alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

December 27, 2006

A Christmas Story

by AltHippo @ 12:31 am. Filed under Uncategorized

Regular blogging to resume shortly, meanwhile, I wanted to mention something that those of you who live in the DC environs may find interesting.

On Christmas Eve, it’s been the tradition of my family to go to a Mexican restaurant. For the last few years we’ve been going to On the Border on Rockville Pike. After a Dos Equis or two, we started to talk about presents we got for each other. I know that some families actually unwrap presents on Christmas Eve, we just get tipsy and give strong hints.

So, my mother said: “I got a DVD for you that I think you’ll like. From, all places Strosnider’s Hardware.”

“Strange,” I said. “I got a DVD that I think you’ll like, from Politics&Prose.”

A few days earlier I had found what I considered to be an obscure but interesting DVD on the history of Chevy Chase. There’s no way that she could have found the same DVD, but at the same time I knew from the tone of her voice that we in fact had bought the same one.

As it turned out, my hunch was correct. The DVD in question is called: “Chevy Chase, Maryland: A Streetcar to Home.” It’s produced by the Chevy Chase Historical Society, and includes bits of trivia that DC’ophiles will find tantalizing.

For instance, have you ever wondered how Chevy Chase got its name? Or, why Connecticut Ave turns due north at Chevy Chase circle? Or, how come there’s a place called Chevy Chase Lake, but no lake?

More generally, the philosophy of urban development of the earlier decades of the 1900’s, the era of streetcars in DC, is described by those who actually lived through it, some apparently still living in the houses they grew up in.

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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

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