DC Scenes

Jeff Malet • June 9, 2014

Thousands seeking a healthier lifestyle and a more sustainable planet gravitated to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for the Washington D.C. Green Festival May 31 and June 1. The extravaganza catered to vegetarians, vegans and advocates of raw food; environmentalists and conservationists; human and animal rights activists; physical fitness buffs; and devotees of the culinary arts. More than 300 eco-friendly businesses offered everything from food and body care, to organic clothing and home renovations made from renewable resources. Inspirational speakers, cooking demos, fashion shows, educational activities for kids, and an abundance of free food samples all contributed to a most satisfying experience.

View our photos of the D.C. Green Festival by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="141813,141752,141748,141743,141737,141732,141825,141823,141716,141728,141758,141763,141809,141804,141798,141795,141789,141784,141778,141774,141769,141723,141710,141648,141653,141637,141633,141627,141622,141617,141611,141643,141658,141662,141818,141705,141700,141694,141690,141684,141678,141673,141667,101748" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • June 2, 2014

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died serving our country. The Memorial Day weekend also marks the unofficial beginning of the summer season. This year’s events — held May 24 through May 26 — were punctuated by near-perfect weather. View our photographs of events that are uniquely D.C., such as the Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, the massive Rolling Thunder XXVII motorcycle rally through the city streets, wreath layings at our military memorials, climaxing with the National Memorial Day Parade along Constitution Ave. (Photos by Jeff Malet) [gallery ids="103959,103879,103874,103869,103864,103859,103854,103849,103844,103839,103834,103829,103824,103884,103889,103894,103954,103949,103944,103939,103934,103929,103924,103919,103914,103909,103904,103899,103819,103814,103734,103729,103724,103719,103714,103709,103704,103963,103967,103971,103699,103975,103739,103744,103749,103809,103804,103799,103794,103789,103784,103779,103774,103769,103764,103759,103754,99236" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • May 15, 2014

The Washington Monument, long a symbol of the U.S. Capital, was reopened with fanfare on Monday May 12, 2014 almost three years after closing to repair the damage from an earthquake in August of 2011. The 130 year old, 555-foot-high marble and granite obelisk is the tallest stone structure in the world, and the tallest edifice in the city. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and philanthropist David Rubinstein, who paid half the $15 million cost of the repairs, joined with other dignitaries to cut the ribbon officially reopening the monument to visitors. Long time NBC “Today Show” weatherman Al Roker served as master of ceremonies. Singer Candice Glover, the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and the Boys & Girls Choristers of the Washington National Cathedral provided the entertainment.

Public tours of the Monument resumed right after the ceremony. Before the closure, the Monument was drawing 700,000 tourists a year. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8:30 each morning at the Washington Monument Lodge on 15th Street between Madison and Jefferson drives. The National Park Service is offering extended hours to visit the monument beginning Tuesday through the summer from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

View our photos of the reopening ceremonies by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101729,142259,142264,142270,142275,142279,142284,142289,142294,142298,142304,142309,142314,142318,142331,142255,142249,142244,142324,142178,142183,142189,142194,142198,142204,142209,142213,142220,142224,142230,142235,142240,142329" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • May 7, 2014

The White House Correspondents’ Association celebrated its 100th anniversary as it once again hosted members of the press, the government and the entertainment world for its annual event at the Washington Hilton on May 3. View our photos from the Red Carpets at the Hilton and from the MSNBC after party at the National Building Museum by clicking on the photo icons below. (Photos by Jeff Malet). [gallery ids="142730,142650,142645,142641,142635,142629,142624,142619,142615,142602,142597,142610,142594,142589,142675,142662,142656,142734,142724,142718,142712,142697,142692,142687,142706,142684,142678,142670,142666,142701,142584,142580,142506,142496,142520,142490,142484,142480,142475,142470,142464,142459,142455,142450,142444,142501,142510,142525,142574,142570,142565,142560,142557,142552,142546,142543,142538,142534,142606,142530,142516,101724" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • May 1, 2014

How old is the universe? What do crickets taste like? What’s the big deal about nanotechnology?

These questions and more were answered at the gigantic Third USA Science and Engineering Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 26 and April 27. The event which was billed as “the largest celebration of science & engineering in the U.S.” It featured more than 3,000 hands-on activities, 150 performances and lectures, book signings, a career pavilion and hundreds of exhibits with leading-edge technology. Celebrity science guests included Bill Nye (the Science Guy), physicists Michio Kaku and William Phillips as well as an appearance by the Science Cheerleaders. The mission of the festival was “to re-invigorate the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, educational and entertaining science gatherings in the United States.” The greatly expanded third incarnation of the science festival, which has been held in the District in two-year intervals, occupied two levels of space at the convention center, incorporating large exhibits from organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, NASA and corporate sponsors such as Lockheed Martin. More than 350,000 persons were expected to attend the free event.

View our photos from the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101721,142917,142920,142925,142930,142934,142940,142944,142948,142954,142959,142962,142968,142973,142976,142983,142912,142908,142884,142889,142894,142829,142835,142840,142845,142850,142857,142861,142866,142872,142878,142898,142903,142981" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet •

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which ranks as the world’s second most visited after the Louvre in Paris, has closed its popular Dinosaur Hall for an extensive remodeling that will take five years to complete. The hall was packed on Sunday, April 27, as fossil fans flocked to get one last look before the doors closed at 7:30 p.m.

Every one of the specimens will have to be taken apart, cleaned and put together again. The museum’s new T.-Rex, one of the largest and most complete skeletons ever discovered, will be the centerpiece of the new hall, set to open in 2019. In the mean time, temporary exhibits will be open just upstairs on the second floor.

We spoke to Brian Huber, curator of Planktic Foraminifera and department chairman, who was on hand at the closing of Dinosaur Hall. There are currently more than 2,000 specimens, some of which have been on display since the early 1900s, according to Huber. “Just getting them off their mounts will take a lot of time,” he said. The original architecture will be restored. Walls and floors will be coming out and skylights will be installed, opening up the space and allowing natural light to come in. “It will be a completely different layout,” Huber said. The new floor plan will allow objects to be presented in a much more chronological and intuitive manner. Huber said that reopening will be in 2019, the “soonest we can do it [and] we will stick to schedule.” “Everything will be 3-D scanned. The mounts will be different … much better for the specimens … We will have a temporary gallery upstairs, 5,000 feet of space versus the 31,000 feet” currently. The second floor will include the popular fossil lab which will reopen this summer.

Just before closing time on Sunday, we chatted with Mina Eggerton who has been a docent at the Dinosaur Hall since 1974, when the current exhibit was then called the “New Hall.” Eggerton has witnessed many changes and still remembers “being brought here as a child by my grandmother when the dinosaurs were under glass.” She is “quite sad that it’s going to be closed for five years” but wistfully adds “I suppose it can’t be helped”.

If you would like to get one last peek at Dinosaur Hall plus some of the activities from this last weekend, click on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101722,142823,142827,142814,142808,142800,142786,142782,142795,142769,142765,142760,142754,142748,142742,142792,142775,142804,142820" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet •

If you happened to see space invaders, zombies, super heroes and robots wandering around the Capitol this weekend, it was not your imagination. An estimated 40,000 visitors descended on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the District for the second annual Awesome Con D.C. for three days of panels, comic book displays and autograph signings on April 18 through 20. Attendance was up quite a bit from the 7,000 of one year ago. On Friday, many of the attendees attempted to break a world record for comic book costumes in front of the U.S. Capitol but came up short. Organizers are hoping to create an event on the East Coast to emulate the giant Comic-Con show held every year in San Diego. We caught up with all the action around the Capitol and inside the show. View our photos of Spiderman and the rest by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="143436,143361,143356,143350,143344,143339,143335,143330,143324,143320,143316,143366,143371,143376,143432,143427,143422,143416,143412,143402,143396,143392,143388,143382,143407,143440,143245,143240,143235,143230,143224,143220,143215,143210,143205,143201,143250,143256,143260,143310,143305,143301,143296,143290,143286,143280,143275,143270,143264,101708" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet •

Thousands of kids joined the first family on a sunny Easter Monday for the 136th White House annual Easter Egg Roll. An estimated 30,000 were on hand to see President Barack Obama introduce his wife Michelle as “the person who makes this all possible.” The theme of this year’s egg roll was “Hop into Healthy, Swing into Shape,” part of the first lady’s Let’s Move initiative. The president once again read from “Where the Wild Things Are,” and the first lady greeted scores of children with hugs. The Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia, could not attend because they were in school, but first dogs Bo and Sunny were on hand to greet the visitors.

View our photos of the Easter Egg Roll by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101709,143158,143162,143192,143174,143178,143182,143187,143199,143152,143147,143142,143168,143108,143113,143118,143122,143128,143133,143137,143196" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • April 24, 2014

First lady Michelle Obama’s second inaugural gown went on display Jan. 14 at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The gown will be shown for one year in the center of the museum’s popular exhibit, “The First Ladies,” and coincides with the exhibit’s 100th anniversary. It will be the first Second Inaugural ball gown to be so honored. The Jason Wu-designed, ruby-colored chiffon gown will be paired with the first lady’s Jimmy Choo-designed shoes. It was the second custom-made Jason Wu gown Mrs. Obama had chosen since she arrived in Washington. The gown features a cross-halter strap neckline adorned with small diamonds.

Lisa Kathleen Graddy, the curator of the exhibit, said, “It is not our tradition to collect the second inaugural gown. In general, it goes to the presidential library but so many people were interested in this dress — and it is the 100th anniversary of the first lady’s collection — we thought it might be nice to start a new tradition and borrow the dress so that it could be on special display for a year here.” After that, the white dress from the first inauguration will go back on display. Graddy said that the shoes had a much shorter heel the second time around. “I wonder if [after] dancing the night away at that first ball she decided a shorter heel might be a good idea for the second time.” The museum uses custom mannequins. “We do not alter dresses,” Graddy said. “We make the manikins fit the dress.”

View our photos from the first day of the display of the gown by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101597,147306,147299,147296,147291,147286,147282,147277,147274,147269,147265,147247,147261,147257,147252,147304" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • April 22, 2014

What is billed as the “Nation’s Greatest Springtime Celebration” ended in perfect style on Sunday. April 13, under sunny skies and 85-degree temperatures. Due to an extended winter chill, the Yoshino cherry trees gracing the Washington’s Tidal Basin didn’t hit peak bloom until April 10, a delayed start not been seen since 1993. According to the National Park Service, the peak bloom date is defined as the day when 70 percent of the Yashino Blossoms are open. Japan presented the U.S. with more than 3,000 of the trees in 1912 to celebrate the relationship between the two nations. D.C.’s first cherry blossom festival was in 1927. The Yoshino cherry tree — Prunus x yedoensis — is widely considered one of the most beautiful flowering ornamental trees. The Yoshino tends to have a relatively short life span of 15 to 20 years, but thanks to their care under the National Park Service, almost 100 of the original trees still survive from more than 100 years ago.

View our photos of the Cherry Blossom Festival, including Family Days activities at the National Building Museum, fireworks at the Southwest Waterfront, the Blessing of the Fleets at the U.S. Navy Memorial and the Cherry Blossom Parade, all by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet) [gallery ids="143838,143691,143696,143701,143705,143710,143728,143732,143724,143687,143682,143646,143650,143655,143659,143664,143668,143673,143678,143773,143762,143793,143842,143851,143808,143813,143818,143825,143831,143802,143782,143847,143744,143750,143756,143788,143768,143798,143778,143640,143634,143509,143514,143518,143523,143528,143532,143538,143542,143503,143498,143464,143714,143469,143473,143478,143484,143489,143493,143546,143552,143605,143609,143614,143620,143625,143628,143718,143738,143600,143594,143557,143560,143566,143571,143574,143580,143585,143590,101704" nav="thumbs"]