The DC Traveler

Expect a couple hundred thousand participants and thousands of motorcycle riders supporting Rolling Thunder to roll through the National Mall in Washington, DC tomorrow, in the 21st annual moving fundraiser for veteran’s groups, veterans and their families. 
Expect traffic tie-ups on the Mall, and lots of noise, but it’s all for a great cause - the American veteran.
Route - Starting point at The Pentagon, proceeds around the National Mall up Constitution Ave to 3rd St. then down Independence Ave. to south of the Lincoln Memorial.
Dates and Times - Sunday, May 24, 2008 - Noon - 3:00 p.m.

Ride to …read more

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Sometimes I’ve seen some of the most enjoyable and affordable theater productions, not at the Kennedy Center or the National Theatre, but at some of the 80 small local community playhouses in the Washington, DC area.  It’s usually easy to find a fun, interesting and hopefully great performance.
And where else can you find award-winning plays being produced by people who perform just for the love of being on stage? Plus, tickets to most local community theater performances cost not much more than the cost of a movie ticket and popcorn.
I’ve written about the hysterical play Noises Off once before, …read more

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Just 30 years ago, visiting the six wineries operating in Virginia was fairly easy. Today, with over 130 wineries in the Commonwealth, it could take months to visit them all.
The great thing about the many local summer and fall wine festivals, is that the wineries come to you.
At the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival, in suburban Centreville, Virginia, you can taste wines from over 35 Virginia wineries. After sampling some of the 250 wines offered, attend one of the hourly seminars at the Seminar Tents, and learn about paring, wine making and its history, and the learn about the many …read more

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After 25 years of civil war and internal conflict in Afghanistan, it was thought that many of Afghanistan’s cultural and historical treasures had been lost or stolen.  Luckily, three years after the fall  of the Taliban in late 2001, over 22,000 artifacts were discovered in a vault located under the Presidential Palace in Kabul and in other locations.
The works belong to the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul. Their collection of over 100,000 items was once one of the finest in Central Asia, and housed antiquities from over 4,000 years of Afghan history, including the periods of Alexandria, Greek, …read more

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The 7th season of wildly popular “American Idol” is just about over, with the 2-night season finale ending tonight.  Out of the original 24 American Idol contestants, only two, David Archuleta and David Cook remain.
The question remaining, is who will step up to the mic and blow the audience away? 
Regardless who ultimately wins, after the competition ends, you can still see your favorite American Idol singers live and in person.  The show’s top 10 singers will embark on a 49 city, 75 day U.S American Idols Live tour, that includes a stop in Washington, DC.
Luckily for the …read more

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For over sixty years, the nation’s capital was without a parade on Memorial Day. Just four years ago, the World War II Veterans Committee reinstituted a parade honoring all Americans who served in the military and fought or died to preserve our freedom.
The Washington, DC Memorial Day parade boasts nearly 200 elements, including marching bands, all types of active and retired military units, youth groups, floats and hundreds of veterans from all of America’s armed conflicts since World War II.
 
Bring a small lawn chair for comfortable seating, or grab a curbside seat.
National Memorial Day ParadeConstitution Ave., from 7th …read more

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Everything from vintage WW-II war birds to the latest F-35 Joint Strike fighter were on display this past weekend at Andrews Air Force Base for the annual Joint Service Open House and Air Show.
There was a great exhibit on the Berlin Airlift inside a vintage C-54 with a few volunteers, including one woman who was in the British Sector during the airlift and had a few great stories about the living conditions. She was able to emigrate to the U.S. and you could here how proud she was to be an American..
Here are a few photos of the many …read more

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Jim Henson is best known as the creator of The Muppets, and the PBS television series for children, Sesame Street.
While in high school in the early 1950s, Henson started creating puppets for local television station, WTOP, (now WUSA channel 9) Saturday morning children’s program.
He later attended college at the University of Maryland’s studio arts program in nearby College Park.  In his first year, WRC-TV (NBC-4) hired him to create a five-minute puppet show called Sam and Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1961.  The puppets Hansen created were the first versions of the Muppets, including a primitive lizard-like …read more

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A couple weeks ago, after enjoying dinner on my deck, some massive thunderstorm clouds developed, just before sunset. Here’s what one looked like.

Luckily, the storm’s bark was worse than it’s bite.
Image - from personal collection - © 2008 - Jon Rochetti
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With lots of great original tunes and a few great covers like “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War and The Four Seasons’ “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby”, Smash Mouth will be playing live on Sunday at Belmont Country Club in Ashburn, Virginia.
Smash Mouth has a rather unique sound, and the genre that fit into is often debated. Some call it post-ska/rock, other have dubbed the band’s sound as rip-off retro-60s pop. Either way, it’s a fun band.
With a #1 hit, “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “All Star” hitting #2 on the charts a couple years later in 1999, …read more

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