Dupont Darling » Spotted around the Circle

Fancy (Snow) Pants

Dupont Darling — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:16:16 +0000

I saw some nice snowmen around Dupont over the weekend, but this one had the best accessories by far. Outside Jack’s on 17th Street.

Tree Believers

Dupont Darling — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:41:43 +0000

Well I understood where the elephant protesters were coming from, but this may be taking things a little too far. This tree is on P St. between 17th and 18th, and even though I walk by the spot regularly I can’t say I’ve noticed an abundance of things nailed or pinned to the tree. The second item I would note is that this sign, protesting pins in trees, was itself pinned to the tree. Am I missing something?

Nice tree drawing in any case. It reminds me of the scary trees in the Wizard of Oz that throw apples at Dorothy. ”She’s stealing our apples!” I suppose this tree is supposed to be sad though, not mean.

Sad Circus

Dupont Darling — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:02:46 +0000

This elephant protesting the circus went up recently outside the Dupont south metro exit. If you can’t read it in the photo, the sign says: “The circus is coming. See shackles, bullhooks, loneliness. All under the bigtop.” The Ringling Brothers are headed to DC in March.

Lost and Found

Dupont Darling — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:29:41 +0000

I always find it sweet when people come across a lost item on the street and place it on a fence post or gate in case the owner comes back searching for it. As if the finder anticipates the sinking feeling the owner will get when he or she realizes the item is gone and takes care to preserve it until the owner returns. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

23rd and O St:

19th and R St.:
Marrakesh Palace door, 22nd and P St. Possibly left at the restaurant?:

Make Way for Ducklings

Dupont Darling — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:40:09 +0000

Front yard on S St. between 15th and 16th.

Georgetown/Dupont Retail Swap

Dupont Darling — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:16:56 +0000

Claude Taylor Photography, on Connecticut just north of Dupont Circle, recently opened a Georgetown location. Here’s the new store, on Wisconsin just south of P:

Dupont, on the other hand, is home to a second location for Georgetown antiques store Marston Luce. I don’t think this is new, but I have to admit I’ve never seen it before. It is located at 21st and Newport; open Monday through Friday by appointment only and Saturday 11-5. The two or three blocks surrounding the store are all residences, so I was surprised to find it there:

Here is the Georgetown location, on Wisconsin between Q and Reservoir:

Everything’s Trendy at Urbana

Dupont Darling — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:20 +0000

Even the “wet floor” signs. This picture is from Sunday, when it rained all afternoon. The front patio, which faces P St. and is down a few stairs, looked like it had accumulated nearly an inch of water. But what is that guy supposed to be squeezing? A water bottle? A sponge? At first I wondered why more places don’t have fun “wet floor” signs, but I’m pretty sure that the more you deviate from the standard sign the more likely it is that someone can sue you if they fall. Urbana, throwing caution to the wind.

Update: Wow, I was way off on this one. As a commenter notes, it’s a ballet dancer stretching and holding her pointe shoe! It definitely looked to me like someone squirting something. Still a fun sign, probably more so than I originally thought.

A Very Dupont Halloween

Dupont Darling — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:20:05 +0000

Well Dupont, at first I thought Georgetown owned us at decorating for Halloween. I was there last weekend and there were some amazing decorations. I hadn’t seen anything besides tasteful pumpkins-on-steps displays around here. But maybe we are just late bloomers, because over the past week I’ve noticed more creative efforts.

This creeper is on 21st between Q and R:

The faux rat on the ledge (right side of the door) scared the bejesus out of me at first glance. This would be spookier if the ghoul on the left were still upright:

While not spooky, these pumpkins win creativity points:

Still, I’m woman enough to admit that Georgetown wins this battle. But Dupont has a lot more apartment buildings and a lot less kids, so I guess that makes sense. See pictures of some over-the-top Georgetown displays after the jump.

Tenders of My Favorite Dupont Circle Garden Revealed: Steve and Phil!

Dupont Darling — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:22 +0000

Mystery solved! Someone has finally taken credit for the wild and beautiful garden east of the Circle at the triangle between Dupont Circle, P St. and Massachusetts Ave. I love this garden! I have wondered for months who maintains it. The plant choices are in such good taste and the garden is so well tended that I suspected it was a private citizen (or two, in this case). Thanks, Steve and Phil!

Here is the garden in August, in all its summer glory:

Gandhi Got a Garland

Dupont Darling — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:11:06 +0000