Hess Gas Station in Bloomingdale Shaw LeDroit Park

View of Hess gas station from bus stop on RI Ave NW

I really don't know why I like the Hess gas station so much that is at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and New Jersey Avenue (and near Florida Avenue) in NW as much as I do. Maybe it's because of the great location, maybe it's because gas is always less per gallon than the other nearby gas stations, maybe because it's easy to drive into and usually there's an available pump, maybe because there's a Dunkin Donuts "alliance" store there and they have great coffee, or maybe because they have car vacuum cleaners and an air pump that works. I asked a friend whether he liked it and said no, he didn't and the reason was that he always had to wait to pay for gas as the cashier was taken up with people buying just one soda or a pack of cigarettes or lottery tickets.  He just wants to get gas, pay for it, and go. I think I'll start a poll on this one and see what comes up. How do you like your neighborhood gas station?

Chinese Dragon In the Neighborhood

Apparently the owner of the Chinese Dragon take-away food store on the corner of Rhode Island and First Street in our neighborhood got some money from the city government's facade improvement program (that is, from us taxpayers) to improve his store front. Previously, this was just block letters and there was not a little dragon logo over the store windows. I think the front wall was also repainted yellow and the windows have also been washed too so the whole effect is to make this place look a lot smarter. You would never know it but this food establishment was the scene of some drug related shootings back when we had a serious crack cocaine problem in the 'hood. I think someone was even killed right in front of this place, shot to death on the sidewalk. Back then, this corner was a thriving drug market, thanks to the Washington Post for putting the corner on a map of drug dealing locations they routinely printed (to help suburbanites find inner city drug markets).  Today, however, the neighboring store is a more up-market grocery and wine store than what used to be there -- a liquor store -- and the Chinese Dragon has also gotten fixed up.  I've never bought anything to eat from here as I don't "eat on the street" nor have I thought to go in and see what that's there but maybe I should try it.  Does a cleaned up facade mean the food might be more appealing? Some people think so as two people have given positive reviews of this Chinese Dragon here on Yelp.