Court House Neighborhood
by Ewingjr98
As the name implies, the Court House Station area is home to courts--Arlington's county courts as well as the rest of the county government. This neighborhood also has plentiful shopping, dining, and nightlife options, just two stops from DC on the Metro. Furthermore, the Washington Post calls this neighborhood home.
One of the centerpieces of the neighborhood is Courthouse Plaza, a pedestrian mall with 19 shops and restaurants, and outdoor concerts in the summer. This area also has a movie theaters with six screens and a Saturday farmers market. For dining, not many places in the entire DC area beat Ray's The Steaks or Ray's Hell Burger. For nightlife, Court House has several Irish pubs including Kitty O'Shea's and Ireland's Four Courts.
This area also has some small historic sites such as remnants of the Civil War forts that once formed a defensive ring around the capital city. Fort Woodbury once stood near the site of the current Arlington County Courthouse, where Woodbury Heights, a high-rise condominium, now stands.
Crystal City
by b1bob
Did you ever notice how all the buildings seem to be the same height? Well, there is a good reason. Crystal City is so close to Reagan National Airport that the FAA imposes a strict height limit on buildings. The type of businesses in those buildings in Crystal City have a close correlation with the airport: airline headquarters, hotels, convention centres, and quite an unusual subterranean shopping centre.
The best welcome we ever had
by matcrazy1
Urszula and I had already been on American shores for 3 days when we entered room 425 in Sheraton National Hotel where Kathy (Kodi01) from Dallas, Texas and Chris (balfor) from Atlanta, Georgia waited for us. We both already knew Kathy as we spent together a few great days in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia a year before. We came with Nat who didn't originally plan to be with us, but he missed the last train back to Richmond. He was all right with it, except he didn't have a change of clothes. For the first time ever, I enjoyed traffic jams, thank you, Northern Virginia, for them :-). Kathy and Chris welcomed us 3 very, very warm. Haha, it was great to meet you. I noticed a lot of colorful boxes and containers with various food, delicacies and other items which created very nice composition on the room table. At first I thought that Sheraton was so luxarious hotel to prepare it for their guests.
I was very, very touched when Chris explained that he with Kathy bought and brought all these great delicacies with them by a plane and set it all up to welcome us. I was so speechles that I forgot to take a picture of the original composition. Believe me, it was huge, they had to bring additional suitcases to store all that staff. I remember well large box of goldfish crackers which we used to eat while driving around the South next few weeks. I remember the Tipsy Cake from Tennessee that tasted like alcohol, too. Maybe it was small thing for you but never to forget both for me and for Urszula. Thank you very much
DC Etiquette
by methos_6
Ok, here's the most important thing you can learn before visiting DC.
Rule #1: When on the metro escalators, if you're going to simply stand, do so on the right side of the escalator. People walking up the escalator take the left side.
Rule #2: Do not enter into the metro car and simply stop at the door (unless its full). If it's rush hour, you're going to need to squeeze in or prepare to have your ribs bruised by the crush of commuters.
Rule #3: On bike/walking paths, stay on the right, people will pass on the left. If you hear a bell, this is an indicator that someone is going to pass on your left. Don't freak out and move to the left if you're already on the right. Otherwise, you'll get hurt.
Rule #4: Buy a map of the mall. They're plenty cheap and are found everywhere. This way you can find your way around pretty easily.
Rule #5: Pay attention to street parking signs. If it says "No Left Turn except for Buses" don't be surprised if you get honks, fingers, looks of disgust, as you stop to turn left.
Three in one
by matcrazy1
Enlarge my picture, taken in Rosslyn, commercial and transportation center of Arlington County, to see three typical features of, not only Arlington, but most U.S. cities:
1. U.S. National Flag - painted on empty side wall of an edifice; I have never seen any other country which displayed so many national flags both in public and private buildings and houses and not in national holidays. Isn't it a sign of patriotism common after WTC attack?
2. Multi-story parking lot - I have never seen any other country with so numerous tall buildings in downtown designated for parking lots. Well, the USA is a car country, no doubt.
3. Huge air-condition instalations and ventilation ducts through which the hot air escapes. They are numerous and this hot air have to make Arlington even more hot in summer. The USA is a country of air-condition which is everywhere.
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Mast of the USS Maine
Ferni relaxing
Bungalow
Spanish American War Monument
