01 October 2019

National Homemade Cookie Day - Memories

Courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.Net

Today, October 1st, is National Homemade Cookie Day. Gotta love the holidays!!

While I am not a baker (my sister got that gene!), I have family members who were (or are). My mother, Sharyn Ann Senecal Coughlin, made great snickerdoodle cookies. I miss those. My (step) great grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Madden Torrance, made great tarts. I remember we would "help" her make those when they came down to South Carolina for the winters.

So on this National Homemade Cookie Day, go enjoy some cookies and remember all the good times you had making or eating them with family members past and present!!

15 August 2019

FGS Conference 2019 or Bust: FOOD



Now to the important question. What restaurants are around the hotel? For anyone not going to a sponsored lunch it's always good to know what the alternatives are. Also if you are staying at the hotel, some of the restaurants are only open for dinner.

So here is a list of restaurants I saw during my scouting trip. There may be more but these are the ones I saw!


McDonald's2616 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tinyurl.com/y49qecuq
Starbucks2649 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tinyurl.com/y4a295o3
Dunkin Donuts2633 Connecticut Ave NW WDChttps://tinyurl.com/y5qzc8z2
Nando's Peri-Peri2631 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tinyurl.com/y43nnv7u
Medaterra2614 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://www.medaterradc.com/
MacIntyre's2621 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://www.macintyresdc.com/
Woodley Cafe2619 Connecticut Ave NWhttp://www.woodleycafedc.com/
The Italian's Kitchen Pizza2608 Connecticut Ave NWhttp://theitalianskitchen.com/
District Kitchen2606 Connecticut Ave NWhttp://districtkitchen.com/
Baskin Robbins2604 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tinyurl.com/gv2wu84
Rajaji Curry House2603 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://www.rajajicurryhousewashington.com/#/
Chipotle Mexican Grill2600 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tinyurl.com/yyuyc5y7
Eddie's Cafe Chinese Cuisine2600 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://www.eddiescafedc.com/
Open City2331 Calvert St NWhttps://www.opencitydc.com/
Afghan GrillDINNER 2309 Calvert St NWhttp://www.afghangrilldc.com/index.html
Sorriso BistroDINNER 2311 Calvert St NWhttps://www.facebook.com/cafesorrisodc/
Tono Sushi2605 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://tokudc.wixsite.com/tonosushi
Umi Japanese Cuisine2625 Connecticut Ave NW 2nd Floorhttps://www.umijapanesecuisine.com/location.aspx
Lebanese Taverna2641 Connecticut Ave NW WDChttps://tinyurl.com/y2rhcwzd
Hot N Juicy Crawfish2651 Connecticut Ave NW WDChttps://tinyurl.com/y3uwpfrl
Mayahuel Cocina MexicanaDINNER 2609 24th St NWhttps://www.mayahueldc.com/
Robert's Restaurant2500 Calvert ST NWhttps://tinyurl.com/y28lyccy
Marquee Bar and LoungeDINNER 2500 Calvert St NWhttps://tinyurl.com/y28lyccy
New HeightsDINNER 2317 Calvert St NWhttp://www.newheightsrestaurant.com/home/
Petits Plats2653 Connecticut Ave NWhttps://www.petitsplats.com/


I know I will be trying out a few of these myself. And remember, this is Washington, District of Columbia...so things can be a BIT pricey...so don't be shocked!!! 😄💲💲💲

Sorry for the delay. Lots of work things, life things, just things took me away from getting *MY* stuff done! Now on to the next project before next Monday!

Hope to see you there!!!




18 July 2019

FGS Conference 2019 or Bust: METRO

I have been taking Metro for almost 17 years now to get to work. It's a love-hate relationship BUT for getting about in the metro DC area, it is a great option. Here are some notes for those of you who may not have been on the DC Metro system.

Here's a map of the whole system. The Omni Shoreham Hotel is located near the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan station on the RED Line.



PLEASE NOTE:  There are six (6) stations closed for platform repair on the Blue and Yellow lines south of the Ronald Reagan National Airport. Please see Commuter Page's information on alternatives. Also the Metro website, which is also known as WMATA, has service alerts listed with shuttle bus information.

Cards. First, you will need a SmarTrip card as Metro got rid of paper passes for both trains and buses. The cost of the card is $2.00 and you still need to add fare money to the card.



The fare machines do take cash and credit cards. (Note: If paying by credit card, get the receipt. Metro does have hiccups from time to time with transactions. Better safe than sorry is my motto!) The estimates for what the value of the trips will be on the fare machine.


THE TRAIN DOORS ARE NOT LIKE ELEVATORS. THEY DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY REOPEN. 

Train cars. We have the "old" trains and the "new" trains. The "new" trains are the 7000 series trains. You may hear announcements that you are on one of these or that this train will be servicing the platform. These trains did NOT come with safety features for the visually impaired. Several people have fallen been the trains as there were no safety chains on them. They are slowly correcting it but until then they make the announcement assuming that you know what they are talking about. No worries must of us daily riders wondered about the announcement too!!



Handicap or Priority Seating. There are handicap or priority seats on the trains by the doors. Some of the older trains only have them by the center doors.


Elevators. There is an elevator from the platform to the main level and then again from the main level to the street at all the stations. Metro is renovating some of the them. I would check the Metro's Elevator and Escalator Service Status to make sure the station you will be using is not under renovation if you will need an elevator. If it is out of service and you are eligible then they will arrange for a shuttle bus to get you to the next station with a working elevator.

The elevator at Woodley Park is located on the right side after you exit the fare gates. It will be before the fare machines. If you are not looking for it, you can miss it. I keep thinking it's a door!! The elevator comes out a block NORTH of the station so you will have to go an extra block South to get to the hotel.


You will come out at the corner of Woodley Road and Connecticut Avenue.


Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro Station. If you are taking the elevators, stay to the right after exiting the fare gates. If are taking the escalators, welcome to the Metro systems's 3rd longest escalator!! (My daily stop has me going to Bethesda, the system's 2nd longest escalator ...and yes, I have had to walk up them more times than I wanted to!!!)


Once you get to the street level, you have 2 choices, go right or left. If you go right, you are on 24th Street. Take a left and then you will cross the street (Calvert Street) at the street light and the hotel is in front of you. If you go left, you will be on Connecticut Avenue. Take a right and then at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Calvert Street you will take another right and the hotel will be down a block on the left.



Miscellaneous. When on the escalators, stay to the right as the walkers will be on the left. These are folks who are probably running late to work! Always add time to the expected commute especially on Saturday. The trains do not run as frequently on the weekends and the system opens at 7:00 am. Take a look at Metro's Trip Planner for planning your trip. It will show estimated times departure and arrival times. Also, the lighting in some of the stations is dimmed. So it's not you, it's them!

I hope I covered at least some of the basic questions you may have concerning traveling by Metro. If I didn't cover a question you may have, please let me know. I am not know the answer but may know where to find it!

Come on August!!!

17 July 2019

FGS 2019 Conference or BUST





I will be going to the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference in August in Washington, DC. For me it will mean getting up AND out earlier than normal to make my commute into DC. And of course they have sessions scheduled at 8:00 am each day that I really want to be at!! 


This will be my first FGS Conference. I did go to the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference back in 2011. When it was in Charleston…..and it coinciding with my nephew’s first birthday…..so multiple tasks, one trip...worked out perfectly!!!


I did a scouting session last weekend to see where the hotel is in relation to the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station (much closer than I realized).  And to see what restaurants are in the area for those of us who may not be doing the sponsored lunches (more than I thought there’d be!). 


I am going to do a few separate posts instead of one long one as I know what my attention span can be like at times. First up after this introduction will be on getting to the conference hotel via Metro. I have taken Metro daily for the last 16 years (17 in September). While I do not claim to know all about Metro, I will give you an overview. If you have never had to take public transportation in the DC area, an overview will be helpful. Trust me, I wish I had had one when I first started using it daily!! Second will be the restaurants. I’m already looking forward to that part!!


So I hope this series of posts will be useful to at least one of you fellow FGS-Bound attendees!!

25 April 2019

DNA Day 2019

As more people are testing, ethnicity estimates are changing. My AncestryDNA results changed to more of what my genealogy research reflects. I first blogged about DNA Day back in 2017 at Happy National DNA Day . Now to compare the changes.

Here are the 2017 estimates:



2017 estimates:


Here are the 2019 estimates:


2019 estimates:


So now my maternal line is reflected in the estimates. So happy to see the update!!

With the AncestryDNA updates, more cousins are being added to the matches. For me, it's been more 4th-6th cousins. Still hoping for those matches that will break down a few of my brick walls. Until then, the search continues......

I checked my FamilyTree DNA results. Nothing changed with them. Still getting the Scandinavian matches. I'm sure there's a connection...somewhere in the great tree of life!!!

Happy DNA Day and come on new cousins!!

24 April 2019

Wordless Wednesday - Parade

Parade - estimated 1950's
Au Sable Forks, Clinton County, New York

WOW...it's been longer than I thought for blogging! Going to reenter the blogosphere with an easy one...#WordlessWednesday!

Not sure if that's my mom on the "throne" or not. Do know it's in Au Sable Forks, Clinton County, New York. Thinking 1950's.