An Afternoon in Old Town

After learning Steph had yet to be to Old Town and it was on her DC bucket list, the two of us decided to spend the afternoon playing tourist.  The first item on the list was The George Washington Masonic National Memorial. 

For those of out of the loop, GW is a well known Freemason.  Dedicated in 1932, this 333 foot tall memorial is likened after the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt (Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). The idea to construct the memorial was proposed by the Fredericksburg Lodge and after fifty years the spot on Shooter's Hill was selected; it was once in the running to house the Capitol building.  In the early 1900s there was a strong desire to construct a fire proof building to house several items owned or used by Washington.  The building has an extensive history so if you want to learn more click here. 

After 45 minutes of seeing various rooms and historical pieces we finally headed to the top.  

From there you got a 360* view of Alexandria, DC and National Harbor. 

After an afternoon wandering around Old Town and the Torpedo Factory Art Center we grabbed Dan and headed over to Port City Brewing.  At the turn of the 20th Century, Alexandria was home to Portner Brewing Company, the largest brewery in the southern US.  Sadly, like many other breweries and distilleries, once Prohibition was enacted the brewery went out of business.  Fast forward one hundred years and Port City Brewing Company was started and has been winning local and national awards. 

The three of us were glad to enjoy some air conditioning and work our way through everything on tap.  While we did hop on the tour, the three of us were busy chatting and missed most of the information our tour guide was giving. 

All in all, a successful afternoon.

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day

In 1956, the League of American Bicyclists began Bike to Work Day which has now become part of National Bike Month.  Cities across the country are providing free coffee, t-shirts, breakfasts and tune ups.  Check out your local bike advocacy group to see what your area has planned!

Happy Birthday Florence

The last day of Nurses Week always falls on Florence Nightingale's birthday, May 12th. 

Born to a wealth British family, Florence was expected to marry rich, entertain guests and partake in charming activities like playing the piano and embroidery.  She, however, felt like she had more to offer and after nine years of discussion with her family, she trained as a nurse in Germany. 

Nightingale was drafted by the Secretary of War during the Crimean War to take care of fallen soldiers.  Turns out more soldiers were dying from infection than they were from battle wounds.  Nightingale and the other volunteers soon cut infection by two thirds by cleaning the hospital and providing the wounded with healthy food (novel idea, right?).  At night she would complete her rounds by lamp light and soon earned the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp." 

After the war ended she became bed ridden, but that did not slow her down.  She helped to fund the Nightingale School for the training of nurses, brought sanitation and public health nursing to India and published hundreds of pamphlets and reports related to the field of nursing.

Have a couple of minutes to spare?  Head over to Bio.com where you can watch a mini biography on the woman who changed the face of nursing and public health forever.    

Nurses' Week

The Perfect Number of Bikes is X + 1

Where x = the number of bikes your currently own. 

Every year Bike and Build pairs up with Giant and BoKoo Bikes to provide free bikes to all of its participants.  Once riders hit a certain percentage of their fundraising goal, they receive a glorious email with directions to ordering said bike.  While I have had the box for a few days, this afternoon I finally had time to put it together and did so in record time, without directions.  It helps that last spring I built several hundred bikes for work.

I saw a couple of people put together a time-lapse video of the entire process last year, so I decided to do the same.  Make sure you stick around for the end of the video because I have a new incentive scheme going on for anyone who donates!  Click here to figure out how.

Sometimes it takes a while for a name to come to me and other times it will hit as soon as I see the bike.  This year's base model for the ladies is mostly black with some light blue accents.  Coming from the land of the Ravens, I decided to name my bike Edgar Allen Poe, Poe for short.  The next step will be to get pedals, a bike fitting and probably a new saddle. 

100 Days to Go Until I Drift West

So often when I think of Bike and Build, I think of the Holstee Manifesto.  According to their website, the founders wanted "to create something they could reflect back on if they ever felt stuck or found themselves living according to someone else’s definition of happiness."  The poster has been printed thousands of times and has even been turned into a video featuring a wide variety of NYC cyclists. 

Some of my favorite lines:

• Do what you love and do it often.
• If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
• When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
• Travel often.  Getting lost will help you find yourself. 
• Some opportunities only come once, seize them.

With that being said THERE ARE ONLY 100 DAYS UNTIL DRIFT WEST HITS THE ROAD.  My bike showed up today which means tomorrow it comes out of its box and we hit the road.  New name to be reveal tomorrow.  Head over to the bike blog to see how you can donate to my ride!!

Urban Gardening: Season 3

Well it's that time of year again when cherry blossoms start to bloom around the city and bulbs start to pop up in public and private gardens.  While some people are trying to figure out which basketball teams will make it to the final four, urban gardeners are trying to narrow down the final fruit and vegetable which will make it into their gardens. 

This spring I vowed to start on the garden before the weeds took over.  While I was a few weeks earlier than last year, the water was still turned off and the weeds were over a foot high.  On the upside, it rained the night before so the weeds were a bit easier to pull up. 

Two hours and four wheelbarrow loads later I could finally see the dirt, Frank was found and so were the rest of my gardening tools.  There were still a lot of weeds in the ground, but after a quick till most of them came loose.

This year eighteen different kinds of flowers and vegetables will be planted at the community garden and bunch of herbs have already made it into planters at home.  A few plants will be taken out and replaced as the summer wares on and I get a jump on the fall harvest.   

All of the plants went in with out a hitch and there was no room to spare!  It doesn't look like much right now, but give it a few weeks and things will, hopefully, be sprouting away.  Gardening, a lesson in patience.