Apartment Showcase Blog

Garden of eatin': Flower Mart attendees line up for food in this image from the 2008 festival. (All Hallows Guild)

The Washington National Cathedral, located near the Tenleytown neighborhood in Northwest, is a beautiful architectural feat that was 83 years in the making. In keeping with that tradition, it’s nice to see the church respect the beauty of Mother Nature in the form of its Flower Mart festival.

The event takes place on Friday, May 6 (from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Saturday, May 7 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

[ Related: Tenleytown: Plenty to See, Even More to Do in This Northwest Neighborhood ]

This annual spring festival has been sponsored by the Cathedral’s All Hallows Guild since 1939. A free event that takes place rain or shine, the Flower Mart features plant sales, boutique booths, floral and horticulture displays, food, music and entertainment, and fun stuff for kids, like rides on an antique carousel.

Flower Mart performers include musicians Elizabeth and Tom Liponside, and a capella group Capital Blend. You can check out a more comprehensive list of entertainers on the Guild’s website.

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On nice days, the Flower Mart attracts 10,000 people and is regularly covered in the media, with local TV celebrities and weathermen broadcasting from the fecund extravaganza. The proceeds from sales benefit the Cathedral’s gardens and grounds. Each year, the Flower Mart honors an embassy, and this year’s honoree will be the Republic of Austria.

While renters in Tenleytown may find it easier to walk or drive, shuttle buses will run from the Tenleytown-AU Metro station for those coming from points beyond.

Palace in the park: A view from Nebraska Avenue of Fort Reno Park in Tenleytown. The castle-like structure in the background is part of the Fort Reno Pumping Station. (Google)

I’m assuming that most renters in Washington, D.C., at the very least appreciate the great outdoors or the chance to get a little slice of green heaven after being cooped up in an office all day. Luckily for such office dwellers, a move to Tenleytown in Northwest will help alleviate the cubical misery blues by way of Fort Reno – formerly the home of a military fort and now a park.

[ Related: Tenleytown: Plenty to See, Even More to Do in This Northwest Neighborhood ]

Fort Reno has been around quite awhile – since the United States Civil War in fact, and today it’s administered by the National Park Service. At 409 feet above sea level (the highest natural point in the capital), views of this part of the city don’t get any better.

Originally named Fort Pennsylvania, Fort Reno was built in the winter of 1861. In 1863, Fort Reno received its current name in honor of Maj. General Jesse Lee Reno, who was mortally wounded on Sept. 14, 1862, at the Battle of South Mountain. Though it started off quite small, Fort Reno was to become the largest fort defending the capital during the war. It’s open to the public every day except New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, from dawn to dusk.

These days, if you mention Fort Reno to most Washingtonians (especially the younger set), instead of cannonballs and advancing Confederate soldiers, you’re more likely to hear them talk about guitars, singers and the homegrown rock ’n’ roll of the Fort Reno – DC Summer Concert Series.

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Once a monument to war, Fort Reno now lives (in the summer months, anyway) to entertain patrons with an ear for punk-tinged rock. Hundreds of area bands have played Fort Reno since its inception in 1967, and these days shows usually run twice a week from mid-June until mid-August. The shows are all-ages and straightedge (Amanda MacKaye – sister of Fugazi’s Ian – organizes it these days for crying out loud!), so non-drinkers can feel right at home listening to angular, snarky guitar pop.

Bands like the aforementioned Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Q And Not U, Velocity Girl and the Dismemberment Plan have all played the concert series.

So, whether you’re a Civil War history buff, an indie rock enthusiast, or someone who likes their parks at a high elevation, Fort Reno, in both its guises, is another reason to make the bustling community of Tenleytown your new home.

Art sail: AU's curvaceous Katzen Arts Center hosts a variety of events throughout the year and apparently even provides parking for visitors' boats. How convenient! (Google)

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Northwest, Washington, D.C., and I can tell you it’s a busy, eclectic neighborhood. It boasts its own WMATA Metrorail stop on the Red Line – Tenleytown-AU – and plenty of everyday retail options to make it cozy enough for the renter.

One thing I should mention is that Tenleytown sits on top of a hill, literally. For all you people out there who are out of shape, getting to walk around this neighborhood is an unexpected perk of living here. If you make your life as walkable as possible (and thanks to the Metro, you can), you’ll see those pounds come off as you strengthen that heart of yours. I know that sounds a bit daft, but come up here sometime and you’ll see what I mean. Trust me. Tenleytown is one of a handful of Metrorail stops in the city where you can take those tootsies and walk right on into Maryland.

The Tenleytown Historical Society claims the town is “Washington, D.C.’s second oldest village.” The village takes its name after John Tennally and his Tennally’s Tavern, which was around in the 18th century.

Taking a gander at their site shows a bevy of historic places listed in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites. This gives the apartment renter in Tenleytown a greater sense of history and community, and if they’re up to it, some historic sites to visit.

Of course, the most famous historic site in Tenleytown is Fort Reno, which played a part in the Civil War. Funny thing is, now a park, Fort Reno has literally done a 180 – at least during the summer months of the year – where it’s host to nonviolent, socially responsible indie rock enthusiasts.

So if you’re lucky enough to end up in this part of the city, you’ll get to spend some quality time with some thrift-store, middle-class punk-lites who drive Volvos, eat organic food, and generally love animals and advocate equality for all creatures … except those poor unenlightened souls who disagree with any part of their outlook on life! Yeah, yeah, stick it; it’s my blog (sorta), and I can skewer anyone I want … well, certain approved targets. OK, I’ll shut up before I get into some real trouble. But do come out to the Fort Reno – DC Summer Concert Series. Politics, shmolitics. Rock music is part of what I live for.

In addition to historic sites and summertime rockfests, Tenleytown also offers up American University. Culturally savvy renters may want to check out what’s going on there from time to time, as both the Katzen Arts Center and Greenberg Theatre offer patrons, both local and metro-wide, a full plate of plays, dance and film. The former, itself a 130,000-square-foot monolith to the arts, hosts the American University Museum at the Katzen, which, according to a source no less than the AU Museum itself, is “creating its own niche in the DC arts scene.” And why, friend, would the good, arty people at American University have an occasion to lie to you, the public consumer of art? Ah ha, I didn’t think so. Go check’em out and see all about this niche thing.

I think I’ve covered enough ground here to let you know why moving to Tenleytown would be a good choice in 2011. But I had to throw in the fact that it has all types of restaurants (Thai, Mexican, Indian, Sushi, Chinese and a colorful seafood place called The Dancing Crab), one of only two Best Buy locations in the District, and the avatar of all things fresh, organic and sustainable: Whole Foods Market. I’ve been in there, and they gave me free samples of cheese, I believe it was. Who doesn’t like cheese, particularly fromage that’s free of recombinant bovine growth hormone?