Pat Kennedy - Your Washington, DC Real Estate Connection

Last night, I headed for the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park for the opening of the Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show. 

First, I gotta say, I can't believe this was my first trip to Glen Echo Park - like ever!  I

It originally served as a Chautauqua Assembly, then it operated as a pretty fabulous amusement park until the late 1960's.  In 1971, the National Park Service took over management of the park, and worked with arts and educational groups to make it fabulous once again.  Today, the restored park (without the wonderful old roller coaster) offers all sorts of things.  The old Spanish Ballroom hosts, not only art shows, but is a venue for Swing and Contra Dance classes on most Friday nights.  Last night, the dancers got bumped into the old Bumper Car ride.  There are also classes in pottery, painting, and glass art.  You can take a photography course, which would have to be amazing, because there is so much material there for Wordless Wednesdays!

As I walked from my car to the park, I crossed a footbridge that overllooks a beautiful creek that flows down to the Potomac River. 

Then, there was the old restored carosel - looking completely magical!

Last night, my friend, Joel D'Orazio had some pieces in the exhibit at the Spanish Ballroom.  It was fun to see him, his wife, Alice Kresse (also an artist) and their daughter Gia, now grown up and on her way to the Savannah College of Art and Design - guess who's following in her parents' footsteps! When they moved from their historic Wardman townhouse on 16th Street to their new contemporary in Bethesda, I was their Realtor!  As soon as I saw the new house, with soaring ceilings and a ton of wall space, I knew it was for them.

The opening was very well attended.  It had paintings, sculptor, ceramics, photography and jewelry.

Joel had several pieces on display.

The show runs through Monday, September 7th, and celebrating the labors of these mid-Atlantic artists is a great way to spend the holiday - if you're not out looking at houses!

The Bicycle Place:  The Friendliest Bike Store In Town!

Yesterday, I needed a few things for my bicycle.  Nothing fancy.  Water bottle.  Bottle holder.  Odometer.  And instead of heading to my usual Georgetown bike store, I stopped by The Bicycle Place on Grubb Road in Silver Spring, just over the DC line. 

And I got wowed!

First of all, they acted glad to see me, and it's not like I was spending all that much money or anything.  In fact, the really helpful staff even had me spend less!

Instead of the 15 function odometer, they sold me a much simpler one that passed the "Pat Test".  I may even be able to install it myself!  And they found a blue water bottle and holder that match my cobalt blue Fuji twenty-something speed.

So there is a market force in action here.

For years, I've been patronizing a pretty big local chain.  There was always a wait for a salesperson, even if I am the only customer in the store.  They just didn't seem to care whether I came back or not.  So I didn't.

But I sure will return to The Bicycle Shop.  Like me, they really do seem to work hard to get repeat customers and referrals!

Since I first put together my "Bucket List", learning to ride a horse was close to the top of the list.  I've been riding lots of time, but somehow whenever I did, the horse was in charge.  So I recently started to check out stables, and, like many home buyers, I started my search on line.

The Woodland Horse Center in Silver Spring, Maryland caught my eye with the offer of a free riding lesson every Sunday at 1:00 pm.  So I played hooky from real estate and showed up at horse school.

The whole thing was pure fun.  I loved Ernie, the horse I rode.  And Karen Parker, the instructor who worked with me, was able to communicate clearly what I needed to do to stay on the horse.  I'd never been on an English saddle before, so there was no horn to hold onto!

They didn't do a hard sell, and they did do a great introduction to their programs.

They offer lessons for beginners, like me, and for serious riders into dressage.  You can board horses there, and they also have programs where you can lease a horse instead of buying one.

And of course, the tack shop was the most fun of all!  I saw lots of great wardrobe additions - the cute little hats helmets, jodhpurs that were much cooler than my jeans, riding boots and little jackets with gold buttons and velvet collars - like the stuff they wear at the Olympics.

But I'm getting ahead of myself!  My goal is to be able to hop on a horse and let him know where I want to go.  And I want to be able to make the request so he'll decide to do it.  Hmmm...  This is a communication skill that could cross over into both business and personal relationships.

OK, I have to start off by saying that I am a Washington, DC area real estate snob. 

Now, I might consider marrying for money to live in the Georgetown Ritz Carlton Condominium overlooking the Potomac River at Washington Harbor. Units here start at a couple of million dollars and go up from there.

But there is another Harbor upstart just south of our nation's Capital - National Harbor, overlooking the Potomac River and Old Town Arlington.  But this is what I've always thought of as downwardly mobile Prince George's County. 

Not so fast!

At a recent visit with a friend, I was skeptical.  And quite surprised.  Pleasantly surprised.

It's a community that includes resorts, convention centers, fancy retail tenants, a fabulous farmers' market with some very high quality produce and meat, and some fabulous condos, some with Potomac River views.

We started to check out the condos, and there was a fabulous building - one of the Fleet Street Condos.  We left the official open house itinerary and headed for the top floor penthouses.  And there was one with an unlocked door that had me mentally arranging my furniture - walls of windows overlooking the Potomac, interior walls that would hold my bookcases, fabulous kitchen, charming balcony, and a couple of thousand square feet of sun-drenched living space.

Now here's the catch.  The price tag for this amazing unit was $775,000.  I could sell my wreck of a house and  buy this without even the help of a rich husband. 

But it's Prince George's County!  And it's an awfully long ride to my totally cool offices at Evers & Company.   So for now, I'm staying in my falling down house in a fabulous upper Northwest DC neighborhood with fantasies about downsizing to a waterfront condo.  But if I worked anywhere in PG county or in DC downtown or Capitol Hill, this might be the place!

If you'd like to take a look, give me a call at 202-549-5167.  These places are, I think, one of the best values in the DC Metro area. 

When I first moved to Washington from New York, a new neighbor invited me to accompany her on a Saturday morning outing to the Bethesda Farm Women's Market.  And what an adventure!  There were, and still are, stalls selling all sorts of things, from Brussels Sprouts to sweaters to freshly baked bread and cookies.

This morning, I popped by for some flowers, a bit of ham, some sag paneer, and some really amazing oatmeal raisin cookies. 

In the old days, you had to make or grow whatever you sold.  And many of the merchants do exactly that. 

If they're selling beef, they'll regale you with stories of the cow that was romping around the barnyard until very recently.  I almost bought a free range chicken until the stall owner said they got it from a chicken farm up near Frederick, but couldn't give me any information on the food she ate or  her name.

There are stands with beautiful flowers, both fresh and dried.

The meat is amazingly fresh, and even the Brussels sprouts (which I've always totally hated) look edible.

And if you'd like a home made bags, these are stunning.  Hope I get one for Christmas!

The Bethesda Farm Women's Market is on Wisconsin Avenue just above Leland Street.  It is open on Saturday and Wednesday mornings from dawn until they sell out of food and fun.

If you read Craig Barrett's posts, you know he's been working on organizing a 10K race in his community of Hughesville, Maryland.  We know he loves running - his profile picture is from a race!  And in at least three posts, Craig has invited his readers (including us) to participate, either by running or by sponsoring the race.  

Now, I subscribe to Craig's blog, and I read each post and something registered but hey!  I'm a candidate for knee replacement - I'm not running any 10K race.

Then this morning, my Blackberry started emitting Bach at high volume, and when I picked it up, Craig was on the other line asking me to participate.  So after a few minutes' of personal arm twisting, it's on my calendar - though I won't be running!  It's even for a couple of good causes - the Hughesville Fire Department and the Hughesville Baseball Association.

I'm hoping that some other bloggers will join us on September 6th.  In addition to the race, there will be food, vendors and music.  Sounds like fun, and maybe a great blog post!  I'll be bringing my camera.

So, it's sort of the same way it works in real estate!  When you put it out in your blog and web side, then when you follow up with something more personal, like a phone call, you have magic!

The house at the right is in a neighborhood in Bethesda, right across the DC line in Maryland.  It's neighbors are pretty architecturally diverse, but typical of homes built between 1930 to 1955.  Some of them can be described on the MRIS profiles as "farm houses" and some are bungalows, a few cottages and, yes this place, which falls under "other".

It is the infamous "Mushroom House".  I've driven by it  lots of times showing other houses in the neighborhood, and my buyers have not generally thought of as a selling point.   

And I have to wonder, what were the owners thinking when they remodeled and reinvented what probably started out as a mid-century colonial?  

I've seen my share of odd houses.  Some are what we call "buyer specific", appealing to a few people, but the few who do like it really like it a lot.  But if the mushroom house ever came onto the market, who on earth would the target market be?  How do you find the probable purchaser for this place?

Yesterday at Pimlico, i had my first sip of Black Eyed Susan, their answer to mint julips, the traditional drink of Churchill Downs.  Now, I love mint julips, but that little taste of Black Eyed Susan was truly the nectar of the gods.  So, I searched Google with no luck for the recipe.  

But I have more good luck than many people.  My cousin, Patrick Noon, is a bartender.  Not just any bartender.  When Patrick worked at Murphy's Pub in Woodley Park, we was named Washingtonian Magazine's Irish Bartender of the Year!  And a few minutes ago, out of nowhere, his wife sent me the recipe for my new favorite drink!

If you want to try one, here's the official Pimlico recipe:

INGREDIANTS"

• 1 part Cointreau
• 1 part Mount Gay rum
• 1 part Vodka
• Pineapple juice
• Orange juice

PREPARATION:

Fill a highball glass with shaved ice, add the booze, top it off with equal parts of fruit juice.  Stir and garnish with a lime wedge or orange slice.

I'm on my way to the grocery store for some fruit juice!

Hmmm.  What will Pat post later this evening?   

Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore was my maternal Grandmother's haunt until she was into her 90's.  She had people follow her to the betting window, trying to eavesdrop of her conversation with the clerk - what were her picks?  She probably won enough to have to declare it on her tax returns.

Today was the 2008 opening of Pimlico, and so I met up with my sister and my mom and  headed for the races.  Could I channel my grandmother?  Did I have the gift or intuition to pick winning horses?  So we passed through the gates, grabbed a program and headed for the stands.   I studied the racing forms that told you a bit about each horse, the odds that the experts gave it of winning.  The idea is to study information from the form then check the horses out in the paddock.

 This just took way too much analysis!  Then a horse walked in that made my heart skip a bea

He was Number 4, Lieutenant Icy - a jet black newbie horse with not much of a track record (excuse the pun).  I went into the area where you could see the horses in the paddock.  What a horse hunk!  He looked lean and frisky.  His muscles rippled.  I went to the window and placed a bet for Number 4 to win, and he ran brilliantly!  He was in first place until just before they got to the finish line!

So my intuition and judgement of horse flesh needed a little tweeking.  For the next few races, I paid more attention to their stats, although that didn't help much.  I noticed that I liked to bet on long shots, then figured out that the odds makers probably knew more than I did.  

Then my Blackberry rang, and it was a favorite blog buddy, Todd Clark!  It was a Mac question that I could actually answer!  Then I thought for a minute - did any of the horses have either "Todd" or "Clark" in their names, their jockies, owners, trainers or breeders?  I scanned the forms - and rats!  No matches!  But I did find a horse whose jockey's first name was "Malcolm", the name of one of my all time favorite clients.  Was this the sign I've been looking for?

It was the 7th race, and jockey, Malcolm Franklin, was riding a beautiful, frisky gray horse.  And his costume was pretty amazing, too.  The colors were gray and hot pink - Whoo!  So I went to my lucky betting window and bet on the fashionably attired "Snow on Snow" to win.  And guess what!  She won! 

Another important part of the Pimlico ritual is the "Black Eyed Susan", which is the track's official drink - their answer to Churchill Down's mint julips.  My sister brought one back and oh!  My!   God!  It was good!  I immediately tried to google the recipe on Google, but it's some sort of secret.  Now that would be a fun way to get loopy, which I couldn't do at the track because I had to drive back to DC.  BWL is one thing, but when I'm driving, it's iced tea for this blogger!

As we were leaving, I noticed these signs posted above the betting windows - good advice at the races and in other life domains as well!

This morning, I agreed to meet a Takoma Park buyer at a house we have under contract.  She wanted her handy man to take a look at the place, and we agreed to meet at nine o'clock this morning .

OK, so I overslept.  I woke up at 8:30, the house is 20 minutes from mine, so there was not time to make a proper cup of coffee before I left.

Now I am a pretty tightly-wound type-A.  I need coffee in the morning.  I usually start my day with a strong French roast that I drink black with no sugar. 

But no problemo!  I'd let her into the house and run to the Takoma Park Coop a couple of blocks away to pick up a jolt of caffine, then head back to the house.

Well, Takoma Park is full of old hippies who eschew stimulants like caffine.  Kathy, my buyer, cautioned me that the coffee scene in this little town was pretty bleak.  It was all organic, certified free trade, and mostly the kind that is "naturally low in caffine."  

So what's the point if there's little or no caffine?   Of course, I could always compensate by getting a huge cup.

I got to the Coop, parked my gas guzzling Lexus amid the Priuses in their parking lot and, sure enough, Kathy was right!  There was hot water for tea (all of the selections were herbal), a big pot of decaf, and a smaller pot of organic, certified free-trade and naturally low in caffine.  And they only sold it in small cups.

Takoma Park is known as being a Nuclear-Free Zone.  Today, I learned that it is well on the way to being a Caffine-Free Zone.  And my guess it that it's pretty much of a Tightly-Wound-Type-A-Free Zone as well!  People like me need to head for the District to find a Type-A friendly neighborhood - and there are plenty of them!