Angelina M. Lopez
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Contemporary Romance Author, Hyperromantic
The Immersive Experience of the American Indian Museum
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall expresses its intention in every inch. From the soaring limestone tiers of the building’s face to the award-winning native American food in the cafeteria to the artwork on the elevators, its desire to tell the story of the original Americans and immerse museum goers in that story is revealed.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall expresses its intention in every inch. From the soaring limestone tiers of the building’s face to the award-winning native American food in the cafeteria to the artwork on the elevators, its desire to tell the story of the original Americans and immerse museum goers in that story is revealed.
Visitors’ immersive experience at the museum begins on the fourth floor at the Lelawi Theater, where a 13-minute film about native life is reflected on three surfaces: a woven screen in the middle of the room, a large rock beneath the screen and the dome over the viewers’ heads. When one moment shows a magnificent canyon on the screen, the dome overhead shows a hawk circling a blue sky and the rock beneath the screen shows the hawk's shadow on the rocks. The designers have succeeded at creating a unique introduction to the museum.
At times, my visits to the American Indian museum have felt like visits to an art gallery. I could enjoy the beauty of the artifacts, but felt I couldn't fully appreciate what I was seeing without more information.
That feeling has changed with the new exhibit, “Nation to Nation.” The exhibit is about the treaties established over the centuries between various tribes and the European settlers then U.S. government. With two films narrated by Robert Redford and many historical artifacts and documents that tell individual stories, the exhibit shows the respectful establishment of the treaty pact, the disembowlment of that pact by the American government, and the renewed independence treaties gave to the Native Americans in the 70s. It’s a powerful, emotional display of the way treaties have succeeded and failed.
Since you're already at the National Museum of the American Indian, you will have the privilege of eating the best food on the mall. The privilege does not come cheap. Lunch for an individual can easily be over $20 at the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe, so reserve the experience for people who will savor the opportunity to eat foods from five different native American regions: Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains. You will find foods here that you cannot find in the rest of Washington, D.C.: Indian fry bread covered in buffalo chili, canela spiced cupcakes, buffalo and duck burgers. The cafe with its view of a fountain waterfall is a vegetarian's dream. I had a cold root vegetable salad in a mustard vinaigrette that was one of the best things I've ever eaten.
Indian fry bread with buffalo chili and fixings
A Tour of the National Museum of the American Indian
1st Stage Offers Quality Theater in Tysons Corner
Now that the Silver Line has opened, the sparkling new Spring Hill Metro stop is just a half block from the theater. With 1st Stage's engaging and innovative black box performances and its central location just east of Leesburg Pike and just west of Tysons Galleria, I have no doubt that I will no longer be able to keep this gem of a theater to my self.
Photo courtesy 1st Stage Theatre website
One thing I love about the 1st Stage Theatre in Tysons Corner is that it is so hard to find. As one of those obnoxious “I-like-something-until-it-becomes-popular” people, I love the secret-password quality of getting to it: You park in a warehouse strip mall off Spring Hill Road, then walk past a doggy day care and a Jazzercise gym to get to the theater door, all the while glancing at other people walking toward the door and thinking, "I hope THEY know where they're going."
But now that the Silver Line has opened, the sparkling new Spring Hill Metro stop is just a half block from the theater. With 1st Stage's engaging and innovative black box performances and its central location just east of Leesburg Pike and just west of Tysons Galleria, I have no doubt that I will no longer be able to keep this gem of a theater to my snobby self.
We discovered the theater last year after reading a Washington Post review about the play Never the Sinner, a dramatization of the infamous Leopold and Loeb killing, when two high-society teens in the 1920s killed a young boy. Six actors took part in this play in the middle of the small black space facing several rows of chairs on risers. And yet, with simple prop switch-outs, old-fashioned sound-effect equipment and striking performances from the lead actors, this small play became bigger than the box, became real and engaging and haunting. I am not a true-crime fan, but I was so fascinated by the performance that I now have a non-fiction book about Leopold and Loeb on my bedside table.
Never the Sinner performed at 1st Stage Theatre. Photo via Washington Post by Teresa Castracane/1st Stage
The website says 1st Stage was established to give young and emerging talent a place to build their resume and gain experience. “We want to be that ‘first stage’ in their careers: a place to struggle with the art, learn from their discoveries and their mistakes, and find pride in what they produce.” They have so many ideals I support that I’ll just quote their website again: “In return, our community gets the chance to experience great theatre. As Tysons Corner grows into a city, it’s going to need more than office buildings and shopping malls to build that ‘pride of place’ that marks strong, vibrant communities.”
Their current production, Take Me Out, is a 2003 Tony Award winner about an All-Star baseball player who reveals that he’s gay. The Washingtonian called the performance “dramatically tense, uneasily sympathetic, and hysterically funny,” and says lead actor Jaysen Wright “does a fine job of making the protagonist remote and unknowable—yet compelling—until his resolve finally begins to crack when circumstances push him to the edge.”
Photo courtesy 1st Stage Theatre website
I may not get a chance to check it out before the play closes on Oct. 12. But I'm looking forward to attending a couple of other performances this season, even if that means I'll have to beat back the throng to get in the door.
1st Stage Theatre
1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA 22102
In-Between Tip: 1st Stage will host its annual benefit Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Come support a great local theater and enjoy a fun night out.
Cursing Ben's Chili Bowl in Virginia
My taste buds were thrilled and my waistline was terrified when I discovered that there would be a branch of the famous D.C. diner opening in Arlington, on my side of the Potomac. How would I resist the thick, spicy half-smokes smothered in Ben's chili when I no longer had close-to-impossible parking or a two-train Metro ride separating me from them? When I visited the restaurant at 1725 Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon a few weeks ago, it was even worse than I feared.
Oh…damn you Ben’s Chili Bowl. You’re evil is what you are. My taste buds were thrilled and my waistline was terrified when I discovered that there would be a branch of the famous D.C. diner opening in Arlington, on my side of the Potomac. How would I resist the thick, spicy half-smokes smothered in Ben's chili when I no longer had close-to-impossible parking or a two-train Metro ride separating me from them?
When I visited the restaurant at 1725 Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon a few weeks ago, it was even worse than I feared:
- The store is bright and clean and welcoming, a spruced up version of its U Street forefather.
- They take credit cards. No more squinting at the ancient ATM machine at the original, cash-only Ben's OR forgoing the chili cheese fries because I don't have enough cash.
- The Arlington branch has lots of indoor and outdoor seating and you can sit wherever you'd like, unlike the bizarre hierarchy of seating that will get you charmingly yelled at if you sit at the wrong place at the original spot.
- No one yells at you in Arlington.
- The parking lot of the Colonial Village Shopping Center with its many popular restaurants can get a little crowded during prime dining hours, but there is a lot of accessible on-street parking nearby.
Worst of all, I discovered that the one-of-a-kind half smokes and the spicy, condiment-like chili were just as delectable on this side of the river. The shakes were just as spoon-standing thick and the chili-cheese fries were just as deliciously gluttonous. What have you done to me, Ben's Chili Bowl? My waistline may never forgive you.
Real Women Box at Title Boxing Club
I joined the Title Boxing Club in late August to work off the summer cocktails. But news of NFL players using their warrior strength to abuse the women and children around them has made me think about women feeling vulnerable and defenseless. I don’t think it’s a woman’s responsibility to prevent herself from being hit. It’s a man’s responsibility to not hit. But the jab, cross, hook, uppercuts that I’ve been giving the 100-pound bag at the Title Boxing Club might give me an advantage I hadn't had against an attacker I hope I'll never have to face.
I joined the Title Boxing Club in late August to work off the summer cocktails; I’m so sick of the gym and I wanted to work my body in way that felt useful and functional.
But news of NFL players using their warrior strength to abuse the women and children around them has made me think about women feeling vulnerable and defenseless. Has made me think about how much stronger my thighs and upper body and core have gotten in the three weeks I’ve been going to the boxing gym. Has made me think that if, god forbid, I’m in a position where I have to defend myself, I might now have a better idea of what I’m doing.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s a woman’s responsibility to prevent herself from being hit. It’s a man’s responsibility to not hit. But the jab, cross, hook, uppercuts that I’ve been giving the 100-pound bag at the Title Boxing Club might give me an advantage I hadn't had against an attacker I hope I'll never have to face.
Heidi Dallman, trainer at the Title Boxing Club in Falls Church, said that while the club isn’t inherently teaching self defense, the moves learned can give someone the confidence they need to discourage a would-be attacker. “You have muscle memory, and that memory might hold someone off.”
The newly opened Title Boxing Club in Falls Church is not what you imagine when you think of a “boxing gym.” It’s clean and gleaming and light-filled, without the gross 40-year-old couch and the guys yelling, “Adrian,” that Heidi remembers from her first boxing gym. The trainers are friendly and encouraging, pushing you to give a little bit more with enthusiasm and without the drill sargeant. The membership is a cross-section of fit Millenials, suburban moms and dads, and teens and tweens coming in with their parents. And while the hour-long boxing and kickboxing classes are intense, a person of average fitness ability (me!) can complete them and feel like a badass when she’s done.
“Ninety-eight percent of the people who join have no aspiration to get into the boxing ring,” Heidi said. What they want are those incredible boxer bodies, so Title Boxing Club emulates boxing workouts in order to give members those. “There are so many cardio kickboxing classes out there, but you have to be hitting that 100-pound bag to really see changes.”
Smashing elbow into bag = awesome bruise
A typical boxing or kickboxing class is broken up into three parts: a 15-minute warm up session that involves lots of high-energy cardio; a 30-minute session of working the bag, broken up into intervals with quick 30-second breaks; and 15-minutes of core work and cool down. Heidi recommends that people attend classes at least three times a week in order to see results.
She tells the story of a young woman who saw results in less time: The woman had recently joined that old, grubby gym Heidi used to go to. The woman had only been to the gym once or twice, couldn't fight a lick, when, crossing a dark parking lot, a guy ran at her with his skateboard raised over his head to hit her. The woman jumped into her fighting stance, raised her fists, and said, "Bring it on." The guy ran off.
That attack wasn't victimless; the woman cried as she told the story the next day. But when you hear the stat that three women are killed by their intimate partners every day in the United States, you understand how much worse it could have been. Whether it's a stranger or a partner, no real man hits. Real women have options. One of them is to fight back.
If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Title Boxing Club
Falls Church-area residents can check out the new gym at 450 N. Washington St. Falls Church; others can click here to find a gym near you.
In-Between Tip: On Saturday, Sept. 27, from 2:30-4 p.m. Title Boxing Club Falls Church will host Safety Blueprint, a women's personal safety workshop. Shawn Rafferty, with 20 years of experience in the public and private security sector, will teach women ways to avoid being a victim. Contact the Falls Church club at 703-992-6888 to reserve a spot. The workshop cost is $50 per person.
Off Season Tubing in Harpers Ferry
As summer draws to a close, it would seem wise to put aside such warm-weather activities. But what I learned from that gorgeous Monday white water tubing with the help of the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is that there is no better time to go than when no one else is going.
Floating down the Potomac River with my butt in a tube and the 85-degree day warming my arms and legs, I had one thing to yell at my husband, who was bumping easily on some light rapids a few yards away with a peaceful smile on his face: "How do you like this for a Monday?"
He'd taken a long weekend to celebrate his birthday, and on this particular beautiful Monday just before Labor Day, my family of four had the whole stretch of the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, WV to ourselves. For the entire 6-mile, 3-hourish white water tubing ride, the only people we saw were the ones waving at us from atop the pedestrian bridge that crossed the river.
They looked like ants. Little envious ants.
As summer draws to a close, it would seem wise to put aside such warm-weather activities. But what I learned from that gorgeous Monday white water tubing with the help of the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is that there is no better time to go than when no one else is going.
"Our motto is, 'If you can think of it, we can make it happen,'" said Chase Gregson, an employee at Harpers Ferry Adventure Center, in reference to the many out-of-the-box adventures they put together for customers. "We've had people go white water rafting or tubing when there was snow on the ground."
Now, for me, that would be pushing it. But Gregson says temperatures at their location -- just west of Loudon County in northeast West Virginia, about an hour drive from the Beltway -- can stay warm until mid-October. Can you imagine bumping along in a tube, the wide expanse of the river all around you, and gazing at all the trees brilliant with oranges and reds and yellows? That's a way to see the fall leaves without the traffic!
White water tubing is a way to add a little spark to a tube ride. The tube acts like a bumper to the rock-causing rapids in the Potomac and you generally bounce off the rocks and spin away. The Adventure Center promises Category I-III rapids; on the day we went, we enjoyed bumps and some shoots, but nothing that felt dangerous. The Adventure Center appropriately requires everyone to be 12 and over; between the rapids and still water that requires paddling with your hands, it's easy for large expanses of water to separate various members of your group.
Chase with the Adventure Center offered these additional tips to guarantee a fun, off-season tube ride:
- Bring a wetsuit or rent one from the Adventure Center if you are concerned about the temperature of the water. They also rent splash tops, which are windbreakers that resist water and are not as constrictive as wetsuits.
- Wear close-toed shoes. This area of the Potomac River is actively fished and you wouldn't want your tubing day ruined by a cut foot.
- Call before you come if you're wondering about the conditions. The Adventure Center will not let you out on the river if there is ice flowing or lightening and thunder in the area. If you're already on the water when a storm hits, employees trained in swift water rescue will raft to you and get you out of the water.
- Come on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and early Friday if you're looking for a less-crowded experience. The Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is closed on Tuesday.
- The Adventure Center offers many deals after Labor Day. Check online before you go.
Yay to off-season tubing!!
Harpers Ferry Adventure Center
37410 Adventure Center Lane Purcellville, VA 20132
In-Between Tip: Harpers Ferry Adventure Center offers tubing, white water rafting, kayaking, zip lining, horseback riding, Segway tours, hiking expeditions and, come three scary nights in October, a Haunted Hayride and Zipline Tour. What better way to wig you and yours out than by zipping through a West Virginia forest in the dark?
Discover a Charlottesville Swimming Hole
Maybe not everyone gets as excited at labyrinthian adventures through the trees as I do, but when I stumbled upon info about the Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow while researching a recent trip to Charlottesville, I got jazzed!
Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow, outside of Charlottesville
"Swimming hole."
Did you feel that zing at those words? That promise of sunshine and frayed jean shorts and hidden trails through the woods?
Okay, maybe not everyone gets as excited at labyrinthian adventures through the trees as I do, but when I stumbled upon info about the Blue Hole swimming hole at Sugar Hollow while researching a recent trip to Charlottesville, I got jazzed! We were going to celebrate the Big Kid's birthday, a kid who loves rock climbing and bug watching and forest exploring, and I couldn't imagine any way better to do it than by hiking to this pool in the woods.
The Drive
The drive getting there is its own little adventure. You can set your GPS for Sugar Hollow Road, but it won't get you all the way to the parking lot for the swimming hole.
- Take Barracks Road northwest out of Charlottesville, driving on a two-lane road that rolls and weaves over beautiful horse country past stately black fences and tiny country stores with tons of character. Grab water and snacks for the hike at one of these charming stores.
- Barracks Road turns into Garth Road.
- Then here's the tricky part: At the Piedmont Store (exactly 11.0 miles from the intersection of 250 and Barracks Road, according to Google Maps), continue straight onto the lesser road of Sugar Hollow Road, and DO NOT take the swinging right turn onto Browns Gap Turnpike. This comes up fast and would be easy to miss. Look for the Piedmont Store, which you should drive past on your right.
- Now you're good to go. You'll spend awhile time on a gravel road, passing country homes and camp retreats, until you get to the Sugar Hollow Dam and the Charlottesville Reservoir. Continue uphill on the narrow pitted road, past the tranquil reservoir with trout the size of my forearm (I'm not kidding; get out of the car and take a look), until you reach the sizable parking lot.
View of the Charlottesville Reservoir from the Sugar Hollow Dam
The Hike
A swimming hole wouldn't be a swimming hole if there were pointed arrows and easy pathways to get to it. Apparently there is a well-maintained trail to a larger swimming hole known as Snake Hole. But that's not where we adventurers are heading.
- Stand in the middle of the lot with your back to the dam and reservoir behind you. Bramble and a small creek will be on your left.
- Cross through that bramble. You will see small pathways through it. Cross the creek. On the day we were there, the water was low enough that we could skip over on the rocks.
- Clamber up the embankment on the other side. At one spot of the embankment, there are stair-like rocks to make the clamber a little easier.
- An obvious pathway leading up the hill is on the other side. We had to climb over a downed tree to get to it on the day we were there. If you don't see the path at the top of the embankment, walk to the left for a bit. You'll run into it.
- Fortunately, once you're on the path, it's a straight 1.5-mile hike to Blue Hole. There's some uphill and stream crossing, but no turnoffs that could lead you to hiking around in circles.
- You have to climb down from the path to reach Blue Hole, but there are several obvious paths down to it and the sounds of the small falls are unmistakable. You won't miss it.
The Swimming Hole
That bracing water coming down from the Blue Ridge Mountains and roaring into Blue Hole is cold and clear, even near the end of July. Bring towels! And a friendly spirit. Looking for our own private adventure, we were disappointed when we climbed down to the swimming hole to see other people there. But soon, we were all joined in the renegade, swimming-hole spirit. There are a couple of large boulders perched on the side of Blue Hole that provide a 12-foot leap into the pool, and strangers shouted encouragement to reluctant leapers and cheered the ones courageous enough to go. (Note from a Mom: That pool is less than 10-feet deep. DO NOT DIVE!!!) There are pools and smaller falls above Blue Hole perfect for quieter moments away from the crowd. Or to indulge your explorer day dreams.
Strangers quickly become compatriots at the swimming hole
The big jump and the finish
Thank you to Adventures in Parenting, Healthy in Cville, and Hiking Upward for helping me figure out how to get to Blue Hole in the first place.
In-Between Tip: A great place to fuel up before your hiking-and-swimming adventure is Ace Biscuit & Barbecue in Charlottesville, a tiny, brick hut that serves meat -- pulled pork, spare ribs, fried chicken, brisket -- over biscuits with lots of delicious sauces, fixings and sides to choose from.
Want more fun outdoor ideas?
Taking Tea at Historic Rosemont Manor
Going to a tea at the Historic Rosemont Manor in Berryville, Va., is everything little girls imagine tea parties are like when they put on their mothers' floppy hats and drink fruit punch out of tiny cups. As full-grown women, my girlfriend and I got to wear our pretty summer dresses and enter the elegant Southern-style manor where American royalty like the Kennedys once stayed. We got to drink tea from delicate rose-painted cups and eat peach scones topped with Devonshire cream.
Going to a tea at the Historic Rosemont Manor in Berryville, Va., is everything little girls imagine tea parties are like when they put on their mothers' floppy hats and drink fruit punch out of tiny cups. As full-grown women, my girlfriend and I got to wear our pretty summer dresses and enter the elegant Southern-style manor where American royalty like the Kennedys once stayed. We got to drink tea from delicate rose-painted cups and eat peach scones topped with Devonshire cream.
Downton Abbey is a hit for a reason. That show about a noble family and its servants living in an esteemed English manor encourages a certain amount of adult pretend. But for the two hours of the tour-and-tea luncheon at Historic Rosemont Manor, you can live that elegant lifestyle.
Like Downton Abbey, the history of Rosemont Manor is long and rich (I’m referring to the fictional history of the show, which I know, versus the actual history of Highclere Castle, which I don’t know). Originally built in 1811 as a merchant groom’s gift to his landed gentry bride, the manor has been home to a Union hospital, has been sold for a $1 and has been considered as a site for 90 luxury homes. Most notably, the home was owned by Virginia governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. The names of the many luminaries who visited him there – Charles Lindbergh, Albert Einstein, FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson – are used to designate the manor’s twelve suites and four cottages.
We owe the fact that we simple folk can visit the place to the daughter of current owner William "Biff" Genda. When she saw its perfect location, at the top of a slope that overlooks beautiful park grounds and the Shenandoah Valley, she commented that she’d love to be married there. That lightbulb transformed the 200-year-old private residence into an elegant B&B and wedding venue that opened in 2010. The manor has hosted 64 weddings this year and already has 20 booked for 2015.
But back to the tea. On occasional Saturdays and Wednesdays, the Rosemont Manor hosts a three-course tea service for $44 a person. The event begins in the wedding reception hall with a champagne glass of fruit juice. We women in attendance looked like butterflies, and the staff treated us like honored guests. Director of Weddings Michael Haymaker led us into the home and explained its history and Manor House Chef Tona Bays talked excitedly about the three-courses she’d chosen.
Bays focuses on seasonal, local offerings and apologized for what she felt was a diminished peachiness to the peach offerings of the summer menu. Our area’s unending winter, she explained, hit the local peach hard. She had nothing to apologize for. The peach scone with peach preserves was rich with summer sweetness. I originally thought we’d be hitting a rib stand on the one-and-a-half-hour drive home, but the one-bite sandwiches, scones and desserts were substantive in flavor and surprisingly filling. I don’t know teas well, but these were delicious.
My girlfriend and I are already looking forward to the spring menu, when the area is exploding with azalea flowers, or the Christmas menu, when the house is done up for the holidays. There's no reason we have to limit our elegant make-believe to once a year.
Taking a Tour of the Historic Rosemont Manor
A Stroll Through the Hirshhorn Museum
We in the DMV are spoiled rotten. Why? Because we can wander down to the National Mall and take a gander at the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the United States, the Declaration of Independence, Dorothy's ruby slippers. For free. The Hirshhorn Museum has always been a favorite museum at the Mall because of its contemporary art, its outdoor sculpture garden and its general lack of crowds. It feels like the museum you can breathe in.
This is the first time I've said this in this blog, but it won't be the last: We in the DMV are spoiled rotten. Why? Because, should we have the urge, we can wander down to the National Mall and take a gander at ... I don't know ... the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the United States, the Declaration of Independence, Dorothy's ruby slippers. For free.
On a recent Saturday, I did just that: Drove down to the Mall, found a two-hour parking spot on 7th St. SW, and took a slow walk through the second floor of the circular Hirshhorn Museum, through the "Speculative Forms" exhibit. The Hirshhorn has always been a favorite museum at the Mall because of its contemporary art, its outdoor sculpture garden and its general lack of crowds. It feels like the museum you can breathe in.
Reading the placard of the "Speculative Forms" exhibit, I was completely confused about the objective: "The exhibition highlights the importance of installation and the viewer's eye and body in relation to the object." And then I saw this:
The exhibit is about the interaction between a sculpture, the space that it's exhibited in and the way the viewer views it. This metal sculpture, "6-68" by David Lee Brown, reflects the light and arc of the Hirshhorn hallway. And I could only see that by standing at a certain perspective.
The Hirshhorn Museum made me smarter. In about an hour's time. For free. See, I told you we were spoiled rotten.
Speculative Forms at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
At the corner of 7th Street and Independence Ave. SW, Washington D.C.
In-Between Tip: Avoid the overpriced and unimpressive Smithsonian museum cafes and enjoy a quick, interesting bite al fresco at the many food trucks that gather on 7th Street SW. During the weekdays, you will find them south of Independence Ave at 7th and D Streets SW. On the weekends, the trucks line 7th on the Mall.
Terror-Filled Fun in the Trees at Adventure Park
This was my family’s fifth or sixth trip to the tree-climbing and zip-lining adventure land in Montgomery County, and we’d ended every trip covered in sweat, showing off some impressive scrapes and bruises, and seriously psyched about our ability to look a leaf-strewn death in the face. Visiting The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring is like being in labor – the end result is so cool you forget about the screaming and crying that preceded it.
The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring
I was about 20-feet high in the trees at The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring, barely balancing on a wood board shivering beneath my feet, when I remembered, “Oh yeah, I’m terrified of heights.”
This was my family’s fifth or sixth trip to the tree-climbing and zip-lining adventure land in Montgomery County, and we’d ended every trip covered in sweat, showing off some impressive scrapes and bruises, and seriously psyched about our ability to look a leaf-strewn death in the face. Visiting The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring is like being in labor – the end result is so cool you forget about the screaming and crying that preceded it.
The Adventure Park is an elaborate, up-in-the-trees obstacle course. You choose one of the 13 courses (the level of difficulty is marked like ski runs from purple to double-black diamond), and then you work your way along the course by teetering from tree to tree across different challenges or “elements.”
A view of the "elements" at The Adventure Park
Sometimes you’re walking across sturdy boards with a tight, steady rope you can grip for balance. Sometimes you’re on logs swinging beneath you while the grip line sticks out at an awkward angle. Sometimes you zip line across. Sometimes you rope swing across. Sometimes you climb down an endless rope ladder that has you swearing, when you’ve kissed the platform at the bottom, that you will never again skip the arms when you’re at the gym.
None of these elements, the young and impossibly cute staff assures you, will result in your leaf-strewn death. Cinching you into your harness, walking you through a detailed training, and being readily available for the cries of “Staff help!” are all ways this young and impossibly cute (as well as friendly, patient and competent) staff insure your safety.
A staff member demonstrates safety equipment
They also help you believe in the “tweezle.” The safety of this park is dependant on the two locking carabiners on your harness, a “life line” that runs through every course, and the tweezle. The tweezle is a locking mechanism – you lock one of your carabineers onto a course’s life line at the beginning, and you are unable to unlock until the end. This way, should you slip off the insane tightrope that you’re supposed to be walking across, your harness will catch on the life line. Boosting yourself back onto the element is easier with the adrenaline-surge of your heart pounding.
If I can do it, you can do it
So why am I recommending this place so obviously meant for the young and fearless to In-Betweeners? Because, at our age, it’s easy to get too damn comfortable. I’m not presented with many risks anymore. And with two kids and a husband, I’m not interested in truly looking death in the face – ie. skydiving, mountain climbing, jogging. Staring at my feet (never the ground!) at Adventure Park, realizing that I’m actually balancing myself on that tightrope, and conquering an element that I was sure would defeat me leave me feeling exhilarated, powerful and capable.
And the view is fricking gorgeous.
Cost: $49 for ages 12+
Twilight tickets: $29, Mon-Thurs.; $39, Fri-Sun. (Available 3 hours before closing.)
In Between Tip: The park -- strewn with twinkling white Christmas lights -- is open for night climbing until 8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturdays. I imagine it would be really fun with a group of adult friends. I can feel another blog coming on...
Hillwood Estate: A Day With the Most Glamorous Woman
Stepping onto the grounds of the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Northwest D.C., is like being invited to take your time checking out the glittering jewels, gleaming furniture, sparkling objets d’art and beautiful gardens of the wealthiest and most glamorous woman you’ll ever know.
Stepping onto the grounds of the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Northwest D.C., is like being invited to take your time checking out the glittering jewels, gleaming furniture, sparkling objets d’art and beautiful gardens of the wealthiest and most glamorous woman you’ll ever know.
And it is a true invitation.
Marjorie Merriweather Post. From Hillwood Museum
Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post Cereal Company and one of the founders of General Foods, bought the home in 1955 intending it to be a museum for the 18th-century French and Russian imperial decorative arts that she collected. She wanted my girlfriend Paige and me to covet the 18th-century French dinnerware in the light-and-flower-filled breakfast nook. She wanted us to take a long walk through the hillside gardens, laughing just a shade too loud for such an elegant place.
She wanted us to absolutely drool over her Cartier jewels, currently displayed in the exhibit “Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems,” in the Adirondack Building, one of the charming buildings hidden among the forested walks.
Marjorie Merriweather Post began collecting 18th-century French furniture and art to decorate her home. When she accompanied her third husband to the Soviet Union, where he served as ambassador, Marjorie became entranced with Russian imperial art and began to truly refine her collector’s eye. The first piece she purchased from Cartier years before her trip was prophetic - the amethyst Fabergé box connected her love of Carier, Russian imperial art and Fabergé, of which she would go on to collect 90 pieces.
In Between Tip: We'd tried the café at Hillwood Estate in the past, and hadn't thought much of it. It has apparently improved, because there was a 40-minute wait at lunch time. Get reservations!
Cartier exhibit in the Adirondack Building
In the small Adirondack Building is a green emerald once worn by Mexico’s Maximillian I and smuggled out of the country by his wife, an Indian pendant brooch with a 250-carat emerald, and a diamond clasp meant to be worn with the diamonds dripping down Marjorie’s back.
There’s also a story.
During the Great Depression, Marjorie Merriweather Post put her diamonds and emeralds in a safety deposit box. With the money she saved on insurance, she opened the Marjorie Merriweather Hutton Canteen, a soup kitchen in New York. She made sure the canteen had flowers on the table and blue-checked tablecloths, because she believed everyone deserved a little elegance.
Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post's Dazzling Gems
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Tuesday- Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
On display until Dec. 31, 2014
Angelina M. Lopez,
contemporary romance Author
Writing ferocious love stories
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