Tree trimming on the Capital Crescent Trail

I took a walk along the Capital Crescent Trail yesterday and saw a crew out trimming trees that were overhanging the trail.  They were between River Road and downtown Bethesda, MD, near the Washington Episcopal School.

Yesterday was a bit cooler than earlier in the week but still nice weather to be out walking.  This weekend will be in the upper 70's, perfect for being outside.

Unidentified railroad track equipment

I was walking along the Capital Crescent Trail, which runs along what was once the Georgetown Branch of the B & O railroad.  There are very few remaining relics of the railroad, mostly just a partially visible rail here and there.  However, I did run across this very large, and very puzzling metal thing.

I can't really find the words to adequately describe it, so I can't really search the web to find out what it is. It is about as wide as the rails of the railroad track, has what looks like a pressurized vessel with various pipes going here and there.

If you want to see it for yourself, it is just a bit north of the Dalecarlia tunnel.  I'd like to know what it is, so if you have ideas, leave a comment.



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UPDATE 5/2: I heard from Ben Sullivan who runs a website about the Georgtown Branch railroad line. He said in part "It is indeed the frame of a railroad car and the piping and tanks you described on your blog are components of the brake rigging on the car." And gave a bit about a possible reason: "My best bet so far is that it's part of a derailment wreck and the useful parts of the cars (ie. the wheels, trucks, coupler boxes and bolsters where the trucks were mounted) were all cut off with a torch and taken back to the shop. The rest of the scrap was left to rot. As far as a time/date/reason as to why they were there will be much more difficult. I'm still working on this problem but I doubt I will find specifics."

RIP White Flint Mall

Last weekend I went to White Flint Mall to see what was left.  The Boomingdales part was torn down last year and the rest of the mall has rapidly emptied out.  The only stores I saw were the post office (which closed last Friday), a jewellery store, the Dave & Busters (which lost a court fight to stay), PF Changs, and Lord & Taylors.  The rest of the Mall's three levels are empty.

The main entrance.  The Cheesecake factory used to be on the right, but now it is at Montgomery Mall.

The forever "Temporarily out of service" escalator going up to where the Borders bookstore was a few years agoi.

The Bloomingdales end of the mall has been blocked off with black plywood.

The food court doesn't have any restaurants in it anymore but there are tables and chairs left if you want to bring your own lunch.

One of the painting in the food court.

The mall directory is blank now, which is an odd sight to see.

C & O canal at Edward's Ferry

The weather is cooling off, but there is still time to enjoy the outdoors. On Thursday I decided to walk along the C & O Canal and see how the leaves were changing.

I went to Edward's Ferry, it is about 45 minutes from Bethesda, MD, but isn't nearly as crowded as the canal around Great Falls or Swain's lock can be.  Edward's ferry is right at lock 25.  The lockhouse has been maintained and you can even rent it for the night.

There used to be a small community at the ferry, there isn't much left, but this building has been partially re-built.  I went here a number of years ago and at the time, this was two-story ruins.  It is hard to say how much of the brickwork is original and how much is rebuilt, but I think a lot of it is rebuilt.

If you walk north along the canal for about a mile you get to a place where the canal went over a stream called Broad Run.  The stone work is all still here, and the creek flows across the canal and under the tow path.

Here is how the trail looks north of Edward's Ferry., lots of greens and yellows this time of year.

Just a little south of Edward's ferry is what is left of the Goose Creek river lock (Goose Creek in Virginia enters the Potomac on the other side of the river). This is actually a combination of two locks, this picture was taken from the lower one looking up at the upper one.

Here's is the Potomac river looking north. If you look closely you may be able to see the boat launch ramp at Edward's ferry on the right.

Another view of the river lock right where it connects to the river.

Just a little further south is the Chisel Branch hiker/biker campsite.  It has a picnic table, grill, and port-a-potty.

While on my walk I saw a nice deer crossing the trail and this red fox.  He was a bit suspicious of me and kept his distance.

I also drove to the next access spot at Sycamore Landing.  There is a soybean field right next to the parking lot, and of course, miles of towpath to walk on.

Go visit Luray Caverns

 If you have never been to Luray Caverns (in Luray Virginia), you should go.  Especially if you have kids (bring them along of course).  Luray Caverns is one of the most impressive underground cave systems in the country, and certainly the best one within a days drive of Maryland. It is less than two hours away from Bethesda so you can easily make it a day trip.

 It isn't the biggest cave system, actually, it is fairly small.  It's claim to fame is the plethora of impressive stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone.  They have guided tours that go through the cave following a paved path that is suitable for both wheel chairs and strollers.  The tour itself takes about an hour, but there are other things to do on the property such as seeing the Luray valley museum or the antique car museum.  The car exhibit is surprisingly good, the pack a large number of examples of early automobiles in the exhibit and it is well worth the time to walk through it.

One of the more unusual formations is called "fried eggs" because it resembles two sunny-side up eggs.  They say that the centers used to be yellow like egg yolks but the color wore off from people rubbing them.

This isn't a place you go back to year after year.  It doesn't change much.  However, going there every 20 years or so is well worth the effort.  If you have already been there, you should consider going to Skyline Caverns too.  I don't think it is quite as awe inspiring, however, it does have some types of rock formations that Luray doesn't have, so if you like Luray, you'll probably like skyline too.  I have some more pictures of Luray Caverns if you want to see them.

Starry Night in Bethesda

 

Next time you are on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda, MD, look for this art installation by Union Hardware.  It is a rendition of Vincent van Gogh's "Starry night" except it is done with different types of kitchen/bath hardware.  Lots of various kinds of handles and metal plates.  It's really neat, I walked by it a few times before going by on the same side of the street and getting a close look at it.

Chop't Salads is open in Bethesda

Chop't salads just opened in the Wildwood Shopping Center on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, MD.  They specialize in salads, after you choose which one you want off the menu (or build your own) they assemble it right in front of you, then spread it out and chop it up.  This well-mixed salad is what goes into your bowl.

I went their on Wednesday, the opening day, and tried the Cobb salad [670 calories, $9.49] (and the person I went with got the Palm Beach Shrimp salad [240 calories, $9.99] so I got to try that too).  Both were quite good, the bacon on the cobb was cut into very small pieces, but was thick and crisp.

There were some things that stood out in comparison to other salad chains.  The first thing that I noticed was that the salads on the menu didn't all have sweet stuff in them.  I don't really like sweet salad toppings, so this is appreciated.  They also have a large selection of salad dressings, with calorie counts. They also ask you if you want the dressing put on light, regular, or heavy so you don't end up with a salad swimming in dressing if you don't want it. They have some unusual seasonal salads that are only on the menu for a short time, right now there is some sort of thanksgiving dinner salad and several others.

Too bad they have a stupid flash website instead of a real one.

Replacing the curb cuts yet again

 Here in Bethesda they have what seems like a yearly tradition.  Go to every intersection and dig up the curb cuts for the crosswalks and replace them.  It seems like they just got done with it earlier this year (though looking back at some pictures I think it may have been last year) and they have started it again.  Today they were out jack-hammering the brand new, handicap accessible crosswalk entrances.  Unbelievable, what could possibly be wrong with them, and why are they spending so much tax money doing this?

In the top photo, you can see they have finished digging up the one on the right, and have started jack-hammering the one on the left.  In the bottom photo they are using a concrete saw in preparation for the inevitable destruction.

This intersection is Old Georgetown Road and Edgemore Lane, right in the heart of Bethesda, MD.  I saw they had white arrows painted on the concrete to show where to dig, walking around at lunch I saw other intersections with white arrows so they are doing this to a bunch of them.

More Montgomery County Fair photos

 Here are some more pictures I took at the Montgomery County Fair (which runs through Saturday).  I posted other pictures and more information yesterday.

First, a video of one of the pig races.

 Lots of people go to the fair just for the rides.  They have rides for all ages of kids, here is the merry-go-round and the dizzy dragons (below)

 Before being judged, most sheep get a very close hair cut.

 

Small animals get their place too.  Here are the chickens.  They also have an incubator full of eggs, some of the chicks have already hatched, but the rest will over the course of the week.

  

  

Old MacDonald's barn has some cute baby ducklings.

 

They also have a birthing center with half a dozen pregnant cows, due to give birth during the fair.  Last year I got to see a birth in person.

 There is a flock of dressed-up geese wandering around the fair.  The geese drink gatorade to keep themselves hydrated.

 Towards the top of the fair you can take a camel ride.  Not something I have ever done.

 One booth near the kidzone had live birds sitting on perches.

I got to see Michelle's magical poodles for a second time.

Go visit the county fair

The Montgomery County fair in Gaithersburg, MD runs from August 9th to the 18th.  There is tons to see and do there, especially if you have kids.  The first can't-miss event is the pig/sheep/duck/goat races.  These little critters race around a track to the cheers of the crowd.  Lots of people go so plan on getting there 5 minutes early if you want a good view.

Right next to the race track is a stage where they have different shows.  I saw Michelle's magic poodle show (suprisingly, not a magic show) and Agricadabra (not surprisingly, a magic show)

Old MacDonalds Barn is another great place to go, they have various animals such as a lama, an alpaca, sheep, goats, horses (including two miniature horses), baby ducklings, and piglets.  This year the piglets are really small and cute.

In the evenings at the grandstand there are events such as tractor pulls, demolition derbys, and monster truck shows, there are also numerous free events throughout the day.  Take a look at the schedule of all events.