Amy McKeever

Last night was exciting for me – I was literally shaken awake at around 5 a.m. by an earthquake! My bed jolted and my room was rumbling like a mack truck had rolled in. It petered out pretty quickly, but it lasted long enough for me to know it wasn’t just my upstairs neighbors moving furniture around.

I woke again a few hours later and jumped on the computer to verify. And, sure enough, it was a 3.6 magnitude earthquake – unusually strong for this area (though not strong enough to cause any damage as far as anyone can tell so far). But it was my first time feeling a quake!

Another exciting first happened yesterday when I found myself on Capitol Hill, a neighborhood I rarely visit, and decided that while I was there I might as well stop by Spike Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery for the acclaimed toasted marshmallow milkshake. On a hot day like yesterday, the chilled campfire-in-a-cup shake totally hit the spot, and I can finally understand why I’ve been hearing about this milkshake so much over the last year.

If you like shoo-fly pie, apple dumplings and oxen roasted whole on a spit then read my latest post over at National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog about my exploration of the Kutztown Folk Festival. Unexpectedly, I had a blast there last summer tasting the goodies and meeting interesting people like Eric Claypoole, the man featured in the top picture. He paints those hex signs that were originally  meant to hang on your barn to ward away bad spirits but now make for pretty home decor. The festival starts on July 3 this year, so if you’re anywhere near Kutztown, Pa., I recommend the visit.

Also, I should have more to say here in the coming weeks… A lot has been changing, but I’m not quite ready to share it yet!

In the meantime, I thought I’d leave you with my intrigue of the day. I stumbled across a restaurant that offers patrons a lifetime of free fries if they get a tattoo of the restaurant’s logo. Then a friend told me about another place that gives customers free drinks for life if they get the place’s name branded (you know, cattle-style) on their ass. So… worth it? Have you heard of any other places like this? Is it more common than I thought? I’m going to research this as soon as I have time.

The good news is I’ve been working on some big projects lately (details to come soon, I hope) so I’m not writing much here. The better news is I’ve finally joined Twitter so now you can read my take on D.C. food and travel when I don’t have time to write up a full blog post. Catch me @AmyMcKeever.

Don’t worry, I’m not here to rant about someone putting down my city. This time I think I’ll let James Fallows do it.

In a post for The Atlantic last night, Fallows shares a letter from one of his readers critiquing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for D.C.-bashing in a recent speech (and many other speeches before that). In his speech, Gates said:

I’m pleased to be here for several reasons. First, it’s always a treat to be someplace other than Washington, D.C. – the only place where, as I like to say, you can see a prominent person walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand. Second, it’s even better to return to my home state of Kansas – a place of little pretense and ample common sense….

This little trick is nothing new. In fact, during campaign season all Washingtonians ever hear is about how vain and selfish we are. As I noted during the 2008 campaigns, it got to such a fever pitch that WaPo’s Len Downie Jr. wrote a suberb editorial defending the people of D.C. But I think Fallows’ reader has a much more interesting response to D.C.-bashing:

But, when our own political leaders do this (and the senior people who are appointed by the elected leaders), we diminish the many very good things that many good people in Washington and in government generally are trying to accomplish. We reduce confidence in government to make needed changes, and we sustain the impression that Washington is a hopeless mess (auidence: “heck, if Secy Gates can’t change the culture, we’re doomed”). It’s a cheap and harmful device.

I’d never really thought about it that way before, but it’s a thought-provoking thesis during an election year that doesn’t look very good for incumbents…

While I ended up coming to the defense of tourists and traffic in D.C. during the Cherry Blossom Festival (in one of my yearly I Love D.C. posts), this week will be the true test of the strength of my affection: President Obama is hosting more than 40 world leaders today and tomorrow at the Washington Convention Center to discuss nuclear security.

Now, we’re used to having foreign dignitaries passing through town, and presidential motorcades holding up traffic when you least expect it, but this is a totally new scale, and a lot of D.C. residents will be affected, particularly in their daily commutes.

I don’t live anywhere near the convention center and my office is safely outside the line of street closures, but the bus that I take to work in the mornings had to alter its route, meaning I had to disembark about four stops early this morning. And fortunately I realized ahead of time that F Street would be closed in front of the Willard (the hotel of choice for many heads of state) so I was able to take a route down 14th Street to my 14+F office building instead of F Street as I normally would.

The Green and Yellow Metrorail lines aren’t stopping at the Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center stop, which will be great if it means my commute home will go faster (skipping a stop, after all) but I’m afraid it’s more likely to end up causing delays. This is Metro, after all.

But it’s kind of neat to have D.C. hosting such a big event. I get a kick out of the Kazakhstan ads plastered on our bus stops boasting about having given up their nuclear arsenal. And the summit has given me quite a big to do at work these days!

One of the advantages of working for a Japanese company is that each spring the cherry blossoms provide a completely legitimate reason to leave the office for a few hours in the afternoon. Today, being the peak of cherry blossom season here in balmy 80-degree D.C., was my chance to walk around the Mall for an hour as the pink petals fluttered around me.

Yes, as you can tell, it was a perfect day. And as those of us who live in D.C. can attest, it was the kind of day where tourists overrun downtown and make you late for meetings even when you leave for them 10 minutes earlier than usual. Ah – the one burden of working steps away from national icons like the Washington Monument.

But as my friend and I made our way to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms frame the Potomac with the Jefferson Memorial in the background, all the tourists got me thinking about how much I love D.C. Even though I’ve been complaining all week about the cherry blossom tourists causing traffic and walking TOO SLOW, I’m happy to be here. I’m proud to see the U.S. Capitol whenever I go to CVS, in spite of the partisan rancor inside. I still stare at the White House whenever I walk past it, no matter who lives there. And I think the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season is about the most beautiful thing in the world.

I guess I was thinking about this today because this past weekend some of my suburban-dwelling friends were criticizing D.C., in particular for the traffic. Well, you know how you can talk trash about your own mom but if someone else does then they’d better send for back-up? Yeah, D.C. is like that for me.

I mean, let’s be serious. City traffic is horrendous in the height of tourist season or at rush hour, but Northern Virginia is no picnic either. I grew up there (and loathed it) so I’ve got some experience in that. We had to learn about three different shortcuts in order to beat the traffic to school in the morning. And if you learn the right routes, driving in the city isn’t so bad either. Although it would be nice if people would learn how to drive in roundabouts. (It’s probably the suburbanites screwing that one up, though.)

I’ve also had Virginians refuse to visit my apartment at night because of my “scary” neighborhood that harbors couples with young children and even some students from the school where I teach English once a week. It may not be the safest neighborhood in the world, but neither is Northern Virginia. A kid got his hands cut off with a machete a few blocks away from where I worked one summer in Springfield, another kid was stabbed near our high school auditorium, and our local mall’s parking lot was the site of many a sexual assault. Glass houses, guys.

The moral of the story is that I’ll talk trash about D.C. traffic if I want to because at the end of the day I still love this place. I even love the tourists because I totally get why a glimpse of the Lincoln Memorial would stop them in their tracks, causing me to bump into them on the sidewalk. But if you don’t love D.C. … don’t you dare talk about my momma.* Just sayin’.

*Also, please don’t talk about my actual mother. That won’t end well for you, either.

Great news!

The April 2010 issue of National Geographic Traveler arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and tucked inside its glorious pages was my first byline in a major national magazine. Page 35, to be exact. The article,  “Great Stays Under $150 in Japan,” is exactly what it sounds like – a round-up of affordable hotels in three Japanese cities – and was great fun to research during my trip to Japan last fall.

The short piece is technically small potatoes to most freelancers, but it’s still a big deal to me. I never scored a byline in the actual magazine during my internship with Traveler. It feels great to get that now.

So go out and buy the April 2010 issue (with Amalfi on the cover). You can also read my article on their award-winning blog, Intelligent Travel. But you should buy the magazine, too.

I was a little bummed when I realized I wouldn’t be able to make it up to my alma mater this past weekend as scheduled. It’s been awhile since I’ve been up to visit and so my PTSD of Syracuse winters has gradually faded. I was looking forward to seeing some old friends, eating a burger at the Blarney Stone and catching yet another history-making ‘Cuse basketball game. But, most of all, I was just kind of looking forward to seeing the place where I lived for four years.

Fortunately, life decided to make it up to me. Even though I didn’t get to see my Syracuse home (Ackerman Ave!) this weekend, I ended up in the neighborhoods of two of my former D.C.-area homes.

Glover Park

2232 40th St. NW was my home for two years and the very first place I ever lived on my own. The place looks a lot better than when I left it – the landlord had kicked me out so he could do an overhaul. I had my doubts whether he would do anything at all considering how long it took to get anything fixed while I lived there, but apparently he did a few things. After all, there’s now a little lantern lighting the steps up to the apartments, a hammock out in front and the door looks much whiter than it did for my two years as a resident. Not sure how it looks inside, but I’m impressed that it’s apparently livable.

Springfield

7106 Hundsford Lane is, for all intents and purposes, my childhood home. I lived here with my family for about 10 years, intermittently. None of us live in Springfield (or even Virginia) anymore, but I am lucky to be close enough to swing through the old neighborhood whenever I’m visiting friends in that area. My room was that top middle window and I think the tall tree’s branches used to knock on the panes a little, so it’s definitely grown. Mom will be relieved to know they didn’t cut down her magnolia.

Whitson Court, where my neighborhood buddies and I used to ride our bikes around and around. We even founded the Huffy Club down at the end of the court. Whitson Court is also where you find The Black Path leading to the “woods” and park.

The woods! My friends and I played down here by the creek all the time, jumping across it and exploring the sewer tunnels on the other side. We also had some pretty good snowball fights in the woods… which my college friends visiting from Maine kindly reminded me are too puny to be real woods.

The playground equipment has been updated (thankfully) but this is the same old playground area where we used to ride bumper-swings and play on the monkey bars.

Now, though, the park has a new name: The Mark N. Stubenhofer Memorial Park. I can’t say as I remember Mark (I was 10 years younger than him, after all), but I do remember the Stubenhofers’ name and how long they were a part of our community. It made me really sad to see this.

Hunt Valley Swim Club, where my sister and I practically lived every summer. And where I met my first boyfriend in the seventh grade!

And my other alma mater, Hunt Valley Elementary School. I went here for four years and I remember having a lot of fun, especially on the old roller slide on the playground. They took that down years ago, though, for safety reasons. Too many kids getting their fingers stuck in the rollers! Kids are such wimps these days.

And that’s about it! A major chunk of my childhood summed up in a few paragraphs on a blog. But it was fun for me to walk around those old neighborhoods and reminisce a little this weekend.

I made the trek out to Annandale last weekend to celebrate a friend’s birthday at the Honey Pig, one of the D.C.-area’s best known Korean barbecue restaurants. The friend is question is a big fan of Asian culture and cuisine, particularly the exuberant carnival of meat that is Korean barbecue. I’d heard him raving about Honey Pig many times before but for some reason I never made the trip out there with him until now. And I am so glad I finally did.

Yes. Further evidence that I could never make it as a vegetarian. Honey Pig is a bit lacking in decor, but its cup runneth over with delicious pork and beef.

One of the highlights of the Honey Pig experience is its interactivity. At the center of each table is a giant circular grill on which servers heap your carnivorous orders to let them cook. Once it’s done, you have the option to eat the meat straight up (after dipping it in sauce, of course) or making a lettuce wrap out of it with some rice, sauce and anything else you like. Then wash it down with a shot of soju and repeat.

Our group ordered a satisfying mix of meats - pork neck, spicy pork belly, beef, brisket and even a light order of intestine. Which I totally loved!

Honey Pig was just as amazing as my friend has long claimed. I ate until I was stuffed (I know, I know, to gym the next day) and rocked out to the Korean music blaring over the speakers. I’m grateful to the waitstaff for putting up with a group of twenty-and-thirtysomethings who had clearly had too much soju, and I can’t wait to go back!

Living in DC often gives me the feeling of being at the center of the world’s attention. As a journalist covering major events like presidential inauguration to Congressional votes affecting people millions of miles away, it’s easy to see my city as a focal point for news. And over the past week, that has been true more than ever.

SNOWMAGEDDON!

The ultimate snowball fight at Dupont Circle

As you’ve probably read, we’ve been pounded with snowstorms here in the mid-Atlantic and DC is completely snowed in. The good news is that I’ve survived and even enjoyed traipsing around in snow that comes up to my knees. The bad news is that my laptop is dead, so my only opportunities to get online are my Blackberry and my office computer.

Despite yesterday’s blizzard conditions, this morning I decided to walk to work – three miles on foot through at least a foot of snow. Metrobuses aren’t running and the subway is unreliable this week, so I figured walking was my most efficient option.

But it was kind of nice! Blizzards seem to bring out the best side of people. In a city where we usually don’t acknowledge the person crossing our path, these days we exchange hellos or a smile and nod acknowledging that we’re all crazy enough to be outside instead of curled up with a book. I’ve met more of my neighbors this week than I have in the past year of living in Mount Pleasant. And people are safely hitchhiking their way across town. I was offered a lift this morning, actually, but declined because I was enjoying the trek.

Anyway, the week has been pretty eventful, but I think I’ll tell the story through pictures rather than trying to explain it all…

A Facebook group arranged for an epic snowball fight between Dupont Circle North and Dupont Circle South on the first full day of snow. It lasted for at least four hours and may even still be going on.

The corner of Mount Pleasant and Irving streets, also home to Lee-Irving Liquors, which has managed to keep a lot of my neighbors warm throughout the storm...

My street.

Looking out my screen door

Car or mound of snow?

Car or mound of snow?

Car!

A car used to be here, I think. Some intrepid people have been digging their cars out and driving... well, I don't know where they're going because almost everything is closed!

Snome sweet snome.