Yards Park – zellerfest

Where Does the Time Go?

Published on October 21, 2014April 24, 2015 by alikzellerLeave a comment

Nobody warned me that the days, months, years would actually fly by after a certain age. One day we’re celebrating our anniversary and the start to the summer heat, the next I’m pulling out sweaters wondering how it’s suddenly late-October and I have yet to buy a pumpkin. Before my memories start to fade, here are the highlights of our summer:

We went back to UD for our college reunion weekend. Naturally, we all acted exactly how we acted in college.

There is a park in our neighborhood (Yards Park) that hosts bands on Friday nights all summer. It was easy to be regulars and convince friends to come visit for the evening.

Looking back on my phone for summer photos my first thought was “Why did I take this photo?” Then I realized it was because this could possibly be my Lisa Simpson outfit (if I could only wear one outfit my entire life) – crab necklace, Ohio shirt, and polka dots. All my favorite things. And, I really love crabs. My crab necklace from Baltimore was a necessary accessory when we picked up a bushel of crabs to pick with friends on evening.

No other photos were taken because our hands were much too messy.

We are really working on our camping skills, so for the Fourth of July holiday we went down to the family farm for some R&R.
This summer I was busy with a “summer job” giving Segway tours around the city. It’s not over yet but it has been a total blast meeting people from all over the world to share with them my city’s history. I’m not going to lie, it’s been really nice having a willing (and paying) audience for my cheesy jokes. Remind me to tell you about the bushes outside of the White House…

My parents surprised me one weekend with a visit to DC! I wanted to give them the full “DC Local” treatment since they normally come in the winter or over a holiday. We hit up Yards Park (I told you we went every week), visited the famed pandas at the National Zoo, and even grabbed some crabs from the fish market. All in a DC weekend.

We also had a jam-packed weekend with one of our most favorite families. Not pictured: the parents.

Went to the best and most entertaining concert of my life: Arcade Fire. I have never had so much fun at a concert.

Sent some of our best DC friends off to London for a year of adventure and schooling:

Went to Cincinnati for Labor Day and I got to see the WEBN fireworks for the first time (believe it) after a wild night in OTR. Spent a lot of quality time with Mom’s kittens and my grandparents.

Whew. I think that last photo sums it up! Now that I’ve gone through all of our photos, I realize we had quite a packed summer, full of travel and good friends – what more could we have asked for?

Tour: Bluejacket Brewery

Published on February 23, 2014April 29, 2014 by alikzeller1 Comment

What to do on a cold, wet Saturday morning? Grab a beer, of course! Recently a brewery opened up in our neighborhood and I couldn’t have more good things to say about it. Good beer, good people, and awesome atmosphere.

On Saturdays they have started giving brewery tours, and we had gotten lucky to have a tour given by the head brewmaster for the company – which gave us insight into how they set up the operation and what their plans are for the future.

Here are the highlights: It was built into an old Navy building that was used for ship and munitions manufacturing – all of the windows are new but the structure itself is all original. The brewery operations are on three different levels, and the brewery has about 20 different beers in development at a time, in addition to casks aging in various specially built rooms.

Oh and at the end you get a free tasting (which is more like half a pint) of whichever brew catches your eye! If you’re ever in our ‘hood let me know, we would love to grab a beer at Bluejacket with you!

Our Neighborhood: Navy Yard

Published on October 7, 2013November 15, 2013 by alikzeller2 Comments

The shootings a couple weeks back at the Washington Navy Yard hit a little too close to home, literally. The shooting was at the Navy Yard base, which is a contained area in our neighborhood, a few blocks from our apartment.

Just the weekend before the shooting Amanda and I went around taking photos for her blog and some photos of the neighborhood. The week after the shooting the Navy Band played in the park. Kyle and I went to watch and took some more photos of the park at dusk.

One of the largest parts of the neighborhood is the Department of Transportation. Along the walkways surrounding the buildings are little transportation features, my favorite is the waterfalls and little boats, but there are also old bicycles you can “ride” and various places for photo-ops.

A main feature of the neighborhood is Yards Park, a new park along the river with great water features and a bridge that can’t help but be the centerpiece. The park is usually full of families and picnics, and on weekends there is often a band playing or an event.

All summer on this “boardwalk” space they had free yoga in the evenings twice a week. Imagine this space filled with about 50 yogis:

Rumor is, this will have some ice cream, pizza, and kayak rentals in by next summer:
How cool is this bridge?

There is a trapeze school in our neighborhood as well. If you look closely in this photo you can see two people going in for a catch as they swing through the air. Notice all of the construction going on – a lot of new buildings coming soon!

I love all of the old Navy buildings, they’re updating them and putting in restaurants and retail. It’s still pretty “up and coming” – hopefully we can stick around to enjoy all of the neighborhood changes across the next few years.

Oh, and I almost forgot – the main feature of the ‘hood – the National’s Stadium! It’s hard to say no to a game when it’s literally a few blocks from my home. The day I took these photos, Amanda and I just happened upon tickets last minute and luckily they were right by my favorite player.

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