WP: Country Club in Spring?

The Post contains a short update on what's new and suggests that the H Street Country Club, which will open in the vacant space previously occupied by Phish Tea, will be open this spring. The Country Club is a tongue in cheek venture from Joe Englert and co. that will serve burgers and other American fare amidst a nineteen hole DC themed mini-golf course. Sorry about the barely literate version of this that was up earlier today, I got distracted miscomposition & didn't post the corrected version.

WP: What's Brewing on H?

The Post lavishes more attention on Dr. Granville's(1338 H Street), and also pays a visit to the Pug(1334 H Street). It sounds like the Pug is now serving up hot dogs though plans to serve paninis are still in the works.

NYT: Capital Gains

The New York Times writes about the District in its Travel section & the first neighborhood it mentions is over here? Absolutely!

The H Street corridor is starting to hum, with cafes and bars including the Rock and Roll Hotel, a new music club that hosts bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Solillaquists of Sound.

That's about the only mention we get, except that the author also calls the corridor "newly trendy." Read the full article here. What a nice surprise on a Sunday Morning. Oh, and congrats to Rock & Roll Hotel (1353 H Street) for the mention.

Argo 2nd Birthday Tonight!

New Sign @Palace of Wonders

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the new sign that recently went up at the Palace of Wonders (1210 H Street). By the way, if you haven't checked out their line-up recently you probably should. They've got a lot of new stuff. Trivia night and female arm wrestling have stuck around, and of course there are plenty of burlesque and sideshow type acts, but they've also got things like this:

Sunday, April 1st, 2007
Museum of Oddities Lecture Series presents PHRENOLOGY!
Doors 12pm
Price: Adults $5, Kids 7-11 $3

Featured Speaker and noted Lecturer Alexander Kensington explains the 19th century science of Phrenology, The Original Scientific Biometric of Morality.

Sunday, April 15th, 2007
Museum of Oddities Lecture Series presents OUTING THE SIDESHOW!
12pm Doors, 1pm Lecture
Price: Adults $5, Kids 7-11 $3

Internationally celebrated sideshow historian and lecturer James Taylor * asks the most important question about the sideshow businesss - “Can you really out the sideshow when the business is totally honest anyway?” - and then asks the audience to play along. Or meet him half way!


They've also added a monster movie night, and Kostume Karaoke (no cover for either).
*James Taylor opperated the Baltimore Museum that previously held many of the items now housed at Palace of Wonders.

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UPDATE
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Note that the museum at the Palace of Wonders now has its own website. The museum, which is open every first and third Sunday from First and third Sundays of every month from 12pm until 4pm, caters to all ages. Vistors can explore permanent collection of oddities, and also take in whatever lecture is offered that day.

Adults: $5 • Kids 7-11: $3
Kids under 6: FREE

WP: U-Turn on H Street

Tomorrow's Post has this story on H Street (which I haven't had time to read more than once). Also see the video featuring Scott (manager of the Argonaut) & Joe Englert talking about H Street. As previously posted, here is the video of Quike Morales (former Argonaut bartender) taking about being shot last fall and his efforts to raise funds for other victims of neighborhood violence (the video accompanies this story, but was posted earlier). Check out the Post's H Street photo set here. Also see the updated nightlife map. Here's my hangouts and haunts post.
A few early comments on the story:
-the Catherine Fuller reference: Catherine Fuller was a a cleaning lady who was raped by a group of young men (there were convictions, but I'm not sure if it covered the entire group, there some issues with the witness reports). She was sodomized with a pipe such that it perferated certain vital organs and she would have died of those wounds, but her then proceeded to beat and kicked her. It's also my recollection that she had a small amount of money (perhaps $50) on her at the time. It happened in broad daylight (in an alley). That was 1984.

-Rae no longer works at the Argonaut, but that's because she got a promotion at her daytime job, and is no longer making the twice weekly commute from her place in Baltimore to DC to pour drinks at the tavern. I don't where that review was posted, but it definitely wasn't here (and I couldn't find it with a Google search). That's the first time I've heard that story, sometimes people suck. Rae was a good bartender.

-An Aquarius party is (I had to look this up) apparently a party for people with the zodiac sign of Aquarius.

The Argonaut Patio is Open!

A message from the Argonaut (1433 H Street):

In the long waited return of nice weather The Argonaut would like to remind everyone that its Patio is open!! come enjoy the weather!! The Argonaut would like to remind everyone that we are still collecting used board games, and that we do have free wireless connection for anyone that wants to use it.

thanks,

Scott

WBJ: Englert Transforms H Street

I haven't seen the full article (you need a subscription for this one [but here's a free version]), but I'm going to try to grab a paper copy (and you might want to as well because this looks like a big one). Washington Business Journal: One Bar at a Time, Englert Transforms the Spirit of H Street.

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UPDATE
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I've since purchased a paper version of the WBj annd it is a big article (the cover story, no less). There's a large photo (on the cover, and appearing again on pages 28-29) of Joe Englert inside Dr. Granville Moore's (which is to feature Belgian beers, mussles, and other light fare). It's an interesting read on the ambitious gamble one businessman (Mr. Englert is the focus of the artilce, even though it does discuss others) is taking in creating a destination district on H Street. Notably, Englert calls for additional parking (not instead of a streetcar/courtesy shuttle, but in addition to these accomodations). if you are puzzled by a statement (near the conclusion) by one of Mr. Englert's sons (it isn't a negative statement), he says it refers to his son using Dupont as a reference point for typical DC.
Paper readers will also find a sidebar piece titled H is for History that mentions the riots and focuses on area development over the last 6 years, and an opinion piece (p.36) called It Takes a Block: Grassroots-Style Gentrification Requires the Cooperation of Everyone. The opinion piece calls for cooperation among merchants, and with the City Council to revive H Street through a concerted effort. The Robeys and the H Street Playhouse (along with others) garnered mentions for their contributions.

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2nd Update
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Here is a free version of the article.

Twelve Restaurant & Lounge?

I saw a mention of this place in the ANC6A agenda package (a note about a stipulation regarding rooftop noise). 1125 H Street NE. Anyone know anything about this?