Early Morning Road work on Old Georgetown

Around 8:30 this morning they closed two of the southbound lanes of Old Georgetown Rd between Cordell Ave and and the Wilson Ln/St Elmo Ave/Arlington Rd intersection. It wasn't like it was emergency work either, they were pulling up some steel plates to continue earlier work. 8:30 is too early for this kind of work, it created a huge, slow moving backup.

It looks like this is part of an ongoing project, don't expect them to finish it off this morning.

[where: Bethesda, MD]

Update 3:10pm: They have finished work for the day so it won't have an impact on rush hour.

Shorter hours coming to area malls

Montgomery Mall and Wheaton Plaza (Westfield whatever) are shortening their hours as of March 1st. They will now open at 10:30 on weekdays instead of 10am and close at 9pm instead of 9:30. Saturday hours are 10am to 9pm (instead of closing at 9:30) and Sunday is unchanged at 11am to 6pm.

It seems the slowing economy is getting to them too.

[where: Bethesda, MD]
[where: Wheaton, MD]

Terps beat the Tar Heels

When I decided to go down to College Park, MD and see the unranked Maryland Terrapins play the 3rd ranked UNC Tar Heels I thought it would be a good game. I didn't think the Terps had much of a chance of winning.

The first half of the game did nothing to change my mind. The Heels got the first score and led for all but a minute or two.

The halftime show featured a local dance/twirl team who just happen to be champions. I think it was Wheaton Dance-Twirl but don't recall exactly and it doesn't look like they have updated their website in over a year.

The second half was much the same, with UNC slowly opening up the lead from 10 to 14, even 16 points ahead. Then something happened. Not sure exactly when, but UMD started tightning things up. When there were a couple of minutes left I suddenly realized that Maryland had a real chance. Then overtime, man that was close.

Overtime took for ever, lots of timeouts and a few fouls. I thought it would never end. When there were 5.9 seconds on the clock, with Maryland up, the seats were clearing out. All the college kids were moving down into the aisle so they could rush the floor when the game ended, I still wasn't convinced who would win. Fortunately, they weren't dissappointed, MD won 88 to 85.

Shine silently has a post about this game with some good pictures, including one that was taken a fraction of a second before one of mine from a similar angle. What are the odds of that?

Bethesda Circulator bench back stolen

Looks a little bare doesn't it? There used to be a bench here near the corner of Woodmont Ave and Elm St, but sometime last Friday night or Saturday morning the back of it was stolen. The rest of the bench has since been removed. (maybe Bethesda Urban Partnership?)

The hand-carved wooden seat back read "Good that ice, or I'd have missed Feathered down clouds, orange and pink Curved across the windshield." and is valued at over $2,000.

From the Post.

[where: Bethesda, MD]

[update 3/3: The bench wasn't really stolen, it had been damaged by vandals and it was moved by construction workers. It has been recovered. More info at the gazette.]

Another Snow-Tease

What is this, the third time in a row we have had a little tiny bit of snow then it turns to rain or dries up? Is it too much to ask that we get a good few inches of snow every couple of years?

The snow should be over for the day, maybe some sleet but changing to rain by the end of lunch time. Rain for the drive home and tonight. Tomorrow a slight chance of snow and/or rain. Friday should be sunny again.

[where: Bethesda, MD]

50 cent words

In general, I am in favor of using appropriate words and not dumbing things down to a 4th grade reading level. Treat people like humans, not like idiots. I'm not sure I would use bus stop signs in this way though. I saw this metrobus stop by the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, MD. I have to admit, I wasn't 100% sure if alighting meant getting on or getting off, and that is a critical distinction in this case. I'm sure I would have figured it out the first time a bus passed me by.

The larger question is what would be a better word or phrase? It has to be short, unambiguous, accurate, and (at least mostly) correct english. "Getting off only" would be humourous, "This stop is for people to get off the bus and not for picking up people" is a bit long. Maybe "Dropoff only" or "No pickups"?

[where: Silver Spring, MD]

Bethesda Apple Store construction update

The new Apple store on Bethesda Ave in Bethesda, MD is coming along nicely. They have gone into a "stealth mode" putting a two-story plywood facade on the entire store so you can't see what is going on. At least, that is what I think it is for. I hope it isn't some sort of "plywood chic" design astetic they are going for.

I first posted about this back in December.

[where: 4860 Bethesda Avenue, Bethesda, MD]

Bethesda, MD: Good news edition

I previously talked about the bad news, but there is good news too. First, there is often retail turnover in the new year, all the stores who didn't have as good a holiday as they hoped close and new ones take their place. I found a few "coming soon" signs on Bethesda Avenue and look forward to checking them out when they open.

Organic To Go is replacing the Marvelous Market. They have breakfast and lunch as well as a juice bar and smoothies. Sounds good. (4832 Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, MD)

Sweetgreens salad & yogurt sounds like an interesting food place. Unfortunately their web site is really annoying flash that takes forever to get to the real site. Since I don't like flash based websites and I don't like annoying websites I haven't linked to it.(4831 Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, MD)

The storefront between Potbelly and The Barking Dog will soon have a "ShoeFly" store As you might guess, they sell flies, I'm excited about this one because I have been looking for a local source of Madagascar Hissing Flies. No wait, I just checked their website and it's shoes they sell. (4731A Elm St, Bethesda, MD)

This type of renewal is common and it is encouraging to see this many soon to open stores.

Replace any gas pumps lately?

I don't see this very often. They were either repairing or replacing some of the gas pumps at the Exxon at the corner of 355 and Montgomery Lane. They had picked one up completely and were working on another one.

[where: 7340 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD]

Bethesda, MD: Bad news edition

The poor economy is starting to take its toll on Bethesda. I previously mentioned the Pier 1 Imports closing, but that is not the only casualty. There are also a couple of other stores closing including Maurice Villency which has a really hard to read sign so probably was filled with high-end something or others and Hadji rugs. These rug stores are constantly going out of business, usually they are replaced by another rug store with pretty much the same stock, so it is hard to say if this one is economy related or just the normal course of business. I also noticed in the same area as Pier 1 there are a bunch of kitchen and bath and related design stores. I'd expect these to be hard hit by the recession, don't be surprised if they start closing soon.


I went down Bethesda Avenue to see how it was doing. I found a bunch of stores missing. Artsy Fartsy (4836 Bethesda Ave.) is gone but there is still furniture in the store. Bowhe and PEaRe is closed with no replacement (4803 Bethesda Ave). Also gone are Marvolous Market, and Cameron's Seafood Market.

Life isn't all bad news so stay tuned for the good news edition.

[where: 4803 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, MD]
[where: 4836 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, MD]