Sat, 1 November 2008  Today Julie visits the home of third US President Thomas Jefferson, Monticello with her parents, John and Katy Hamm. Mark was not able to be along with us today.
Julie talks about Jefferson and a little about Monticello, introduces her parents and we walk through the kitchen gardens. (1:50) We continue on to Mulberry Row, where slaves lived and a number of the plantation's main functions occurred, like the joinery and blacksmith shops, and the smokehouse and dairy. We discover and solve the mystery of the wires going up the trees. We also visit the Levy grave site and talk about the Levy's role in preserving Monticello. (6:32) After Mulberry Row we head up to the house, and the rooms under it, including the cidery, beer cellar, and the wine cellar. (16:56) We play the Trouble in Mind, by the Virginia Blues duo Cephas and Williams. It came to us from the Podsafe Music Network. (21:25) We are ushered into the house, and take the tour. We include some excerpts from the tour guide, including some interesting information about the clock in the entry to the house. (24:30) We finish up talking about the tour of the house, then prepare to head back to our car. (30:13)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Monticello Photo Album. Comments[17] |
Tue, 9 September 2008  Today we visit the summer presidential retreat of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Cottage at the Old Soldier's home.
Julie talks about the history of the house, and we start out at the visitor's center, checking out the exhibit in the entryway, buying tickets and checking out the gift shop. (2:03) We cut to our tour - and our tour guide, John S. Blackman. We have a couple of short excerpts from our tour. Some of this is, unfortunately, quite quiet. (5:10) After the tour, we reflect on it, and on the emancipation proclamation, which was probably originally written here at the cottage. We share what we have learned. (12:03) We play the Battle Hymn of the Republic, by the Air Force Band. (19:59) Julie talks about the recent history of the historic site and the restoration. We talk about the visitor's center, then enter it. Julie talks about the history of the Old Soldier's home. (25:19) We head into the building, and we visit the interactive exhibit (which works!) called President Lincoln's Toughest Decisions. (27:02) We finish up by checking out the last few exhibits in the visitor's center. (33:15)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Lincoln Cottage Photo Album. Comments[31] |
Sat, 23 August 2008  Today we take our time and stroll down Embassy Row Wisconsin Avenue in the international heart of Washington.
We start out defining embassies and consulates, and then the details on where "Embassy Row" is and why it's called that. We talk about the history of the building that is the Indonesian Embassy. (2:30) We check out the Gandhi statue in front of the Indian Embassy. We look at some buildings around the Indian Embassy, including the Phillips Collection, the Anderson House, and the Cosmos Club. (9:19) We visit the statue of Tomas G. Masaryk, from Checkoslovakia, followed by a block just full of embassies, including Greece, Estonia, Georgia, Turkey, Sudan, Togo, the Bahamas, and Ireland. (18:03) We pause, and Julie rests, in Sheridan Circle, then visit the Embassy of Korea, including some displays inside. (21:32) We visit the Embassy of Madagascar, then play a musical number that we heard at there. (31:42) We continue on past, commenting on the Embassy of Mexico, Embassy of Korea, and Embassy of Japan. (38:18) We visit the National Islamic Center (but don't go inside). Then we check out Rock Creek Park. (41:36) We visit a memorial to Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran, then finish up at the British embassy. Be sure to listen to our directions - this was tricker than we expected. (44:35) We end our podcast with an announcement that we will be limiting our podcasting to accomodate Julie's Plantar fasciatis.
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Embassy Row Photo Album. Comments[29] |
Sat, 26 July 2008  Today we visit the Pope-Leighey House. We think this is worth renting a car for. It can be visited at the same time as Woodlawn Plantation.
PLEASE NOTE: Julie is experiencing some minor health problems, which we will explain in our next podcast, which will reduce our frequency in the next several months. Tune in next week to find out all the details! We had problems with our audio files this week, so a few weeks after our visit, we talk a little about our impressions of the Pope-Leighey House, and the Usonian houses of Frank Lloyd Wright. (1:06) We listen to some of the tour we took, which we were able to retain. (7:42) We play Constant Architect by DC area band Lejune,which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (10:16) We continue our tour inside the house. (14:41) Weeks later, we share our impressions of the house. (21:10)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Pope-Leighey House Photo Album. Comments[15] |
Sun, 29 June 2008  Note - we had some technical difficulties in the last few weeks, which delayed our podcast this week. We've resolved them and apologize for the last couple weeks of missing.Today we visit the Woodlawn Plantation. We think Woodlawn is worth renting a car for. We start out talking about the plantation house, a little about it's history and it's association with George Washington. (1:18) We visit the gardens. (303) We play Southampton Railroad by Moongarden,which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (6:32) We are buy tickets and take the guided tour. We include some audio of the tour. (10:42) Unfortunately, our audio files are corrupted this week, so we finish our tour with a retrospective about four weeks later. (26:59)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album is finally here! Comments[16] |
Tue, 17 June 2008  Today we visit the Hirshhorn Museum, one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. We recommend that you use the We start out outside the Museum, and talk out our quest to go into the museum and find something that Mark will like. (1:10) Inside the donut, but not yet inside the museum, we talk about the round courtyard of the Hirschhorn, and the architecture. Then Julie tells how the Hirshorn came to be, and a little bit about modern art. (5:03) We finally enter the building, talk about the first floor and head for the second floor, where we visit an exhibit called "The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image". (12:36) We play Freaky Dreams by Andreas Hammer,which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (17:41) We continue around the second floor of the Hirshhorn and visit the modern and contemporary sculptures in that ring. Mark likes "Head of Sorrow". (21:21) We play Four Ruffles and Flourishes and Flag Officers March, by the Marine Band. (26:26) We get up to the third floor, which has a very modern, abstract collection. Julie puts some effort into defending Willem de Kooning. (26:59) We play Defending the Paint by The Soft Drugs,which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (32:10)
We finish up the third floor of the Museum, including a movie that reminds us of the old Mouse Trap Game. (35:10) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Hirshhorn Photo Album. Comments[9] |
Sat, 7 June 2008  Today we visit the Vintage Virginia Festival, one of many festivals and events associated with the Virginia wine industry. We think this is worth renting a car for.
Please note, our show isn't quite as squeaky-clean as usual today. There is some language and some substance abuse references in our first song. We taste wine (taking you along for one tasting), check out the crafts, listen to some music, and comment on the many food vendors there. We play Opening Band and Miranda Lullabye by Paul and Storm, who are favorites of ours from Northern Virginia, and which today come to us via the Podsafe Music Network, although their music is also available via a Creative Commons license, just like our show. (16:13) We are not going to give you the play-by-play on this one, since you won't be walking in our steps - this is more of a soundseeing tour. But some of the links we want to share with you are:
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Enhance the podcast by checking out our Vintage Virginia Photo Album. Comments[8] |
Sat, 31 May 2008  Today we visit the National Building Museum, a fascinating museum of building and architecture. We recommend you use the the Judiciary Square Metro Station to get here.
After crossing the "Zebra Crossing" into the museum, we grab a quick delicious snack at the Firehook Bakery located inside and spend some time appreciating the interior space. Both Julie and Mark are big fans of this local bakery chain. Julie talks a little about the history of the building, and for details we go back to a flashback of our Chinatown Podcast, which would be great paired with this one. (3:54) We visit the Cityscapes Revealed exhibit, and explore the world of building materials. (8:27) We play White Buildings by Marqui Adora, which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (16:13) We check out the children's area, The Building Zone. (19:07) We play John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever March by the US Marine Band. (21:28) We visit the Washington: Symbol and City exhibit and enjoy relating that to our own history in the Washington, DC area, as well as discovering more about the history of the various plans for the city and the variety of memorials and monumental buildings here. This exhibit finishes our visit. (24:40)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have a short but worthwhile National Building Museum Photo Album. Comments[15] |
Sat, 24 May 2008  Today we visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps, one of the DC area's newest museums. We think this museum is worth renting a car for, especially if you have a connection of some sort to the US Marine Corps.
We start off outside the museum, in the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, checking out the overlook and the future site of the chapel. We talk about the Memorial Bricks. (2:05) We enter the Museum and view the Leatherneck Gallery, under the soaring glass roof, and hung with many planes. (10:32) We play the Semper Fidelis March by the US Marine Band, and written by famous Marine bandleader John Philip Sousa. (13:01) We visit an exhibit on "Making Marines", which is about boot camp. Julie lets a drill sergeant yell at her. (15:56) We play the Navy Hymn by the US Marine Band. (21:11) We visit the exhibit about World War II and experience the landing at Iwo Jima in their immersion experience room. We take you along for a little of the experience. (22:02) We continue on to visit the Korean and Vietnam War exhibits. (26:20) We visit the art gallery and see art done by Marines and civilians that reflect the conflicts that Marines have seen. (29:42) We play a slower version of the Navy Hymn by the US Marine Band. (33:06) We finish up at an exhibit, near the Mess Hall, about the US Marine Band. (34:16) We play American Pageant by the US Marine Band to close the show out. (35:42)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from the Marine Hymn, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Follow in our steps visually with our Marine Museum Photo Album. Comments[15] |
Sun, 18 May 2008  Today we visit the Corcoran Museum of Art, one of Washington's finest private art museums. We recommend you use the Farragut West Metro Station to start this tour.
We start off talking about the history of the museum, before going inside. (2:22) Entering the museum, we pay our $6 admission each and head into the Treasures of European Decorative Arts Exhibit, where the highlights (for us) are the ceramics, the tapestries, the Salon D'Ore, and the Islamic Carpets. (8:04) We play Lauren by DC singer-songwriter Sharif , which comes to us courtesy of the PodsafeAudio.com. (14:30) We continue on to an exhibit on modern California Art. (19:47) We continue on to two sets of photographs, one in the Corcoran Corridor, and one of the Iraq and Afghani wars. (21:22) We visit the Rotunda, and the installation "Loop", which we have included a number of photographs of in our photo album. (22:03) We finish up our visit to the Corcoran with a visit to the European Landscape Exhibit. (24:36)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Follow in our steps visually with our Corcoran Photo Album. Comments[17] |
Sat, 10 May 2008  Today we return to the heart of DC and visit the historic Capitol Hill Neighborhood, just east of all those big fancy government buildings. We recommend you use the Eastern Market Metro Station to start this tour.
We start off wandering around Washington's historic Eastern Market. We even shop there! (2:15) We talk about Capitol Hill Townhouses in general, of which you can see many photos in our photo album this week. In particular we look at the unusual townhomes in Philadephia Row. (5:08) We play Welcome to DC by DC Hip-Hop Band Mambo Sauce , which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (7:53) We find ourselves at Lincoln Park, which combines history with a great public park, including playground and dog walk. (12:08) While we walk down East Capitol Street, we play Spring Fever by Monika Herzig , which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (17:08) We pause at the corner of East Capitol and Third Streets - right on the cusp of the government buildings, near the Folger Theatre, and admire one of the smallest houses in this area. (20:57) We walk past the Frederick Douglas Museum and Hall of Fame for Caring Americans. Note the web site was not working when we posted - we hope that is a temporary condition. (22:23) We end up, on our way to our dinner at the nearby Cafe Berlin , at the Sewell-Belmont House and Museum. (23:31)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Follow in our steps visually with our Capitol Hill Photo Album. Comments[16] |
Sat, 12 April 2008  Today we finish our two part "Papal Visit Special" by visiting the John Paul II Cultural Center, near Catholic University. We recommend you use the Brookland-CUA Metro Station to get to the Center, although there is parking here. This is an excellent site to match with the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Franciscan Monastery, also nearby.
We start off with Julie talking about the history of the center, and it's function, then move on into a room with Memorabilia of John Paul II. (2:06) We play Praise the Lord, Psalm 147 by Chuck Stevens , which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (9:15) We follow a ramp downstairs past the images of various hands of catholics from around the world, starting with Pope John Paul II's. (12:45) On the second level we check out Philip Ratner's sculptures from the Hebrew Scriptures, talk about the movie in the auditorium and the children's center before we enter the main exhibit space. (15:07) We view a few minutes of an introductory video on John Paul II, and then visit the interactive galleries on science and faith, the saints, and world religions, including our own denomination the United Church of Christ. (15:07) We play Kyrie Eleison by Helen White , which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (30:21) We finish up visiting the Polish exhibit, which has some of John Paul's vestments and the like. (33:57) Washington Travelcast will take a break for the next three weeks, while Julie and Mark go on vacation. Look for our next show on May 10, 2008! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the Cultural Center at our JP II Photo Album. Comments[11] |
Sat, 5 April 2008  Today we start a two part "Papal Visit Special" by visiting the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. (note - when we were publishing, this link was not working - we hope it is now.) We recommend you use the Brookland-CUA Metro Station to get to the Shrine, although there is parking here. After giving directions, Julie talks about the history of the shrine, and some of the church doctrine behind the concept of the Immaculate Conception (3:11)
We say we're going to start in the crypt church, but because we have only 30 minutes before mass is said in the upper church, we do a quick visit to that upper church, in order to visit all the little chapels, and get good pictures. We talk about it afterwards, in the Mary, Queen of Ireland Chapel. (6:30) We play Ave Maria by Jeanne Backofen Craig, from Virginia, which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (14:49) We go downstairs and pause for a minute in the Memorial Hall, and then visit the Hall of American Saints. (18:36) We continue into the Crypt Church, and visit the church, and many of the little side chapels of this more intimate, more medieval place. (20:42) We play Queen of Apostles, by Nancy Krebs, from Maryland. This also comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (25:26) We finish up with a visit to the Garden behind the Shrine. (30:17)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the Shrine at our National Shrine Photo Album. Comments[5] |
Tue, 1 April 2008  We delayed this podcast in order to release it on April 1, 2008. Today we take you on a bus trip through a Capital City - but the Capital of Germany! We take you on a ride on Busses 100 and 200 through Berlin. Unfortunately, something in the busses caused varying levels of distortion in our recordings, which we did not realize until it was far too late to fix it. It is a problem primarily in the first 5 minutes of the podcast. Note that some of the web links today are in German.
We start off at Berlin's Bahnhof Zoologisher Garten Station and board Bus 100 toward Alexanderplatz. We settle in our bus seat. these busses have long been famous with backpackers, but recently (in the last 2 years or so) the city has capitalized on these great busses. We talk about the major train stations in Berlin. (2:20) We immediately pass the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, and onto the Kurfurstendamm, then into the Tiergarten. (3:56) Once in the Tiergarten, we see the Siegessäule, the pass Schloß Bellevue, and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, as we pass through the Federal Quarter, where many government buildings are. This portion of the tour culminates with passing near the Reichstag. Here's a link to the wrapped Reichstag. (5:16) We continue on to drive briefly on Wilhelmstrasse, and past the Brandenburger Tor, before heading down Unter den Linden. We talk a bit about construction in Berlin. (11:46) We pass Bebelplatz, and the area around across from Museumsinsel, then the Neptune Fountain, which we can't see very well. We see the Rotes Rathaus, the Marienkirche. We get off the bus (16:05) We play part of Metro by Taktfrequenz, from Germany, which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (22:00) We stop at Alexanderplatz, and talk about its history, and about the Fernsehturm, and the shopping at Alex. We get ready to get cross the street to Bus #200. (21:50) We play a selection from Loveparade Berlin - Dance, by Bors23, from Germany. This also comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (22:30) Once on Bus #200 we head back along Unter den Linden, and make note of the Berliner Dom, the Altes Museum, Humboldt University, and the Neue Wache. (26:39) As we continue on our way. http://www.komische-oper-berlin.de>Komische Oper. We continue a bit south on Wilhelmstrasse, and admire the East German Plattenboden architecture, as we continue to Potsdamer Platz. (31:54) We continue on past Potsdammer Platz - and the Dunkin Donuts near it. We pass the central cultural area of the former West Berlin, the Kulturforum, which includes the Gemäldegalerie, the Neue Nationalgalerie, and the Berlin Philharmonic's concert hall. We continue past the Gardens just south of the Tiergarten, and the diplomatic quarter. We talk about Berlin's Hosteling International Youth Hostel.(37:25) We continue on back to the heart of former West Berlin, back on the Kurfürstendamm, the Europa-center, past the Berlin Zoo, and back to Bahnhof Zoo. (41:34)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the sites at our Berlin Photo Album. Comments[7] |
Sat, 22 March 2008  Today we celebrate 100 shows by taking you on the Grand Tour of Washington DC, a walk that takes you near most of the most popular tourist attractions, and most important government buildings. We start our tour from the Capitol South Metro Station. Note that where we have done a podcast on an attraction, our links today will be to our podcast on that subject.
We begin by passing behind the Capitol Building on First Street SE, talking about the Capitol and then turning our attention to the Library of Congress, followed by a walk past the Supreme Court Building. (3:39) We move on around the Capitol, talk about the Capitol Grounds and especially the Peace Memorial. (11:53) We reprise O Canada by Alberta women's acapella group Asani , which we played on our podcast on The 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This version of the Canadian National Anthem is sung in French, English and Cree. (16:00) We pass and talk about the Canadian Embassy, and the new Newseum which will open on April 11. Julie reads the first amendment off the building, and talks about the buildings that we passed on the way to the Newseum. (18:04) We play Eternal Father, Strong to Save, the Navy Hymn, sung by the Sea Chanters of the Navy Band. (22:30) We visit the Navy Memorial, and talk about the National Archives (23:27) We continue to the Post Office Pavilion, where we also talk about the FBI Building, Freedom Plaza and the area. (27:04) We play Hail to the Chief, performed by the Marine Band. (32:22) We visit the White House, and talk about all of the important buildings beside it and around Lafayette Square. (33:00) We head through the Ellipse to the Washington Monument, and look in all four directions. We talk about the Monuments heading west down the Mall, and the Museums headed East Down the Mall (North Side, South Side), as well as the various buildings and attractions to the north and south of the Memorial. There is a lot of wind here. (36:36) We play Moon-Shy City, by the DC band Lejune. This comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. () We finish up at the Tidal Basin where we started Washington Travelcast, talking about the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. We spend a few minutes thanking those who have helped make the first 100 shows possible, especially The Word Nerds, whose "node nerd", Dave, helped us get started. Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have a short Photo Album today. Comments[13] |
Sat, 15 March 2008  Today we present our annual review of things to do in Washington, DC during the spring season, from the Cherry Blossom Festival to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. We get to do this show from the comfort of our home studio. We provide a lot of links on this page to the events we talk about.
We start with the Cherry Blossom Festival, that annual celebration of the gift of the Japanese Government that rings monumental washington in cotton candy pink every March or April. Check out the Festival's official site, with links to all of the events we talk about. (2:04) We play Just Another by Northern Virginia singer Sharif, which also comes to us via the PodsafeAudio.com. (19:10) We go on to talk about some other events that happen during the festival, but are not officially part of the festival. (23:44)
We talk about events associated with the planned pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Washington. (24:50) We talk about the other "classic" spring events in Washington. (29:20)
We talk about Gardens in DC (32:06)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have no photo album today. Comments[11] |
Sat, 8 March 2008  Today we visit the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. We recommend you use the McPherson Square Metro Stop to get here.
We start off in the Palm Court on the street level, talk about Smithsonian Security and the history of the Renwick Gallery. (2:58) We play Copernicus Museum by Rob Astor, which comes to us via the the Podsafe Music Network (9:17) We head up to the second floor and enjoy the beauty of the Grand Gallery. (12:00) We head counter-clockwise around the gallery, despite anything Julie says, and visit galleries including "Game Fish" and "Banketje". (15:17) We pause in the Octagon Room (10:13) We play Your Papers Please by Captain Pop, which also comes to us via the the Podsafe Music Network. (24:53) We visit Galleries of craft including "Bureau of Bureaucracy, before heading out after our brief visit. (28:11)
Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have no photo album today, as we know that publishing photos from the American Art Museum is not permitted, from our previous experience with them. You will just have to check out their site, and look up pictures there. Comments[17] |
Sat, 1 March 2008  Today we re-visit the National Museum of Natural History, to visit their new Butterfly Habitat. We recommend you use the Smithsonian Metro Stop. If you are going on weekends in the spring and summer of 2008, we also recommend you get tickets in advance at the NMNH's ticket site.
We start off talking about the new habitat, and discuss ticket prices and options. (1:48) Once we enter the museum, we find our way to the new Butterflies and Plants exhibit on the second floor. We travel through the exhibit. (3:13) We play Butterfly by Kathy Pfaffl. It comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (11:20) When our time comes, we wait in line for our time, and then take you through the butterfly habitat. (8:18) We play Insectgirl by Adrienne Pierce. It also comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. Outside of the habitat, we visit the O. Orkin Insect Zoo, which has recently been entirely renovated. We enjoy all the icky squiggly bugs they have to offer. (12:24) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album has some pics of these beautiful flyers, as well as theire ickier cousins! Comments[11] |
Sat, 16 February 2008  Today we visit the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House. You will need to go to the McPherson Square Metro Stop .
Julie begins with some biographical information about Mary McLeod Bethune (1:52) We take a tour of the house, given by our park service ranger. (3:18) We play Sunday State of Mind by Lou Lou. It comes to us via the The Podsafe Music Network (6:33) We continue to tour the upstairs of the building, going back and reading more of the interpretive signs than we could earlier. (8:42) We play Don't you tell me by Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women. It comes to us via the The Podsafe Music Network (13:46) We watch the half hour movie on Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women, then finish up this relatively short podcast. Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album of the site.Comments[14] |
Sat, 9 February 2008  Today we visit the Frederick Douglass House. You will need to go to the Anacostia Metro Stop and take the B2 bus to get there. We also recommend you get tickets in advance at www.recreation.gov
We start off traveling to the house and admiring it from the outside, as well as giving some background on Douglass. (2:16) We visit the Visitor's Center of this National Park Service National Historical Site, and watch the movie. Then we head up to the house for the tour. (3:23) We play The story of the Battle Hymn of the Republic by The US Air Force Band. We break this story and song into two pieces. (8:18) We share a few minutes of our tour, and our wonderful tour guide, Jessica Brown, then play the rest of the story of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. (12:24) We finish up by talking about the tour, and heading back. (30:35) Mardi Gras was this week, so we add a little langniappe. Be sure to listen after the credits! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album has some great pics of the house! Comments[17] |
Sat, 2 February 2008  Today we take a walk through Washington, remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his time in the city. We recommend you buy a day pass and start at the the Shaw/Howard University Metro Stop to get there.
We start out by visiting Howard University, especially the Chapel, where Dr. King once spoke from the pulpit. We then walk through Shaw to the corner of 14th and & U Street, where rioting began in Washington when King was assassinated in 1968. (2:09) We head back to the train, where we head to Union Station to visit the bust of A. Phillip Randolph, who introduced King when he spoke at the March on Washington. (9:50) We play Power by Carmen Jiminez. This comes to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. (13:19) We hop back on metro and get off at Gallery Place, where we visit the Martin Luther King Memorial Library. (19:35) We head on to Freedom Plaza, then walk to the Willard Hotel, and the White House. Note that we think the time capsule is really scheduled to be opened in 2088, not 2008. (19:10) We play a portion of King's I Have a Dream speech. You can listen to the whole speech at AmericanRhetoric.com. (24:30) From the White House we take a long walk down the mall to the Lincoln Memorial. (27:36) We play another portion of King's I Have a Dream speech. (30:57) . As dusk turns to night we stop at the site of the Future Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, situated along the Tidal Basin, and finish up with the end of King's famous 1963 speech. (35:00) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album was shortened due to the descent of dusk. Comments[8] |
Sat, 26 January 2008  Today we visit the Sackler Gallery, part of the Smithsonian's Asian Art Collection. We recommend you use the Smithsonian Metro Stop to get there.
We enter the gallery and go through security, get a map from the information desk, and enjoy the flower arrangement in the foyer. (2:54) We head into a special exhibition, Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes on Edo Masters from the price collection. We can't take any pictures here, but we talk about the exhibit. (3:53) We visit the exhibit on the Arts of China. (8:29) We play The Night Tales of a Fairy by Fumitaka Anzai. This comes to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. (17:17) We continue on to an exhibit on ceramics from Southeast Asia. (19:10) We stop by the gift shop, the restrooms, and learn a little about Arthur M. Sackler. (21:00) . We visit the exhibit called Wine Worship and Sacrifice, the golden graves of ancient Vani, treasures from Georgia. (23:35) We play a portion of Silk Route by satya. This also comes to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. (23:01) . We visit finish up at an the exhibit called on sacred art of the Indian subcontient. (29:27) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album shares lots of the art that we were able to photograph. Comments[20] |
Sat, 19 January 2008  Today we visit the Antietam National Battlefield, in Sharpsburg, MD, as part of our occasional series on Civil War History. This is one that we used a car to get to.
We start off at the Information Center, where we enjoyed a film, a visit to the museum, and a great Ranger Talk. We share with you a bit of the talk with our ranger, John Hoptak. (2:27) We play part of Stephen Foster Melodies by The Marine band, recorded in 1934. (16:06) We begin the driving tour of the battlefield, starting with sights associated with the first battle, in the early morning. (18:38) We play The Southern Ideal March by The Marine band, recorded in 1890. Both songs are part of their bicentennial collection. (30:52) . We complete our tour of the battlefield, and visit the cemetery at Antietam. (32:58) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album takes you along the driving tour with us. Comments[15] |
Sat, 12 January 2008  Today we visit the Treasures of American History exhibit in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, here in Washington DC. We recommend you take Metro to the Smithsonian exit.
We start off at the Information area of the Smithsonian Castle, enjoying a quick breakfast, and checking out the information and the exhibits in that building.(0:57) We play Yankee Doodle by U.S. Army Chorus. (13:29) We continue on to the Air and Space museum and make our way to the Flight and Arts Gallery, where the exhibit is located. (15:01) We play Two Bass Error by The Airmen of Note, the Jazz Ensemble of the Air Force Band. (29:28) . We finish up our visit through the American Treasures Exhibit. (37:04) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music was from Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album gives a taste of what the Castle and the exhibit have to offer. Comments[10] |
Fri, 4 January 2008  Today we visit the International Spy Museum in the Penn Quarter of Washington DC. We recommend you take Metro to the Gallery Place/Chinatown exit.
We start off after standing in line at the elevator, by picking an alias, which we memorize, then visit a large exhibit on the tools and techniques of the spy.(3:15) We follow the exhibits into some exhibits related to the history of spying which start in ancient history. (7:40) We play The Spy Song by Swayze. It comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (11:18) We continue on with the history of spying, the highlight of which is the section on World War II spying, and the Cold War. (15:34) We play Sputnik Spy from Outer Space by The Modest Lads. It also comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (25:27) We finish up our visit exploring what spying might look like in the future. (31:24) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our walking Music today was short snippets of theme music from spy TV shows and Movies from the 60's and 70's. The references below include where the music is commercially available, so you can purchase it!
Our Photo Album is very small this week, because we were not permitted to take pictures inside the museum. Comments[46] |
Fri, 28 December 2007  Today we visit the National Aquarium, not the big fancy one in Baltimore, but the one on 15th Street in Washington DC in the Department of Commerce Building. We recommend you take Metro to the Federal Triangle exit to get to the Aquarium. Once there you will go through security and down a blue staircase to get to the Aquarium.
We start off checking out sea horses, right behind the admission desk.(3:11) We continue to visit a representation of a shallow patch reef, which we remember from snorkelling trips. Then we head into the main part of the aquarium. There is a lot here about the National Marine Sanctuary program, and we explore a little of the information on that. (3:52) Our next stop is in front of the shark tank, after which we continue to visit some of the Pacific fish (and I have no fish book on them). (11:13) We play Ocean by Zack Ashton. It also comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (15:54) We return to the shark tank for a talk on sharks and to watch the feeding. (19:55) After the Shark talk, and feeding the sharks we continue into the freshwater gallery, and visit those fish, including the fancy pirahna. (26:07) We finish up our visit at the exhibit on endangered species. (31:24) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, we interspersed bits of the National Park Service's Radio recording, and recording from the shuttle bus between the visitor's center and the lower town between our stops, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album highlights some of these beautiful creatures. Comments[7] |
Sat, 22 December 2007  Today we went downtown and walked from Union Station, past the Ellipse to the Willard Hotel. We saw all the Holiday decorations in downtown DC. We recommend you start at the Union Station metro station for this walk.
We begin our visit at Union Station's Norwegian Holiday, sponsored by the Embassy of Norway. (1:05) We play Christmas Time of Year by the Tequila Mockingbirds. It comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (4:50) We walk to the Capitol Grounds, to visit the Capitol Christmas Tree, then stop by the US Botanical Garden and check out their holiday train. (9:21) We visit the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Gallery of Art, and talk about the displays and events associated with the holidays at these two museums. (14:07) In between Museums, we play Sweet Little Jesus Boy by Nancy Krebs. It also comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (15:57) We continue on to the Sculpture Garden and the ice rink. (21:04) We play The Twelfth Night of Christmas, by Andrew Hamm, along with Karen Hamm and theRichmond Shakespeare Company. (22:34) We visit the National Menorah, the Pageant of Peace, including a performance by the Country Steppers of Northern Virgina, then finish with a walk up to the Willard Hotel. (26:10) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, we interspersed bits of the National Park Service's Radio recording, and recording from the shuttle bus between the visitor's center and the lower town between our stops, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album shows Washington all dressed up for the holidays! Comments[10] |
Mon, 17 December 2007  The Holidays are Joyful, as one of our favorite Christmas Albums tells us, but they are also hectic, and Mark and I decided to take a week off this holiday season! We'll be back the weekend of December 21st and 22nd, with a great holiday walk down the Mall, a great activity for the next couple of days. Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:37 AM Comments[10] |
Sun, 9 December 2007  We have a short podcast for you today, a visit to the Downtown Holiday Market, an open air craft market in front of the National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery, downtown in Washington, DC. The best metro station to use is Gallery Place/Chinatown, being sure to exit at 9th Street. The market will be run until December 23, 2008, from noon to 8 PM.
We didn't do a lot of stuff for this podcast, just walked through the market, taking you with us. We play Deck the Halls by Jim Goodrich, and The Huron Carol by Tracey Helen. Both songs come to us via the Podsafe Music Network. The performer that you heard in the background as we visited the market was Jason Byrd, a DC area Singer/Songwriter. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have some Photos of the Holiday Market. Comments[8] |
Sat, 1 December 2007  We spend another late fall day in front of our virtual fireplace reviewing how Washington, DC handles the winter holidays. There are many events, and we discuss some for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's. And we're including links here to all the things we discuss, so you can follow up on our suggestions!
We start out with the major events - the big ones that really define the season here in Washington. (2:09)
We play Festival of Lights by Alicia Bay Laurel, which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (15:15)
Next, we talk about Christmas Light Displays. (18:37)
We move on to discuss performances in Washington. Which, of course, you cannot do without talking about the Kennedy Center (24:14)
We play Santa Clause is on the No Fly List by Lee Harris, which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (31:41) Our next area of attention is Theatre and Dance for the Holidays.(35:24)Web links for this section:
We play Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light by J. S. Bach, performed by the Little River United Church of Christ Sanctuary Choir, which was used by permission. (38:31) We then turn to the religous observances in Washington. (40:01)
The Smithsonian Institution always has a great lineup for the Holidays - and 2007 is no exception! (47:36)
We enjoy Auld Lang Syne performed by Caledonix and brought to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. (51:09)
We finish up with a look at the opportunities in Washington to party in the New Year! (56:51)
Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We particularly wanted to know if this studio show was helpful to you! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Carol of the Bells by The Pittsburgh Symphony Brass. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[13] |
Sat, 24 November 2007  Today we visit the Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, focusing on the National Historical Park. We think Harper's Ferry is worth renting a car for! You can also take the MARC train to visit Harper's Ferry. We use the National Park Service's Lower Town Map for our walk through the town of Harper's Ferry.
We begin our visit at the visitor's center, where we part, visit the small museum, and take the shuttle bus into the town. (6:14) Once in town we visit the Restoration Museum, Frankel's clothing store, and the industry museum. We travel to the riverside, beyond the railroad trestle, where we visit the ruins of Hamilton Street. (13:43) We move to the back yard of Mrs. Stipes boarding house, the building that houses the Video program, and Julie talks about the history of the founding of the town and about Robert Harper. (17:09) We play Chuga Choo-choo by West Virginia country artist Skyla Spencer. It comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (20:12) We visit Arsenal Square, the Firehouse, or John Brown's castle, then wander over to check out the original site of the arsenal and the Firehouse. Julie talks a little about John Brown. (24:30) We visit a number of museums at Harper's Ferry: The John Brown Museum, the Wetlands Exhibit, and the Storer College/Niagara Movement museum. We also visit the watch repairman and the Confectionary. (30:12) We head up the stone stairs to visit the Harper House, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church and the ruins of St. John's Episcopal. (43:38) We finish up at Harper's Ferry's beginning - at Jefferson Rock (47:59) Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, we interspersed bits of the National Park Service's Radio recording, and recording from the shuttle bus between the visitor's center and the lower town between our stops, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for Harpers Ferry has some great Fall Pictures of the historic town! Comments[7] |
Mon, 19 November 2007  Today we visit the Gettysburg National Battlefield, in Gettysburg, PA. While it is about 2 hours from Washington, we think Gettysburg is worth renting a car for!
In addition to our podcast, if you are a real civil war history buff we recommend the Civil War Traveler podcast. This podcast goes into much more history than we can on the site, and provides you with a number of great walking tours.
We begin our visit trying to get into the visitor's center. Since we're carrying backpacks, we're unable to, so we don't visit the museum, interpretive film or gift shop. No worries, though, we have plenty to talk about without it! Julie then proceeds to get a little long-winded about the history of the battle of Gettysburg. (4:12) We begin the driving tour, starting at stop #1, McPherson Ridge. (13:43) We play the Hunter's Chorus from The Rose of Erin from a Library of Congress Concert of Civil War Era vocal, piano and band music. The piece was written by Sir Julius Benedict, and the arranger is unknown. (15:17) We continue on to the Eternal Flame monument, stop #2, and stop #3, the end of the first day, where there is also an observation tower. (23:11) We begin exploring the second day, July 2, 1863, visiting stop #4. Julie talks a little bit about the history of the second day of the battle. (29:50) We play Upon a Summer's Day from a Library of Congress Concert of Civil War Era vocal, piano and band music. The song was written by Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, and is sung in Swedish, and was one of Jenny Lind's Swedish songs. (36:03) Stop #5, dedicated to Pickett's charge, contains the Virginia Memorial, and moves into the third day. At Stop #6 we are back to the second day, and Barksdale's Charge, and we continue to Stop #7, about General Longstreet. (38:17) Julie spends some time talking about the various things to do at Gettysburg, while Mark drives to stop #8, Little Round Top, which has a lot of signs, monuments, and a great view. (44:45) We continue on to the Wheatfield (stop #9), the location of the single most bloody battle of the Civil War, and then on to the Peach Orchard (Stop#10). Then finally at stop #11 we end our exploration of the second day. (48:20) On our way to the Pennsylvania Memorial (stop #12) Julie talks a little about the strategy and battle of the third day of the battle. Once at the Memorial, we are pretty awed by the structure - the largest one at Gettysburg. (54:04) We continue on to stop #15 (we take the two-hour tour), the High Water Mark which is where the Union troops are finally successful. (59:56) We finish up at the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and the Lincoln speech memorial. Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of this cemetery, on November 19, 1863 (exactly 144 years before the posting date of this podcast) (1:02:10) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for Gettysburg follows the tour we took! Comments[5] |
Fri, 9 November 2007  Today we visit the Sidney Harman Hall/Harman Center for the Arts, the Shakespeare Theater's brand new performance venue. We went for an open house, but you are more likely to go for a play - so be sure to visit The Shakespeare Theater's Web Site. We recommend you use the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro stop to get there.
We begin our visit outside, watching an acrobat perform from a hanging hoop in the street. We read the 2007-2008 schedule of plays - which we'll see (:55) The first performance, from Macbeth comes to us from Speak the Speech, Universal Shakespeare Broadcasting. All the performances are provided under their Creative Commons License. (6:45) We enter the Hall and take the self-guided tour of the facility. After the main lobby, we visit the basement level, which is made up of the education center, meeting rooms, dressing rooms, costume shop and other backstage facilities. (9:55) The second performance, also by Speak the Speech is the All the World's a Stage speech from As You Like It. (19:03) We head into the Theatre itself, and check out our seats. We head up to the balcony, pausing by the theatre bar and looking out the huge open glass windows there. (20:48) The third performance from Speak the Speech is the opening speech from Richard III. (23:40) Finally, we discover another bar on the balcony level, and we visit the balcony, noting some of the work that is still ongoing. (26:04) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for Sidney Harman Hall follows the tour we took! Comments[6] |
Sat, 3 November 2007  Today we visit the Folger Shakespeare Library, the World's largest collection of Shakespeare-related books and objects. We recommend you use the Capitol South metro stop to get there. We begin our visit in the Garden and we view some of the statuary, which relates to Shakespeare plays. We get to hear some of the Shakespeare scenes and monologues associated with the statuary, performed somewhat better than we can manage. (3:06) The performance of the Epilogue from the Tempest comes to us from Speak the Speech, Universal Shakespeare Broadcasting, in compliance with their Creative Commons License (6:12) The readings of the "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet (10:35), and the "Now the hungry lion roars" speech from A Midsummer Night's Dream (13:00) came to us from Libri Vox, and are in the public domain. We finish up in the garden and continue into the Folger Library. We take a docent led tour, then sit in the great hall afterwards and talk about the tour, the architecture, and the history of the founding of the Folger Library. (14:17) We talk about the founder's room, and the art in that room, and about the Great Hall and the display therein. We also stop by the box office. (20:30)We visit the theatre and the box office. We see the marble Puck statue. Julie talks about the Old Reading Room, and the Seven Ages of Man Window. (27:00) We go outside, enjoy the ground level bas-reliefs, and finish up at the aluminum Puck Fountain. (31:01) We finish up with Puck's Song by Virginia singer-songwriter and Word Nerd Dave Shepherd. This comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (34:43) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for the Folger will let you see some of the statuary and architecture we talk about! Comments[5] |
Sun, 28 October 2007  Today we visit the Old Post Office Pavilion, on Pennsylvania Avenue. We recommend you use the Federal Triangle metro stop to get there.
We happened to do this podcast (and several others) on the day of a major anti war rally on the mall. We bring you some of the sounds (and sights, if you look at the photo album) of this experience! (0:54) Once past the anti-war rally, we make our way to the Post Office Pavilion, and admire the statue of Franklin in front of the Pavilion. (8:03) We get a chance to get an introduction to the building and it's history from Park Ranger Marcia Phillips. (9:23)Returning to the building, we head for the tower, going via a number of exhibits and information about the building. (16:21) We play Right Again by Maryland singer Cheri Arnett. This comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (20:35) Once inside the observatin deck, we enjoy the view, despite the obstruction by steel wires (you can see the issue on our pictures). We visit the information on the Congress Bells, and see the bells themselves. (24:40) Back on the ground, we finish up by enjoying an ice cream cone in the food court. (34:51) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music during the tour is Find Me, by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for the Post Office Pavilion has some unique views of DC! Comments[6] |
Thu, 11 October 2007  Today we tour the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We recommend you use the Smithsonian metro stop to get to the Bureau.
We start off with our usual directions, followed by a flashback to Julie picking up the tickets in the morning. She shares her 7:30 AM ticket pickup experience. (2:18) We play If You've Got the Money, I've Got the time by Merle Haggard. This comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (16:07) Returning to the evening, we wait in line to get in for our tour. We talk about taking the tour and logistics. (13:45) Inside we are firmly admonished not to videotape or photograph inside. Julie is a bit too scared to tape any of the tour, however, the microphone was accidentally on for a short period of time, so we share those few minutes with you. (13:45) Once in the gift shop we reflect on the tour, and talk a little bit about how you might fit this short (45 minute) tour into your visit to Washington. (17:03) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for the Bureau is rather small, since we could not take pictures inside. Comments[3] |
Sat, 6 October 2007  Today we take the Potomac Riverboat Company's Water Taxi/Monuments Tour from the Georgetown Waterfront to Old Town Alexandria. We recommend you use the Foggy Bottom metro stop to get to the Washington Harbor, where the tour starts.
We start off buying our ticket at the Washington Harbor, and talking about the Harbor and the view of the river from that point. (3:10) We board the Matthew Hayes. While we wait on the boat, we talk a little about the river. We hear the safety and informational announcements. Once under weigh, we begin to move down the river, past the Kennedy Center and the Watergate. (7:02) We go under several bridges. As we approach the Memorial Bridge, we also begin to see the memorials on the mall, including the Lincoln Memorial, as well as the Washington Monument and East Potomac Park, where we catch a glimpse of Iwo Jima, and Arlington Cemetary on the Virginia side. (13:30) We play This Day was Made for Sailing by A Sunken Ship Irony. This comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (16:07) We continue on south, under the 14th Street Bridge, and past National Airport. We get to see the Awakening at the south end of East Potomac Park. (20:04) After wondering what the residential are is off the port side, we discover that it is the US Naval Research Laboratory, and head on south. (27:01) We finally arrive in Old Town Alexandria, at the Torpedo Factory, and wrap up while listening to drummers. (29:49) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album for the day displays what wonderful photos can be taken on a nice day from the water. Comments[5] |
Sat, 29 September 2007  Today we take the City Segway's Moonlight Tour of Washington. We recommend you use the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop to get to City Segway, which is across the street from the National Portrait Gallery.
After signing disclaimers and paying, we meet our tour guide, Matt, who spends a half hour or so teaching us all how to ride Segways. Then we set off for a long ride down H Street and New York Avenue, with little to see, but lots of broad sidewalks to practice our newly developed Segway skills. We share only a little of Matt's beginning talk. (2:40) We let Matt talk about the buildings near the White House, including the Treasury and Blair House. (9:37) We pass the White House and head south of 17th street, into the night. We head around the Elipse, and begin to hear thunder. We protect the machines with disposable plastic ponchos, and a rainstorm begins. (12:10) We begin heading down Constitution Avenue and past the Smithsonian. We play Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton. This is used by permission, and under the terms of Jonathan's Creative Commons License. Soon after we pass the National Museum of Natural History we begin to get rain. After a few stops and starts, after we visit the National Archives, the sky opens up. We take shelter at the National Gallery of Art's East Building which has a large sheltered porch. (21:18) Once the lightning moves a little bit away from where we are, we leave the National Gallery of Art, and head on toward the Capitol in the rain. we ride the Segways around the Capitol. (27:50) After leaving the Capitol grounds, we head on up Pennsylvania Avenue, past the Navy Memorial and Ford's Theatre before returning to the Segway shop to end our tour. (35:43) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have a limited but interesting Photo Album of the first half of the tour, before the rain started. Comments[6] |
Sun, 16 September 2007  Today we take a tour on Tourmobile, Washington DC's on and off tour busses of the mall area and Arlington Cemetery. We started at Union Station but you can get on anywhere along the route. Convenient areas might include Smithsonian Station, the Washington Monument and Arlington Cemetery.
We start out with some logistics, how to get tickets at Union Station, and what the Tourmobile is all about. (2:00) We take the Tourmobile route from Union Station to Arlington Cemetery. (5:37) We play Security Girl by DC Recording artist Joe Shade. His music comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (15.53) We switch busses and take the tour of Arlington Cemetery, which has three sites, the Kennedy Gravesite, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Custis Lee Mansion. (19:10) We return to the regular bus, return to DC and complete the circuit, ending up at Union Station. (26:11) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Our Tourmobile Photo Album gives you a better idea of what the tour is like! Comments[3] |
Sat, 8 September 2007  Today we take the DC Ducks Tour of Washington. We recommend you use the Union Station metro stop to get to the start of the DC Ducks tour which is at Union Station.
After talking about the logistics of the tour, we head out in front of Union Station, ready to start the tour. Our tour guide, Cap'n Hap, starts us out along Louisiana Avenue, visiting some of the locations that we visited on our earlier, Capitol Hill, Tour. (4:19) We head on to the Federal Triangle area, and follow it from the Archives to Freedom Plaza. (8:21) We talk about the route through Washington, head into Virginia, past National Airport. At Gravelley Point we go in the water. (12:10) We play Six Little Ducks, performed by the Rockosaurus Rex. This came to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (14:14) We enter the Potomac at Graveley point, watch the planes take off from National Airport, appreciated the view in the river, and get Quackers. This is a very silly portion of our podcast (16:56) We exit the Potomac at Graveley Point, also, and we head back into the District of Columbia. (27:33) We head back to the mall, past the Smithsonian, and stop in front of the Capitol Building, before we return to Union Station, at the end of our tour. (30:06) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have an extensive Photo Album of our DC Ducks tour. Comments[3] |
Fri, 31 August 2007  We finish our visit to Shenandoah National Park.
We start at Mary's Rock Tunnel, just a bit south of the Thornton Gap entrace to the park. We talk about the building of Mary's Rock Tunnel, and the history of the founding and construction of Shenandoah National Park. (3:55) We play Two Roads, performed by the Woodshedders, which comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (10:58) We visit Stony Man Overlook and talk some more about the haze. (14:54) We visit Skyland Lodge, and talk about the guest services here. (17:02) We finish up at Big Meadows, and visit the new Byrd Visitor's Center. (26:11) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H, and from the National Park Service's Radio Broadcast at Mile 0 of Skyline Drive. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Our Shenandoah Part 2 Photo Album has some really great pictures today! Comments[3] |
Sat, 25 August 2007  We spend a lovely summer day visiting nearby Shenandoah National Park. You would be nuts not to rent a car for this trip!
We start in Front Royal, at the North Entrance of the Park. We actually start our discussion at the Shenandoah valley overlook. (2:45) We let the Shenandoah National Park Radio Broadcast let you know the logistics and fees. (4:11) At Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, Ranger Denise talks about Black Bears at Shenandoah National Park - we include a couple of bits of her talk. (4:44) We further explore the Dickey Ridge Visitor's Center, including talking with Ranger Laura about accommodations in the park. (6:50) We hike the Fox Hollow Trail, seeing and hearing wildlife from butterflies to deer, and exploring the history of the hollow and the Fox family. (12:17) We play Shenandoah, performed by the Singing Sergeants, the premiere choral group of the U.S. Air Force. (26:05) After finishing up our Fox Hollow Trail, we visit the Hog Wallow Flats Overlook, where we talk about the geology of the Blue Ridge. (32:34) We stop at the Hogback Ridge Overlook, which is one of the highest points in the park, looking out toward the Shenandoah River, and we talk about the issue of natural and man-made haze. (36:15) We stop at Elk Wallow for lunch - and talk about visitors' services here. (39:31) And we finish at Pass Mountain. We will continue this visit to Shenandoah National Mark next week, covering the area from Thornton Gap to the Byrd Visitor's Center and Big Mountain. (42:05) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H, and from the National Park Service's Radio Broadcast at Mile 0 of Skyline Drive. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Our Shenandoah Part 1 Photo Album has some really great pictures today! Comments[6] |
Fri, 17 August 2007  Today we visit the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. We recommend you use the Union Station metro stop to visit the Postal Museum.
We start off with Julie talking a little about the architecture of the museum building. We enter, go through security and then explore the floor that housed the historic DC City Post Office - back when this building housed the main Post Office for Washington. We talk about the history of the Post Office. (1:35) We walk down the stairs to the exhibit areas of the museum, starting in the Franklin Foyer, then visit the exhibit in the atrium, called "Moving the Mail."(5:08) We go through a number of the permanent exhibits, tracing the history of the mail, the postal inspection service and the art of the mail box. (11:15) We play Mail Order Bride, performed by the Monkeyshine. This came to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (25:50) We visit a number of interactive, high-tech exhibits, including ones on Mail Order, and direct mail. (29:29) After watching the introductory video, we cross back into the atrium and visit the National Stamp Collection. (34:04) We brought our son, George with us, and we help him create a postcard for his Grandma. (39:28) We finish up with a gallery of stamp art, and an exhibit on postal innovation, including military mail. (42:17) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have an extensive Photo Album of the National Postal Museum . Comments[3] |
Sat, 11 August 2007  Today we visit three of Washington's many service memorials, the U.S. Navy Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, and the Marine Memorial, popularly known as Iwo Jima.
We start off at the US Navy Memorial. We recommend you get off at the Archives/Navy Memorial metro station to visit this Memorial. (1:11) We play Anchors Aweigh, the Navy Song, performed by the U. S. Navy Band. (5:57) We visit the Lone Sailor and highlight National Park Service Bicycle Tours while we are here. (6:33) We play U.S. Air Force Song, performed by the U. S. Air Force Band and the Singing Sergeants. (19:11) We travel to the U.S. Air Force Memorial. We recommend that you get off Metro at the Pentagon metro station to visit this Memorial. (20:04) We play music performed on the Netherlands Carillon as we arrive at the carillon and the U.S. Marine Memorial, also known as Iwo Jima. We recommend that you get off Metro at the Rosslyn metro station to visit this Memorial. The music is performed by a volunteer carillon player whose name we don't know. (31:07) We play Marine Hymn, performed by the U. S. Marine Band. (39:38) We finally shake ourselves loose of the carillon music. and visit Iwo Jima, the U.S. Marine Memorial. (40:29) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.
We have an extensive Photo Album of the three memorials and the carillon.
Comments[5] |
Sat, 4 August 2007  Today we visit the U.S. Capitol Building. We recommend you get off at the Capitol South metro station.
We start off telling you how to get same day tickets and hours of the building. Julie talks about the history of the building of the Capitol, as we wait in line to get into the building. She doesn't finish before the tour starts. List of Prohibited Items (2:27)
While you are waiting in line you can listen to Constant Architect by DC Band Lejune This comes to us via the PodsafeMusicNetwork, and is from Lejune's new album We talk a little about processing through security, an inevitable experience in Washington. (13:32) We do the rest of the tour in flashback - recording our impressions afterward. We start with meeting Alice, our tour guide, and visit the Capitol Rotunda, and view many artworks, including The Apotheosis of Washington. Scenes on the fresco band around the dome. (15:19) We play Cohan's Big Three by the US Air Force Band and the Singing Sergeants. (20:23) We visit statuary hall, and learn about the 100 State Statues, and King Kamehameha, whose day was June 11. (24:06) We head down to the Crypt, and also get to visit the Burundi Corridors (not usually on the tour - check out our photo album to see them) and the Supreme Court chamber. (27:34) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have a great Photo Album including some photos of the Burundi Corridors on the Senate Side. Comments[5] |
Fri, 27 July 2007  Today we return downtown and visit the National Archives. We recommend you get off at the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter metro station, and be prepared to wait in line, especially if you visit in the spring and summer.
The day we visited, the city was very busy. While we were in line we met a number of young people associated with the National Anthem Project, who sang the Star Spangled Banner with Julie. She interviews Sarah, from Morrisville, Indiana, one of the young people, about the project. (2:29) We finally get inside the Archives and Julie talks a little about the history of the Archives and it's architecture. (6:50) We get in line again, and wait to visit the Charters of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. (12:47) To fill some of the wait-in-line time, we play Minor Swing by the WhizBang Shufflers This comes to us via the PodsafeMusicNetwork. (14:15) We visit the exhibit on the Charters of Freedom, and see John Hancock's John Hancock. (21:01) We visit the Magna Carta. Note that the copy in Washington is not the original, but a 1297 copy. (29:16) We head down to the Public Vaults, where we see a number of exhibits, including some interactive exhibits we think would delight a child. (29:50) We finish outside the archives, reading the inscriptions on the building and discussing the architecture. (40:21) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out our Archives Photo Album. Comments[15] |
Thu, 19 July 2007  Today we take you on a tour of our home town, Vienna Virginia. We recommend you get off at the the Dunn Loring metro station, and take the 2T bus to downtown Vienna.
We have a map of the tour on Google Maps. We start off talking about the how Vienna has striven to maintain a small town atmosphere, while existing in the very heart of Northern Virginia traffic. We don't recommend a car for this trip. Julie talks a bit about the history of Vienna, Virginia while we visit the Patrick Henry Library and the Walk of Fame. (2:45) We visit Mark's (and our daughter Catherine's) elementary school, Vienna Elementary, and explain why it has a Walter. (9:45) We continue by visiting the Bowman House, now an Arts and Crafts Center providing pottery classes. We interview B.J. Schmidt, who tells us about the center and about the ghosts of the Bowman House. (12:32) We visit the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, and the Vienna Community Center and athletic fields. Julie talks about the community events that occur through the year in the town of Vienna. (16:06) We continue on to the Washington and Old Dominion Regional Park, known affectionately to us as "the bike trail". Julie talks about the history of the park and the Civil War history of Vienna. (23:30) We play You Never Know by Virginia band GUM! 75% of the members of GUM! lived for some time in Vienna, Virginia. This music is used by permission. (28:17) We visit the new Vienna Town Green, which was recently dedicated, then go and have lunch at the unique and exciting Vienna Inn. (32:01) We double back to the W&OD Trail, where Julie continues her discussion of the history of the Town of Vienna. We follow the bike path past the Town Green to the Freeman Store and Museum. We also stop briefly by the Vienna Presbyterian Church. (36:23) We visit the Vienna Centennial Park, and the Red Caboose, then walk down the trail to the Vienna railway station. (44:04) After an unsuccessful effort to find the original Vienna Library, and some reminiscing about Church Street, we visit the Knights of Columbus Hall, formerly the location of the First Baptist Church of Vienna. We talk about the rich history of this church. (50:04) We end up in the Windover Hills neighborhood, a national historic neighborhood made up of many lovely large Victorian houses. Julie finishes talking about the history of Vienna. We also give you directions back to the metro. (53:23) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out our Vienna, Virginia Photo Album. Comments[13] |
Sat, 14 July 2007  Today we finish our tour of Georgetown, starting just after the Stone House, and ending at the Exorcist Stairs. While we recommend that you start this tour from the end of our Georgetown 1 tour, we give you directions from the Foggy Bottom metro station.
We have a map of the tour on Google Maps. We visiting the C and O Canal, the nearby buildings, and then walking down to the Waterfront. (2:15) We walk back under the Whitehurst Freeway, and visit the Old Georgetown Incinerator. (6:40) We continue by visiting the Grace Episcopal Church. (10:34) We visit the Georgetown Market building, currently inhabited by Dean and Deluca. (12:51) We travel through the streets of Georgetown, and we visit Smith Row, Cox Row, and a home that was once the home of Senator John F. Kennedy. Somewhere in there we discuss the history of public transport in DC. (14:35) We play Send Yourself to Work by DC band All City Affairs. It comes to us courtesy of the the Podsafe Music Network. (19:16) We briefly visit Quality Hill, which is under reconstruction, then move on to Holy Trinity Parish. (23:19) We visit the Volta Bureau, and talk about the Visitation School, then visit Pomander Walk. (26:51) We continue to Georgetown University, and take a short break on the grassy quad, admiring the buildings on the campus. (31:12) We finish up our walk at the "Exorcist" stairs near Georgetown University. (36:08) Email us at: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the second part of our Georgetown Photo Album. Comments[13] |
Fri, 6 July 2007  We finally get to Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood in DC. We'll be doing this over two podcasts. We walked to Georgetown via the Foggy Bottom Metro Station, but you can also take the Circulator Bus from Union Station or along K street.
We start in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, where Pennsylvania Avenue meets M Street. We find the Chagall Mural, at 28th and N Street, then visit 2806, 2808 and 2812 N Street, Federal Townhomes from the early 19th Century, and then Julie tells us a bit about Georgetown history on the way to Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. (5:15) We visit the Dumbarton House, which once was the very edge of Georgetown. It was reworked by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and is currently the headquarters of the Colonial Dames of America. (16:15) We visit the outside of the Oak Hill Cemetery, which contains a gothic chapel, but was closed when we visited. (19:00) We play Girls Night OUt, performed by the Virginia Group Full Minute of Mercury. It comes to us via the Podsafe Music Network. (22:00) We visit Cook's Row, Victorian Row Houses, both Second Empire and Italianate, and continue our Italianate theme with a visit to Tudor Place. (25:26) We visit the house that Jackie Kennedy lived in briefly after John F. Kennedy was Assassinated. More about the Kennedys in part 2! Then we stop by a house with a fire plaque. (32:12) We visit the Georgetown Station Post Office. (33:54) And we end up the first part of our Georgetown tour at the Old Stone House, the oldest building in Washington. (35:47) Our Theme Music is, appropriately, Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Our Georgetown Part 1 Photo Album is up, and we also have a Google Map of our tour today! Comments[3] |
Sun, 1 July 2007  In this podcast we're out on the road again, visiting Manassas Battlefield National Historical Park, the site of two important U.S. Civil War Battles.
We arrive just as a young volunteer is leading a group, so we head out with Zack Ford to visit the Henry House, and a couple of memorials. We let Zack tell us about the Civil War Uniform issue. (2:45) We visit the Stonewall Jackson Memorial, and Zack talks about how Jackson got his name. (11:15) We play How may the Red Rose Live Alway by Stephen Foster, and performed at the Library of Congress in a Concert for Brass Band, Voice and Piano, from their Civil War Era Band Music Collection. This music is in the public domain. (13:55) We continue to Chin Ridge and complete the short walking tour of the First Battle of Manassas. We let Zack get one quick additional word in. (19:04) After the walking tour we head into the Visitors' Center, where we check out the museum, the bookstore, and the film. We warn families with children that the film can be quite graphic. (22:46) We play The Battle Hymn of the Republic, performed by the U.S. Air Force Band (29:23) We finish up by taking the driving tour of the Second Battle of Manassas. (34:43) Our Theme Music is, appropriately, Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Our Manassas Battlefield Photo Album is up! Comments[4] |
Fri, 29 June 2007  In this special midweek edition we take you to Piola restaurant in Rosslyn, a favorite of ours. We recommend you get there via the Rosslyn station.
We visit with the owner and manager, Nabil Elachi. We play Soup du Jour by Virginia singer Bill Williams. This music is used by permission. We have a small Photo Album on Piola, which makes up, we hope, for not having one for our dining podcast! Comments[13] |
Tue, 26 June 2007  It's late but it's here! Today we stay in the studio and talk about dining in DC and the Virginia Suburbs. We share our favorite restaurants.
We start out talking about dining on the mall, primarily in the museums. (1:40) We head on out to places near the mall - Union Station, The Reagan International Trade Building, and the Post Office Pavilion. (5:51) We talk about dinner options in the Capitol Hill area. (12:32) We move on to discussions of restaurants we like in the Penn Quarter and Chinatown. (19:26) We visit restaurants in Adams Morgan and near DuPont Circle. (28:34) We travel in our culinary memories over the Potomac River and into Arlington area. We will be posting a midweek edition this week on Piola, our favorite in Rosslyn. We continue on into Ballston, and Shirlington areas. (35:13) We come home to Vienna, and the rest of Fairfax County. (41:15) Our email addresses are: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. There is no photo album for this podcast. Comments[4] |
Sat, 16 June 2007  Today we take you to a Ball Game, specifically a Washington Nationals Major League Baseball Game! We recommend you take Metro to the Stadium-Armory station on the Orange Line.
We attended the game on Friday, May 18 against the Baltimore Orioles. (During the podcast we say May 19, but we were mistaken.) After getting you to the stadium we talk about the stadium, logistics of getting tickets, and food. We start out the way every US Major League game starts, with a rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. For the podcast we use a version performed by the Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants. (6:20) As the game begins, Julie starts about the Washington Senators of the National League. while Guzman steals second base, Julie talks about the Senators being cut and the birth of the American League, and the second Washington Senators. (7:34) Second Inning, Julie talks about Walter Johnson, and the glory days of the Washington Senators, including their 1924 World Series Victory. (11:31) Fourth Inning, Julie talks about Clark Griffith, his ownership of the team, and Griffith field. The Orioles get a run. (19:40) We experience the race of the Presidents, and Julie talks about the culture of the ballpark experience. We do some chants, as Ryan Church bats. The Orioles score two runs in the fifth inning, and Julie talks about the second set of American League Senators, and the current Nationals. (25:30) In the sixth inning, Young hits a two run homer for Washington. (38:00) Julie talks about some of the unique things about Washington DC baseball, including Presidents throwing out balls, baseball spies, and Damn Yankees. (39:42) We sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. The lovely bass voice you hear is Mark. Julie continues to talk about some oddities associated with Washington Baseball. (44:30) We talk about RFK Stadium, Mark's memories of Senators' baseball while he was growing up, the future of the team, and the new ballpark. Both Orioles and Nationals score in the 8th inning, with each getting two runs, and Ryan Zimmerman hitting a two run homer. (48:50) We finish up with the end of the game, which is pretty darn exciting, then we head on home. (52:37) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from Take Me Out to the Ball Game from RoyaltyFreeMusic.com. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. We take you to RFK in pictures with our Photo Album. Comments[4] |
Fri, 8 June 2007  Today we return to Hillwood Gardens, at the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. Since they let us tour the mansion with the recording gear, we did!
We recommend you take Metro to Van Ness/UDC station on the Red Line.
We start out in the entry hall, and appreciate the various decorations and furniture in it. (1:24) We visit the Russian Porcelain room. (3:43) We head through a hallway with some display cabinets, and into the Pavilion. (6:57) Walking back past the porcelain, we head into the French Drawing Room, then into the Russian Icon Room, where we see the Faberge collection. (11:55) We stop for a moment in the library, then go into the dining room. (14:07) We visit the very 20th century kitchen, before heading on to view the exquisite collection of Russian liturgical items. (19:35) We play The Infernal Dance of Kaschey's Subjects from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite performed by the Air Force Concert Band. (24:25) Heading upstairs, past the French porcelain, we start off in the second floor library, then go on into the Adam Bedroom Suite - appreciating the pinkness of it. (29:05) We finish in Marjorie Merriweather Post's own bedroom suite. (32:34) Our theme music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. We don't have a new Photo album this week (no cameras allowed inside) but you can enjoy the grounds and exterior of Hillwood in our Photo Album from last week. Comments[14] |
Fri, 1 June 2007  Today we visit Hillwood Gardens, at the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. We were unable to get the whole visit into one podcast - next week we'll cover the mansion.
We recommend you take Metro to Van Ness/UDC.We start out at the Visitor's Center, paying our admission and seeing a movie. (5:09) We visit the French Parterre, right off the Mansion's French Drawing Room, and Julie talks about the life of Marjorie Merriweather Post. (6:43) We head around the house to the Lunar Lawn and check out the statuary and the patio that looks out over Rock Creek Park. We check out the flagpole on the lawn. (19:45) We visit the Adirondack House, and the Dacha. (24:29) We stop briefly in Marjorie's pet Cemetary. (26:51) We linger a bit in the Japanese Garden, for Julie the highlight of the gardens. (27:50) We play Sally Gardens by Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe, from the album Departure. This is brought to us by Ioda Promonet. (30:27)
 More On This AlbumWe visit the Putting Green, the Rose Garden, and the Friendship Garden. (32:43) We finish up at the greenhouse, with their lavish collection of Orchids. (40:29) Our Theme Music is, appropriately, Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. There is only one Photo Album for both our garden and mansion visits at Hillwood. Comments[5] |
Fri, 25 May 2007  Today we take a World War II themed walk through Washington We recommend that you take Metro to the Union Station station for this tour. We start the tour at Union Station, and talk a little bit about the station during those World War II days.
We continue to the National Japanese American Memorial. Julie suggests how to add this walk to the Union Station and vicinity walk. (#60) (3:45) We Play Waltz of the Trumpets by The Airmen of Note, the 50+ year old Big Band Ensemble, founded by Glen Miller, of the US Air Force Band. (17:42) We talk about the museums on the Mall and World War II, particularly the National Gallery of Art, the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History. We stop by the Carousel and note that there are many families and locals on the Mall on this early May Saturday. (19:45) We pay attention to the Kickball League of Washington, and visit the German American Friendship Garden, near the Washington Monument. (27:22) We visit the World War II Memorial. (30:32) We Play Big Mama Louse, also by The Airmen of Note. (37:38) We visit the Lincoln Memorial and discuss its involvement in the whole story of Washington, DC and World War II. (16:36) We visit the FDR Memorial. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States from 1933 to 1945, including during World War II. (45:29) We finish at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum. We talk a little about why we will probably never do a podcast on this museum, and talk about what is inside here. We recommend strongly that you visit it. (48:12) ) Our email addresses are: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Here's our Photo Album for our World War II walk. Comments[43] |
Fri, 18 May 2007  Today we visit Washington's 100 year old Beaux Arts Train Station- Union Station. Not surprisingly, we recommend that you take Metro to the Union Station station for this tour.
Union Station is a transportation hub. Some of the transport that is available here includes Amtrak, the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), the MARC Commuter Rail Service, Metrorail and Metrobus, Tourmobile, Old Town Trolley, DC Ducks, and the Circulator. We start at the top of the Metro escalator, and talk about Beaux Arts architecture, and how this station fits into that genre. (2:35) We head around front, look at the detail of the front of the station, and Julie talks about the history of the station. (8:01) We Play Helen by The Tone Rangers, an award winning a cappella octet from Northern Virgnia. The song is off the Tone Rangers' new album, We Think You Love Us and is used by permission. You can also catch the Tone Rangers on their myspace page. The Tone Rangers are definitely a favorite of the Washington TravelCasters, and we are thrilled to be including their music this week! (20:41) We head inside the terminal, visiting the Central and East Halls. We interview the manager of one of the shops there, Aurea. (16:36) We head past the Amtrak counter, then down to the food court and talk about the variety of food here, as well as the popularity with tour groups. (28:20) We head to top floor, then to the the back of the station, and check out the train station and the shops. We discover a new left luggage facility. (32:57) We leave Union Station by the back door, out first street, and walk a couple of blocks the the Government Printing Office. (41:03) We go down first street to near the station, where we talk about the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, the Capitol City Brewing Company, the the Dubliner and the Irish Times. (46:40) We continue down to the Senate Terrace Fountain or Senate Garage Fountain. (51:07) We visit the Taft Carillon. (53:45) We return to the station and check out the Columbus Fountain. (57:05) Our email addresses are: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Here's our Photo Album for Union Station. Comments[12] |
Sat, 12 May 2007  Today we visit Congress' own library - the Library of Congress. Specifically we tour the Jefferson Building. We recommend that you take Metro to the Capitol South station for this tour.
We start in front of the Library, at Neptune's fountain, where Julie gives us some historic background on the Library, and the fountain. (5:02) After a mercifully short attempt at humor, we head upstairs, starting in the South Corridor, devoted to Poetry. (10:02) We check out the Gutenberg Bible and the Bible of Mainz, which is contemporaneous with the Gutenberg, but hand lettered instead of being in movable type. The Bibles are located in the East corridor, which also has art associated with the history of books, and with good and bad government. (16:36) We visit the Great Hall, in the center of the Jefferson Building. (22:18) We visit the West corridor, near the original, and now largely ceremonial, entrance. (25:55) We visit the North corridor, which is clearly used for special exhibitions, and paintings devoted to the well-ordered life. (27:45) We Play The Reader of 360 Million Books by Shams, who comes to us courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network. (29:24) We start in the North end of the second floor, and are overwhelmed by the detail on this level. (33:42) We visit the West corridor, devoted to the sciences, and the South corridor with it's depictions of the senses. (37:00) The East Corridor is devoted to Literature, with ceiling pictures devoted to the life of man. We appreciate Minerva of Peace, but are unable to visit the main reading room. (38:41) Don't email us this week! You'd embarrass us. But if you must, the contact information is: Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Here's our Photo Album for the Library of Congress. Comments[10] |
Thu, 3 May 2007  Today we visit the East Building of the National Gallery of Art.
We recommend you take Metro to Smithsonian Station on the Orange or Blue Line or the Archives Navy Memorial Station on the Green or Yellow Line. Judiciary Square and Union Station are the closest Red Line Stations.
Julie starts off talking about the archeology (maybe that is architecture) and the history of the Building. We visit a half dozen artworks along the north side of the building. (3:33) We enter the building and visit Andy Goldsworthy's Roof, and then Julie talks about the building from the inside, focusing on the Calder mobile, and then about the roof and the Concrete that Pei used for the museum. The Pei discussion of the concrete is available at the East Building Architecture Tour on the Gallery's excellent web site. (15:39) We continue around the atrium area of the ground floor, discovering the variety of art there. Julie sits on one of the pieces. (22:18) We play the song Let Freedom Swing performed by the U.S. Air Force Band Diplomats.(24:45) We explore the ground floor galleries, starting with American Paintings from the early 20th Century which include paintings moved from the main building for the renovation. We talk about one of these in our National Gallery of Art West Building tour. There's a small balcony looking down into the Calder Room from this exhibition. We also visit the Small French Paintings. (26:55) We go into the basement, and we discover a lot of modern art, including Mark Rothko's Mural Projects (a favorite of Mark's) point out a few notable pieces, and find the Calder Room from the bottom floor. (30:30) We take a gelato break and play Drive by the DC Band Rotoscope. This came to us courtesy of the The Podsafe Music Network. (37:49) We skip the Mezzanine and the tower - the Mezzanine since it is usually temporary exhibitions, not part of the permanent collection, and the tower because it was closed when we got to it. We visit some of the modern masters - particularly noting the Picassos, and Brancusis. We take a minute to look out over the balcony. (42:02) We leave the building, and check out the sculpture along the south end of the building to finish our tour. (46:13) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Comments[3] |
Fri, 20 April 2007  Today we visit the smallest of the geographic quadrants of the city, Southwest.
We recommend you take metro to Waterfront-SEU station on the Green Line.
Julie starts out talking about the geographic divisions of the city. We then talk about Waterside Mall, at the top of the Metro escalator, and designed by architect I.M. Pei. (1:04) We head south on 4th Street, visiting a few eighteenth century buildings, and the heritage trail markers, and then visiting Ft. Mc Nair. (4:20) We head out to the Washington Channel and see Washington's Titanic Memorial. (8:45) We play Remember Me by Maryland artist Jessica Mellott. Her music comes to us courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network. (10:31) We head north along the Waterfront, past the parks, the dinner cruise ships, the restaurants and the marina. We visit another 18th century house, and Arena stage on the way. (13:55) We finish up at the Washington Fish Market, then tell you how to get back to the metro. (21;25) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. You can email us at feedback@washingtontravelcast.com. You can Skype us via skype name JulieorMark, and Julie answers Washington DC travel questions on Yahoo! Answers. Photo Album for our Southwest Washington walk. Comments[7] |
Wed, 11 April 2007  Today we return the Washington National Cathedral, to tour the exterior of the building and the nearby Bishop's garden.
We recommend you take metro to Farragut West and then pick up the Pennsylvania Avenue bus line, Route 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, to get to the Cathedral.
We start out in the Narthex, after coming down from the Observation Tower, and look at the West Facade. (2:12) We play the song Wie soll ich dich empfangen by Bach, performed by the Sanctuary Choir of Little River United Church of Christ, which is the choir we sing in. (8:34) We visit the gargoyles along the west and south facade of the Cathedral. (10:51) We play the song Sonata in E Major by Dietrich Buxtehude, and performed by Craig Stapert, Choir director and Organist of Little River United Church of Christ. Both this and the earlier piece are from the Album Forever Blessed.(23:42) We finish up with a short early spring walk through the Bishop's Garden. (26:52) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Comments[4] |
Sat, 7 April 2007  Today we visit the Washington National Cathedral.
We recommend you take metro to Farragut West and then pick up the Pennsylvania Avenue bus line, Route 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, to get to the Cathedral. (2:34)
We start out in the Narthex, and read one of the inscriptions there.(1:01) We enter the church and talk about the history of the cathedral, and it's construction and architecture. We talk about the Space Window. (5:14) We visit the side of the cathedral, for a better look at the Space Window, the bosses in the ceiling near it, and the Woodrow Wilson Bay. (12:18) We play the song Cantate Domino by Pitoni, performed by the Sanctuary Choir of LIttle River United Church of Christ, which is the choir we sing in. (15:44) We visit the Mellon Chapel, which contains a Coventry Cross of Nails, and talk a little about Coventry Cathedral and the Coventry Cross. (16:45) We visit the central part of the church, the crossing, then visit the Veteran's Memorial and Children's Chapels. (18:37) We visit the St. John's chapel, the choir, the Great Altar, and the St. Mary's chapel, in the nave of the Cathedral (28:17) We stop at the Holy Spirit Chapel, just before going down into the Crypt Church. (36:07) We play the song Prelude from Prelude and Fugue in D Major by J. S. Bach, and performed by Craig Stapert, Choir director and Organist of Little River United Church of Christ. Both this and the earlier piece are from the Album Forever Blessed.(38:18) In the basement, we visit the Bethlehem Chapel and the tomb of Bishop Satterlee. (43:53) We head on to visit the Joseph of Arimithea chapel, located under the crossing in the upper church. (47:49) Appropriate for a podcast we are putting up on Easter weekend, we end in the Resurrection chapel. (52:16) We take one quick last visit to the observation deck. Next week we'll bring you a tour of the outside of the Cathedral! (53:03) We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Photo Album for the first part of our tour of the National Cathedral. Comments[4] |
Sun, 1 April 2007  Today we wander just a bit far from home, and visit Seattle Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. We guess this is worth hopping a plane for.
We start in Seattle, and discuss how we came to be there, some history, and some of the sights to see. (0:48) We head out to the harbor and talk about the ferries, and the view of the city from the water. (22:16) We finish up with a discussion of the supremacy of Washington, DC over Seattle, Washington. This might be a tad tongue in cheek. (25:52) We Play April Fool by The Fallen Stars, who comes to us courtesy of Garageband.com. (28:07) We move on, using different means of transport, to Vancouver, British Columbia. We start out by the harborside. (10:44) We move on to the Gastown District, and visit a fairly silent Steam Clock. (34:43) We visit Water Street, and the Storyeum, and talk about the Harbor Centre Tower and other Vancouver Tourism possibilities. (37:14) We visit Gaeoler's Mews and Gassy Jack. (40:49) We finish up by finally getting a few notes out of the steam clock. (43:58) Don't email us this week! You'd embarrass us. But if you must, the contact information is: Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, our walking music is Find Me by H, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Yes, we took a few Photos out there on the left coast. Comments[4] |
Fri, 23 March 2007  Today we are celebrating a year of podcasting. And we take our first 52 shows and craft them into a great set of itineraries.
We start with suggestions for things to do if you have a long layover at the Washington Area Airports, or the train station. (0:48) We Play Simple Ways by former Charlottesville musicianSharif, who comes to us courtesy of The podsafe music network. (6:06) We talk about ideas for visiting for just an evening or a day.(10:44) We play The Washington Post March, written by DC native John Philip Sousa, and performed by one of the many service bands from the area, The US Army Band.(15:50) We suggest a variety of ideas for a two or three day weekend in Washington. (18:26) We play Everytime I Run by Centerville, VA band GUM!, which we played on show #1. (27:15) We suggest a more in-depth and relaxed set of itineraries for trips in the five day to weeklong (or longer) visit to DC. We include a few ideas for day and even weekend trips out of the area, which are worth renting a car for. (30:30) We play Hosanna Filio David, by The Little River United Church of Christ Sanctuary Choir, which Mark and Julie actually sing in!. (33:23) We finish up with a discussion of specialty tours, and special times of year to visit, and we talk about touring Washington with kids. (35:12) Millennium Stage does have a performance EVERY evening. Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album has all the best photos of our first year! And, we've done a slideshow of the pictures, available in Smaller (8.9 megabites) and Really Huge (213 mb) versions. Comments[11] |
Sat, 17 March 2007  Today we visit Mark's favorite museum, the National Museum of Natural History. We recommend you use the Smithsonian Station, Mall exit, to visit the museum.
Julie starts off by talking about the history and architecture of the building. (2:38) We meet inside, and talk about the elephant in the room, then visit the Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals, including visits to South American and Australian exhibits. (6:17) We play Dinosaurs by Ben Manuel which comes to us via Garageband.com (17:22) We continue on to an exhibit on the Sikh people, originally from the Punjab in India. (22:55) We stop near the Bug Corner, which provides access to real live insects while the O. Orkin Insect Zoo undergoes construction. You can still see tarantula feedings in the Bug Corner. (26:20) We visit the Fossils and Dinosaurs. (27:54) We play some selections from the song Ode to the Wooly Mammoth by the Dragon Ritual Drummers. This song comes to us from the Podsafe Music Network (32:30) We continue on past giant ground sloths and the Wooly Mammoth into the ice age exhibit. (34:21) We explore the African Diaspora in the Voices of Africa exhibit. (37:51) We head up to the second floor and visit the Origins of Ancient Culture Exhibit, then the gems and minerals. (40:36) We finish up our visit with a visit to the ground floor, past the gift shops, to where the Easter Island Statue, and several totem poles can be found. (50:30) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Photo Album for our visit to the National Museum of Natural History.. Comments[2] |
Fri, 9 March 2007  Today we discover an exotic, international neighborhood only steps from the Mall, at Chinatown. You can use the Chinatown metro station to get there, but our walking tour starts at the Judiciary Square metro station.
We start off at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the National Building Museum. We walk on into the Chinatown area, appreciating some of the architecture along the way. (2:29) We Play You Are My Everything by Lyndsey Highlander, from Richmond, Virginia, who comes to us courtesy of Garageband.com. (9:27) Julie begins to talk about the history of immigration in the Chinatown area, and how the Chinese immigrants displaced the earlier German immigrants. Then we visit St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, which was built by the German immigrants. (12:41) At the Corner of 6th and H we talk about the Wah Luck House, and Mary Surrat's Boarding House. Here we're in the heart of DC's Chinatown, and there are dozens of wonderful restaurants within a couple blocks of this point. (17:19) We visit Chinatown's most notable feature the Chinatown Gateway Arch, and Julie talks about the history of Chinatown over the last thirty or so years. Mark reads the inscription at the bottom of the arch. (20:01) We visit the location of the Goethe Institut, in a building that was built by DRI in the 90s. (25:24) We play Chinatown, by maestross, which comes to us courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network. (27:24) We visit the Greater New Hope Baptist Church, which was originally a Synagogue, and the 19th century Calvary Baptist Church, designed by Adolph Cluss, who designed quite a number of buildings in Washington DC in the mid to late 19th Century. (31:05) We finish up at 9th and G, across from the National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery, near the west-most entrance of the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Station. (36:08) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Chinatown Photo Album is up! Comments[2] |
Fri, 2 March 2007  On a cold winter afternoon, we stay inside and look forward to an early spring (promised by both the American and Canadian groundhogs.) We're spending this week reviewing the many events that occur in Washington and vicinity during the spring season. We're reporting on events roughly from the Cherry Blossom Festival (late March) to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (late June/early July)
We start off with a look at the highlights of the Cherry Blossom Festival. (1:48) We Play calling from Japan by comfortable, from Japan, which comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (9:30)
We move on to look at the other classic events of Washington. (15:06)
We talk about Gardens and House tours. (21:02)
We play Irish Jigs, by Murder the Stout, which also comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (27:15)
We continue by exploring the many festivals that come to DC in the spring. (29:15)
We review the opening of Washington's outdoor music venues: (34:29) We finish up looking at events especially for Families and Kids: (36:10) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. No Photo Album this week. Comments[8] |
Thu, 22 February 2007  Today we visited the Smithsonian's Museum of African Art. We recommend you exit Metro at the Smithsonian Metro Station. As you get there, you head through the Enid Haupt Garden, which we note is a free wireless HotSpot! We note that this means you can download WTC right there in the heart of the Smithsonian!
We enter the museum, go through security, past the information desk and the coat room, and talk a little about photography in the Museum, and about getting in. On the first sub-level we note that a major exhibit is not yet opened. (4:09) We visit the exhibit on The Art of the Personal Object. Mark makes a very tasteless joke, but Julie manages to keep him at least partly in check. (6:58) We Play Djibi by Mamadou, a West African artist currently living in Massachusetts, which comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (6:56) We continue on to the exhibit titled Body of Evidence, which is an exhibit of contemporary African Art. (15:58) We head to the second floor, talk a little about some of the smaller exhibits, and go in an. (18:42) We play Oyebisi Nga, by South African group Egyptian Nursery, which also comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (19:49) We visit the Exhibit from the New Orleans Museum. Unfortunately, I think this exhibit has ended, and another one has started up again. So you may not be able to see this exhibit, unless you go to the New Orleans Museum of Art (24:25) We finish up by visiting the ground floor and the ceramics collection, and then the gift shop. (38:03) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out our great Photo Album, to see some of the pieces we talk about today. We were not able to photograph the collection from the New Orleans Museum of Art but we were able to photograph in the rest of the museum. Comments[2] |
Fri, 16 February 2007  Today we head to a corner of Washington not well known to the average tourist, but with a lot of history, the Anacostia neighborhood, and the Anacostia Museum, a museum of the Smithsonian Institution. We recommend you exit Metro at the Anacostia Metro Station, and then take the W2 or W3 Bus toward the Southeast Community Hospital, getting off at the museum.
We travel to the Anacostia neighborhood to visit the Smithsonian's only community Museum, the Anacostia Museum. While waiting for the bus, Julie talks about the history of the Anacostia neighborhood. (2:31) We Play Gentle Whisper by Washington, DC R&B Artist Ebony Jackson, which comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (6:56) We ride to the museum and describe the architecture, visiting a sculpture out front, Real Justice - The Spirit of Thurgood Marshall, an Ancestral Guardian Sculpture by Allen Uzikee Nelson. (11:20) We enter the museum and visit an exhibit about African American Paper Dolls. (11:20) We move onto an exhibit highlighting high school bands in the District. (15:20) We play The Washington Post March, written by Washingtonian John Philip Sousa performed by the US Army Band from their album American Spirit. (18:33) The final section we see photographs by DC Photographer Steven Cummings - an exhibit entitled DC Undercover. (21:09) We return to the Metro, and Julie talks a little about the history of the Anacostia Museum before signing off. (24:31) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out our brief Anacostia Museum Photo Album, to see some of the sights we talk about today. Unfortunately the Museum limits photography, so we have a relatively short album today. Comments[5] |
Fri, 9 February 2007  #On a very windy day we return to U Street for a tour of that area, and the Shaw Neighborhood. We suggest you start out on the walking tour at the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro Station.
We start off at the African American Civil War Memorial - and after talking about the role of African Americans in the Civil War and the impact of that war on the population of Washington, DC. (1:18) We Play Make Yourself Comfortable performed by Sarah Vaughn, from Jazz-on-line.com. (9:37) We visit the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage, which was also the historic 12th Street YMCA. We visit a corner that is dominated by churches. (12:15) We visit 13th and T streets, the location of the Whitelaw hotel, deep in the center of Duke Ellington's neighborhood. (16:43) We play Hop Head, performed by Duke Ellington's Washingtonians, from Jazz-on-line.com. (19:56) We visit fourteenth street, the border between the black Shaw community and the surrounding white neighborhoods, and an area where segregation issues were particularly evident. (22:55) We play Georgia on My Mind, performed by Billie Holiday, from Jazz-on-line.com. (28:34) At New Hampshire and U Street we visit the Beaux Arts Buildings and the legacy of Mary Foote Henderson. (31:49) We visit Meridien Hill Park, then head back to the heart of the U Street Corridor. (35:12) We play Minnie the Moocher, performed by Cab Calloway. The recording comes to us from from Jazz-on-line.com. (22:19) We stop by the U Street Cardozo metro station and go down into the 12th and U Street Entrance to see the Community Rhythms Mural, also appreciating the Duke Ellington Mural outside on the True Reformers Building. We end our podcast out front of Bohemian Caverns, a famous Jazz Club. (20:44) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover! Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check our our U Street/Shaw Photo Album, to see some of the sights we talk about today. Comments[2] |
Thu, 1 February 2007  We're back in the District for February, exploring the African American history of the District of Columbia. We start off with a walk through neighborhoods and sights associated with one of Washington's favorite sons, Duke Ellington. We suggest you start out on the walking tour at the Foggy Bottom Station.
We start off in the West End, the neighborhood just north of Foggy Bottom, with a visit to the site of his grandparents' house, where he was born. (3:09) We play Down in our Alley Blues performed by Duke Ellington's Washingtonians. This music, and all the music on this podcast come from a fantastic source for public domain jazz recordings, Jazz-on-line.com, which we heartily recommend. After the music we find ourselves at the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo metro station, right in the heart of the U Street Corridor. Indeed next week we'll do a tour of this neighborhood, and we invite you to add that walking tour to this one to get a real feel for the neighborhood that nurtured Duke Ellington, which was known as "Black Broadway." We visit the street where Duke lived, and check out U Street's Duke Ellington Mural.(9:16) We play Happy Go Lucky Local Part 1, performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. This also comes to us via Jazz-on-line.com. (13:32) We visit True Reformers Hall, where a young Duke Ellington played his first paying Gig as a Jazz Musician. Next week we'll be telling you more about the history of True Reformers Hall. (16:26) We play Trumpet No End (Blue Skies), performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, from Jazz-on-line.com. (18:10) We visit the former site of Griffith Stadium, the original home of the Washington Senators, where at the age of 14, Duke Ellington took his first job as a concessionaire. (20:44) We play Take the A Train, Duke Ellington's theme song, written by Billy Strayhorn and performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. The recording comes to us from from Jazz-on-line.com. (22:19) We talk about the move of the center of black culture from Black Broadway to Harlem, and Duke's exodus from Washington to New York City. We talk about three other Ellington-related sights. (25:11)
We don't have the directions to Armstrong school yet - will post later.
Directions to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know if you enjoyed our visit this month to the historic triangel Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is New York City Blues by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check our our Duke EllingtonPhoto Album, which includes a signed portrait of Duke Ellington, used by permission of Mark Mitchell, whose web site BlackHistoryMatters.com is worth a visit. Comments[3] |
Fri, 26 January 2007  #
We finish up our visit to the Historic Triangle with a visit to Yorktown, where the American War of Independence ended. We visit two sites associated with Yorktown, the Yorktown National Battlefield, and the Yorktown Victory Center. We start off at the visitor's center, of the National Battlefield, which is run by the US National Park Service. Mark and I take the Siege Line walking tour with Stefan, a gentlman with a German acccent and an encyclopedic grasp of the history of the Battle of Yorktown. After the tour we play Captain O'Kaine/Rover Reform, performed by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, one of the U.S. Army Bands. Then Mark and I set off on the driving tour and visit Redouts 9 and 10. (17:04) Despite what we say we're going to do, we skip the Moore Farm (actually we stop there, but it's closed so we just take a couple of pictures and leave). On the way we visit the interpretive sign at the Deposit, then we head on to Surrender field, and talk about the surrender. (20:36) We visit the Yorktown Victory Monument, near the battlefield. (22:47) We play Songs of War, actual songs of the Revolutionary War, performed by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. (23:59) We arrive at the Yorktown Victory Center, visit the Visitor's Center and head out to visit the Revolutionary War Timeline, whereupon we are interrupted by the firing of a Gun!(29:22) We check out the camp, and discover how the American Army lived during the revolutionary war, including a gun demonstration. We explore hard and unsatisfying food (as well as occasional hunger), latrines and camp followers (women of the woods), and catch a Musket firing demonstration, before moving on. (33:04) We play Drowsy Maggie performed by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. (45:32) we finish up our visit by touring the Farm, which shows us how an average family might have lived on their 100 or so acres of farmland around and after the Revolution. (46:21) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know if you enjoyed our visit this month to the historic triangel Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our walking music today was Yankee Doodle peformed by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check our our YorktownPhoto Album to visit the sites along with us. Comments[12] |
Fri, 19 January 2007  We continue our visit to the Historic Triangle area, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in North America. This week we move forward more than 150 years to visit that incredible slice of colonial life in Colonial Williamsburg.
We start our visit at Colonial Williamsburg's large and useful Visitor's Center, seeing the movie and getting situated. Our admission was part of our triangle pass, which covered 5 days at the various sites in Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. (1:32) As we arrive at the gatehouse near the Governor's palace, we are informed that a play is going on throughout the day, and so we visit a scene of The Cost of Freedom, performed in the street in front of the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Glouchester (known to locals as Dog) Street. (2:41) We take a tour of the Virginia Capital. This was the Capital of Colonial Virginia for 75 years. We have an outstanding guide, who walks us through chambers for the court, the upper house and the House of Burgesses. Julie talks a little about the history of Williamsburg, and how the city came to be preserved, and to be presented today as an incredible historic site. (8:21) We head on next to the Gunmith's Shop. (23:54) After Passing one of the ticket offices, we seek out the Gaeol, and visit it. (25:25) We play the Menuet from J.S. Bach's French Suite #6 performed on harpshichord by John F. Hamm, Jr., specifically for Washington TravelCast. (27:49) Returning to Duke of Glouchester Street, we stop by the archeological excavation at Charleton's Coffeehouse, then visit some of the shops down the street. We make particular note of the restaurants associated with Colonial Williamsburg - and remind you to make reservations in advance. (29:00) We encounter another scene from the play, then visit the perruke (wig) maker, silversmith's and milliner's, the blacksmith's. Mark talks about the rental of period costume, and about the kids running around in some of the rented costumes. You can see a couple pictures of young people in costume in our Williamsburg Photo Album. (31:52) We visit the Hunter's store, a Grocery, the bindery and post office, before a militia passes in the street, and we are told that General Washington will be speaking shortly at the Courthouse. (39:42) General Washington speaks to the crowd from the county courthouse steps. Across from the courhouse is an encampment, and we are thrust into the Revolutionary Fever. (41:51) We take a tour of the Randolph House. (43:35) We Play the Allemande from J. S. Bach's French Suite #5, music that might have been played on the harpsichord sitting in the Ballroom of the Governor's Palace here in Williamsburg. We are again thankful to John Hamm, Jr. for performing these works exclusively for Washington TravelCast. (45:59) We tour the Governor's Palace, one of the most interesting and elaborate buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. (49:24) We finish up our visit at Burton Parish Church, the Episcopal Church that was a church home for many of our founding fathers while they lived in Williamsburg. This church houses a modern congregation, as well as being a historical site. (56:36) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[3] |
Thu, 11 January 2007  Today we continue our exploration of Jamestown with a walk that picks up where last week's left off. Today we visit Jamestown Settlement, a historical sight and out door museum. We give you directions from the nearby Historic Jamestown site.
We start off at the visitor's center, which also houses a gift shop, a restaurant (with good vegetarian chili) and a large museum complex. We head out into the grassy space called the mall to admire the tower that was erected for the 350th anniversary of Jamestown. We set out to visit the Powhatan Indian Village, and learn how the indigenous people lived at the time that the British settlers arrived and settled here. (3:05) We head on to James Fort, where we see the soldiers of the watch, an armorer, and a number of food-based presentations, including some men butchering hogs, and women cooking. We bring you a number of those conversations(7:01) We head on to visit the ships of Jamestown, and board first the Godspeed and then the Susan Comfort. We learn a bit about sails and get a picture of Mark with a sailor. (22:41) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We particularly wanted to know if this studio show was helpful to you! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check our our Jamestown Settlement Photo Album to see what we talked about. Comments[5] |
Wed, 3 January 2007  Today we visit Historic Jamestowne, which is gearing up to celebrate 400 years since the landing of the settlers to the first permanent English colony in the new worldAfter talking about directions and the Historic Triangle Pass, we start at the Visitor's Center, where we talk about the options available to you at Historic Jamestown. (5:24) We walk over the bridge and continue at the Tercentennary Monument. Julie talks a little about the settlers who came to Jamestown. (6:40) We head on to visit the Pocohontas statue, read the plaque with the history of Pocohontas on it, then visit the church, outside and inside. This church was the site of the first representative government in the Americas. (10:11) From the Church, we move on to the site of the original Fort - which has a replica of the fort being built upon it. (15:05) We play Sonata IV Opus I: Alle, composed by Dietrich Buxtehude, and played by Ensemble Vermillion. This piece is from the later 17th century, and contemporaneous with the Jamestown colony. It comes to us from Magnatune, an internet record distributor.(16:45) We stop by the statue of John Smith, hear about his biography, then talk about it's setting by the seawall, the church, and the nearby archeological dig. (23:07) We move on to another section of the site - and visit an ancient well, a memorial to Hunt, the colonies first Anglican minister. We note the Dale House Cafe, and the Archaerium. (27:00) On our way back we talk about how the settlers found the Virginia environment, and about the accessibility of the site to the handicapped. (29:59) We check out the Great Road - the first English highway in America. Beyond the Obelisk we visit again the ruins and foundations. Mark reads about the foundations. (32:31) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We particularly wanted to know if this studio show was helpful to you! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our walking music is from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.\ Our Historic Jamestowne Photo Album complements the visit. Comments[11] |
Fri, 29 December 2006  Today we take you to one of the finest museums in the world for Asian Art, the Smithsonian's The Freer Gallery of Art. We recommend you take the Smithsonian Station, as the Mall entrance is practically across the street from the Museum.
Julie talks about the history of the museum and of Charles Lang Freer, who gave the nation this museum. (2:02) We visit galleries associated with Buddhist art, Freer's travels in Egypt, and Chinese Art from the Zhou tribe. (5:50) We cross to an inside gallery, dediated to Daoism in Chinese ARt (15:52) We play "As the Wind Blows" by Kitaro, which comes to us from Ioda Promonet, and you can follow the link below to find out more about the artist and the music. (18:18)
Download "As The Wind Blows" (mp3)
We visit Whistler's "Harmony in Blue and Gold, The Peacock Room," reading the information about it and the history of it's building, then we continue on to view the Whistler collection, then the rest of the contemporaneous American Art (23:12) We rest for a few minutes in the Loggia on the side of the Courtyard.(30:54) We pass through exhibits of Korean Ceramics, Japanese Art, and Art of the Indian subcontinent. We finish up with a look at a portrait of Freer, painted by Whistler. (32:30) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Freer Gallery Photo Album depicts some of our visit, and some of the pieces we talked about. Comments[15] |
Fri, 22 December 2006  Today we visit the Home of George Washington, the first American President. Mount Vernon provides evening candlelight tours during three weekends in late November and early December. We reserved and paid for our tour a few weeks in advance. The tickets in 2006 cost $15 per person. We recommend taking metro to the Huntington Station on the Yellow Line, then the Fairfax Connector Bus #101, the Fort Hunt Line. This is an efficient and quick way to get to the mansion.
We start off when out tour is called by the crier, and listen to a couple of the period-clad docents talk about visiting the Washington household and Christmas in the 18th Century. (2:54) We play Personent Hodie performed by the Little River United Church of Christ Contemporary Choir. This is from the CD Forever Blessed. (Mark and Julie sing in this choir.) (12:27) We are unable to record inside the house, so when we finish the tour, we sit on the porch and discuss the experience of the tour. (14:30) We visit outbuildings on one side of the house, quarters of the secretary, and various work buildings. (21:35) We play People Look East. performed by the Little River United Church of Christ Sanctuary Choir. This is from the CD Forever Blessed. (Mark and Julie sing in this choir, too!) (25:45) We visit outbuildings on the other side of the mansion, including slave quarters. We hear a special, bell-infused rendition of "I Saw Three Ships."(26:15) We return to the Visitors' Center at the end of our tour, enjoy some more carols, visit the gift shop, and end our visit to Mount Vernon. (40:16) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We particularly wanted to know if this studio show was helpful to you! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our Jingle Bells come to us from the Freesound Project, a creative commmons licensed cooperative database of sound effect. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.You can visit Mount Vernon at night with us via our Mount Vernon Photo Album. Comments[1] |
Fri, 15 December 2006  This week Julie and Mark celebrate the season by visiting the National Christmast Tree and the Pageant of Peace on the Ellipse right behind the White House. We recommend you use the Farragut West or Federal Triange Stations on Metro.
We start at the National Christmas Tree, on the White House side. (1:00) Mark reads about the history of the National Christmas Tree, and we approach and describe the tree. (2:47) We begin visiting the various state trees, which are in alphabetical order. Therefore we visit trees from the states and territories of Nevada (cut paper ornaments), New Hampshire (pewter), New Jersey (paper Cranes), New Mexico (glitter-coated chilis), New York (peace ornaments), North Carolina (houses), North Dakota (beaded pipecleaners), Commonwealth of the North Mariana Islands, Ohio (Musical ornaments), Oklahoma, getting ready to celebrate a centennial, Oregon (decorated bows), Pennsylvania (pink paper cranes), before looking back at the tree. (5:43) We play "Glouchestershire Wassail" performed by Gary. It comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (14:29) We visit more trees, from states and territories of Vermont (folded funeral flags), Virginia (colonial heritage ornaments) Territory of the Virgin Islands, Washington (blown glass ornaments), West Virginia (bead and fabric art stars). (17:15) We stop at the stage area and talk about the Pageant of Peace's performance programs, and the performers expected this year. (20:48) We walk down to the far end of the Pageant (away from the National Tree), and see the Louisiana tree, then visit the creche and the Yule Log. We also see the trees from Iowa (quilt squares), Indian (paper ornaments), Illinois (cranes), Idaho (bead ornaments and stick ornaments, wooden ornaments). (23:50) While we warm ourselves by the Yule Log we play the song "I Wonder as I Wander" performed by Motherlode, and also coming to us from the Podsafe Music Network. (29:51) We visit trees from Guam (handmade ornaments), Georgia (Remember Our Troops ribbons), Florida, the District of Columbia (presidential pictures on big red bows). (32:05)
There are lots of pictures of the trees and the ornaments in our Pageant of Peace Photo Album.
Comments[2] |
Thu, 30 November 2006 Today we curl up in front of our virtual fireplace and spend some time talking to you about how Washington, DC handles the winter holidays. There is so much going on for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's. And we're including links here to all the things we discuss, so you can follow up on our suggestions!
We start out with the major events - the big ones that really define the season here in Washington. (2:09)
We play
Next, we talk about Christmas Light Displays. (13:29)
We move on to discuss performances in Washington. Which, of course, you cannot do without talking about the Kennedy Center(17:17)
Our next area of attention is Theatre and Dance for the Holidays.(25:00)
We then turn to the religous observances in Washington.
We play Hanukkah Blessings, performed by the W.T. Woodson Select Vocal Ensemble, including our son, George. (30:44)
The Smithsonian Institution always has a great lineup for the Holidays - and 2006 is no exception! (33:26)
We enjoy Auld Lang Syne performed by Friction Bailey and brought to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. (36:27)
We finish up with a look at the opportunities in Washington to party in the New Year! (38:06)
Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We particularly wanted to know if this studio show was helpful to you! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[8] |
Thu, 23 November 2006  Today we finish our Maryland Month, with a trip to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We remind you that while you can drive to Baltimore, if you are going from Washington, you can take the MARC train Camden Line to the city.
We start off at the Baltimore Visitor's Center and talk a little about the center and how great we think it is. (4:00)
Then we head south to the Maryland Science Center. (5:21) After that it is off to the Harry D. Kaufman Pavilion, Federal Hill Park and the American Visionary Art Museum() We play Aim for the Sky by Baltimore Maryland Band, The Mayan Factor, who come to us courtesy of Garageband.com (11:11) We visit Harborplace, the USS Constellation, and Baltimore's World Trade Center (which was recently in the news!) (19:37) We go on to visit the island with the Maritime Museum and the National Aquarium, then the Power Plant. We head behind the Inner Harbor to Market Place and the Baltimore Children's Museum, Port Discovery, which might be just about Mark's speed. Then we finish up our visit with the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and the Star Spangled Banner House. (27:29) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out our Baltimore Inner Harbor Photo Album! Comments[42] |
Wed, 15 November 2006  Today we make an exciting visit to Ft. McHenry, in blustery Baltimore Maryland, the inspiration for the American National Anthem.While you can drive to Ft. McHenry, if you are going from Washington, you can take the MARC train Camden Line and the #1 Bus or a water taxi to get there. We arrive and discuss logistics and opening times, then Julie talks about the history of the fort.(2:58) We visit the statue of Orpheus. (7:38) We play The Star Spangled Banner, performed by the U.S. Army Band (9:13) We visit the visitor's center, and talk about the role of Ft. McHenry in the War of 1812, and then check out the statue of Colonel Armistead, the man who ordered a huge flag to fly over the Fort during the war. (10:30) At the entrance to the Fort, we check out the Ravelyn and the underground shelters. Julie talks about the life of Francis Scott Key and the writing of the poem "Defense of Ft. McHenry" which became the "Star Spangled Banner." (14:12) We visit the Quarters of the Commanding Officer, where we read some of the verses of the original poem "the Defense of Ft. McHenry". (19:03) We play The Star Spangled Banner, performed by the Band of the US Air Force Reserve (22:17) We visit the powder chamber, and the junior officer's quarters, and Julie talks about the construction of Ft. McHenry. We dscover that there are a group of people unfurling a replica of the Star Spangeled Banner in the parade ground. We join them. (24:59) In the next building we see the original cross brace that anchored the flagpole during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry, and Julie talks about African-Americans in the war of 1812, especially William Williams. (32:59) We head out around the edge of the fort, and walk around the bastions (or points of the stars), then visit the Enlisted men's quarters before ending our visit to Ft. McHenry.(36:21) Email us and let us know what you think of our show! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the Fort and the Flag in our Ft. Mc Henry Photo Album. Comments[2] |
Thu, 9 November 2006  Today we continue our Maryland month, visiting the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, located on the NASA campus is Greenbelt, Maryland. There is a Greenbelt Metro Station on the Green Line not far from the Space Flight Center, and you could take a cab easily to the Visitor's Center from it, but if you have a car, or rent a car, we think this is worth renting a car for.
Julie and Mark enter the Visitor's center and turn left, to view some photographs around the auditorium. These are pretty amazing photographs from space. We're particularly impressed by V-838 Mon. (3:13) We play Fly, Baby Right Now, by DC area band the sketches. The music comes to us courtesy of Garageband.com (9:26) We head into the main part of the center and talk about Robert Goddard, after whom this space center is named. We visit some exhibits along one wall of the center, including one on Ozone. (12:43) In the center of the Visitor's Center, we visit an exhibit on Galaxies. (19:41) We climb into a Gemini capsule, and check out the "modern, space-aged" controls from forty years ago. (23:13) We check ourselves out in the telescope mirrors, and visit the Planets exhibit. (24:39) Once out in the rocket garden, Mark expresses some confusion about what exactly a rocket garden is. We visit the historic rockets. (25:54) We finish up with a visit to the gift shop. (32:03) We have new email addresses: Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Take the tour with us! Pictures of Rockets and spaceships can be found on our Goddard Space Flight Center Photo Album. Comments[5] |
Thu, 2 November 2006  Today we start a month that we are devoting to the state of Maryland. We start by visiting the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, in Potomac, Maryland. This is a trip we consider worth renting a car for. Also, be sure to check out the web site - they have a great wealth of information. Remember that the ticket to this park is also good at Great Falls in Virginia, so you might want to also check out our Great Falls, Virginia episode.
We rush to get on a canal boat ride - one of the last of the season - but miss by seconds. Nonetheless, Julie and Mark take you there to watch the locks work and move the canal boat into the canal. (5:13) We play Old Tom's Restless Bones by St. Mary's County Maryland artist David Norris. This music comes to you courtesy of Garageband.com. (11:32) Julie talks about the history of the C and O Canal, and of the canals in the Washington area. (14:51) We begin walking down the canal to Lock 19, and walk along the towpath, while Julie tells a tragic story just a tad late for Halloween - the story of the death of the Spong children on September 11, 1916. (19:25) We visit the fragile ecosystem on Olmstead Island, and walk on the boardwalks out to Great Falls, where we walk all the way out to the falls from the Maryland side. (23:07) We continue almost all the way to Lock 16, where the Billy Goat Trailhead is. Julie remembers visiting the Billy Goat Trail many years ago, but today we turn around and return to the tavern. (29:50) We return to the tavern and Mark communes with his own kind - the mules. This ends our visit to C and O Canal National Historical Park. (32:39) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Take the tour with us! Check out the beautiful Fall colors at the canal on our C and O Canal Photo Album. Comments[2] |
Fri, 27 October 2006  Today we walk through an intruiguing and influential area of Washington, DC, Foggy Bottom. We recommend you take the Foggy Bottom metro stop to start our tour - in fact we start off at the top of the Foggy Bottom escalator.
We start off with a visit to the center of Washington Circle, the first monument to George Washington erected in DC. (3:10) We continue a couple of blocks to the historic Timothy Caldwell House, which now houses the Arts Club of Washington. (5:14) Despite guidebooks with incorrect information, we manage to find the World Bank and International Monetary Fund headquarters. (6:58) We then return to historic buildings with the Marshall House. (9:16) Next on our route is the Octagon Museum. and the Archeological Insittute of America. (10:47) We play Drive by DC Band Rotoscope, which came to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. (12:54) Next we visit the Headquarters of the Red Cross, and the US Department of the Interior. (17:04) We visit DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Constitution Hall. (21:54) Heading on down to Constitution Avenue, we visit the Organization of American States and the Art Museum of the Americas. (25:51) Continuing on Constitution Avenue we pass the Federal Reserve Building, the National Academy of Sciences Building, and the State Department.(28:51) We head up 23rd street to the Pan American Health Organization building. (38:17) We finish up our walk with a little bit of history related to the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, and we visit the famous Watergate Hotel.(40:26) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Take the tour with us! Check out our Foggy Bottom Photo Album. Comments[9] |
Sat, 21 October 2006  Today we visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We recommend using the Gallery Place Exit off the Red, Yellow or Green Metro Lines.
The first exhibit we visit is the American Experience. (2:45) We visit next the exhibit "With Liberty: Folk Art at the Smithsonian. A highlight of this collection is "the Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly" by James Hampton.(7:02) Just beyond the folk art exhibit we enjoy the art of William Christenberry, whose work seems to flow from the folk art, and includes work that focuses on time. (8:20) Once on the second floor we find a major part of the National Portrait Gallery which we had not seen before - the exhibit on the portraits of the Presidents. (11:02) A highlight of our visit to the museum is the piece "The Museum," by David Beck. (12:59) We play Maya Blue by Nefrit El-Or, who comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. We return to the area of the gallery that we referred to last week as "American Art meets Portrait Gallery. We visit a number of artworks that center around Americans traveling in the 19th century.(17:13) We visit the museum's Civil War era collection, then the Victorian era and the early 20th century, including the impressionist paintings and the Gilded Age exhibit. (19:28) We visit the "Modernism" exhibit, followed by the Southwestern Art Exhibit. (23:25) We finish up our visit to the museum on the third floor, which is full of contemporary art. We are particularly taken by the "Electronic Superhighway: Continental US, Alaska and Hawaii." Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.
There will be a delay in getting our photo album up - we'll be using official photos from the Gallery's web site rather than our own, due to permission issues - and that takes longer. Comments[2] |
Sat, 14 October 2006  This week we visit the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, which is colocated with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art in the old Patent office building. Next week we'll visit the American Art Museum. We recommend the Gallery Place Metro Station as your starting point for a visit to the museum. We're going to leave the details to you this week. Some of the highlights of the museum are the initial exhibit of photographs, the extensive collection of 19th century portraits, the collection of presidential portraits, and a great 20th century collection We play Let Freedom Swing by The Diplomats an ensemble of the US Air Force Band. (31:41) Our Theme Music is by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our picture gallery will be back up after we remove some pictures with copyright restrictions. Look for it Saturday or SundayComments[2] |
Sat, 7 October 2006  #30We head back into central Washington and visit the beautiful United States Botanic Garden, a classic botanic garden directly adjacent to the Capitol Grounds. We recommend the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station as your starting point for a visit to the garden.
We start with a visit to Bartholdy Park, across Maryland Avenue from the Conservatory.(3:40) Julie discusses the history of the Botanic Garden. (5:32) We enter the garden and visit the "Roots and Relationships" Exhibit, then the West Gallery on the uses of plants by humans. (8:00) We continue on to the exhibit of rare and endangered plants, then the plant exploration exhibit, which is currently containing plants from the Potomac Gorge.(11:04) We visit one of Julie's favorite rooms in the Garden, the orchid exhibit , followed by an exhibit of plants used for medicinal purposes. (13:35) We cross to the east side of the building as we explore desert and oasis, and the Garden primeval (17:07) We play The Garden by Chesapeake Virginia Based Green Eggs and Sam which comes to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network (21:40). We visit the exhibit in the east gallery, dedicated to how plants work, then head into the decorative east garden court. (25:59) Then we head into the centerpiece of the museum, the Jungle, visiting both the floor level plants and the skywalk. (31:17) We finish our visit in the Meditation Garden. (31:24) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. We have quite an extensive Botanic Garden Photo Album today. Comments[2] |
Sat, 30 September 2006  We're out in southeastern Fairfax County today, visiting Gunston Hall, home of American founding father George Mason. According to Julie, George Mason is the "Rodney Dangerfield" of our founding fathers.
We begin at the Museum and Visitor's Center, view a film about the life and influence of George Mason.(4:30) Alas, Gunston Hall does not allow any recording equipment to be used inside the house - so we were not able to tape during the tour or take photos of the inside of the house. Just after our tour, though, we stop and recall the experience and describe most of the rooms in the house. (5:46) While we visit George's office, Julie talks about George Mason's place in American history, as drafter of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was the major source for the U.S. Bill of Rights. (15:38) We visit the fourth room on the ground floor, the master bedroom, then visit the dormitory-style upper floor. (19:05) We play The One by West Virginia group The Woodshedders, which comes to us from the Podsafe Music Network. Julie visits some of the outbuildings on one side of the house, the Kitchen, Dairy, Well and Washhouse.(26:50) We circumnavigate the house, visiting the boxwood garden, and the schoolhouse. (29:56) We finish up our visit to Gunston Hall with a visit to the grave of George Mason.(33:00) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the house and grounds in our Gunston Hall Photo Album. Comments[12] |
Fri, 22 September 2006  Grab a drink and settle into your chair. This week we take you on a pub crawl in Old Town Alexandria. We strongly recommend you get to our location via Metro, getting off at the King Street Station. This podcast is not intended to be walked - just listen then find the pub of your choice.
We start off visiting the Alexandria waterfrong buskers, including a Water Glass Organ player and a classical duo. We talk about our dinner and first drink at the Waterfront Gourmet. (:56) We play Always by Maryland Band LVT. They, and all the artists on our show today, come to us courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network.(5:31) We continue on to the Union Street Public House, not far from the Waterfront on South Union Street. (9:29) Our next pub takes us to Ireland, at Pat Troy's, located in the Irish Walk at King and Pitt Street. (11:42) We play Ain't Seen my Baby by Virginia Blues musicians Cephas and Wiggins.(13:43) We visit a "Family Pub" in case you want to take your kids to one of these establishments. King Street Blues a block from King Street on Asaph. (17:00) We hit another Irish Pub, Murphy's Irish Pub on King Street.(18:19) We pay Oyebisi Nga by Egyptian Nursery from South Africa. (19:25) We finish up our pub crawl at the Tiffany Tavern a well-known bluegrass venue in Alexandria. (24:36)
Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Pub Photo Album depicts most of these charming and historic buildings.
Comments[14] |
Fri, 15 September 2006  This week we visit an off-the beaten track area, alive with history and charm, and completely accessible via public transport, The City of Fairfax, Virginia. Public Transportation option is to take the Metro Orange Line to Vienna/Fairfax-GMU then get the Cue Bus into the city.
We start out at the Fairfax Courthouse, where the real settlement of Fairfax started. Julie talks about the Courthouse and the history of the Courthouse and the Fairfax City Jail, including visiting the Marr Monument. (2:20) We walk down the lawn of the Courthouse and cross the street at the Bailiwick Inn, formerly known as the Joshua Gunnell House, where we talk about the history of the Joshua Gunnell House. (5:45) Our next sight is the Ford Building - home of Antonia Ford, an important Civil War Spy. (8:28) We return to Main Street, and visit three commercial buildings, all built around 1900, then go to the Fairfax Herald. (12:43) We turn around and look at the Fairfax City Hall, directly across the street. Then Julie shares a little personal history, related to the Firehouse Grill, a nightlife venue down the street. (14:05) We play At the End of the Day by the Centreville, Virginia band GUM!. It was used by permission. (17:05) Next we visit the Ratcliffe-Allison House, the oldest house in the city of Fairfax, followed by the Draper House. (20:51) We travel on to the Fairfax Museum and Visitor's Center. On our way we talk about the history of the city, and the growth of the city. (23:53) Once at the Visitor's center we interview longtime Fairfax resident, cultural icon, and professor emeritus of George Mason University, Dr. Thomas Hill. (31:00) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album depicts most of these charming and historic buildings. Comments[6] |
Sat, 9 September 2006  We complete our first half year of podcasting, by continuing our Virginia Month, we visit Great Falls National Park just 12 miles outside the borders of the District of Columbia. You will need a car in order to get to Great Falls, but we think it's worth renting a car for.
We start out by talking about logistics: directions and entrance fees, and we talk a little bit about why Great Falls is an extraordinary place to visit, and a bit about the geology, and some of the recreational uses of the park. (1:36) We visit the Visitor's Center. (5:35) Next we visit Overlook 1, describe the view a bit, and Julie talks about the early history of Great Falls from prehistory through the U.S. Colonial period, ending with George Washington's involvement in the area. We comment on some whitewater Kayakers. (8:04) We visit Overlook 2, then overlook 3, which are both handicapped accessible. Julie describes the view, while Mark is taking pictures. Julie talks about flooding, and flooding in the DC area. Then Julie talks about the history of Great Falls in the early twentieth century, right up until the National Park Service took over. (13:31) We take a short hike on the River Trail. Julie talks about the river trail and the interpretive posters along the river and along the trail. (19:54) Since we have a longish bit of walking to do, we play I Wonder by DC artist Natalie Brown. (21:14) We return to our hike at the Mather Gorge, where Mark talks about the Geology of the Gorge and we both talk about the many rock climbers who are currently climbing the gorge. (25:20) We continue away from the river toward the old Powtomack Canal. We talk a little about the canal itself, and it's history, and then pass through the ruins of Mathildaville. (28:24) Finishing up, we walk back through the end of the ruins, then out to the picnic area before heading out on our way. (36:54) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album has some great pictures of the Falls.
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Fri, 1 September 2006  We're devoting September to the State of Virginia, and we start out with an historic tour of Old Town Alexandria. We recommend you travel to Old Town via Metro - and take the free DASH bus (on weekends) or walk to get around. Julie talks a little about the history of Alexandria, and we travel via the DASH bus to the Ramsey House, the Alexandria Visitor's Center to start our tour.(2:08) Two blocks down from the Visitor's Center, we visit the Torpedo Factory Art Center, and talk about the Alexandria Archeology Museum. (5:56) We visit Captain's Row and Gentry Row, and enjoy the historic buildings along the cobbled and bricked streets. We also stop at the Atheneum, on the corner of Lee and Prince Streets. (8:35) We stop by the Old Presbeteryan Meetinghouse, which dates back to the 1770s, and was the venue for George Washington's funeral. (12:21) We stop by the Old Apothecary Shop Museum, which is currently closed for restoration, which we hope will be open when you visit. A block and a half north of there, we stop by the Carlyle House(14:02) We visit Gadsby's Tavern, est. 1702, then head on down St. and visit the original site of George Washington's townhouse. (17:35) We playWaiting to Hit the Stage by Lee Harris and Country Sunshine, which comes to us from the Podsafe Music Network. (22:20) We visit Christ Church, which is more than 330 years old - and enjoy the garden, since a wedding is going on. We listen to the bells, then move on.(25:04) We visit the old Firehouse, and finish up at the Lyceum, Alexandria's History Museum. (28:30) You can email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from Yankee Doodle by one of the service bands - we'll get the details here once we're back from vacation. Check out our Old Town Alexandria Photo Album Posted from Anchorage, Alaska Comments[8] |
Wed, 23 August 2006  We return to the tourist core of Washington, the neighborhood by the White House - Lafayette Square. We recommend that you get off Metro at the McPherson Square, Farragut West, or Farragut North metro stops. We start at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania, and start by looking out at the Corcoran Gallery and talk about their big construction project (1:47)We continue on to check out the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, also known as the Old Executive Office Building. (2:35) We turn around and note the Renwick Gallery, Blair House and Lee House. (5:05) We head up Jackson Place, noting some of the buildings along the way discussing the history of the square. (11:30) We play the Liberty Bell March by Washingtonian John Philip Sousa, performed by The United States Marine Band, called "The President's Own."(15:27) After this spirited march, we pay a visit to, and take a tour of, theDecatur House. (18:56) We continue on to explore the statues on the square, which are of
We finish up with a short visit to St. John's Episcopal Church. (31:47) You can email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. We're thankful for Bill and George modeling our Washington Travelcast Ballcaps in their backyard during our recent visit. Hope you enjoy the photo! Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Photo Album for Lafayette Square. Comments[0] |
Fri, 18 August 2006  This week,we make a pilgrimage to one of the most unique sights in Washington, the Franciscan Monastery in Northeast Washington, DC! We recommend you take the Brookland-CUA Station on the Red Line to visit.
We start out by talking about the Brookland neighborhood, and Washington, DC as a pilgrimge town. After arriving at the monastery we talk about some of the history of the monastery, and why it is called the "Commissariat of the Holy Land in America". We head inside the church, talk about it's history, and the tour of the church and the replicas of the various holy land shrines. We go out into the gardens, and walk along the rosary portico, then visit the shrines in the garden. Our music today os Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd, performed on the CD Forever Blessed, by the Little River United Church of Christ Sanctuary Choir Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne by Buxtehude, performed by Craig Stapert, also on Forever Blessed. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Photo Album captures some of the beauty of this place. Comments[0] |
Fri, 11 August 2006  This week, we continue our visit the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, by visiting the Udvar-Hazy Center out near Dulles Airport! We recommend you take the Smithsonian Station on the Orange and Blue Lines to the mall museum, and take the shuttle to the Center, or, if you're based in the suburbs and have a car - drive out to the Center. We give full directions.
We pay for parking, park out front and admire the sculpture "Ascent" by John Safer as well as the impressive entryway. Then we go through security and enter the museum.(3:14) We spend some time talking about the history of the museum, and the biography of it's prime benefactor, but Mark urges us on to check out the "Cool Planes".(4:36) After walking down off the catwalk we admire the SR-171 Blackbird, the fastest jet in the world, and visit some exhibits dedicated to modern military aviation.(10:23) We head into the World War II aviation section, viewing several German World War II planes and the Enola Gay. We listen to one of the volunteer docents speak about the airplane, and we add our own thoughts about it.(16:04) We play the song wintersun by Melodius Thunk. (23:46) Commercial Aviation is next - and we see the original Boeing 707 as well as the supersonic Air France Concorde.(29:00) After a visit to the Vertical Flight exhibit, we climb the clock tower. After admiring the view from up there, we head on down the catwalk toward the McDonnell Space Hangar. We need to descend the other clock tower to do so. (36:57) The first thing we see is the space shuttle Enterprise and we spend a minute or two oohing and aahing over that. Then we visit several exhibits related to manned space flight. (43:58) We pass around the back of the space hall, and explore rocketry and sattelites. (40:34)Next stop on the tour is the Observation Tower, where we watch several planes take off and land at Dulles Airport. Then we visit the Air Traffic Control exhibit in the next level down.(56:52) Finally we visit the gift shop and Cafe before heading out.(1:00:56) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. I'm not sure our pictures do it justice - given the scope, but we have some interesting ones at Udvar-Hazy Center Photo Album. Comments[7] |
Fri, 4 August 2006  This week, we visit the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum! We recommend you take the Smithsonian Station on the Orange and Blue Lines to visit this fantastic mall museum.
We start out in front of the mall carousel - and give you some basic, easy directions - then admire the sculpture "Ad Astra" by Richard Lippold while we wait in line to get into the museum.(0:53) We head to the information desk as soon as we get in the building, and talk about logistics of finding your way around the museum, taking tours, Udvar-Hazy Center shuttle tickets, IMAX tickets. (5:19) We head down to the flight end of the ground floor, where the flight simulators are, and visit the "Golden Age of Flight" exhibit. (9:58) Between the military aviation in the Golden age and the military section of the "Jet Aviation" exhibit we play The Air Force Song, sung by the U.S. Air Force Band with the Singing Sergeants.(12:57) We continue on to the hands-on "How Things Fly" exhibit.(17:28) We head off for the space end of the ground floor - visiting the "Milestones of Space" hall.(19:04) We play the song Moon Shy City by Maryland-based group Lejeune. (20:09) After encouraging you to visit the many exhibit halls that we missed, we continue on to the "Exploring the Universe" exhibit, then heading to the upper floor of the museum, and appreciate the "Milestones of Space" hall from this new angle.(24:18) After skipping a couple of exhibits, we enter the "Apollo to the Moon" exhibit. (28:55) We head way back in time for the "Wright Brothers" exhibit and explore the very beginnings of flight.(36:02) We pass a small exhibit on Lindbergh, then finish up by visiting the "Exploring the Planets" before ending our visit to the Air and Space Museum. (38:52) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Check out the pics Mark took with his new camera on our Air and Space Museum Photo Album. Comments[3] |
Fri, 28 July 2006  This week, we're going to the Zoo! We recommend you take the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Station on the Red Line to visit the National Zoological Park. We start our visit to the Zoo by visiting the Pandas.(2:39) We visit the Elephant House, and stop briefly by the small mammal house. (7:00) We play Muskrat Groove by the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserve (11:25) We visit the snakes, frogs, and lizards in the Reptile House (14:44) We visit the Lions and Tiger Exhibit.(18:28) We go to the Sea Lion and Seal Exhibit, and reminisce about visiting this exhibit as a kid, and with our kids.(22:35) We finish our visit to the Zoo in the Bird House, and then discuss opening times and logistics. (24:31) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. You can visit the Zoo virtually with us, via our National Zoo photo album.
Comments[2] |
Mon, 24 July 2006  The same day we visit Adams Morgan and the Zoo, we have dinner on 18th Street in Adams Morgan at Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant. We talk about how much fun it is to eat at Meskerem, or one of the other Ethiopian Restaurants in the area. Mark reads off the back of the menu about Ethiopian Cuisine. We speak with Haile Selassi Geordes, a manager at Meskerem, who has been with the restaurant for 20 years. He tells us about the restaurant and about Ethiopian cooking. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our walking music today was from Oyebisi Nga by Egyptian Nursery, which came to us via the The Podsafe Music Network. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[3] |
Fri, 21 July 2006  In a break from traditional sights, Mark and Julie visit the DC Neighborhood of Adams Morgan. We recommend you take the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Station on the Red Line, though the Dupont Circle Station will also get you there.
Julie tells us a little of the history of the Adams Morgen neighborhood. After crossing over the Duke Ellington Bridge at Calvert Street, we head up to Columbia Road. (2:15) We visit the "Adams Morgan Mural," Titles "Un Pueblo Sin Murales" and Julie tells a little of the story of the mural. (7:07) We head up Columbia Road to see the "Three Macaws mural. Then we turn around and head to 28th Street. (10:15) We play Red Line to Shady Grove by the Maryland and New Jersey band, The Canadian Invasion, which comes to us via Garageband.com, and by permission of the artists. (12:38) We walk down 18th Street, seeing the Madam's Organ and Tolouse Lautrec murals. These are painted on the outside of clubs - and they remind us about the nightlife of the Adams Morgan neighborhood. (15:58) We finish our tour by visiting the smallest mural in Adams morgan, and the Champorama Park Mural.(22:00) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. You can see all the murals, and more on our Adams Morgan photo album..
Comments[6] |
Mon, 17 July 2006  As promised, today Julie explores Washington's Reagan National Airport, at the end of a business trip.
She talks about the location of the airport and the advantages and disadvantages of the airport, as she arrives. (1:07). Again, she suggests that you pick up a copy of the free Washington Flyer Magazine. (3:08) Julie explores three ways to get into the city. They are: (4:10)
She tells the story of why locals tend to still call the airport just "National Airport." (6:45) Since Julie's luggage has still not arrived, she lets you listen to Big Jet Airplane by Chapel Hill, NC group The Steep Canyon Rangers, which comes to us via from Garageband.com (9:20) Julie finally gathers her luggage, and she and Mark head for Metro. (14:26) Our theme is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[5] |
Sat, 15 July 2006  We go to what the Insider's Guide to Off the Beaten Track Washington DC calls "the ultimate off-the-beaten-track destination" in Washington, , Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
The Gardens are located in Northeast Washington, almost to the Maryland Border, and we recommend you take the Orange Line to the Deanwood station, then take the V8 bus to the corner of Anacostia Avenue and Douglas Street. Once at the Garden, we briefly visit the Visitor's Center, and Julie takes a minute to talk about the history and some other facts about the Kenilworth Park and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.. (4:22) We go outside and meet up with Kate Bucco, whose name we later learn is pronounced with a hard "c" (sorry Kate). We're thankful to Kate for letting us use her voice this week. Kate gives us some more information on the history of the park, and shows us the tropical water lilies. (8:26) Kate does an exercise with us to show us how tides work, and tells us about the lotus leaves. (12:42) We visit the water lily ponds, hear Helen Fowler's story, listen to a frog, hear a story about turtles, and avoid poison Ivy.(15:20) We play Amphibious by Virginia Beach based band, The Void, which comes to us via The Podsafe Music Network. (23:12) After our tour, we walk on the Marsh River Trail.(26:35) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was from Find Me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Don't miss our photo album today - it's got some great shots.
Comments[2] |
Mon, 10 July 2006  Julie arrives after a business trip in Washington's Dulles International Airport.
She describes the layout of the airport and talks about the mobile lounge-midfield terminal layout of the airport (1:07). Arriving in the terminal, Julie heads for the baggage claim area, and talks about the Washington Flyer Magazine. (4:52) Julie explores four ways to get into the city. They are: (7:11)
Julie actually takes the Washington Flyer Bus. (14:26) We play Cancelled Flight by Anthony Cinquini, which comes to us via from Garageband.com Arriving at West Falls Church Station, Julie calls Mark for a ride, and describes the access to the Metro Station. Our theme is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[7] |
Fri, 7 July 2006  This week we visit the Washington Monument, an archetypal icon of Washington, DC. Note that despite what we say, the tickets are free, and the booth opens at 8:30.
We start off standing in line for the ticket booth, which opens at 8:30 AM. We also reveal an alternative way to get tickets. (3:03) Once we get our tickets, we play Jonathan Coulton's song, The Presidents. (4:16) We return to the monument at our prescribed time, we return to the monument, enter and go up. (9:23) We ascend the monument, and play America the Beautiful sung by the US Air Force's Singing Sergeants. (11:35) We look out windows in all four directions. We descend one level to the gift shop, and catch the elevator down. (12:55) We play The Star Spangled Banner, performed by The United States Army Band(21:52) We talk a little about the experience of visiting, and the stones along the way down. (23:07) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans and our walking music today was Four Ruffles and Flourishes from Hail to the Chief by the U.S. Marine Band. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Washington Monument photo album.
Comments[12] |
Sat, 1 July 2006  This week we visit the Smithsonian's 40th Annual National Folklife Festival, which this year profiles Alberta, Canada, Native Basketry, Nuestra Musica - Latino Chicago, and New Orleans
Before the tour, we read some listener email. (:50) We provide a little background, logistics and information on the Folklife Festival. (2:52) We start out the tour by visiting the large exhibit on Alberta, Canada. Highlights for us are the performances in the Northern Lights Stage, and the section on oil drilling in Alberta. (4:30) We talk with Bill McDougal, an interpreter from Alberta. (16:15) We are thrilled to be able to bring you "O Canada" performed by the Alberta Women's acapella group Asani who perform music with a strong native character. Their version of the National Anthem of canada is performed in French, English, and Cree, and will appear on an upcoming album. The intro is live from the Festival, but the actual performance is from the studio. (22:30) We then walk through the exhibits devoted to Native Basketry. (24:57) Hungry and a little weary, we expore the Foodways - eating at the Native Kitchen food tent. (40:03) We finish up our visit to the Folklife Festival in the Nuestra Musica exhibit. (41:23) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our Folklife Festial photo album.
Comments[3] |
Fri, 23 June 2006  This week we head back to the mall, for a visit to a great art gallery, the West Building of the National Gallery of Art
To help make our podcast a little more educational, we have put together a page which contains links to the National Gallery's photographs of all the art we talk about. The link is here: Works discussed in the Podcast We start by briefly enjoying the fountain in the Sculpture Garden. (3:51) Once inside the museum, Julie recaps a bit of the history of the Museum, though there is a more complete history of the museum in Podcast #4. (6:51) We visit the museum in chronological order, starting with the Italian Renaissance. (9:23) We visit galleries devoted to German, Netherlandish, and Dutch painters, which include a lot of Rembrandt portraits. (13:55) We head back into the sculpture hall, and talk about the sculpture halls, before visiting American Painter Thomas Cole's voyage of Life series, a favorite of Julie's. We continue on through the American galleries, including Copley, Homer, Singer, Sergeant and Whistler. (20:12) We visit the Impressionist galleries, both American and French. (31:45) We head to the elevator, and take it to the concourse, to visit our favorite painting in the whole museum - Salvador Dali's Last Supper. (36:20) We play Entranced, by Anne Arundel County artist Blake Emrys. We don't have a web site for Blake, but his music is available at podsafeaudio.com. His music seemed to go well with a surrealist painting. (39:42) After a walk through the gift shop, we visit the sculpture and decorative arts galleries. (42:50) Finally we find the Vermeer paintings and one last Rembrandt. (47:12) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Our National Gallery of Art photo album.. Don't miss our podcast next week - we'll be bringing you the spectacular Smithsonian Folklife Festival!
Comments[8] |
Fri, 16 June 2006  This week we head out into the rolling hills of Virginia horse country with our friends Dave and Barbara Shepherd of the Word Nerds. We think this day trip into Virginia Wine Country is worth renting a car for!
After a tasting and a discussion with Dave and Barb, we play Come N See, by Baltimore, MD group LVT. They come to us from the Podsafe Music Network.(12:35) Next, we all move on to Piedmont Vineyard & Winery, also in Middleburg, VA, where we taste wine and talk with winemaker John Fitter. (16:13) We play As Long As I Live by Centerville, VA group GUM! (24:21) Last we visit Pearmund Cellars, in Broad Run, VA, one of the newest wineries in the state. There we talk to Assistant Winemaker Rick Tagg. (26:53) We finish our day sharing some wine in the hot tub. (38:16) To find out more about Virginia Wines in general, or to visit more of the many wineries in Virginia, visit the Virginia Wine web site. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Photos from our Wine Trip are in our weekly photo album.. Make sure to check out the Word Nerds, to check out what they have to say about our theme this week!
Comments[7] |
Fri, 9 June 2006  This week, inspired by our recent shows on Arlington Cemetery and Richmond, we explore Civil War History in our nation's capitol. CONTENT WARNING - We spend about a minute discussing prostitution in Washington during the Civil War. If you're going to use this tour with kids, and are uncomfortable with the discussion, we've set up a clean version which you can download here. We're also plagued with recording problems (OK, we recorded the whole thing too hot) so you'll have to bear with us now and again. We fixed it where we could.
We start by picking up the Circulator Bus at the Convention Center Metro Stop and taking it to 29th Street in Georgetown. (2:16) Once in Georgetown we visit Mt. Zion UMC and Cemetery, which were on the Underground Railroad during slave times. Then we head over the Dumbarton Bridge to visit a whole series of Civil War Memorials. We visit Sheridan Circle, DuPont Circle and then head south to Farragut Square. (5:15) We review how Civil War history is bound up in institutions like the Blair House, the Old Corcoran Gallery (now the Renwick Gallery), the White House, and the Willard Hotel. We visit Sheridan's memorial in there somewhere. (18:43) We play a wonderful Jazzy rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, performed by the US Air Force's Airmen of Note.(29:25) We walk down to 10th street, to Ford's Theatre, and the house where Lincoln died - both National Park Service Sights. We stop by the Old Patent Office, now the National Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery. (34:45) In Chinatown we visit Mary Surratt's Boardinghouse, where John Wilkes Booth and conspirators plotted against Lincoln, then we stop by Judiciary Square, for a modest statue of Lincoln and a look at the statue of Albert Pike, the only Confederate memorialized in Washington.(38:50) We talk about Mathew Brady, famous Civil War Photographer. We've included some of Brady's photos in our slideshow but you can get to see more at this online archive.(45:03) We visit Capitol Hill, to see the Peace Memorial and Grant Memorial, and to talk about the Civil War relevance of the Capitol Building, the Mall, and the temporary Capitol Building.(48:40) We finish our tour with a visit to Ebeneezer UMC, on Capitol Hill, and also once a stop on the underground railroad. (55:00) Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. You can see both ours and Mathew Brady's photos in our photo album.. Comments[9] |
Wed, 7 June 2006  A midweek special edition in which we rave about the The Grace Manor Inn a bed and breakfast inn in the Fan District of Richmond, Virginia. We recently stayed at the inn, when we did our Richmond Revolutionary and Civil War History Podcast.
We also get to interview one of the owners of the Inn, Albert Schick. The music in this episode is Partita by J. S. Bach and Badinerie by J.S. Bach, both performed by the The Brunswick Duo from Brigton, England. OK, that's pretty far from Virginia, but we were thinking a lot about our Colonial Roots. Both pieces come to us via the Podsafe Music Network.
WE do have a Photo Album for our visit to the Grace Manor Inn.
Let us know what you think of our review, via email at Comments[4] |
Sat, 3 June 2006  This week we wander far afield, for a day or weekend trip down to Richmond, Virginia. Richmond is one of the oldest municipalities in the United States and is very important in both Revolutionary and Civil War History, which becomes our focus on this visit.
We think Richmond is worth renting a car for, as well as devoting almost an hour to.
We start off by talking about what to do in Washington after the museums close, in response to a question by our listener, Jamee. (0:50) We start our visit to Richmond in the Church Hill neighborhood in the east end of Richmond, home of the Chimborazo Visitor Center of the Richmond Battlefield National Park, and the Confederate Medical Museum. (5:55) A park ranger shares with us a few hints about visiting these Civil War Battlefields, from the campaigns of 1862 and 1864. (10:48) We also visit St. John's Episcopal Church, where Patrick Henry, colonial orator, said "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" in 1775. (15:34) Julie talks about Richmond's History (15:56), then we take a tour of the church. We play Yankee Doodle performed by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps (26:02). We visit a number of sites in the Court End Neighborhood in central Richmond. (26:24) We visit Capitol Square, including the Old City Hall, the Governor's Residence, the State Capitol Building, the Washington (and other revolutionary war heros) statue, and then St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the "church of the confederacy." We happened upon a rehearsal of a Mozart Missa Brevis, which we, alas, do not have permission to share with you. We head across Broad Street and visit the Library of Virginia, the Marshall House, the Confederate Museum and White House of the Confederacy and the Valentine Museum. (40:17) We play an excerpt from the Fantasia on "When Johnny comes Marching Home, performed by the West Point Band. (50:20) We continue on to our last neighborhood and briefly talk about the Fan District, an historic residential neighborhood, and one of the top places that Richmond Natives take their guests, when they visit. We stop for a look at the Arthur Ashe Monument, while describing the other monuments. (52:15) Let us hear from you! You can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H, and our driving music is As long as I live by GUM!. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[3] |
Sat, 27 May 2006  This week we visit Arlington National Cemetery, a major site just over the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. Not surprisingly, we recommend the Arlington Cemetery Station on the blue line for your visit, although we do discuss parking options.
We start by visiting the visitor's center and picking up a map. We talk briefly about Memorial Day in Arlington Cemetery. (2:30) We discuss the history of the cemetery - particularly it's founding. (5:32), then walk to the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy (7:10), and his brother Robert (Bobby) Kennedy, both of whom were assasinated during the 1960's. We pass by a number of important graves, including several Supreme Court justices, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. (11:49) We walk up a large winding set of step to the area of the Custis-Lee Mansion, Arlington House, and visit the gravesite of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, (13:49) then tour the mansion. We're thankful to the National Park Service volunteers who let us tape them for this podcast. We visit the Old Ampitheatre behind Arlington House, and the Lockerbie Cairn. (23:51) We play Amazing Grace performed by the by the bagpipe band of the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Julie walks by the memorials on the west side of the Ampitheatre, and walks into the Ampitheatre, while Mark lingers to get some pictures for our photo pages. (28:49) Then we visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and see the changing of the guard and a wreath laying ceremony. Our ending music is Taps played by a Marine musician at the end of the wreath-laying ceremony. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Mark got some really great pictures of Arlington Cemetery for this week's photo album.. Comments[0] |
Sat, 20 May 2006  Today we visit the grandaddy of performing arts venues in the Washington area, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. We recommend you use the Foggy Bottom Station on the Orange or Blue Line, and the Kennedy Center Shuttle
We start at the Hall of Nations, then head to the roof to visit the restaurants, roof terrace, and the theatres on that floor. (1:40) We talk about Sheer Madness. (6:11) We return to the ground floor and visit the Hall of States and the new Family Theatre before moving into the Grand Foyer. In the Grand Foyer we play a recording of the Carol Ringers from St. Matthew's United Methodist Church on the Millenium Stage in 1999, playing Tchaikovsky's Trepak from Nutcracker. One of the Carol Ringers is our daughter, Sarah. (10:59) We talk about the Millenium Stage, then visit the Eisenhower Theatre and the bust of John F. Kennedy. (12:41) We go out onto the terrace, where we enjoy the view of the Potomac and the sayings of JFK engraved into the walls of Carrara Marble. (19:00) Back inside we re-enter the Grand Foyer, and visit the Opera House and the Concert Hall. We talk about the The Cappies, an innovative program for High School Theatre which is sponsored in part by the Kenndy Center Education Office. (25:39) We give into hopeless nepotism once again, as we play "Verdrai, carino" from Mozart's Don Giovanni, sung by our other daughter, Catherine, during her Senior year of high school. Catherine was nominated for a Cappie in 2001. She is accompanied by her uncle, John Hamm. (16:58) We end up talking about the parking and gift shops. We'd like to particularly thank our friend Barbara Shepherd, Senior Program Director for the Partners in Education Program, a major Kennedy Center program which partners arts educators and arts organizations, for help with this podcast. It was very educational, Barb. Let us hear from you! You can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Here is the Photo Album for the Kennedy Center. Comments[10] |
Sat, 13 May 2006  We've spent a lot of time taking you to sights you can visit during the day - this week we begin giving you some ideas of what to do at night. We explore Washington DC as a first class theatre town - which, with more than 50 professional theatre companies and venues, it most certainly is.
We start off at the grandaddy of professional Regional Theater in the US, at Arena Stage in Southeast DC, near the Waterfront. We recommend the Waterfront Metro Station for your visit to Arena Stage. (2:20) After Arena Stage, we head to the U Street Cardozo Metro Station, and visit what used to be the centerpiece of "Black Broadway". the Lincoln Theatre. (11:22)
From Lincoln we walk to the Source Theatre (13:50), then the Studio Theatre (14:23), and Theater J. (16:28) (past the community Theater Group The Foundry Players, in case you did not know that community Theater is also alive and well in Washington. Please note - since we did this episode, I have discovered that Source Theatre has closed. Their space is currently being used by other companies, but is currently slated to become a bar. Moral of the story - support local theatre - they really are running on a shoestring! Last we head downtown, and walk from the Federal Triangle area to the Gallery Place Area in order to visit major venues the National Theatre and the The Warner Theatre (1955) Then we walk on past Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, (27:30) and to the new Penn Quarter to visit Wooley Mammoth Theatre, the Ticketplace half price ticket booth, and, lastly, the The Shakespeare Theatre at the Landsburg, where we stop to enjoy an evening of Theatre. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Our music today is Summer Pump by Cagey House, coming from podsafeaudio.com, and To Fly, from the United States Air Force Musical, Born of a Dream. For more about that check out the U. S. Air Force Band Web Site. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[5] |
Thu, 11 May 2006  If Washington TravelCast is fashionable (and we hope it is!) then today's show is the ultimate accessory. We spend twenty minutes telling you in detail how to take Metro around town. Note that you can learn everything you would ever want to know about Metro at the official WMATA web site. Remember that every rider on metro needs their own farecard or smartrip card. You cannot use one farecard for multiple people. Metro has a day pass - it's very reasonable if you're going to be coming in from the suburbs and/or going to use more than three trips in a day. There is also a weekly pass that can save you money if you are in town for a week. Neither pass can currently be put on a Smart Trip. And the folks at Springfield Mall probably really don't want you parking there, no matter what we say! Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[3] |
Fri, 5 May 2006  We bring you our special Mothers' Day edition - a week early - and take you to Julie's favorite Mothers' Day spot, the National Arboretum, the US Department of Agriculture's huge national garden.
We explain why we recommend you consider using a car to get to and around the Arboretum, and how to get there via Metro and Arboretum Tram if you do come that way. (2:34) We visit the Azalea Gardens, and take the Mitchell Azalea Walk. (7:16) We visit the Picnic Area and the National Grove of State Trees. Julie tells you how to pull off her favorite Mothers' Day experience at the Arboretum. (15:20) We walk through the forest of Fern Valley. Mark suggests an alternative Mothers' Day idea. (19:52) We explore the new Asian Collection. We even tell you where the bathrooms are. (26:33) We finish off strolling along the plush lawns and beautiful vistas of the Dogwood collection. (31:52) We play a promo for The Amateur Traveler podcast. Julie was recently interviewed on this podcast about her recent trip to Berlin. (35:42) Our music on this episode is provided by the birds at the National Arboretum. Talk back to us! You can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans Our walking music is find me by H, and our riding in the car music is from As Long as I Live by Centerville, VA band, GUM! Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Photo Album for the National Arboretum. We put a LOT of pictures up this week. Comments[11] |
Tue, 2 May 2006  A short, special edition in which we visit the Mitsitam Cafe of the National Museum of the American Indian between Jefferson and Maryland Avenues at Third Street SW. This is a unique museum restaurant, featuring food from a wide variety of Native American cultures. It is our choice for lunch if you are visiting the Smithsonian. Let us know what you think of our review, via email at Comments[4] |
Sat, 29 April 2006  On a rainy day, we visit the National Museum of the American Indian which is one of the museums of the Smithsonian Instiution. We recommend you use the L'Enfant Plaza Station on the Orange, Blue, Green or Yellow Line. This podcast is a soundseeing tour, rather than our normal guided tour - we assume you can find your way around the museum OK. At the end of the tour we mention our friend Steve whose Blog about his Sabbatical with his tribe, the Oneida is well worth reading. Let us hear from you! You can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans Our music today is find me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Photo Album for the National Museum of the American Indian.. Comments[6] |
Tue, 25 April 2006  A short, special edition in which we visit the Food Court of the Reagan Building between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues at 15th Street NW. This is an inexpensive and convenient food court with a number of casual dining options, just across the street from the more expensive restaurants on the Smithsonian. We hope to continue to do occasional tips, restaurant reviews and the like as short midweek segments, if our listeners find them helpful. Let us know how you like them, via email at Comments[24] |
Sat, 22 April 2006  Today we end a three week series, visiting the National Mall, the Nation's backyard. We recommend you use the SmithsonianStation on the Orange or Blue Line. We start on the grounds of the Washington Monument. (2:34) We visit the National World War II Memorial. (8:17) We break away from the crowds and take a tranquil stroll through Constitution Gardens. (11:24) We continue on westward and play Remember Me by the Central Virginia group The Lee Harris 3. (14:17) We visit the dramatic and moving Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. (16:58) We cross the mall to visit the Korean War Veterans' Memorial. (22:31) We finally arrive at the other end of the mall, the Lincoln Memorial. (28:40) We give three sets of directions back to metro. Hint - the Foggy Bottom station is the furthest of the three from the Lincoln Memorial. And uphill! Let us hear from you! You can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia. Comments[3] |
Sat, 15 April 2006  Today we bring you part two of a three week series, visiting the National Mall, the Nation's backyard. We recommend you use the Federal TriangleStation if you are doing this in conjunction with Podcast #4 or the L'Enfant Plaza on Blue, Orange, Green or Yellow lines, or SmithsonianStation on the Orange or Blue Line.
Julie continues with her retelling of the History of the
We walk around the National Museum of the American Indian, the newest museum on the mall. (5:20)
We continue walking past the most visited museum in the world the National Air and Space Museum. (10:11)
We rest our feet for a few minutes in the lovely atmosphere of the Sculpture Garden at the Hirshhorn Museum. Then we explore some of the other sculpture on the grounds of this intersting contemporary art museum.(15:41)
We continue walking next door to the portico of the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building.
Then we take note of the Carousel and the Smithsonian Castle. (19:27)
We head toward the garden behind the castle, and then play Lapse by College Park, Maryland guitar trio Might Could. We also talk about the Smithsonian Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery(26:01)
We pass by the S. Dillon Ripley Center, and the Freer Gallery which, along with the Sackler constitutes the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art. (29:50)
We then pass by the Department of Agriculture's Visitor's Center
We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com.
Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans.
Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H.
Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.
Photo Album for the second part of our Walk along the mall.. Comments[13] |
Sat, 8 April 2006  Today we begin a three week series, visiting the National Mall, the Nation's backyard. We recommend you use the Federal Triangle or SmithsonianStation on the Orange or Blue Line.
We start with a brief discussion of the History of the
We pass the National Museum of American History. (7:19)
We continue our discussion of the history of the Smithsonian, then visit the National Museum of Natural History. (11:02)
We continue on eastward along the Mall and play Swallowing Stones by Westminster, Maryland artist Lisa Cerbone. (17:03)
We visit the Sculpture Garden, Pavilion and Ice Rink(), then the East and West Wings of the National Gallery of Art. (20:51)
We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com.
Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans.
Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H.
Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.
Comments[16] |
Sat, 1 April 2006  Today we stroll up Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol grounds to the White House. We recommend you use the Capitol South Station on the Orange or Blue Line, or Judiciary Square or Union Station on the Red Line.
We start at the Peace Memorial on the Capitol Grounds, and talk a bit about the history of Pennsylvania Memorial. (2:34) We stop at the Navy Memorial, and listen to the Navy Sea Changers sing Eternal Father, Strong to Save. This music is available freely on the web site of the United States Navy Band. (8:53) We visit Freedom Plaza and remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with excerpts from his "I have a dream" speech, which is available in its entirely many places online, including www.americanrhetoric.com. (15:27) Just before arriving at the White House we listen to the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band play Four Ruffles and Flourishes and Hail to the Chief (21:32) We visit the White House or Presidential Mansion. (22:25) We finish with the song Just Another God Bless America by Chantilly, VA based Enduring Pain. This song comes to us from the Podsafe Music Network (27:31) We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. Comments[4] |
Sat, 25 March 2006  Today we explore Capitol Hill, and many of the buildings associated with the U.S. Government. We recommend you use the Capitol South Station on the Orange or Blue Line, or Judiciary Square or Union Station on the Red Line. We give you directions from the top of the Elevator at the Independance Ave exit at the Capital South Metro Station.
We view the Capitol Building from the exterior, and talk about its history. (2:02) We view the Library of Congress. (7:29) We sit on a bench and stop for a chat by the Folger Shakespeare Library about the library, gardens, and events associated with the Library. (9:21) We don't stop by the Supreme Court because they are loudly power-washing the steps as we pass. Nonetheless we talk about the building and explain how to visit. (10:51) We play the song Simple Ways by Washington, DC based Sharif. This song comes to us from the Podsafe Music Network (12:55) We head on around the Capitol, talk a little about Union Station, listen to the Capitol Carillon and visit the Peace Memorial, Grant Memorial and Garfield Memorial. (17:36) We stop briefly by the U. S. Botanic Garden. (25:29) We Pause by the Office Buildings for the U. S. House of Representatives (26:55) We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. Incidental music during the walk is from find me by H. |
Sat, 18 March 2006  Today we take a walk, clockwise around the Tidal Basin. The Tidal Basin is a body of water sitting just south of the Washington Monument, across Independence Avenue. We recommend you use the Smithsonian Metro Station on the Orange or Blue Line. We give you directions from the top of the escalator at the Independance Ave.
We talk about the history of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which starts this year on March 25th. Peak Bloom is forecast between March 27 and April 1 in 2006. (8:43) We visit the Jefferson Memorial. (10:28) We head on around the Basin and visit the FDR Memorial, and take a tour through this complex and large memorial. (15:19) We play the song Everytime I Run Away by Centreville, Virginia based group GUM!. (24:53) We hope to continue to spotlight DC area music on our podcast. If you are a local musician and you would like to hear your music on Washington TravelCast, you can leave us a message here on our web page, or email us at washingtontravelcast@yahoo.com. Our Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans. We erred in the audio section of our podcast - the incidental music during the walk is from find me by H (not davey, as stated.) Our Mentor is Dave Shepherd of The Word Nerds. Thanks, Dave. Comments[7] |
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