Mar 31st, 2012 at 10:00AM:
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., is commemorating the Civil War with two new exhibits.
"The Confederate Sketches of Adalbert Volck" looks at the work of a rebel dentist who became one of the Confederacy's leading political cartoonists. Unlike most German immigrants, who sided with the Union, Volck was an active rebel who not only fought the Union with his pen, but also ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
washington posts
National Portrait Gallery Opens Two Civil War Exhibits
Mar 31st, 2012 at 10:00AM:
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., is commemorating the Civil War with two new exhibits.
"The Confederate Sketches of Adalbert Volck" looks at the work of a rebel dentist who became one of the Confederacy's leading political cartoonists. Unlike most German immigrants, who sided with the Union, Volck was an active rebel who not only fought the Union with his pen, but also ...Tsunami powered ghost ship closes in on Canadian shores
Mar 27th, 2012 at 3:00PM:
When last year's earthquake and resulting tsunami rocked Japan, the destruction of property and disruption to travel plans were immediate. Minor quakes after the initial tremor did little more damage. But a Japanese squid-fishing boat has been drifting across the Pacific Ocean all year and is now closing in on British Columbia's north coast.
"It's been drifting across the Pacific for a year, ...D.C.'s Cherry Blossoms turn 100
Mar 24th, 2012 at 12:00PM: Washington, D.C. is a city of posers. Especially during the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival when camera-toting tourists and locals descend like locusts to D.C.'s Tidal Basin to bask in the ethereal beauty of these Japanese trees in bloom. 100 years ago Monday, 3,020 cherry blossom trees arrived in Washington as a gift from Japan, largely thanks to the efforts of a journalist and traveler ...Seattle's new Hot Tub Boats: swingin' in the rain
Mar 21st, 2012 at 4:30PM: I live in Seattle. So I can state with authority that out here if you want hipster street cred you'll be rocking at least some sartorial remnant of the '70s -- be it a pair of groovy shades, nut-hugger jeans, a polyester dress or booty cut-offs.
What else is reminiscent of the '70s? Hot tubs, baby. And now, chilly (but oh so cool) Seattleites and visitors alike can have a relaxing retro outing ...Craft foods calling: nationwide schools, seminars and workshops teach you how to launch your own business
Mar 21st, 2012 at 12:00PM: Most children don't dream of selling cheese or hacking apart animal carcasses when they grow up, but it's a popular fantasy for many adults. Like most romantic-sounding culinary vocations, making craft foods and beverages can be hard work, and a risky business enterprise. "No matter how passionate someone is about their product," says Heidi Yorkshire, founder of Portland, Oregon's Food by Hand ...JFK's Georgetown
Mar 5th, 2012 at 9:00AM: John F. Kennedy was one of the greatest orators in American history. But as a single congressman and then senator, his Sunday morning routine in Washington involved food and newspapers and no chit-chat. Each week, the magnetic politician would occupy a tiny, one-person booth called a "rumble seat" (see photo right and video below) at Martin's Tavern, his favorite restaurant and watering hole in ...Training shuttle to be displayed in Seattle's Museum of Flight
Jan 22nd, 2012 at 9:00AM:
It looks like the Space Shuttle, but it isn't. It's made of plywood, for one thing, and it can't fly.
Yet it's a piece of aeronautics history and will soon grace Seattle's Museum of Flight. This training shuttle, more properly called the Full Fuselage Trainer, is a full-scale mockup that astronauts have used for practice since the 1970s. The museum originally hoped to get one of the four ...Video: 2011 National Parkour Summit competition
Nov 1st, 2011 at 2:30PM: The 2011 National Parkour Summit competition took place in Seattle, Washington. World class traceurs, including Levi Meeuwenberg, Frosti Zernow, Brian Orosco, and Tyson Cecka competed in speed competitions at Gasworks Park where two obstacle courses were set up. The first course was an Adult Open competition at Parkour Visions' brand new gym, while the second was an Adult Invitational. Each ...
Host and experience budget-friendly local tours all over the United States
Oct 20th, 2011 at 12:00PM: HipHost, a new "peer-to-peer marketplace for socially-hosted local tours", not only gives travelers a way to experience new cities from a local's point of view, but also gives people an opportunity to make extra cash.
Anyone who wants to share their local knowledge can be a HipHost and design a tour based on anything they find interesting. Some tour topics include art, culture, fitness, ...Fall festivals: five delicious ways to celebrate
Sep 21st, 2011 at 10:00AM: There's something really depressing about seeing the last of the tomatoes, corn, and stonefruit at the farmers market, the withering vines in my neighbor's gardens. But fall is also an exciting time for produce geeks, what with all the peppers and squash, pomegranates and persimmons.
If you love yourself some good food and drink, here are five reasons to welcome fall. No matter where you live ...2012 Summit For Someone registration is now open
Sep 10th, 2011 at 9:00AM: Big City Mountaineers, the non-profit organization that provides urban youth with opportunities to build life skills through wilderness mentoring experiences, has announced that registration is now open for their 2012 Summit For Someone program. SFS gives adventurous travelers the opportunity to climb some of the world's most iconic peaks, while raising funds to support the Big City Mountaineers ...Gawker's Worst 50 States
Aug 25th, 2011 at 11:30AM: I've been following Gawker's newest series, The Worst 50 States. I've been enjoying following this series. In an effort to pin down not only the best states in the US of A, but, more importantly, the worst states, Gawker compiled a Gawker-invented rating system in order to rank our fair fifty. Granted, this rating system consists solely of the viewpoints of those on staff for Gawker, so the ...Photos: The new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Aug 23rd, 2011 at 12:00PM: Although the formal dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC, is not until August 28 (as we indicated in this post last week), the memorial officially opened on Monday. I was among the hundreds of tourists and locals that visited the new MLK Memorial and below are some photos I took of the site.
To give you a sense of what you will be looking at, the King ...First look at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in DC
Aug 20th, 2011 at 11:00AM: On August 28, 48 years to the day that Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his legendary "I Have a Dream" speech, the nation's capital will dedicate a memorial to him on the National Mall. The Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be the first memorial on the Mall dedicated to an African-American and the first solo memorial for a non-president.
The MLK Memorial is located on ..."Deep Throat" parking garage gets a historical marker
Aug 19th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Watergate. The Washington political scandal that made stars of Woodward, Bernstein, and "Deep Throat," resulted in the resignation of Richard Nixon, and has since lent its suffix to thousands of scandals has a new landmark. It's in a parking garage.
Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward met with Watergate whistleblower Mark Felt (aka "Deep Throat") six times from October 1972 to November ...Orcas, sea kayaking, and sea planes: a day trip to Washington's San Juan Island
Aug 16th, 2011 at 12:30PM: I woke up early one morning last week and realized that August 15th would mark two years since I arrived in Seattle. Normally I wouldn't take note of such a thing, given that I tend to move with the frequency of a fugitive. Staying in one place just isn't in my nature.
But here I was, 24 months into life in Seattle, and of the many things I'd yet to do, I hadn't: been to the San Juan Islands ...Summer travel: best U.S. cities for localized food lovers
Jul 14th, 2011 at 3:00PM: What's that you say? Summer's half over? Those of us living here in the Pacific Northwest had no idea, given the lack of sun in these parts. But even if you're getting slapped by the mother of all heat waves, it's still early in the season for the best produce summer has to offer. As for where to get great food featuring locally-sourced ingredients? Allow me.
Some cities are inextricably linked ...The Quileute tribe's quandry
May 28th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Every time it floods in New Orleans or a hurricane wipes out a mobile home park along the coast of Florida similar questions are asked: Why do people continue to put themselves in harm's way by living in – and often rebuilding in -- places clearly threatened by natural disaster?
A Native American community in the northwest corner of the country, popularized in the hit book and movie ...Nine groovy retro flight attendant uniforms
May 23rd, 2011 at 3:30PM: Good looks never go out of style, but (thankfully, in some instances) "air hostess" uniforms do. The Los Angeles Times travel section has published this great photo gallery of swinging stews from the "Style in the Aisle" exhibit at Seattle's Museum of Flight.
The exhibit, which runs through May 30th, features flight attendant uniforms from the 1930's through the '70's. Couture designers of the ...Ten iconic foods of summer, and where to find them
May 20th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Aah, summer. A time for the beach, pool parties, lazy days...and sheep cheese? While many foods are undeniably the essence of summer--watermelon, peaches, and anything grilled come to mind--there are plenty of edibles not identified as seasonal foods.
Most of my favorite things to eat just happen to peak in summer, so I decided to compile a list of both the obvious and not-so. Even the most ...
