Woman's Club of Chevy Chase Community Art Show and Sale goes virtual for 2021

The annual Woman's Club of Chevy Chase Community Art Show and Sale starts tonight, April 9, 2021 at 7:00 PM. But this year, the sale will be virtual, and run through Sunday, May 16, 2021. This 45th annual show will feature over 300 works of art for sale by 100 artists. To virtually "attend" the show, go to the WCCC website starting at 7:00 tonight.

New median at Wisconsin and Chase Avenues in Bethesda

Drivers on Wisconsin Avenue encountered lane closures near Chase Avenue during the evening rush hour Thursday night. A road crew was busy constructing a new median island at the intersection, which is right by a Chase Bank and the new 8001 Woodmont development. 

Capital Crescent Trail sign will count cyclists as they ride past

Montgomery Parks has just installed a new digital sign that will count and display the number of cyclists using the Capital Crescent Trail that day. It is located at the trail plaza on Bethesda Avenue by Ourisman Honda. On Thursday, it was partially covered with trash bags.

One other piece of important CCT news this morning: Montgomery County will cut down six trees along the trail next to the Washington Episcopal School. The deforestation will begin on Monday, April 19, 2021, and is expected to take two to three days to complete. Watch for temporary trail closures during that time.

Winter tents removed from Bethesda Streetery

The tents that had been erected for wintertime dining on the closed blocks of the Bethesda Streetery were removed Wednesday. Diners are back to using tables and chairs on the pavement to eat their carryout meals. Temperatures are expected to drop a bit in the coming days, however.

Signage installed at Pho Viet USA in Bethesda + menu (Photos)

Permanent signage was installed on the facade of Pho Viet USA, the new Vietnamese restaurant at 4917 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda, yesterday. I also have a picture of the menu below:

3 cars stolen in Bethesda

Three cars were reported stolen north of downtown Bethesda yesterday. Two were taken from driveways in the 9200 block of E. Parkhill Drive, and a third from the driveway of a home in the 5400 block of Alta Vista Road, according to crime data.

SPX 2021 Expo still in limbo

A poster from SPX 2013

SPX 2021, the Small Press Expo scheduled to take place in September at its usual North Bethesda venue, remains in limbo due to the ongoing pandemic. Expo organizers say they are in discussions with Montgomery County government as to the viability of holding such a gathering in the county in September this year. They are also have early discussions with the Marriott Bethesda North hotel about what the cost would be if the expo needs to be canceled. 

If it is canceled, SPX 2021 will again be a virtual event online as it was in 2020. Organizers say a decision will have to be made by the end of the month. SPX is a non-profit organization that promotes the visibility and success of the independent comic book industry. 

Pho Viet USA coming to Bethesda

Pho Viet USA is expanding to downtown Bethesda. The local Vietnamese restaurant chain will open its latest location soon at 4917 Cordell Avenue in the Woodmont Triangle neighborhood. That building was until recently home to Faryab Afghan Cuisine. Pho Viet USA has three restaurants in the District, and one in Baltimore. 

When Fritos were made in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

The Bethesda Avenue corridor along Bethesda Row has some of the most expensive real estate in the region. It's hard to imagine it was once an industrial area with a freight railroad running through the middle of it. One of the most famous tenants of that industrial era was a local Frito franchisee called the Capitol Frito Company, located at 4860 Bethesda Avenue. The Apple Store stands on that spot today.

Capitol Frito Company was only the second franchisee outside of Texas allowed to manufacture and distribute Fritos and other chip products of the Dallas-based Frito Company. Can you guess who was the first franchisee? A little enterprise called H.W. Lay & Company, which later merged into the giant Frito-Lay company we know today.

Capitol Frito would have been making Fritos, Cheetos and Ruffles chips, all brands we still have today. But one of the newspaper ads shown here from December 1953 shows a new snack launching called Jupiter Potato Chips.

You could even write to Capitol Frito Company to get a free recipe booklet. It included delightful meals like the one you can still make today from the 1949 newspaper ad shown here, Baked Eggs with Fritos. Don't forget that Fritos are "delicious with creamed dishes." And remain "the perfect beverage companion."

Bethesda La Madeleine contents to be auctioned off next month

Are you a diehard La Madeleine fan, or a restaurateur in search of equipment at a discount price? You may be in luck either way. The contents of the shuttered La Madeleine in downtown Bethesda will be auctioned off next month, on May 6, 2021, according to the online auction announcement.

Yuki Pearls returns to Bethesda Row

Yuki Pearls is returning to Bethesda Row. The modern-design pearl boutique is located at 4808 Bethesda Avenue, between Framebridge and Follain. It opens today.

Terrapin Bicycles opens Bethesda pop-up ahead of permanent store

Terrapin Bicycles is coming soon to 4933 Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. But as the weather gets warmer, it is first opening a pop-up shop in the vacant bank space at the corner of Norfolk and Cordell Avenues, in the Woodmont Triangle neighborhood. 

This will be great marketing as people begin dining outdoors again; the pop-up is right across from some of the top restaurants in downtown Bethesda. Terrapin also offers home delivery and curbside pickup, and is hiring staff for the new store now.

Oishii Ramen Cafe coming to Bethesda

There's a new tenant coming to the old Bold Bite space at 4901-B Fairmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Oishii Ramen Cafe has just leased it. The permanent sign was installed Saturday.

Kenwood Cherry Blossoms 2021 (Photos)

It's increasingly becoming one of the worst-kept secrets in the Washington, D.C. area, but you don't have to go down to the Tidal Basin to see cherry blossoms. Kenwood in Chevy Chase has its own spectacular cherry blossom display every spring. Here's a look at this year's peak bloom:

Bangkok Garden to resume indoor dining next week in Bethesda

Indoor dining has been allowed for some time now in Montgomery County, but some restaurants are still easing back toward normal operations. Bangkok Garden at 4906 St. Elmo Avenue has been offering takeout and delivery service up until now. But indoor dining will return at the popular Thai restaurant this coming Thursday, April 8, 2021.

April Fool's snow falls on Bethesda (Video)

Snow is not an impossibility in April, but it took most people by surprise when snowflakes began falling in Bethesda and other parts of the D.C. region yesterday. While it may have seemed that Mother Nature decided to get in on the April Fool's Day pranks for 2021, there was the famous April Fool's Day blizzard of 1997 in the Northeast, and a more recent April 2019 blizzard in the Great Plains and Midwestern areas of the United States. Here are some scenes of a much-less-intimidating snowfall last night on Cordell Avenue:

Saints Valley closes at Bethesda Row

Saints Valley has closed at Bethesda Row. The pop-up shop on Bethesda Avenue opened last November. Saints Valley has been a holiday-season operation in Bethesda and Rockville the last two years, but continued on a few extra months through the winter here this time. 

Pedestrian promenade at 8001 Woodmont update (Video+Photos)

Here's a look at the latest progress on the pedestrian cut-through at JBG Smith's 8001 Woodmont development at 7900 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. You might one day use this to reach the property's anchor retail tenant, Trader Joe's, to buy groceries. Or you might simply use it as a short cut between Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues. While passing under the building, you will probably notice the funhouse-mirrored surface of the ceiling above you.

Sign installed at new Bethesda Starbucks

Starbucks just made it official. As I first reported in February, a new Starbucks is opening at 7200 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Yesterday, the permanent sign was installed over the storefront. There is an existing Starbucks across Bethesda Avenue from this location, but that property is going to be redeveloped in the future.