Union Market Drive-In

I've written about our adventures at Union Market before, but they recently began a new weekly feature: a Drive-In Movie on Friday nights!

We arrived early and waited in a long line of cars, hoping to get one of the coveted parking spots!

Once we got a parking spot, we walked inside Union Market to look around and get an appetizer: Empanadas!

Old fashioned drive in calls for old fashioned cane cola and creme soda in glass bottles!

For dinner, we ate authentic Italian subs from A. Litteri.

Once the sun started to set, the magic began!

We settled into the truck cab, tuned our radio to 88.1 and enjoyed "The American President" surrounded by hundreds of our newest (and closest) DC friends.

My only regret: the guy in the car next to us brought a pillow - genius!  Next time, I will remember to bring my own creature comforts from home!

On a Boat...

DC has had a truly lovely period of perfectly divine weather--80 degree days with sunshine followed by 60-70 degree evenings.  It has been hard not to live outside!

The ultimate way to spend the day outside: on the water.

Thanks to a kind invitation from Jordan and Carolyn, we were able to do just that!

We sailed down to Mount Vernon - it was easy to pretend we were miles and miles away from the city.

Kern even christened the Potomac (ew) and jumped in!

Everyone else "forgot" their bathing suits.

Ah, the pure sky and sparkling water!

The Congressional Cemetery Goats

It was truly a night filled with animals on Capitol Hill...starting with this striped cat.

On our way to watch the Eco-Goats at the Congressional Cemetery (more on that in a moment) Kern made a new friend: Tiger the kitten.  He almost got a free ride in Kern's backpack, but we decided to let him continue to roam his regular stomping grounds.

So...onto the goats!  Some of the trees surrounding the cemetery have become overrun with brush, vines and invasive plants.  Because the Anacostia watershed is so close, pesticides are not a viable option.  The solution: ECO GOATS!  For about a week, 100 goats are let loose in the area surrounding these endangered trees.  They graze constantly, gobbling up the harmful plants and eliminating the problem--a completely chemical free solution!

We locked our bikes and began following signs to the goats!

We passed Henry Clay's tombstone on our walk!

The goats are contained in smaller areas until they have sufficiently eaten back the plant life, then they are herded on to the next patch.

Hungry little guys!

The herd is actually contained in the wooded area of the lot that surrounds the graves--so they not actually walking over and around tombstones.

All in all, by the time they depart, they will have eaten away at invasive plants on 1.6 acres of land!

Add this to the list of "something I never thought I would experience in DC!"

DC's Screen on the Green: Willy Wonka

I've been enjoying "Screen on the Green" each summer in DC since I interned here in 2007.  HBO and Comcast set up a giant television screen on the National Mall and showcase movies on Monday evenings.  I don't always love the movies, but recently they played one of my favorites: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

As a child, I may or may not have recorded this movie off of TBS one day (on VHS) so that I could re-watch it whenever I had a candy craving.

Imagining a real-life chocolate room was enough to tempt me to watch it over and over again!

In celebration of all things sweet and candy, Kern, Carolyn, Jordan and I brought plenty of sweets to share during the movie.  Oreos, mini chocolate bars, gummy bears...and homemade blackberry ice cream.  It was a sugar feast worthy of Willy Wonka himself!

"The Candy Man can because he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good..."