hurdle when plowing snow, oftentimes, is cars.
“Some people don’t have driveways, but if they’re going to park on the street, try not to park directly across from each other because when we come through, you literally got inches between the edge of our plow and the cars,” Swain said.
In the District, plenty of people decided to step out before snow crews put plow to pavement for a potential all day snow event.
“Mayor Bowser activated the snow team, and they’ll begin their operations tonight, treating and then plowing roads throughout the day tomorrow,” said Clint Osborn with the District’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.
D.C.’s smaller plows will be on back roads and alleys, while heavy trucks will focus on primary streets.
“We’ll have a full deployment out throughout all day tomorrow into Monday as we support the inaugural activities in the District,” Osborn said.
Icy conditions in Prince George’s County during the region’s last snowstorm led to different strategies this go round.
In a statement, the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation says, “We have implemented adjustments to strengthen our response, and these improvements have prepared us for this round of winter weather.”
The biggest piece of advice for tomorrow:
“Tomorrow would be a good day, since it’s a Sunday, to stay home,” Swain said. “Read a book, have some hot chocolate, relax. Can come out after we finish.”
Washington, D.C
Days before Trump takes office, thousands of protestors march in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people from around the United States rallied in the nation’s capital Saturday for women’s reproductive rights and other causes they believe are under threat from the incoming Trump administration, reprising the original Women’s March days before President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
READ MORE: Trump arriving in nation’s capital for inaugural celebrations to mark his return to power
Eight years after the first historic Women’s March at the start of Trump’s first term, marchers said they were caught off guard by Trump’s victory and are determined now to show that support remains strong for women’s access to abortion, for transgender people, for combating climate change and other issues.
The march is just one of several protests, rallies and vigils focused on abortion, rights, immigration rights and the Israel-Hamas war planned in advance of inauguration Monday. Around the country, over 350 similar marches are taking place in every state.
Jill Parrish of Austin, Texas, said she initially bought a plane ticket to Washington for what she expected to be Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration. She wound up changing the dates to march in protest ahead of Trump’s swearing-in instead, saying the world should know that half of U.S. voters didn’t support Trump.
“Most importantly, I’m here to demonstrate my fear, about the state of our democracy,” Parrish said.
Demonstrators staged in squares around Washington ahead of the march, pounding drums and yelling chants under a slate-gray sky and in a chilly wind. Protesters then marched to the Lincoln Memorial for larger rally and fair, where organizations at the local, state and national level will host information tables.
They held signs with slogans including, “Save America” and “Against abortions? Then don’t have one” and “Hate won’t win.”
There were brief moments of tension between protesters and Trump supporters. The march paused briefly when a man in a red Make America Great Again hat and a green camo backpack walked into a line of demonstrators at the front. Police intervened and separated him from the group peacefully as marchers chanted “We won’t take the bait.”
As the protesters approached the Washington Monument, a small group of men in MAGA hats walking in the opposite direction appeared to draw the attention of a protest leader with a megaphone. The leader veered closer to the group and began chanting “No Trump, no KKK” through the megaphone. The groups were separated by high black fencing and police officers eventually gathered around.
Rick Glatz, of Manchester, New Hampshire, said he came to Washington for the sake of his four granddaughters: ” I’m a grandpa. And that’s why I’m marching.”
Minnesota high school teacher Anna Bergman wore her original pink pussy hat from her time in the 2017 Women’s March, a moment that captured the shock and anger of progressives and moderates at Trump’s first win.
With Trump coming back now, “I just wanted to be surrounded by likeminded people on a day like today,” Bergman said.
Rebranded and reorganized, the rally has a new name — the People’s March — as a means to broaden support, especially during a reflective moment for progressive organizing after Trump’s decisive win in November. The Republican takes the oath of office Monday.
Women outraged over Trump’s 2016 presidential win flocked to Washington in 2017 and organized large rallies in cities throughout the country, building the base of a grassroots movement that became known as the Women’s March. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 marchers, and millions more participated in local marches around the country, marking one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history.
This year, the crowd was far fewer than the expected 50,000 participants, already just one-tenth the size of the first march. The demonstration comes amid a restrained moment of reflection as many progressive voters navigate feelings of exhaustion, disappointment and despair after Harris’ loss.
WATCH: Harris loss causes some to question what it will take to elect a woman president
“Before we do anything about democracy, we have to fight our own despair,” said one of the event’s first speakers, Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March.
The comparative quiet contrasts sharply with the white-knuckled fury of the inaugural rally as massive crowds shouted demands over megaphones and marched in pink pussyhats in response to Trump’s first election win.
“The reality is that it’s just hard to capture lightning in a bottle,” said Tamika Middleton, managing director at the Women’s March. “It was a really particular moment. In 2017, we had not seen a Trump presidency and the kind of vitriol that that represented.”
The movement fractured after that hugely successful day of protests over accusations that it was not diverse enough. This year’s rebrand as a People’s March is the result of an overhaul intended to broaden the group’s appeal. Saturday’s demonstration promoted themes related to feminism, racial justice, anti-militarization and other issues and ended with discussions hosted by various social justice organizations.
The People’s March is unusual in the “vast array of issues brought together under one umbrella,” said Jo Reger, a sociology professor who researches social movements at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Women’s suffrage marches, for example, were focused on a specific goal of voting rights.
For a broad-based social justice movement such as the march, conflicting visions are impossible to avoid and there is “immense pressure” for organizers to meet everyone’s needs, Reger said. But she also said some discord isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Often what it does is bring change and bring in new perspectives, especially of underrepresented voices,” Reger said.
Middleton, of the Women’s March, said a massive demonstration like the one in 2017 was not the goal of Saturday’s event. Instead, it’s goal was focusing attention on a broader set of issues — women’s and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate and democracy — rather than centering it more narrowly around Trump.
“We’re not thinking about the march as the endgame,” Middleton said. “How do we get those folks who show up into organizations and into their political homes so they can keep fighting in their communities long term?”
Associated Press writers Gary Fields, Ellen Knickmeyer and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.
Washington, D.C
DCA warns flyers to bundle up after heating system outage
The primary heating system at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) has been out since Friday evening, and the airport is warning travelers to bundle up before they arrive.
“We apologize for any discomfort to travelers as we work diligently to return the heat to normal levels,” DCA said on its website.
DCA is still operational, and the broken heating system has not affected flights, TSA or airline operations, or any of the shops and restaurants inside. Temperatures outside in Alexandria hovering around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and according to a statement from the airport, temperatures inside the building are “generally in the 60s.”
“We are conserving heat in the building and are running alternate heating sources in a few locations,” DCA said in a statement posted to X.
Airport maintenance crews are working to repair the heating system, and have been since Friday night.
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