More houses at the Amalyn development

Little green houses, for everyone

 There has been a lot going on at the Amalyn housing development at the site of the old WMAL radio towers in Bethesda, MD.  At least six houses are far enough along in the construction process to have the green walls up.  Here are two that are right next to each other.

Right next to the grey model home is another house under construction.  Green walls, no roof.

Quite a number of lots have been laid out, some have a sign saying they are available, others, like this one, are sold. Construction hasn't started here, but some of the sold lots have the foundations in progress.

The townhouses are still in progress, with the white building wrap and windows in.  I'm a bit surprised that they haven't made more progress, my April update showed the walls were up even then.

The clubhouse, which was just a concrete pad in April now looks like a real building, the roof and wrapped walls are up but no windows yet.

 This looks like another water retention area to slow the runoff during a rain storm.

 Earlier this month I posted about them putting silt fencing up in another part of the field.  Well, they have started working in that area of the housing development, it looks like they are removing the topsoil now and adding it to the big pile of dirt in the center of the field. This is in the area between Derbyshire Ln and Renita Ln

The view from Hip Flask in Downtown Bethesda

 

The new Marriott hotel at 7707 Woodmont Avenue in Downtown Bethesda, MD is open and on the roof they have a bar called Hip Flask.  It was fairly crowded when i got there and they soon started limiting the number of people so by the time I left there was a line of people waiting to come up.

The have a bunch of nice looking cocktails and interesting appetizers but I found their beer selection to be fairly weak. There is an inside portion and and outside portion, I focused on the outside part.

What I was really interested in was the view, and it did not disappoint.  Because of where the sun was, I couldn't get a good picture looking west so all these pictures are looking east.  There wasn't good visibility to the north or south because building blocked the view.

From the roof-top bar you can see the LDS Temple just to the right of the Marriott HQ building (Surrender Dorothy).

I brought a camera that let me zoom in on downtown Silver Spring, do you recognize any of these buildings?  I really like the balloon mural towards the right of the picture.

Mormon Temple open house is going on now

 

The D.C. Mormon Temple is open for visitors from now through June 11th.  This is a rare opportunity to see the inside of a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  After June 11th the temple will be rededicated and only LDS members will be allowed in.  You can find out more about how to visit at their DC Temple open house site.

This is not the first time the temple has allowed visitors.  When it was first built and prior to it's use there was an open house, but that was in 1974, so this is a a very uncommon event, it is only happening now because they just finished extensive renovations of it.

I went yesterday and it was a lot different than I expected.  I had thought it would be more like a cathedral with a huge, high-ceilinged common room, but it isn't. There are multiple floors in the temple, each largely dedicated to a different use.  The tour is self-guided but you are following a path, with plenty of knowledgable people around if you have questions (like since there is a sealing, can their be an un-sealing? [answer: yes])  You can see the tour information here and on the tour you can get a paper copy of that information.

You can't actually see every floor.  The top floor for instance is closed, but I was told that is a large gathering room with chairs and a pulpit.

You also are not allowed to take pictures inside the temple, which is why I only have exterior shots.  However, at the tour information link above there are interior pictures.

Even though I call it the "Mormon Temple" because that is what I grew up with it being known as, officially that is not it's name.  In 2018, the LDS church decided that the word "Mormon" didn't convey what they wanted.  Here is a quote from the FAQ: 

This sacred building was often called the “Mormon Temple.”  However, in 2018, the Prophet and President of the Church, Russell M. Nelson, offered correction to any inaccurate name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including improper reference to the “Mormon Church.”  Mormon was a great prophet, whom we honor, but the Church was named after our Savior Jesus Christ. The correct name of the Church is: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thus, the proper name of the Temple is the “Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” 

The reference to “saints” in the name of the Church references the Apostle Paul’s use for people who try to follow Jesus Christ’s teachings.

A new area gets silt fencing at Amalyn Bethesda

I walked around the Amalyn housing development today and notice that they are putting up more silt fences to control erosion.  These fences usually go up shortly before they start work in an area, so there is likely going to be construction in this part of the former WMAL transmitter site. An area of underbrush has been cleared at the end of Derbyshire Lane, and a silt fence has been installed the entire frontage with Derbyshire.  Fortunately, the fence is only two feet tall and you can step over it.

The fence continues to the dip in the field. There is still some fencing and equipment beyond it so it is possible they will continue the fence on the other side of the muddy area.

If you every walk around the field, you will probably recognize this part, it stays wet for longer than anywhere else and is a proto-stream.  The silt fence stops just before it.