New Local Tourist Attraction

My wife's desire to bake led me to the 7-11 on Kenilworth Avenue in Bladensburg recently. I had heard about the promotional change to make this location look like a Kwik-E-Mart from the Simpsons. When I got there it seemed to be working well for the 7-11 atleast.

My first sight when I drove into the parking lot was somebody who was probably a local, taking a picture of a father and son sporting the uniform of the tourist, "I love DC" T-shirts. They made sure they were smiling as they cozied up to Marge and her bag of groceries. Now maybe they were in the area for other reasons, but it seemed to me like they had made a detour from the usual DC attractions to see the Kwik-E-Mart. It was funny to me that an ordinary 7-11 in a not very touristy part of the the DC area was drawing in people just to see the sight.

Inside there was a busier than normal line. While there appeared to be the local blue collar workers picking up coffee, doughnuts, and the other essentials for the work day, there were also several people who only had the promotional items such as Buzz Cola or Krusty-O's. It seems the draw of the Kwik-E-Mart is great. I would have taken pictures of the store to share, but I wouldn't want to look like a tourist or a crazy Simpson's fanatic.

Northeast Branch Pictures

One of the reasons I enjoy living in Riverdale is having the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River running right through the town. It certainly isn't the most impressive body of water, but it does offer a small break from the roads, homes, and general confusion of our society. With the trail system that runs along the river, it provides a quick dose of outdoor recreation that would otherwise be hard to fit in with my life. Sunday I was able to put together an hour long walk down the trail through Edmonston and into Bladensburg.
The picture above was taken in Bladensburg where the Northeast Branch Trail ends, and the Anacostia River trail begins. It looked like a pair of ducks in the distance and a heron of some sort in the foreground.

To the left is a lone duck that was ducking its head under water. This shot was also taken in Bladensburg.

The picture below is a bird I spotted along a drainage ditch next to the Northeast Branch Trail in Riverdale. I believe the bird in the photo is a Black Crowned Night Heron. I'm an amateur at bird spotting, so I could be off. But it looks similar to a description I saw of a juvenile of that species.



While looking for information about the Anacostia River, I came across a website for Friends of Sligo Creek. On one of their pages they also mentioned a website for Neighbors of the Northwest Branch. I couldn't find anything online about any groups dedicated to the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia. I would love to hear from anybody who knows anything about any such group.
http://www.fosc.org/fosc.htm
http://www.neighborsnwb.org/