Sam and Erika Get Married April 8, 2012!

Here is all the information you need to know! We'll update these pages as we get more information!

Guest Information
Ceremony and Reception
Things to do in DC!
Registry

Registry

All of you have given us such a gift through your many years of love and support. While your being a part of this meaningful day is the most important thing to us, we have selected a few gift options that make us smile. 

Our address is:

2701 4th St. NE

Apt. 402

Washington, DC 20002

We are registered at:

Both Erika and Sam feel strongly about the following nonprofit organizations and would be honored if you helped to support their essential work. Please make all contributions in honor of Erika Barry and Sam Edelstein so we can properly thank you!

In late 2008, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region launched the Neighbors in Need Fund to help critical safety net organizations (like the one Erika used to lead) provide the basics—food, clothing, and shelter to thousands of families and individuals across the Washington, DC region.

Upstate New York, and the community that Erika's grandparents chose to retire in, is a place that we find both restorative and beautiful - plus it is one of Marley's favorite places! And Syracuse is close by, too! Protect the Adirondacks!, Inc (PROTECT) is a grassroots, membership organization dedicated to the protection, stewardship and sustainability of the natural environment and human communities of the Adirondack Park and the New York State Forest Preserve for current and future generations. 

We are excited to formally celebrate and recognize our love for one another and hope that someday everyone will have the same opportunity, as well as the many civil rights critical to daily life. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of  lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. 

Things to do in DC!

The wedding is in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival which honors the donation of cherry blossom trees from the Japanese to the United States. This year is the 100th anniversary of that donation. For information about events taking place around the weekend of our wedding, click here.

The organization Sam works for, Cultural Tourism DC, has a huge amount of information about events, history, and culture in Washington, DC. Visit the website or sign up for the Weekly Events Update (which Sam is responsible for creating each week) to get information about what will be happening that weekend.

Part of Cultural Tourism DC's work is to detail history of DC's neighborhoods. You can find information about all 12 of the trails here. Access the U Street and Downtown Heritage Trails from your mobile phone at http://dc.toursphere.com. The African American Heritage Trail is spread throughout the city, and information about those sites can be found here.

For those looking to see all the monuments and memorials, click here for a great interactive map created by the National Capital Planning Commission.

For those that are mobile-inclined, download the SCVNGR app for both Android and iPhone and head toward the National Mall. There you will find scavenger hunts created by the Smithsonian and the National Archives.

The official spring Visitor's Guide for Washington, DC in the spring has also been released. You can request or download a copy, and we'll try to have some extras for when you arrive!

Guest Information

Hotel Accommodations:The Churchill Hotel - 1914 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008

We have booked a block of 20 rooms for Friday night and 30 rooms for Saturday and Sunday nights. 

Call the hotel (800-424-2464) to make a reservation and mention that you are with the Barry-Edelstein wedding to get the discount. There are several different price levels for rooms:

• King $109.00
• Jr. Suite Double $139.00
• Jr. Suite King $149.00
• Deluxe Suite $229.00

IMPORTANT! These rooms must be booked 6 weeks prior to the wedding - by February 24, 2012! If you do not book by then, you will miss out on the group deal and there is no guarantee that rooms will still be available at the regular price!

Airports:
You can fly into any of the three airports near Washington, DC:

• Reagan National Airport is closest to the hotel, and easiest to commute using the Metro
• Baltimore-Washington International Airport may have the cheapest flights
• Dulles International Airport is the most difficult to access DC from, but might have the most flights

Click here for information on transportation into DC from each airport.

Ceremony and Reception

Date: April 8, 2012
Time: Afternoon
Location: Woodend Sanctuary - 8940 Jones Mill Rd., Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Click here for directions to the Woodend Sanctuary

More location information:

View Sam and Erika Wedding - 4/8/2012 in a larger map

Additional Information
A bus will be provided to and from the Churchill Hotel to the Woodend Sanctuary.

Attire:

Marley Howls!

Marley does the funniest thing when a fire truck passes by with its siren on. She howls! Here's a video (sorry it is sideways):

Earthquake!

As I'm sure you have heard (or felt), most of the East coast experienced an earthquake yesterday. Its epicenter was about two hours away from DC, so we were close!

I've never been in an earthquake before, and certainly it is not the first natural event I'd expect in DC, so when it started I was really confused. In our apartment, when a big truck drives by on the road, we can feel the building shake a bit. So when the earthquake started, I thought nothing of it. After a couple seconds, though, I got concerned. As it got more violent, Marley was clearly unhappy and ran into the corner. A couple things fell off the shelves, but not too much damage occurred (unlike at the National Cathedral, and supposedly the Washington Monument).

I hadn't had any earthquake training when I was in school (I've learned procedures now!). I know how to deal with a tornado and a hurricane, but not an earthquake. My first instinct was to get outside, which turns out to be the opposite of what to do. By the time I grabbed my shoes, keys, and Marley though, it was over.

I was listening to the Kojo Nnamdi show on NPR, which is based in DC. He mentioned something happening in the studio, so I knew it was bigger than just the apartment. After the shaking stopped, I get online and checked Twitter, which immediately had reports from people anywhere from DC to Syracuse. I asked my former roommate Eric, who now lives in NYC if he felt anything. He had, and was surprised I did as well (NYC didn't get hit as hard).

Afterwards, I walked outside, and the whole neighborhood was outside discussing the day's events. Luckily, I didn't have to take the Metro home yesterday, which was a nightmare with long waits (although no damage was done to the system).

Erika also obviously experienced the earthquake, and was initially concerned about the students in school - everyone was fine. We discussed after that it was just very disconcerting to have the ground moving under us. You can escape from a tornado, not from an earthquake.

I'm happy everyone was safe. In retrospect, I guess I'm happy I've been through an earthquake once in my life. I don't feel the need to do it again!