Coming soon, More Beer and Wine.

I just noticed that the little brick building (that looks like a house) on the corner of Fenwick Ln and 1st Ave in Silver Spring, MD is soon to be a new beer and wine store. There is a big banner on the wheelchair ramp that says "Coming Soon, Fenwick Beer and Wine, Coming Soon"

Update Jan 7: It is now open.

T-Rex wishes you a Happy Holiday

I was at the Discovery Channel building here in Silver Spring, MD the other day and noticed that our friend the T-Rex (does he have a name? I'll have to check) was decked out for Christmas. He has a nice evergreen holiday wreath around his neck with a gold bow.

The old and the New

Much of Silver Spring, MD is being re-developed, but a lot hasn't been (yet?). This gives us ample opportunity to juxtapose old Silver Spring with new Silver Spring. In the foreground we have trees growing over an old corrugated metal roof, in the background are modern highrise buildings.

A Silver Spring Welcome

Welcome to Silver Spring, MD. These vaguely fountain like sculptures guard the various entrances to Silver Spring. This one is right on the DC border next to Jessup Blair Park. (photo taken by G. Edward Johnson on September 29, 2009).

Traffic and Lane control

Oh Traffic, we love you so. I've never really realized how many of the lane control red X's there are. I took this in the morning rush hour looking northbound on Georgia Avenue (MD-97) so the reversible lanes are going in the opposite direction. This little bit of Silver Spring, MD looks a bit more New Jersey than the rest of the area.

Some time ago FedexKinkos changed it's name to FedexOffice, dropping the Kinkos from its name. The signs on the stores have been slow to be updated though. On Wednesday I was driving past the one on East-West Highway near Colesville Rd and saw them taking the old sign down. On Thursday the new sign was up, a white and blue FedEx Office (or as the put it FedExOffice but I find that hard to read without the colors

Cameron House construction

Cameron House is an apartment building under construction on Cameron Street, just east of Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD. When completed it will have 325 apartments and pretty small 7,330 square feet of retail in it.

This picture was taken on August 10th, you can see that the exterior is mostly completed. There is other construction in the area and the road in front of it is closed and has been for a while.

Shark Week August 2-8

Only tangentially related to Silver Spring, MD (because Discovery Channel is headquartered there) but I found this ad for the upcoming Shark Week amusing. I never would have thought of comparing elevator buttons to shark's teeth, I guess that is why I am not in advertising.

Watch this space

This is the future home of the downtown Silver Spring, MD library. Not much to look at now, but this unassuming corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street will one day house a multi-story library. They still haven't decided if there will be a skywalk over Wayne Ave to the garage across the street. This photo was taken on July 7, 2009.

Silver Spring Civic Center construction

Construction of the civic center in downtown Silver Spring, MD is proceeding, a lot of the steel girders are now up. It is on the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street. (photo taken by G. Edward Johnson on July 7, 2009).

Be careful about parking here

This small surface parking lot on Silver Spring Avenue in Silver Spring, MD has no fewer than four signs on the same post telling you about parking restrictions. I actually really like the older, rustier, embossed signs.

The historic Silver Spring B & O railroad station

A few weeks ago I went to an event at the Silver Spring B and O railroad station, right where the railroad tracks cross over Georgia Avenue in Downtown Silver Spring, MD. Apparently you can rent it for your own events, though I don't exactly know how.

It was built in the mid 1940s and has been restored to look exactly like it did when they were using it. The Silver Spring Historical Society did a great job with the restoration. The lockers are there (the large ones take two dimes) and the phone is an old-style rotary payphone that has separate slots for different coins (I didn't check to see if the phone works).

They occasionally have tours, the next one is July 4th 2009 from 10am to 3pm. You really should go if you have the time.

More information:

• Pictures of the restoration
• Historical Trust description
• A photo of the exterior