William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

Every year, I go places and list them. The primary criteria are 1.) Having a sit-down meal 2.) spending the night in that location.
Alexandria, Va.
Arlington, Va.
Burke, Va.
Fairfax, Va.
Falls Church, Va.
Franconia, Va.
McLean, Va.
Reston, Va.
Vienna, Va.
Annapolis, Md.
Baltimore, Md.
Columbia, Md.
Crownsville, Md.
Ellicot City, Md.
Poolesville, Md.
Avalon, N.J.
Ocean City, N.J.
Stone Harbor, N.J.
Wildwood Crest, N.J.
Woodstown, N.J.
Belleville, Pa.
Burnham, Pa.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Hershey, Pa.
Hummelstown, Pa.
Lewistown, Pa.
Mercersburg, [...]

Maryland Intercounty Connector opens to Laurel – Dr. Gridlock, The Post
I-270 to I-95 takes 20 min. on ICC – WTOP The newest portion of the Intercounty Connector (MD 200), between MD 97 Georgia Ave. and Interstate 95 opened this morning. While a connection to US 1 near Laurel remains to be completed, the bulk of [...]

POOLESVILLE, Md. — This year, our annual apple-picking outing was at Homestead Farm.
While it was rainy and cold the day we went, this weekend is supposed to be spectacular. There should still be a fair number of apples and pumpkins to pick from there — there were plenty of green apples on the trees [...]

I have posted about the FIVE GUYS vs. In-N-Out rivalry previously, suggesting that the two hamburger chains are completely different things. Others do not share that point of view — one Californian even said he thought FIVE GUYS was deliberately evoking In-N-Out in its restaurant design, but concluded they were two different things. Perhaps people [...]

Metro gets to work on ‘transition’ map – The Post
A preliminary new design of the Metro map has been released. The map’s creator, Lance Wyman, has suggested that the new Dulles Corridor line be colored “cherry blossom” (pink) for some reason.
Metro is soliciting feedback about the redesign which has some improvements in station naming and [...]

Word came out today that venerable Washington D.C. landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl will have stands at FedEx Field (@dcsportsbog), the Landover, Md. home of the Washington Redskins, this season. Ben’s has been selling half-smokes at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, since it opened in 2008. That means that 2 of the 3 biggest [...]

The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority has hired Lance Wyman to update the Metro map he created over 30 years ago. His revised version needs to accommodate the Silver Line which is being built along the Dulles corridor as well as include the new Blue Line split. He’s nervous about updating his iconic design.

Last month, [...]

Greater Greater Washington is having a unofficial contest to redesign the Metro map. The real redesign will come from The Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority in a few years, but like mocking up new team uniforms, creating a new transit map can be fun. I’d probably go for Map B or Map E.
I looked all [...]

Pouring a Natty Boh on the stoop for Willie Don

William Donald Schafer, the colorful former governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore died yesterday.
Living in an adjoining state, I could enjoy Schaefer for his antics without being embarrassed by them. Now, granted someone else near Northern Virginia had a tendency to get more attention, but [...]

Metro’s new board members take on a troubled, aging rail system – The Post
The second longest subway system in the United States turned 35 yesterday and it is safe to say that it is an old 35. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority has its work cut out for it to get the system into good [...]