Across from the Woodley Park Metro and competing against a couple other Indian restaurants within one block (one being right next door), you can only assume that the food has to be good. And it is.

Since 1991, they have been serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine. With an outdoor patio adjoining other restaurant patios on either side, it can be a lively place. I prefer to dine mid-afternoon when the crowds are light and securing a table outside is easy and more relaxed.

My favorite dishes to start a meal include their Meat Samosa appetizer ($2.50 each), a richly seasoned ground beef, peas and potato fried turnover. I love the pair of accompanying spicy dipping sauces. Their hummus with fresh naan bread ($5.95) is also exceptional (it could even perhaps rival Lebanese Tavernia’s hummus).

They offer 9 variations of Indian breads, including several stuffed nann offerings (garlic and cilantro, ground beef and cilantro, etc.). For main courses, their Chicken Tikka Masala ($10.95) and the napalm hot lamb or beef Vindaloo with potatoes ($11.95) is sure to get your attention. They also serve something you don’t see very often – goat in a yogurt and spice sauce.

All their dishes are prepared without MSG or ghee (high trans-fat butter) and their vegetarian dishes are all vegan. Also try a cold 22 oz. Taj Mahal beer from India to help cool the heat.

Taste of India
2621 Connecticut Ave.
Washington, DC

The second place I love for Indian cuisine is Mirchi Indian Cuisine near just off Route 28 near Dulles Airport, especially for their lunch time buffet (only $9.44).

They service traditional Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes in a very casual setting. Their lunch buffet offers about a dozen main dishes (both meat and meatless) many rather spicy but all flavorful, along with lots of other side items.

The restaurant is less than 2 years old and was the brainchild of four local Indian IT professionals. The place can get crowded, especially since the place was recently favorably written up in the Washington Post. The service can be a bit slow, but the food and value easily make up for and shortcomings and at lunch time, the staff keeps the buffet well stocked. They also recently secured their beer and wine license as well.

So if you want to take a tour of India’s cusine, head there for lunch. You should be delighted.

Mirchi Indian Cuisine
44260 Ice Rink Plaza, #120
Ashburn, VA 20147

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Post from: The DC Traveler

About an hour and a half southwest of Washington in Orange, VA is Orange Skydiving.  On most days, certified instructors and jumpmasters train people how to take their first skydive. 

There are three types of introductory skydiving options for beginners – tandem jumps, static line jumps and accelerated freefall.

 In tandem jumps, you get an exhilarating 40 to 50 second freefall from about 13,000 feet while harnessed together with your instructor. Considered the “skydiving classroom in the skies”, the tandem jump gives the beginner real taste of the freefall while under the watchfull eye of an experienced instructor.

The static line jump is the typical paratrooper war movies jumping. The skydiver connects a line from the parachute opening device (ripcord) to the airplane, so that when they jump out, the parachute is automatically pulled.  Generally these dives occur around 3,500 feet and result in a five-minute gentle glide back to earth.

For the highly fit such as active military, firefighters, or other whose physical conditioning puts them in a more elite physical conditioning status, accelerated freefalling is an option. In this style, the beginner jumps with two experienced instructors who freefall side-by-side with you until your parachute deploys or if you have problems, they deploy it for you.  These jumps generally occur above 10,000 feet.

During a normal parachute deployment from a freefall dive,  a skydiver will experience a few seconds of intense deceleration, in the area of 3 – 4 G’s.  Once opened, the parachute slows the diver’s descent from about 120 mph to around 12 mph.

Requirements – You must be at least 18 years of age, and provide a picture ID. Maximum weight of a jumper is limited to 275 pounds, with an additional fee for people weighing over 220 pounds.  Jeans, comfortable clothing and sneakers or boots are recommended.

Dates and Times – Skydive Orange is open daily.  Jump times are offered at varying times based on the type of jump, training requirements, the number of jumpers and weather conditions. Most static and accelerated freefall classes start at 8:00 a.m. and run five to six hours. Tandem jumping instruction is significantly shorter and classes are generally offered on weekends at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., noon, and 2:00 p.m. but subject to change based on number of participants and weather conditions.  Weekday classes are also available.

Allow for plenty of time for your initial training, weather conditions and your jump. It’s probably best to plan to spend the day.  Plan to either bring your lunch or you can visit the town of Orange, just a few miles away.

According to Ned at Orange, it’s rare (less than 0.1%) that someone freezes in the door; but if you have second thoughts, you can, in most cases, reschedule your jump for another day.  Or as you may have seen in the movies, just tell the person behind the if you freeze…… to give you a good push!!

Safety – all parachutes used in first jumps and rentals, use an automatic activation device on the reserve chute that will automatically open at 1,000 feet if the main chute has not been deployed.

Costs (cash prices, credit card prices slightly higher) – Tandem jump – $245, Static Line – $205, Accelerated Freefall – $355.

A Few Bits of Parachuting Trivia

• The record for the highest parachute jump occurred in 1960 as part of a U.S. Air Force program. Captain Joe Kittinger, while wearing a pressurized suit, jumped out of a balloon gondola at over 102,000 feet.  During the 13-minute freefall, he hit speeds of upwards of 600 miles an hour.
• The oldest person to ever take a first skydive was Hildegarde Ferrea, who at 99 years old, completed her first tandem jump.
• The first parachute jump ever made was by Andre-Jacques Garnerin in 1797 over Paris from a ballon at 3,000 feet. 

Photo credits: photo 1 – Dan Wayland, photos 2 and 3 - Bobby Page.
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Post from: The DC Traveler

The history of roller derby dates back to 1935, when Leo Seltzer, a promoter who combined aspects of dance marathons, indoor walk-a-thons and the latest craze – roller skating; into a new form of sports entertainment.

The first Transcontinental Roller Derby consisted of twenty-five 2-person teams who were required to skate around the indoor track at the Chicago Coliseum for 11½ hours-a-day, until they completed the required 3000 miles – the distance between LA and New York.  Eleven days later, only nine teams finished.

Seltzer took his new sensation on the road to 50 cities and it quickly grew in popularity.  One aspect of the derby that seemed to be the most exciting were the  collisions between skaters when one tried to pass or lap another.

Realizing that this aspect could be exploited, Seltzer developed rules to establish a team competition with five-person teams where points were scored when one skater from one team laps or passes a member the other team.  Today, that basic concept is still the premise of roller derby.

A 6-team league was quickly formed, including a DC-based team, the Washington Jets and the sport hit the television airwaves in 1950. Roller derby’s popularity grew over the years and the league expanded, peaking in the early 1970s.  Venues included Madison Square Garden, the Oakland Coliseum and Comiskey Park in Chicago, where derby’s highest paid attendance for a single match occurred when over 50,000 people attended.

With the popularity high, even Raquel Welsh started a movie in 1972 called the Kansas City Bomber, where she played a rough-and-tumble roller girl.

Fast forward 35 years and enter the DC Rollergirls, the new, all-woman amateur DC-based roller derby league.  The league consists of four teams – the DC DemonCats, Scare Force One, Secretaries of Hate and the Cherry Blossom Bombshells.

With names such as Condeleeza Slice, Madeleine Allfight and  Beltway Betty, you know these skaters are all business. And speaking of business – their backgrounds are just as varied – one skater is a a pastry chef, another is a journalist, there’s also a school teacher.

The rules are fairly simple, a bout consists of two teams or 15 skaters competing against each other in a series of 2-minute plays called “jams“. Each team designates four players as “blockers” and one as a “jammer”. The jammer must try to breakthrough the other team’s blockers who remain in a pack. If the jammer can pass any of the opposing blockers, they earn one point for each blocker they pass. Blockers are allowed to use hockey-like body checks, but not elbows, to try to stop the jammers from passing. One of the most exciting moves is called a “whip” where a jammer trails behind one of the blockers and grabbing their hand, is whipped forward to increase their momentum and speed.  A roller derby game is three 20-minute periods.

The next Rollergirls match pits the Cherry Blossom Bombshells against the Scare Force One. Then matches are played about once monthly.  Upcoming bouts are June 30, July 21, Aug. 25, and Sept. 22, with the Championship Bout on October 20th at a location to be determined.

DC Rollergirls Roller Derby
Dulles Sportsplex 
21610 Atlantic Blvd. – about 2 miles north of Dulles Airport, just off Route 28
Sterling, VA 20166

Date and Time -  April 21st, 5:00 p.m. – doors open at 4:00.

Tickets -  $12.00 and are available online.

Nearest Metro Subway Station - If taking Metro, plan on taking the subway to West Falls Church, then the bus to Dulles Airport, then take a cab the rest of the way. 

Photo credits: Kansas City Bomber photo - Helena Kallianiotes & Raquel Welch 1972 MGM, 1972, courtesy of MPTV.net,  Beltway Betty – Melissa Cannorozzi, DC Rollergirls by James Calder Photography. 

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Post from: The DC Traveler

The Declaration of Independence is Jefferson’s and probably the nation’s most important document.  Considered a great writer and intellectual, he was nominated to write the initial draft, but ended up writing all the drafts, revisions and the final declaration.

During his public life, he served in the Continental Congress, was a Virginia state legislator as well as Governor of Virginia.  His duties also included acting as the Minister to France, the Secretary of State, Vice President, and ultimately, the third President.

His contributions included founding the University of Virginia, and designing the Virginia State Capitol building.  To assist the Senate, he authored and published A Manual of Parliamentary Practice  which is still in use today.

One of Jefferson’s more famous quote is  “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

Oddly, he died on July 4th, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1826.

If the cherry blossoms in full bloom aren’t enough reason to get you to visit the Mall, perhaps paying tribute to one of our most important founding fathers will be a good incentive. 

At noon on Friday, April 13th, at the Jefferson Memorial there will be a wreath-laying ceremony.  The Memorial was originally dedicated in 1943 on the 200th anniversary of his birthday.

Thomas Jefferson’s 263rd Birthday Wreath-Laying Ceremony
Jefferson Memorial 
East Basin Drive at near 14th Street, NW at the south bank of the Tidal Basin
Washington, DC

Tickets – no tickets are needed for the ceremony or addmission to the memorial

Hours – open 24 hours-a-day.

Nearest Metro subway station – Smithsonian – Blue and Orange lines, then about a 1 mile walk.

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Post from: The DC Traveler

With magnolias, boxwoods, azaleas, a grove of State trees, a bonsai museum, a large herb garden, plus numerous flower beds including daffodil, daylilies, and more.
 

Upcoming Shows

• Camellia Show – free
  Saturday, April 14, 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 15, Noon – 4:00 p.m.
• Japanese-influenced Sogetsu Floral Design Exhibit – free
  Friday, April 20 – Sunday, April 22, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
• Azalea Tours – $15 per person and registration is required
  Wednesday, April 25, 10:00 a.m. – Noon, and Monday, April 30, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
• Garden Fair Plant Sale – free, in the New York Avenue parking lot
  Saturday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Bonsai Display – free
  April 28 – May 6, daily 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Also check out the calendar of events or see what’s in bloom before your visit.

Tram Tours – You may also take an open-air 35-minute tram tour through the park.  The noon-stop tour provides a recorded presentation with information about the Arboretum, its history, mission, research and the various gardens.  Tram tours are offered on a first-come, first-served basis daily at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

U.S. National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue, NE – about 2 miles from the Capitol Building
Visitor entrances at the corner of New York Avenue and R Street
Washington, DC 20002-1958
 202-245-2726

Hours – open daily 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tickets- Admission is free.  Tram tour – Adults – $4.00, seniors – $3.,00, kids 4-16 – $2.00, kids under 4 are free. 

Dining – there is no food service at the park, but you may bring your own picnic.

Nearest Metro subway station– Stadium Armory Station – Blue and Orange lines. Transfer to the B-2 Metrobus to Bladensburg Road.  Then a 2-block walk to R Street. Turn right on R Street and continue 2 blocks to the Arboretum gates.

Parking – free parking is available throughout the park

Photo credits: Flickr
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Post from: The DC Traveler

DC Comedy Festival
Several DC area nightclubs and theaters are part of the DC Comedy Festival, including:

• HR-57 – 1610 14th Street, NW 
• The Warehouse Theater Complex — 1021 7th Street at M Street, NW
• FLASHpoint!– 916 G Street, NW 

Dates and Times – Thursday, April 12 through Saturday, April 14. All shows are in the evening, generally between 7:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.

Tickets – Available online until 4/13, then only at the door. $20 per individual show, $25 for a single night, all club pass and $45 for an all club, all weekend pass, students $5.00 less for all tickets except individual shows. Passes are good at any club for any show that day, based on a first-come, first-served basis. Weekend ticket holders get priority over single night pass holders.  Pass holders are also admitted to all DC Comedy Festival parties at Club Rouge in Dupont Circle.

Nearest Metro subway station– Check the specific venue’s web site for the location of the nearest Metro station or for additional information on directions and parking.

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Post from: The DC Traveler

Post from: The DC Traveler

The IMAX is considered to be one of the ultimate film watching experiences. Starting with a large-format film, (70mm, a film 10 times larger than standard movie film), and also the largest commercial film ever used to create movie images, combined with a 6-channel wrap-around digital sound system lets you experience the environment as if you are there.  The incredible sharpness  projected onto specially designed screens that are up to eight stories high, make the live-action nature, underwater, space and 3-D images so very realistic.

Plus, with films produced by critically-acclaimed film makers such as National Geographic, The Discovery Channel and Jean-Michel Cousteau, it understood why the IMAX experience is considered to the be start-of-the-art. 

There are four three IMAX theaters at three different Smithsonian locations around DC:

• National Museum of Natural History – 10th St. & Constitution Ave., NW
       Now Showing: Lions 3D: Roar of the Kalahari, Sharks 3D and Night at the Museum   
• National Air and Space Museum – 6th St. & Independence Ave., SW
       Now Showing: Roving Mars, Magnificent Desolation 3D – Walking on the Moon, Fighter Pilot and To Fly!, Cosmic Collisions, The Stars Tonight
• Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air & Space – 14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151
       Now Showing – Hurricane on the Bayou, Roving Mars, and Fighter Pilot

More Information – IMAX online info or phone line for DC – 202-633-IMAX (4629)

Tickets -  Tickets are available at the theater or online. Adults – $8.50, kids 12 and under – $7.00 and seniors – $7.50.

Below are some of my personal IMAX favorites.

Icon credits: Smithsonian IMAX theaters

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Post from: The DC Traveler

Just a couple weeks before the White House Spring Garden Tour, the Easter Egg Roll is another annual tradition that’s actually a race where children push a hard-boiled egg across the South Lawn of the White House using only a long-handled spoon. Usually, the Easter Bunny makes an appearance and a few cabinet members read a few children’s stories.

The Easter egg roll was moved to the White House in 1887 by President Rutherford B. Hayes after Congress ended the tradition at its first location, the US Capitol, two years earlier.  The roll was also canceled during World War II under FDR’s presidency, but was revived during the Eisenhower administration, and, for the first time, open to African-American children.

The White House Easter Egg Roll
South Lawn of the White House
Ellipse Visitor Pavilion – 15th and E Streets NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 24-hour information line – 202-456-7041

Date and Time – Monday, April 9th from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Tickets – The National Park Service will distribute free tickets beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 7 with small allotment of additional tickets at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, April 9. The tickets (limited to 5 per person), which are timed for entrance, will be distributed on a first-come basis.

If you can’t get tickets, check out another option for the kids.

Requirements – Every person must have a ticket and children of all ages are welcome to attend, however, there must be at least one child under eight years old and no more than two adults per group.

Nearest Metro subway station – Farragut West – Blue line, then a 4-block walk.

Photo credits: Child egg rolling – Flickr  __________________________________________________________

Post from: The DC Traveler

In Spring training, the Nats were 6 and 6 with 2 ties. And after a fifth-place finish last year, and some serious questions about team unity, the Nats have high hopes for this year’s season. With a new manager and a few new players, DC baseball fans are hoping for a great season.

Unfortunately, the Nats lost their home opener 9 to 2.

The Nats currently play at RFK Stadium and after the 2007 season, a new ballpark, with 41,000 seats is scheduled to be ready for the National’s opening day in 2008.

Some rule changes for the 2007 season

• To help speed the game, where there are no runners on base, the pitcher has 12 seconds to pitch to the batter after the batter is in the batter’s box.
• After some ball scuffing controversy last season,any player who scuffs or defaces a baseball would be ejected and receive an automatic 10-game suspension.
• Pitchers will be allowed to wear a multicolored glove if the umpire determines it isn’t distracting.
• In the stretch position, a pitcher instead of a windup with no runners on base will no longer have to come to a complete stop. 
• A player may no longer step into the dugout to catch a foul ball, but can reach into a dugout.
• A batter running to first base will be allowed to exit the 3-foot lane in foul territory “for the sole purpose of touching first base”. 
• A batter will lose the ability to run to first base on a dropped third strike if he leaves the dirt circle around home plate unless he does so while trying to reach first base.

Washington Nationals Baseball
RFK Stadium
2400 East Capitol Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003

Tickets – Tickets range from $5.00 to $55.00 and are available online, as well as through various ticket brokers and Craig’s list.

Home games during the Nat’s 74 game schedule run from April 2nd until Sept. 23rd  and start at 1:05, 1:35 or 7:05 p.m.

Nearest Metro subway station – Stadium-Armory Station – Blue or Orange lines  

Parking – there are numerous paid parking lots at RFK Stadium

Photo credits: Flickr
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Post from: The DC Traveler