Jaybird's Jottings

Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park

 

 

We took a guided tour yesterday morning at Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park.    Bordered by Bristow Road, the railroad tracks and a subdivision, the 133-acre green field site lies about four miles south of Manassas.   Not a major fight, but lots to sort out, with two different battles and the camp.  

Many thanks to Tom, our trusty guide with the Prince William County folks.   As we walked towards the killing fields near the railroad tracks, he gave us an overview.  The focus of the war had shifted to the Western Theater.    Lee and his men were hurting bad after Gettysburg but by sheer force of will, they pushed past General Meade around Culpepper.    On October 14, 1863, A.P. Hill stood high on a hill occupied now by the Bristow Center’s shops and restaurants. 

 Wish I had more time to with this one.   The Confederates fought hard but were sitting ducks for Warren’s troops protected by the railroad bed.   

I was most touched by the Alabama Cemetery and the efforts to make these boys final resting place something special and sacred.   It’s moments like these when you put aside the rights and wrongs of the war, and just have quiet thoughts for the departed.

Here are some photos.

D.C. Historical Conference

Looking forward to attending the annual D.C. Historical Conference later this week.    It will be my first and I am excited.    Lots of great sessions, networking, and the host building is the beautiful Carnegie Library, home to the Historical Society of Washington and previously used by the D.C. Public Library and the City Museum.   Many residents may know the location – Mount Vernon Square - better than the building.

We went there several years ago to see the exhibit on the Homestead Grays and black baseball in DC.  In that west room now is a site to behold, a digital map of Washington using aerial cameras and orthophotography.

Hope to see you there!

Baseball’s Super Day

Dramatic and historic moments are not a zero-sum game in sports, but we baseball fans can’t help pointing out things baseball has that football does not.   Yes, college football owns Saturdays on TV and the NFL dominates Sundays.   Pigskin fans got the Super Bowl, and ratings, and their game is king.

All fine and dandy, but baseball fans have days like yesterday that no sport can match.   I’m not sure there is anyone who did watch every minute of all four games, but you certainly had the opportunity.

We’ll call it the October Bonanza.    Since the advent of the wild card, there have been other such great days, and yesterday was one of them.   Of course, the level of enthusiasm varies among the fans.   For my wife and myself, we were glued to the TV for the first two.

The first tilt was the Giants at the Reds at 1 pm.   Once again, fiction writers enjoyed what took place.   After losing the first two games at home, San Francisco won three games in a row at Cincy to take the NLDS title.   

I went to the Nationals game on Wednesday so I know how it feels when the electricity of 45,000 fans gets unplugged early in the game.   But of course, my life long passion is with the Giants.   And you’ll forgive me for turning up the volume on the payback knob, but when the Giants were dousing themselves with champagne yesterday, I couldn’t help but think about the “Big Red Machine.”    From 1970 to 1976, they won four NL pennants and two World Series.   

Meanwhile, in a cold corner of Candlestick, Giants fans were sucking broken lollipops. But time mellows, schadenfraude is negative energy, and those memories were only a fleeting thought.    Thanks to Posey’s sixth inning slam, my synapses were firing on the good feelings of the sudden big lead, and our ace Matt Cain on the mound.

And then came the eighth inning.   Giants fans know exactly what I’m talking about.   We are a society obsessed with anniversaries and anyone who cut their teeth on the Orange and Black in 2002 knows where I’m going.    Game Six, we’re leading 5 to 0, a handful of outs from winning the World Series.   

After we blew it and lost Game Seven, the writers said the loss would haunt Giants fans for years to come.    Winning the World Series in 2010 helped heal that scar tissue, but when the Reds put runners on first and second in the eighth yesterday, that old ghost of 2002 came creeping back.

All sports playoffs have tension, but with baseball, and the 162 games the teams play to get there, it does seem the pressure during these moments is greater than the others.   The Giants were still ahead six to four but when Dioner Navarro cracked one to centerfield, the Giants and their fans were scared.

Future readers, I kid you not.  A Giants player named Angel Pagan raced in and made the series-saving shoestring catch.   San Francisco survived a scary ninth too, and hung on to win 6 to 4.     I guess ghosts are never buried, but Giants fans can rightly say they have moved on from what happened ten years ago.

With what seemed like a record-number of at bats with double digit pitch counts, and lots of base runners, the Giants game went past four o’clock, the start time in Washington.    WTBS at one point did show a split screen, and then went to coverage of the Cards-Nationals game.   

Less than 24 hours after losing 8 to 0 to the Cards, the Nationals put Ross Detwiler on the mound for Game Four.   The tall lefty with one full season under his belt allowed just one Redbird to cross the plate in six innings.   The relief combo of Jordan Zimmerman, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen struck out 8 and gave up no runs.

Then came the bottom of the ninth.  Probably for the first time ever at Nationals Park, everyone was still in their seats during the final frame.    Not forgetting the Washington Homestead Grays, the last time fans in the nation’s capital had been this excited about a post-season game was 1933.    Games 3, 4 and 5 were played at Griffith Stadium, but the Senators/Nationals won just one.    The other two went into extras, but the visiting Giants won both.

Frank Howard hit some jaw-dropping home runs during his six year stay with the Senators, and Nationals Park has seen some dramatic walk off home runs, but none were as exciting as Jason Werth’s lead off rocket to left.    Putting his home run into context is much easier than with Posey.   Playing for a storied franchise famous for its window-breaking sluggers, the Giants catcher has company.    In Washington, the hero club is small.    Roger Peckinbaugh did put the Senators ahead 7 to 6 in Game Six of the 1933 World Series, but that was in Pittsburgh and the Pirates won.   Goose Goslin hit six home runs in 19 October games with the Senators, but none came after the sixth.     

After the Nats won, it was tempting to see how the Orioles could do in New York, but we shut the tube off and did other things.    We missed seeing Baltimore beat the Yankees in 14 innings, but of course, there’s the highlights.   Baltimore snapped New York’s 14 game post-season winning streak by winning 2 to 1.      

In Detroit, the A’s tried to keep their magical season going, but Jason Verlander had other ideas.    So no fireworks in this one, but still, a great 12 hours of baseball.    It wasn’t the Super Bowl, but it was super.   And tonight, a doubleheader, one in Washington, one in New York to decide who advances to the next round.

Are you ready?  

 

 

 

 

Cardinals at Nationals, Game Three

Moderation, balance, self control.  The Greeks believed in those principles and yesterday I got a sober reminder of them.

Don and I attended the game, my first post-season for baseball.   The only other playoff game I’ve been to took place on December 31, 1972.   My family had driven up from Greensboro for the holidays.   Aunt Joan and Uncle Paul had four 40-yard line season tickets to the Redskins at RFK.  We trounced the Cowboys 26 to 3 to get to the Super Bowl.   I submit that on that winter afternoon, Washington reached its highest gleeful point.

Yesterday started out great too.

Ferry ride fun,

 

Pre-game pomp was classic DC patriotic,

Weather great and bunting always looks good,

 

Teddy won to extend his winning streak to two!

 

 

Standing room only record crowd,

 

Bob Costas made the call on MLB Network,

 

 

and Byrce Harper got five plate appearances.

Only one problem.  The Cards took it to us 8 to 0.

 

That Big Game Tomorrow

Hey Washington, is it true the Mayor has declared tomorrow, “Nats Fans Day?”   And added a special plea to let them slip away for the afternoon?

Looks like the weather will be good.   If you're taking the ferry from Old Town Alexandria, note the baseball boat leaves at 11:30 am.   Their website has details.   I think they are leaving earlier than usual since it will be a madhouse.

 

From the Cap Weather Gang:

 

Tomorrow (Wednesday): We finally see a change in the air mass as the winds start coming from the west at 10-15 mph. Partly cloudy skies in the morning could transition toward partly to even mostly sunny skies later in the afternoon. Highs jump to the upper 60s and low 70s. Yes, after Monday and today, this feels downright warm. Confidence: Medium

 

And here’s the hourly from The Weather Channel.

 

Samuel Ndereba Wins Wilson Bridge Half Marathon

Results from the 3^rd Annual Wilson Bridge Half Marathon are in.  Congrats to Samuel Ndereba (Kenya/Pennsylvania) took the tape at 1:05:55 and collected $1,500.  In this photo before the turn to the bridge, he was in second. 

Top female runner was Kellyn Johnson.

We used to say DF was good, Did Finish…

 

 

 

 

3rd Annual Wilson Bridge Half Marathon

 

Cool temps and light rain greeted runners this morning for the Third Annual Wilson Bridge Half Marathon.   For the first two races, I covered the event from the finish line at National Harbor.   This time, I decided to check out the action  along the GW Parkway.    I walked down to a point directly across from National Harbor, where volunteers from TMA Software and Autism Speaks were handing out water and providing supportive cheers.   Really great group of people, one came down from New York.  

Three elite runners arrived first, a large gap already created.   

Anyway, looked like another great turnout.  Steve Nearman can be very proud of this race he created.

 

Wilson Half

The 3rd annual Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon will take place tomorrow.   Heads up for the closing on GW Parkway.

Northbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway from Belle Haven Boulevard to Church Street (Alexandria City line) will be closed from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m.

The Express Lanes of National Harbor Boulevard will be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

All lanes of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge will remain open.

The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Pedestrian Path will be closed from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

 

Good luck to all the runners.  This is a fun race and Steve Nearman has done an A-1 job.  Looks like the weather is cool and rainy tomorrow, but as I recall from my running days, that’s not so bad and better than too hot.

Council of Royal Governors at Carlyle House, April 1755

Transcribing of the markers continues.  The other day I took on “The Beast,” the wording for the stone tablet at Market Square.   Small print, 392 words!   

No complaints, however, as this is one of my favorite markers.  It penetrates deep into some of the city’s richest history.   

These are the moments that reward the tedious task.   If I don’t sell one book, I will still always have these digs of ore.   The sidetrack does extend the process, but sometimes I can’t turn away from their siren song.   

I can’t try and vet every marker, but when the history is significant, it’s important to learn more.   In this case, the historic event was the Council of Royal Governors, taking place at the Carlyle House in April 1755.  

From the marker:

The Carlyle House in Fairfax Street was the headquarters of Gen Braddock during the French and Indian War, and was the scene of the Council of Royal Governors Dinwiddie of Virginia, Shirley of Massachusetts, Delancy of New York, Morris of Pennsylvania and Sharp of Maryland, at which the first suggestion was made by British officials in council, of taxing the American Colonies.

Just six years prior, Alexandria had been founded downstream from the fall line of the Potomac and where the Federal City of Washington would rise forty years later.   The lots were laid out and sold on Cameron Street, just steps from where John Carlyle would build the most handsome manor for miles and miles.    

In those early days, tobacco warehousing, inspecting, loading and shipping was job one for Alexandria.   When France challenged England’s claims to the riches in and near the Ohio Valley, Carlyle and the town leaders teamed with the mother country.    To that end, His Majesty King George II sent General Edward Braddock to the colonies to expel the French from their fortifications at places like Fort Duquesne.   He arrived in Alexandria in early April 1755 and made his Headquarters at Carlyle’s Georgian-style home.  

Joining him on April 14 and 15 were the five colonial Governors, representing Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.   Something like 1,200 British soldiers and 800 militia mostly from Virginia bivouacked on the outskirts of town.    In the warmer mansion, Braddock informed the Governors the need of a “Common Defense” fund to supplement the monies England would provide for materiel and manpower.    They said no.

Was this the first time the British raised the idea of taxing the Colonies?

We’ll probably never know.   But the civic pride still prevails in Alexandria.

In his book on Carlyle, James Munson writes,

More important than anything coming out of the Carlyle House Council was the fact of the gathering itself.   It was the first of its kind in America.

 

Sources:

"The Carlyle House and its Associations," Richard Henry Spencer, William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, July 1909, via JSOR

"Col. John Carlyle, Gent., A True and Just Account of the Man and His House," James D. Munson, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, 1986.

“The Grandest Congress Ever Known,” Ross Netherton, Carlyle House Docent Dispatch, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, May 2002

 

 

Haute Dogs & Fries

In 1798, about a half-century after its founding, George Gilpin, a resident of Alexandria and close friend of George Washington, drew up a new map of the seaport city.    Montgomery Street marked its northernmost part.    All these years later, this one-way street still more or less signals the edge of this part of the neighborhood.   It’s also a good place to watch the north part of Old Town and Parker-Gray, where construction cranes and fenced off blocks mark the current boom of re-development.

Arriving in time to be a part of this new chapter is, “Haute Dogs and Fries,” situated along the 600 block of Montgomery.   The restaurant swung open their doors today, revealing a snappy rehab of its predecessor, the pizza place of some years.

“Awesome.”

That was Jeff Wallingford, the first customer.   Co-owner of Taqueria Poblano in nearby Del Ray, Wallingford chowed down on a hot dog and sweet potato fries.    Eyes locked on his plate, my watering mouth went into overdrive.   I walked over and ordered the “Three-Piece Suit” (chili, cheese and chopped onions), the sweet potato fries and cole slaw.    

Wallingford was right.  Awesome on each account.   Especially noteworthy is the cole slaw.  Not as juicy as some may like, but subtle spices that put it way ahead of replacement-level slaw.

With all the growth in this part of Alexandria, “Haute Dogs” is set for the future.   We can thank co-owners Lionel Holmes and Pamela Swanson, who obviously perfected their craft at their place in Purcellville.     A baker’s dozen worth of signature dogs sport names such as “Fenway Dog” and “The Longhorn.”   Also on the menu are locally sourced sausages, sides, shakes, desserts, and in a couple of weeks, the other half of the best double play ever made - beer.    Exposed brick and cinder block with dog-themed paintings give the place a distinct character, and marry up well with Old Town's love of our furry friends.      

The only downside is parking, always slim pickings in this part of town, at least during the work week.   But if you choose to not come here because you have to walk two or three blocks, what a shame that would be.   You’ll miss some really good food, and that proximity to a new chapter in a city that has always appreciated a good place to eat.