arlington daily photo

moving.

2007-09-08T00:09:00.001-04:00

Arlington Daily Photo has moved here. Please update your bookmarks, and thanks for stopping by! :)

navy and marine memorial 3

2007-09-07T01:27:00.000-04:00

Detail, Navy and Marine Memorial.

navy and marine memorial 2

2007-09-06T00:37:00.000-04:00

soaring high

2007-09-05T03:37:00.000-04:00

The Navy and Marine Memorial, off GW Parkway in Arlington, along the Potomac River.

roosevelt bridge at sunset

2007-09-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

national airport 2

2007-09-03T00:14:00.000-04:00

(Ronald Reagan) National Airport, Arlington, taken from Gravelly Point.

national airport 1

2007-09-02T02:37:00.000-04:00

Plane about to land at Reagan National Airport, photo taken at Gravelly Point, just north across Boundary Channel from the airport.

theme day: street lights and signs

2007-09-01T04:39:00.000-04:00

"Landing", plane landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, flying over the 14th Street Bridge complex, framed by trees on the GW Parkway. (Click for larger image)

Lots of other blogs are participating in this month's theme day--visit a few:
Seattle (WA), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - Boston (MA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Evry, France - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Nottingham, UK - Toulouse, France - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Manila, Philippines - Mumbai, India - Montpellier, France - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Moscow, Russia - Paris, France - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Lyon, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Hyde, UK - Hong Kong, China - Joplin (MO), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Chandler (AZ), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - San Diego (CA), USA - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Nelson, New Zealand - Quincy (MA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Bend (OR), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - New Orleans (LA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Detroit (MI), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Selma (AL), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Arradon, France - Sheki, Azerbaijan - New York City (NY), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Tenerife, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Forks (WA), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Chateaubriant, France - Madison (WI), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Ajaccio, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Budapest, Hungary - Lyon, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Le Guilvinec, France - River Falls (WI), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Naples (FL), USA - London, UK - La Antigua, Guatemala - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Oslo, Norway - Grenoble, France - Shanghai, China - Toronto (ON), Canada - Durban, South Africa - Zurich, Switzerland - Cape Town, South Africa - Singapore, Singapore - Torino, Italy - Flagstaff (AZ), USA

bridgeworks 3

2007-08-31T00:01:00.000-04:00

Pedestrian bridge on the Custis Trail, along the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GW Parkway), Arlington.

bridgeworks 2

2007-08-30T03:31:00.000-04:00

Roosevelt Bridge complex--all three exit bridges visible.

bridgeworks 1

2007-08-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

View, from shore looking west, of the Roosevelt Bridge complex. This view is actually the connecting point of two exit bridges (going eastward into Virginia) that branch off from the main bridge over the river. The bridge you can see in the distance beneath the arch is actually connected to the two sections in the foreground by a curved section outside the right edge of the frame. (I hope that made sense!)

The eastbound Roosevelt Bridge splits into a total of three two-lane bridges--one leading to Interstate 66 West, one to Route 50 West, the other to the northbound George Washington Memorial Parkway.

it's the fishing, not the fish.

2007-08-28T02:02:00.000-04:00

Fishing at twilight, Potomac River west of Roosevelt Island, Arlington; lights of Georgetown (DC) reflected on the water.

I'm assuming this guy was fishing just to fish. At least, if he's fishing to eat he's braver than I am regarding what comes out of the Potomac after a good rain.

riverwalking

2007-08-27T01:54:00.000-04:00

Looking across the Potomac, from a bridge on the multiuse (walking, running, biking, skating, dog-walking, baby-stroller-ing, wheelchair-ing, etc) Mount Vernon Trail. From left to right, the Capitol Building (Congress), the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall.

down goes the sun

2007-08-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

Balloonflowers on balcony at sunset, Ballston.

at rest

2007-08-25T07:33:00.000-04:00

Arlington National Cemetery, headstones, detail.

walk this way

2007-08-24T03:42:00.000-04:00

View just before twilight, pedestrian bridge along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. I never noticed till I walked down here how rusty the Roosevelt Bridge is, and how much more quickly the land along the river gets dark (ended up trudging back to the Zipcar alone in the dark, which was not at all how I'd planned to spend 8:00--lesson learned).

courthouse walking tour 16

2007-08-23T00:46:00.000-04:00

L: Interior, Court House Metro station, looking down the stairs toward the platform from just beyond the turnstiles. R: Metro station, side wall along platform, detail.

Lighting isn't so good on any of these four, because the station manager and I had a very confusing but polite discussion on whether or not pics were allowed. He seemed to think 'No', though there's nothing posted about photography in this station. So, being stubborn, I took all of these without a flash, with the camera down at my side--that's why the first is so woefully underexposed. None of them are particularly good as anything but giving an idea of what the Metro's like inside.

L: Court House Metro: first escalator into station (there's another beyond the turnstiles). R: Court House Metro walkway past escalator and into station, graffiti.

--Last of the Court House walking tour series.

courthouse walking tour 15

2007-08-22T00:30:00.001-04:00

Sign for the Court House Metro Station. The not-so-vivid color might explain why, during the summer, you're 500% more likely to be stopped by tourists unable to find the Metro. Brown poles with a small stripe of orange (or red, green, yellow or blue) isn't so easy to see, especially at night. Great planning, Metro.

courthouse walking tour 14

2007-08-21T23:35:00.001-04:00

Sidewalk view, looking northwest from intersection of N Courthouse Rd and Wilson Blvd. 2200 Clarendon Blvd is visible in the distance on the left.

courthouse walking tour 13

2007-08-20T03:07:00.001-04:00

Bottle on a park bench, Clarendon Blvd.

courthouse walking tour 12

2007-08-19T02:08:00.001-04:00

Metrobus, with bike in bike rack. Each Metrobus in the DC area has a rack that holds 2 bikes, for when it's really hot or when it rains or when you just get lazy enough to want to bus part of your commute.

court house walking tour 11

2007-08-18T00:49:00.000-04:00

Bus shelter, Court House neighborhood.

court house walking tour 10

2007-08-17T00:48:00.001-04:00

Street signs at the intersection of N Courthouse Rd, Clarendon Blvd, and Wilson Blvd.

court house walking tour 9

2007-08-16T04:02:00.000-04:00

Arlington County Jail, and detail below.

Apparently the grilles visible at the back of the detail shot are open-air, because the sheer volume of shouting audible from the sidewalk was almost deafening--odd, since I've walked past it before and never heard a peep. Must have been a wild day in the jail, I guess.

court house walking tour 8

2007-08-15T08:47:00.000-04:00

Arlington County Courthouse sign.

court house walking tour 7

2007-08-15T08:36:00.001-04:00

Something scrambled up with the date, this was originally posted Wednesday but for some reason is showing up as Thursday--sorry!

Courthouse Plaza, wider angle and detail of cafe table.

court house walking tour 6

2007-08-13T00:16:00.000-04:00

Entrance to Courthouse Plaza, a nice little shady spot lined with shops, between the Courthouse and the southern Metro entrance to the Court House station.

court house walking tour 5

2007-08-12T00:56:00.000-04:00

"2200 Clarendon" Building--not coincidentally, located at 2200 Clarendon Boulevard.

court house walking tour 4

2007-08-11T00:30:00.000-04:00

POW-MIA flag, outside the Navy League Building.

court house walking tour 3

2007-08-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

Sculpture outside the Navy League Building.

And a detail shot, just because I really like this sculpture:

court house walking tour 2

2007-08-09T00:33:00.000-04:00

Car-sharing pole. Arlington--actually, much of the DC metro area--is served by two car-sharing companies, Zipcar and FlexCar. It's a bit like renting a car, except that the cars are parked around the DC metro area, and you reserve them by the hour. The hourly fees also cover gas and insurance, so it's a much better bargain than a normal car rental. It's a great way to reduce the number of cars on the road, especially if, like me, your main mode of transportation is a Metro train.

Below, detail of another pole--I just like the designs at the top. :)

court house walking tour 1

2007-08-08T07:59:00.001-04:00

Sign spotted at the beginning of my walking tour of a very small part of the Court House neighborhood. Nice doggy! :)

(Map of the admittedly very small area I took pics in below--I would have tried for more, but it was 97 degrees (36 degrees C) and I was starting to feel limp and dehydrated. It's not that I don't love you guys, believe me!)

frame the issue

2007-08-07T09:46:00.000-04:00

This bike was ticketed three times for, apparently, being locked to the wrong part of the bike rack.

Do they really think the owner's going to pay the tickets, on a bike that's not even really a bike anymore?

iwo jima 4

2007-08-06T11:08:00.000-04:00

Forgot to post this in the earlier series, for a sense of scale.

arlington national cemetery 4

2007-08-05T00:56:00.000-04:00

Last ANC post for a while, moving on to other things.

Detail, eternal flame, JFK's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery

arlington national cemetery 3

2007-08-04T01:01:00.000-04:00

Wider angle, John F Kennedy (and family) gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery. Buried here are John F Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and two of their children who died in infancy. The circular stone behind the four black tombstones holds the eternal flame--you can just catch a hint of the orange flame against the green grass in this shot. The flame used to be above JFK's tombstone, but once Jackie died his grave was shifted over slightly, so that now the flame lies centered in the back of the granite-and-moss inset.

arlington national cemetery 2

2007-08-03T01:44:00.000-04:00

arlington national cemetery 1: too many lost

2007-08-02T13:29:00.001-04:00

Looking southeast from Roosevelt Drive.

For anyone who hasn't heard of it, Arlington National Cemetery is a US national military cemetery. It sits just across the Potomac River from Washington DC. It currently holds more than 300,000 graves; veterans from every American war since the American Revolution (1775-1783) are buried there. Here's how it came to be.

The story begins with our first president, George Washington, who lived in northern Virginia. He married a widow named Martha Custis. George and Martha Washington had no children together, but Martha had children from her first marriage--George Washington subsequently adopted them. One of her grandchildren built Arlington House, some 15 miles upriver of Mount Vernon, the home George and Martha Washington shared.

One of George and Martha's great-granddaughters lived at Arlington House with her husband, a famous graduate of the US Military Academy. His name was Robert E. Lee. Lee was a pivotal figure in the US Civil War (1861-65), when 11 states seceded from the Union and fought for their independence. The reasons were many and varied and would take too long to summarize here. Let's just say they were really unhappy with the way things were going in the country at the time. The Civil War, for those who don't know, was fought between Union troops (the US, the Union, or the "North"), and the Confederacy (the Confederate States of America or the "South"). It began in 1861 and effectively ended with Lee's surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox Court House in 1865.

Anyway. Virginia was Lee's home state, and when Virginia seceded from the Union (the United States) in 1861, Lee (who had opposed secession) chose to remain loyal to his home state of Virginia. He served as a military advisor to Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. Then he took command of Confederate forces in the East.

Perhaps obviously, Union officers who were at the military academy with Lee felt betrayed when he chose the Lee aroused feelings of betrayal when he chose to serve in the Confederate Army. That might explain why the estate he lived at with his wife--though neither of them owned it--was targetted by Union troops. After the war broke out, Union troops were installed around Arlington House and its 1,100-acre estate shortly after war broke out. It was a nice target for them, being so close to the nation's capital and the home of one of the Confederacy's most important generals.

Lee's wife (who obviously wasn't going to go running around town with Union troops occupying the land surrounding her family's estate) failed to pay the estate's taxes in person three years later. The entire 1100-acre estate was confiscated that year. The general in charge of the units occupying the estate, intending to prevent the Lee family from ever being able to live at Arlington House again, turned the 200 acres closest to Arlington House into a military cemetery. The first grave at Arlington was a mass grave, containing 1800 Union soldiers who died at the Battle of Bull Run. As you can imagine, having the grounds surrounding the house turned into a cemetery went a long way toward rendering the house uninhabitable.

A few years after the Civil War ended, Lee's brother-in-law (one of the Custis family) sued to reclaim the estate, which would have belonged to him but for the intervening occupation and cemetery-making. The case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which gave the land back to Mr Custis. The federal government bought the land back from him for $150,000, and now owns Arlington National Cemetery. The house, incidentally, is now called the Custis-Lee House, and still stands in the cemetery.

Okay, I know this is a photo blog, not a blog blog, but the history's sort of interesting (at least to me). I'll stop babbling now.

typical breakfast.

2007-08-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

OK, so maybe this is a "typical young professional in a big hurry to get to work on time" breakfast. But it still qualifies as typical, because I sat in Starbucks this morning for almost 15 minutes and asked people was this their breakfast. I'd say 70% of them said yes, as they were running out the door to the Metro or to catch a bus.

Also, a neat shot of the outside of the Starbucks--though I think maybe they need another sign, it's a little hard to tell what sort of coffee shop this is from the outside, don't you think? ;)

Brought to you as part of Monthly Theme Day--August 2007 was "Typical Breakfast". Check out the other participating Daily City Photoblogs (just remember to keep checking back; due to time differences not everyone posts at the same time!):

Saint Paul (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - New York City (NY), USA - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hyde, UK - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Stockholm, Sweden - Paderborn, Germany - Singapore, Singapore - Haninge, Sweden - Nottingham, UK - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Manila, Philippines - Boston (MA), USA - Seoul, Korea - Singapore, Singapore - Joplin (MO), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Paris, France - Sequim (WA), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Boston (MA), USA - Chennai, India - Madison (WI), USA - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Toulouse, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - La Antigua, Guatemala - Selma (AL), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Sheki, Azerbaijan - Sydney, Australia - Mumbai, India - Seoul, South Korea - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - New Orleans (LA), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Villigen, Switzerland - Montréal (QC), Canada - Stayton (OR), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Moscow, Russia - Springfield (MO), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Arlington (VA), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Anderson (SC), USA - Oslo, Norway - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Manila, Philippines - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Stavanger, Norway - Bastia, France - Hong Kong, China - Wailea (HI), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Sydney, Australia - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Kansas City (MO), USA - Grenoble, France - Paris, France - Evry, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Prague, Czech Republic - Cape Town, South Africa - Brookville (OH), USA - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Shanghai, China - Zurich, Switzerland - North Bay (ON), Canada - Lyon, France - Naples (FL), USA - Olympia (WA), USA

street level

2007-07-31T12:34:00.001-04:00

Fairfax Drive and N Randolph Street, after a nighttime rainstorm.

need a ride?

2007-07-30T00:33:00.000-04:00

Canopy over the escalators down to the Ballston Metro station.

iwo jima 3

2007-07-29T18:10:00.001-04:00

iwo jima 2: lend a hand

2007-07-28T18:08:00.000-04:00

Detail.

iwo jima 1

2007-07-27T17:31:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. The statue is based on a photograph taken during the battle of Iwo Jima, during World War II--original photo taken by Joe Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer. Rosenthal's photo was taken as Marines raised a flag after taking Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945.

stormwatch

2007-07-26T23:06:00.000-04:00

Gateway Park

parkway 4: reflections

2007-07-25T21:37:00.000-04:00

Pedestrian bridge over part of Boundary Channel, north of the Columbia Island marina.

skyward

2007-07-24T21:03:00.000-04:00

Atrium at Ballston Common Mall.

view to the west

2007-07-23T08:20:00.000-04:00

scrape the sky

2007-07-22T06:01:00.001-04:00

Rosslyn, across from Crandal Mackey Park, N Lynn and 19th Streets.

accio crowd!

2007-07-21T07:04:00.000-04:00

Just a few of the 1200+ people who showed up at my neighborhood chain bookstore to get their Harry Potter at midnight.

parkway 3: wind in the willows

2007-07-20T05:48:00.001-04:00

Taken near Memorial Bridge on the GW Parkway, looking northeast toward DC.

cupid's garden, 4 of 4

2007-07-19T22:45:00.000-04:00

Last one, I swear. :) I'm just fascinated by this sculpture!

cupid's garden, 3 of 4

2007-07-18T22:17:00.001-04:00

Cupid's Garden, detail 2 of 3

cupid's garden, 2 of 4

2007-07-17T03:09:00.001-04:00

Cupid's garden, detail.

I'm not crazy about the grainy quality, but I like the light and the lines.

Tomorrow's update may be a little late, as I will be out of town for a funeral. Though I hear rumors about my mother having finally bought a new computer and high-speed access to go with it. Otherwise it's Kinko's for me. ;)

cupid's garden, 1 of 4

2007-07-16T05:30:00.001-04:00

My apologies for the blurriness. Couldn't have better evidence that (a) I need ~~a better camera~~ more practice with digital pic-taking at night, and (b) I drink too much coffee. I've tweaked the brightness and contrast a little to save some part of readers' retinas. I really like how energetically the light plays on this sculpture--every passing car causes a different effect.

The others in this series are better, I swear. Figured I might as well end on a high note.

Sculpture:
Christopher Gardner
Cupid's Garden
1994
Median at intersection of Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards between N. Nash and N. Oak Streets, Arlington, VA 22209
Rosslyn Metro
25' x 60' x 12'
stainless steel

memory

2007-07-15T02:26:00.001-04:00

RIP Maria McNamara, 11 January 2000-14 July 2007.

Peace to you and yours, Sunshine. Your light still shines.

(photo taken off the GW Parkway near Memorial Bridge)

parkway 2: riverview

2007-07-14T04:08:00.000-04:00

Got lucky on this one--since it hasn't rained in a while, the Potomac River isn't it's often-photographed muddy brown.

Taken just off GW Parkway near Lady Bird Johnson Park. The arched bridge is Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac between Arlington National Cemetery and DC. The cluster of skyscrapers is Arlington's Rosslyn neighborhood, a business/residential neighborhood with galleries and museums (and Deep Throat's Watergate parking garage--but more on that later). Rosslyn is just across the Potomac from Georgetown.

parkway 1: bright sunshine-y day.

2007-07-13T01:02:00.000-04:00

Couldn't have been brighter or sunshine-ier today. Gorgeous day to be out and about on what you might call an extended lunch break that my boss probably wasn't too happy about. What can I say, I got distracted. ;)

Taken at the LBJ Memorial Grove, on the border of Arlington and the District of Columbia, along George Washington Memorial Parkway.

introduction to arlington

2007-07-12T10:11:00.001-04:00

It's not the best picture I've ever taken of Arlington (though hopefully my wanting to get this posted before work so I didn't miss my very first "real" day photoblogging can be some sort of excuse--that and the haziness today).

For all it's non-greatness, the photo does sort of give you an idea of where Arlington is relative to the nation's capital, though--my apartment, which is near the last Arlington stop on Metro's Orange Line, is about 7 miles west of the Washington Monument.

There are certainly more interesting views of Arlington--hopefully I'll find some of those really soon. Like, tomorrow? ;) But I thought this was a good mix of old and new, and if Arlington is anything, it's a mix of old and new.