Apartment Showcase Blog

With a little help from my friends: Hey! Those guys look just like The Bea – Well, almost like The Beatles. I mean, if you squint a bit. OK, they sound like The Beatles. That's what's important. (schipulites via Flickr)

Not everyone is a fan of The Beatles, but nearly every person in the English-speaking world over the age of 10 has heard of them. And while there are four ’60s groups I like better, I certainly appreciate the Beatles’ genius, as much (or more) for their influence than the band’s actual canon.

But who am I kidding? It doesn’t get much better than “Hey Jude.”

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Don’t Pass Me By” and “The Ballad of John and Yoko” are nothing to sneeze at, either. “Helter Skelter,” “Get Back,” the B-side version of “Revolution.”

OK, I’ll stop.

That short list is why the good folks at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center have made it their duty to let us never forget the Fab Four. (OK, that’s silly. No one’s going to forget about the Beatles no matter what National Harbor, me, or any of you ever do concerning these erstwhile mop-tops.)

[ Related: National Harbor: Top-Notch Amenities on the Shores of the Potomac ]

Abbey Road on the River is billed as the “largest Beatles-inspired music festival” in the world. How lucky can the Washington, D.C., metro area renter get? You get the Capitol, the National Gallery of Art, La Lomita Dos and now this.

The festival has been going on since 2002, and it’s bifurcated (at least now) in both time and venue, with the first portion already having taken place in Louisville, Ky., on Memorial Day weekend.

The current leg of the tour runs through September 5. You can still get there tonight and stay till 2:00 a.m. On Saturday and Sunday, they’ll welcome you from noon until 2 a.m., and on Labor Day itself, the festival runs from noon to 6 p.m.

The festival’s mission statement:

“Because John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr made the world a happier place, we promise to extend their vision by creating a welcoming and carefree environment for their fans to come together with friends and family to experience their gift of music, written and performed with peace, love, and non-violence at its heart.”

There are a bevy of acts appearing at Abbey Road on the River, including Beatles cover bands and Beatles inspired-groups that will surely put you in a Liverpudlian state of mind.

Tickets for the event vary wildly in price, but if you only want to spend a few hours, they appear to be reasonable.

So, come out for the 10th annual Abbey Road on the River festival.

Lady in the water: If you work in Alexandria, you may want to take advantage of National Harbor's water taxi, dubbed Lady Josephine, which ferries commuters across the river to Old Town each morning. (cliff1066 via Flickr)

When you hear the name National Harbor, what comes to mind? Mountain peaks? The desert? Arboreal creatures? Of course not. Water. You think of water and boats. You also likely think of Washington, D.C.

OK, I know. Right now, you’re thinking, “This guy has run out of things to say, let alone write about.”

Don’t be so smug, I’m just having a little fun. Ever hear of it? (As I write this, Cyndi Lauper is in my ear telling me that “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” No lie. Not sure if that influenced the preceding line, or I conjured it up by some sort of serendipitous paranormal activity, but I digress.)

Despite its name, the mammoth, mixed-use National Harbor conglomeration isn’t actually in the capital but right outside it on the mighty Potomac in Prince George’s County, Md. The National Harbor website has some pretty strong words, stating “National Harbor Marina is the premier marina in the Chesapeake Bay region. Featuring all the amenities of a waterfront resort in addition to the facilities and professional staff, National Harbor Marina focuses on providing only the highest quality of service for our clients.”

Wow. They’ve really thrown down the gauntlet. Whenever you claim to be the “premier marina” in an area as nautical-friendly and aquatically renowned as the Chesapeake Bay, you better be bringing the heat, or in this case, the salt water. Let’s do a little investigating, shall we?

[ Related: New Apartment Complex Set to Dock at National Harbor ]

For boat people, renters or otherwise, among the amenities at the marina are floating docks with 48- to 60-foot slips and full-length piers; floating dockage for transient boaters; electrical hook-ups for 30-, 50- and 100-amp service; cable television; free wireless Internet access; free private showers and free laundry facilities. Annual slipholders even have pool and fitness privileges at Aloft Hotel.

OK, Skipper, why don’t you go get Gilligan, Mary Ann and the Professor so we can get started? I hear ya. You’re a landed beast and not necessarily ready to hop aboard the S.S. Minnow.

Well, here are some perks of living at National Harbor for those of you who just want a little, as opposed to a lot, of water fun. How about sailboat, canoe or kayak rentals from Calleva? (You can rent bikes from them as well, in case you wanted to make like Johnny Knoxville and the boys and ride off the pier. Not sure how the folks at National Harbor would feel about that kinda stunt.) You can also rent electric boats from Duffy.

Hankering for something a little grander when it comes to your boating excursions? Well, National Harbor offers not one, not two, but three cruises that let you see the sites from the Potomac. You can either view the capital’s treasures or historic Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. Just think how fun it would be to go on a fancy-schmancy Odyssey Cruise.

There is also the Alexandria-National Harbor Water Taxi for those who want to commute to Old Town Alexandria for work every day. In addition, those of you who can still stomach the Washington Nationals will be thrilled to know that for $25 bucks you can take the Nationals Park Water Taxi to select home games. There is also water taxi service to Mt. Vernon and Georgetown. Finally, the National Harbor Marina gives one several ways to charter a yacht for yourself, including, if you’ve got the money, this replica of a 19th-century riverboat.

Heck, you can even hold special events or get married here.

So, maybe National Harbor’s boast of having the premier marina in the Chesapeake Bay region holds some weight after all? Why don’t you take a drive here and find out for yourself. Then, when the apartments are ready in a few years, move in.

From the ground up: "The Awakening," a 100-foot sculpture of a struggling figure embedded in the sand along the Potomac, adds an artistic touch to National Harbor. (IntangibleArts via Flickr)

Wow. I have to be completely honest.

When I started writing for this blog, I thought I knew about most of the big development/planned communities in the area. Turns out I have a lot to learn. Case in point is National Harbor, a pristine, new, mixed-use facility on the banks of the Potomac in Prince George’s County near Oxon Hill.

[ Related: Oxon Hill: Easy Access to Beltway Makes Life Easy for Commuters ]

Currently in phase one of development, according to its souped-up website, National Harbor is “the premiere lifestyle destination in the D.C. Metro Area. Built on a scale rarely seen, it is an exciting, sprawling community that includes fine restaurants, unparalleled shopping, stunning office space and lavish residences.”

Yes, these are grand, sweeping statements seldom seen on the ApartmentShowcase.com blog, you’re thinking. But maybe they’re telling the truth at National Harbor?

Once completed, this monolith will feature 7.3 million square feet of developed land, and it’ll include 1 million square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space, 500,000 square feet of class “A” office space (with 10,000 on-site parking spaces), 4,000 hotel rooms, three piers, a marina, and best of all for those reading this epistle: 2,500 residential units.

[ Related: New Apartment Complex Set to Dock at National Harbor ]

That’s right, potential apartment renter, this could be all yours in the future. Not to be a total killjoy, but you’ll have to wait until late 2013/2014 to move in. But you know how quickly time flies these days: It’ll be here before you know it.

A great advantage of living in National Harbor will be, of course, location.

As a resident on the shores of the Potomac River, you’ll literally be staring at the I-495 Capital Beltway/I-95 and I-295, which runs straight into Washington, D.C. Plus, you can take advantage of the daily Alexandria-National Harbor Water Taxi. So yeah, that’s a pretty easy commute. If you’re lucky enough, you might even work here, as DDC Advocacy and TAC Companies, LLC, already call National Harbor home, with more companies to come.

But the $64,000 question is, with six restaurants now open at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center – including Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine, Old Hickory Steakhouse Restaurant and Pienza Italian Market Restaurant, stores like South Moon Bay, Simply Soles and Jos. A. Bank, and features such as Custom Fitness Concepts, Relâche Spa, Fitness Center and Pool and the National Harbor Marina (where there are plenty of maritime things to do) – why would anyone want to leave?