Clearly we need to have more happy hours in Prince George’s
It’s been six years since we had a happy hour in Prince George’s County. Tuesday night, we came back with County Executive Rushern Baker and had such a huge turnout we couldn’t fit on the sidewalk.
If you weren’t in Mount Rainier Tuesday night, you missed out. All photos and videos by the author unless otherwise noted.
Since we started organizing happy hours seven years ago, we’ve picked bars and restaurants to visit based on one rule: it should be near a Metro station, so everyone can get there without a car.
We’ve had no trouble finding places in DC, Montgomery County, and Northern Virginia, where bars and restaurants cluster around Metro stations. But I’ve struggled to find venues in Prince George’s County, which has lagged the rest of the region in building around Metro, though that’s starting to change under County Executive Rushern Baker.
Rushern Baker greets the crowd.
With help from Baker’s staff, who promoted the event, and GGWash contributor/Mount Rainier councilmember Tracy Loh, we found Bird Kitchen + Cocktails and agreed to bend the Metro station rule. And we got our highest turnout ever.
Photo by David Alpert.
Nearly 100 people showed up Tuesday night from across DC, Maryland, and Virginia, forming a crowd that spilled out of the tiny restaurant onto the sidewalk and into the street. Little traffic jams formed on Rhode Island Avenue as passing drivers tried to figure out what was going on.
Happy hours as traffic calming.
You bet we’ll be back to Prince George’s County. Thanks to Rushern Baker for speaking, to Tracy Loh for organizing, Bird Kitchen for handling a huge crowd with grace, and to everybody who came out!