Seein’ the DMV: Dance Theatre of Harlem/Firebird and Bazaar Meat-092626
Although I spent my birthday month of September in the DMV, I managed to get around fairly often. This past week focused on music, beginning with attending the Met’s Live in HD 20th anniversary broadcast on Saturday the 19th. The following Saturday, I invited my eldest sister, Debra, to join me for the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) performance at Washington’s National Theatre. The September 26th matinee was one of three performances scheduled for DTH in D.C. on their 2026-27 tour schedule. The program opened with Return, featuring songs by R&B masters James Brown and Aretha Franklin, followed by Donizetti Variations, a ballet set to composer Gaetano Donizetti’s opera, Don Sebastian. DTH’s featured work was the 1982 reimagined Caribbean setting of the ballet, Firebird, with an orchestral score by Igor Stravinsky, choreography by John Taras, and sets and costumes by Geoffrey Holder. It was a stunning performance. I captured the…
Birthday Trippin’ 2026: Old Post Office Clock Tower & Lincoln Memorial
The morning of my LXVIIIth birthday was a sunny and warm September 17th. I decided to take advantage of the nice weather forecast and the smaller crowds I expected to visit the Lincoln Memorial and its newly opened Undercroft. I also saw an opportunity to finally visit the Old Post Office Clock Tower after several unsuccessful attempts. Old Post Office Clock Tower Rather than driving SB and dealing with the challenge of finding parking, I parked at the Metro station near my home. I took the subway to the Federal Triangle station, which was across the street from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which now leases the building where the clock tower is located. Previously, I’d visited while the tower was closed for renovation, and then I missed the limited hours when it is open to the public. This time, I arrived shortly after its opening for the day. Although the site…
The Sportin’ Life: Serena at the US Open & the Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
Serena at the US Open, August 25 As those who follow this blog know, I will occasionally yield to impulse and take an unplanned trip. Until the day before I departed, I had no idea I was going to New York to attend the 2026 US Open in Flushing, New York. I had wanted to go for a few years, but until that day, the cost felt prohibitive. Then, an announcement on the Tennis Channel said that tennis players Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz, as well as Aryna Sabalenka partnering with Novak Djokovic, would play mixed doubles together for the Open’s Fan Week. Williams had retired from the professional women’s tennis circuit four years prior, and Alcaraz was making his first tournament appearance since sustaining a wrist injury four months earlier. With that in mind, I wasn’t expecting to see them play at their best, but seeing them play would…
Three Days Out and About-Odyssey, Dark Sky, Flight Time, and Beethoven (August 12-14, 2026)
Sorry for the delay in posting. I’ve now uploaded the fourth set of pictures to Piwigo without blogging about the trips I took them on. Part of this is because of a special musical project I’ve started that is taking up a lot of my time right now. More about that when it’s time to announce the project. I’ve also got upcoming articles and presentations I’m researching, and they’ve taken precedence. Still, if I don’t post something, the number of scheduled trips only gets worse (BETTER) from here. (YAY!!) So, I’m going to spend some of this weekend cranking out one or two and see if I can get a third done before October. Day One: The Odyssey, Valley Forge and Dark Sky I hadn’t been on the road in a month and felt antsy, so I decided to see the hottest movie of the year, The Odyssey, on a…
Seein’ the DMV: Musical Month and More-July 2026
After all my travels in early 2026, I’ve stuck closer to home this summer. Fortunately, there’s plenty to see and do right here in the DMV (and Baltimore, for those of you who don’t consider all of Maryland and Virginia part of the DMV). My July was especially busy on the music front, though there’s one non-musical one that I want to share here. I’m checking my calendar to recall this busy month of music and more. Unless you live in the area, you probably think the festivities surrounding the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence were part of the events I attended. I didn’t, though, because the whole thing was such a mess, I didn’t want to attend anything. Instead, in what is becoming an annual event, I settled by the window at home and watched the fireworks from several different sites around the Beltway. Small but still…
A Busy Fall and Winter 2026-27 Planned
It’s Been 50 Years?!? October looks like the beginning of getting back on the road for the fall of 2026 and winter of 2027. It begins the first weekend of October when I’m scheduled to return home for my 50th high school class reunion. I really haven’t kept in contact with any of my classmates, so I’m not looking forward to the coming event with high enthusiasm. Still, one only has one chance to celebrate one’s 50th, so I’m going there. Time (and gas prices) permitting, I’m seriously thinking about visiting the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The museum had not opened when I visited the state in 2016, so this would be a great opportunity at a time of year when the weather would hopefully be warm and not roasting hot. Talking Paul Robeson at Princeton U. then Acadia NP I don’t have a lot…
Seein’ the DMV: Juneteenth in Virginia–Tall Ships and First Africans
Tall Ships As part of the 250th anniversary of the U.S., many events are scheduled in the DMV. I don’t know how many I will attend, but my first was the Sail 250 Virginia. The gathering of international tall ships and other private and military vessels had reached Alexandria the week before; however, I didn’t want to deal with the crowds either there or at the next stop in Norfolk. I looked at the route down the Chesapeake where the armada of ships was scheduled to travel. This is a major event, so I suspected that each of the several viewing sites set up for the trip would draw large crowds. Then I noticed that the ships were scheduled to cross over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and recalled that I had found a nearly perfect place to get a perfect view. I had just driven through the tunnel three months…
A Busy 10 Days (Miami, Memphis and More)–0509-1926
Miss in Miami I had recovered from my extended visit to California and Oregon, and those leftover segments from my Amtrak USA Rail Pass that would soon expire were virtually burning a hole in my pocket. Wandering around the Amtrak site, I saw a suggestion that the train from Washington to Miami offered attractive scenic views of the route. I scheduled a quickie train trip that would only allow an overnight stay in Miami, and I added a nighttime tour of the city and dinner in the area at a restaurant that offered regional cuisine. Unfortunately, the trip went badly from beginning to end. In addition to the horrible Amtrak customer service during the trip, they had engine trouble that resulted in our delayed arrival to Miami. We arrived too late for me to get a taxi to the tour starting point. Instead, I used DoorDash to have dinner delivered…
California-Oregon National Parks Trip: Afterthoughts
I could think of no better way to feature the scope of my trip to the California and Oregon national parks than to use the GPS map generated by Piwigo of the photos I uploaded to the app. All of those photos are accessible at https://singin1.click/piwigo/index.php?/category/10. I try to learn from each trip, the things that go really well–sometimes despite me, I admit–and the things that don’t go well. Some of this is to set into writing for my own recollection, and some is for those of you who share in my adventures. Let’s get the not-so-good stuff done first. On One Hand,… I had purchased the Amtrak USA Rail Pass, honestly, to save money using a mode of transportation I usually enjoy using. I used my pass for the Washington to Chicago and the entire Portland to Washington trips (see the blue-marked routes on the map to the right).…
California-Oregon NPs-Gettin’ Home-0428-050226
By the time I reached the Portland, Oregon, Amtrak station on Tuesday afternoon, I had completed the drive from Crater Lake, boxed and mailed the items I had purchased during the trip that I didn’t want to carry with me on the train, cleaned up eight days of mostly living in my rental car and turned it into the Enterprise dealer in Portland, then gotten a free ride to the train station from Enterprise. (BTW, my compliments to Enterprise for their service throughout the rental process. I’ve been using them for years and will continue to do so.) When we pulled into the station, I had to take a couple of pictures of the tasteful, old-fashioned building. I was lucky on the trip back that the staff at Portland went out of their way to get me seated in the lower car level, which is for those who need accessible…