Bus Rapid Transit is slowly making it's way to Silver Spring

I hear a lot of back and forth talk today about the future of Bus Rapid Transit lines in Montgomery county. Planning for these lines along major commuter arteries in the county have been in the works for a few years now and I really am a big proponent of the idea. However, there is a lot of resistance to the BRT and many residents are concerned about it's impact on their communities.

For me this is a "no brainer." Traffic congestion is getting worse in the region and the one thing that everybody can agree on is that the traffic issue is not going to get better. The county will continue to grow and that means more commutes to work every day by it's residents. I think there is a lot of uncertainty about what a BRT system is and how it works. Well, I found this really nice video that shows  BRT systems all over the world. It is very well done and can give you an idea of  how they work and how they look. Check it out. BRT systems are very nice, cost efficient and are sure to enhance the communities that they pass through-especially those communities that are not already on a metro line. 

There are two givens with this region that cannot be ignored. One, is that the density of the population is going to increase and there is no close-in neighborhood that will be immune from the pressures that this brings on. Your community can't close the door on higher density development and we homeowners must brace for the changes. The second given, and I think this is good news, is that there is a direct correlation between excellent transportation facilities and home values. For the average homeowner in the Silver Spring area, the BRT system is going to be a good thing.

Five cheap Washington, DC things that you can do in five days. Day five: Brookside Gardens Annual Garden of Lights

This photo of Brookside Gardens is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I know that this one is not technically in Washington, DC but I am going to mention it because it is too nice to miss. Brookside Gardens is located in Silver Spring, MD (Wheaton, to be exact) and aside from a being a  very nice "free" place to visit at all times of the year, features it's annual Garden of Lights this time of year. The event  runs from November 29th of this year through January 5th of 2014 with closings for for a few days around Christmas and New Years. We have pretty much gone every year since it began and it just get's better (and more crowded) each year. Last year I even took an unplanned dip into the pond but that is another story for another blog post.

Basically they take a portion of the grounds and decorate the foliage and surrounding area with an amazing display of colorful holiday lights. Typically entrance to Brookside Gardens does not cost anything, however, they do charge admission for the Garden of Lights. You pay by the vehicle ($20) for a car so it pays to load up the ole sedan with as many friends and family members as you can stomach as there is no extra charge. As long as it is only one vehicle you are good to go. The images here speak for themselves so dress warm, take a thermos of cider and go have a great evening.

Some nights it can get a bit crowded. Best time to go is on a weeknight and if you go early,  say right after sunset, you won't have problem.

Brookside Gardens is a great place to go anytime of the year. Any time of year there is just lovely and they always have something special going on such as the Wings of Fancy butterfly exhibit in the spring and summer months. Brookside is well worth the visit and should be on your list of places to take family and visitors when they come from out of town. But the Garden of Lights is the "place to be" for the next six weeks or so and would be the perfect outdoor event to get on your holiday calendar.

Five cheap Washington DC things that you can do in five days. Day four: The Washington Navy Yard and Museum

It is unfortunate that the Washington Navy Yard has been in the news so much lately Until the recent tragedy on the grounds, very few people in the region knew much about it. I think it is important to write about it now because this is one of my all time favorite places in DC and people need to know about it and go see it. I can't remember how many times I have been to the National Museum of the US Navy in my life. Located on the grounds of the The Washington Navy Yard which in itself if a historical treasure dating back to the War of 1812, I remember my dad first taking my brothers and  me down there when were were little kids. I have been back many times. It is a great place to take nieces and nephews as well as out of town visitors.

I have to admit, I just have always loved ships and things naval and this is the place for me to get my fix. I love the fact that admission is free and the museum is located in one of the old Navy Yard workshops complete with overhead cranes on rail tracks. In spite of the military theme, you will find it to be a great place to take kids because there are things there that they encourage them to climb on. How many museums do you know of that allow that? It is a very intimate place but has wonderful stuff to see. And, like so many of my favorite Washington, DC sites the Navy Yard Museum is under-visited. I can't think of a time that I have been there when there were more than a dozen or so other visitors.  Best thing there for me is the ship models, which feature amazing detail and can be quite large. Kids will like the para scope room where they can use actual submarine scopes to scan the surrounding shipyard for enemy vessel. There is an outdoor park with lots of odd knickknacks and an old 1950s destroyer (USS Barry) tied up at the dock for the public to tour.

For most of my life, Southeast Washington was considered a pretty hairy and dangerous part of town. However, all of a sudden it is the place to be in DC. With the new Nationals Park baseball stadium and the Anacostia River Walk Trail, the area is changing rapidly and offers plenty of great places to see and eat. Adults will need a valid drivers license to get pass the front gate of the Navy Yard and don't be surprised if they search your car trunk. However that is a small price to pay to get into this gem of a place.

Five Cheap Washington DC things that you can do in five days. Day three: The National Building Museum

For my wife's birthday a few years ago I took her down to see the beautiful National Building Museum. Old timers in DC know it as the Old Pension Building. The building was designed by Montgomery C. Meigs who hailed from my native state of Georgia and is one of my favorite unsung heroes of the American Civil War.

Built before modern artificial ventilation, the building was designed to maximize air circulation: all offices not only had exterior windows, but also opened onto the court, which was designed to admit cool air at ground level and exhaust hot air at the roof. Made of brick and tile, the stairs were designed for the limitations of disabled and aging veterans, having a gradual ascent with low steps. In addition, each step slanted slightly from back to front to allow easy drainage: a flight could be washed easily by pouring water from the top. wikipedia

Admission to the building is "free" but there are always some special exhibits that you might want to see and they will charge a few bucks admission for those. Or don't see any special exhibits. Frankly, just a trip to see the grand lobby of the building and to walk around the interior will make your day. The building constructed in 1887 is all brick, and the massive Greek style columns in the open interior court are worth the trip alone. The museum is located between G and F streets, just a short walk from the Judiciary Square Metro Station.

Now is the best time to go because if there are no special events scheduled you are pretty much assured that there will be few other visitors around to cramp your views. However, if you can wait until next summer then the coolest thing to see is the Annual Indoor Mini Golf Course.

Five cheap Washington DC things you can do in five days. Day two: The President Woodrow Wilson House

I really don't know how I lived in Washington for all these years and missed The President Woodrow Wilson House. I really like old historic homes and try to see as many as I can. Located in the Kalorama part of DC, this is the home that President Wilson and his wife lived in after he was president until his death in 1924. His wife who was younger in age continued to live in the home until her death in 1961 when it then became a museum. The great thing about the Wilson home is that the interior is basically in the same condition that it was when he died in 1924. I really liked the fact that you can see how a 1920s style home looked and worked on a day to day basis.  In addition many of the Wilson's personal effects such as their clothing and photos are still in the home for the public to see. Wilson apparently loved modern gadgets and my favorite things in the tour was the primitive intercom system that he had installed in the home.

It costs ten bucks for a tours of the home. (About the cost of a burger in the downtown area.) I recommend that you check it out. The house is a great example of the Georgian Revival Style and the Kalorama area is a fun place to walk as there are an amazing number of fine homes in the neighborhood for you to gawk at. If you want to see what homes are selling for in Kalorama Heights you can visit my website

Five cheap Washington DC things you can do in five days. Day one: The National Cathedral

We took my niece and grandniece down to the Washington National Zoo two weeks ago. Although my niece loved the zoo, she told me that the most amazing thing about the zoo is that admission is free. She is from Austin Texas and the nearest zoo in San Antonio costs money to get into. That got me thinking about Washington versus other cities. We really have a unique city in that so many great tourist sites are free to see, or cost very little. Here are a few of my favorites. The first that comes to mind is the National Cathedral.

When I was a kid, they were actually still building the cathedral. My mom used to take us downtown to see the stone work that they were preparing to place on the walls and spires under construction. In addition when you visit we visited  the cathedral there were all sorts mysterious passages and staircases that are closed to the general public. I can't imagine many ten year old kids who would not fantasize about climbing up those narrow stone spiral staircases? Well, it turns out you can. For my birthday a few years back my wife took me on a special guided tour of the cathedral that allows you to see all sorts of magical places.  Best part was that we went on a weekday in the winter (always the best time to go see things) and we were the only ones on the guided tour given by two very elderly and knowledgeable docents. Our tour included plenty of fun nooks and crannies such as a trip onto the roof (made of lead, you know) where we could gaze on unseen gargoyles and panoramic vistas of DC, and a trip to the attic vaults to see some of the "brick and mortar" bones of the cathedral.

Two of the many gargoyles on the cathedral. The creature to the right is from the move "Alien."





There are a number of specialty tours of the National Cathedral that you can take as well, such as a climb up the massive bell tower. Our tour was called "Behind the Scenes" and took about 90 minutes to complete. Fee for the tour was $15 and was well worth it.

Geothermal Energy for Heating and Cooling Your Home

We had a neighbor in Hillandale recently install a new geothermal heating and cooling system and that got me interested in looking into this new alternate energy source. In this area a typical home uses over 50% of its total annual energy cost for heating, cooling and hot water.  A geothermal system can save you a significant amount of money over time. Up to $100 a month. The issue is  time. Installing a geothermal system is not cheap so you would have to be in your home a number of years for it to pay off. However, a money saving environmentally friendly system can both add to the value of  your home and help sell your home faster if you put it on the market. So, aside from the monthly savings there can be other unseen financial advantages to having a geothermal system installed. The systems are pretty reliable, and in this area you can expect to have a very low maintenance system for years to come. In fact most new or rebuilt Montgomery County schools now have geothermal systems in place. Both Key Middle and Cresthaven Elementary Schools in my neighborhood have been totally rebuilt and have modern geothermal systems. Here is a nice short video that I found on the web that explains the two types of geothermal systems.