Dan Antion

Thursday Doors – Silver Spring

St Michael’s Church

That’s “Spring” with no “S” at the end, despite what you may have read here in the past and what you would hear me say if we were ever to meet and have nothing better to talk about than this Washington D.C. suburb in Maryland. I always want it to be Silver Springs…but it’s not. According to every blogger’s friend, Wikipedia:

“Silver Spring takes its name from a mica-flecked spring discovered there in 1840 by Francis Preston Blair, who subsequently bought much of the surrounding land.”

However, I digress. This is a Thursday Doors post. An entry in the worldwide celebration of all things door, led by the renowned explorer Vasco da Frampton, and his sidekick, (did he name that tadpole yet?) the little blue frog. Each week, Vasco, sorry, I mean Norm, leads us on an expedition to discover the most interesting doors on the planet. He invites people to join his party and share their discoveries. To participate (or observe) go to Norm’s Landing. Once there, look at Norm’s doors and then click the little blue frog. The tadpole will let you into the collection AND DON’T FORGET to fill out the form and add your doors if you have some to share.

I put the introduction at the top for two reasons: 1) it’s really important, if you are sharing doors, that you fill out the entry. Otherwise, people might not see your doors. 2) Other than the mica-flecked thing, I got nothing about Silver Spring.

I was in Silver Spring for the Annual Meeting of AIIM International, an association of geeky folk Information Professionals of which I was the Chairman in 2017. As of January 1, 2018, I am the Immediate Past Chair and I can make small jokes like that. Anyway, I was staying at the Courtyard Hotel and from my window, I spied a church that had an interesting window. Where there’s an interesting window, there must be doors.

Here’s a tip: When you leave your hotel for a doorscursion, you are likely to be disoriented by hallway configurations and elevator placement. Standing in the lobby, you might not realize which direction leads to the target building. Don’t expect a good answer if you ask the desk clerk for directions to the church with the nicely arched windows. Instead, look for a more pedestrian landmark (I chose CVS) and ask the clerk how to get there.

I could see how to get to the church from the CVS, and the clerk knew how to get to CVS, so my doorscursion was underway.

The gallery includes the photos I took of St. Michael’s Church and school, and a few less stately doors. You can click on any door to begin a slide show. I should mention that there’s a surprise in the gallery for people from the US who are of a certain age.

St Michael’s Church
St Michael’s Church
That’s CVS on the left. The church in the distance. As soon as I saw it, I thought I needed to go.
St Michael’s Church
This door would be near the alter end of the church
Beautiful church
Odd little side door to the parsonage.
Even the gate is interesting.
St Michael’s Church
Side entrance
Silver Spring community center.
St Michael’s School
Courtyard is the official hotel of the NFL. This is the elevator.
The side doors on this church are all very nice.
I hope Joey likes the lamp. I hadn’t seen one of these signs in a long time.
Good to know there’s still a fallout shelter near DC.
I even like the garage doors.
I think this set of doors can be completely opened if necessary.

98 comments

  4. Holy cow, I can’t remember the last time I saw a sign for a Fallout Shelter. Hope and pray we never need them again.

    Beautiful collection of doors. Love the shadows cast by nearby trees. And yes, that gate is pretty attractive. The stuff behind it, not so much! Lol. —-Ginger—-

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. It’s been a while since you’ve made me laugh out loud at one of your intros to Norm. Vasco da Frampton!!! bwahahaha! That’s a good one. You’re hilarious 🤣

    This is a lovely church, Dan, and a great tip for asking for directions. That wouldn’t have occurred to me, and I’ve been left wandering around in the wrong direction more than a few times.

    The doors and entrance to the church are beautiful, but it’s the photo about 4th in that gave me the wow. The angle of the photo, the tree branches, the sunshine highlighting the church like finding a great treasure … all of it is gorgeous.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  6. Well, heck! All these years I have been saying it wrong. And, I would guess, even reading it wrong. Thanks for the heads up, Dan. The shock of opening an altar door and realizing you are at the front of the church…and everyone is looking at you. Happened once to me when I wondered about a door at a new church. Never again!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Not to worry, Lois. Churches have their own language (Nave, Narthex Transepts, Sanctuary, Chancel, etc.) that I doubt anyone understands what might be considered the front.

      I remember that door from being inside at my first wedding and having my brother point to the door and remind me that we could still get away.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Ah, some stately doors today, Dan. There’s something about columns that adds a nice touch of class. And let’s give it up for that lamp, too. Maybe even the fallout-shelter sign. Hmm, maybe there should be a Saturday Signs prompt? I’ve always been partial to old signs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. So many of them! 👏🏻 What a grand church, Dan. I know what you mean about hotels and directions. Ask about a fast food restaurant 5 miles away and you’ll get precise info but a church down the street, doubtful. It looks like a beautiful day for a dooscursion!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. doorscursion now there is a word. i know you have used it before. however today i think it has opened a puny door. like one alice had to crawl through in wonderland. do warn Cheryl that the tea party might get out of hand this weekend. excuse me whilst i administer a said-a-give. and before it takes effect shouldn’t disoriented be disdooriented for the purposes of this discussion ? your description of his Norm-ness aka renowned explorer Vasco da Frampton makes me wonder what future doorscursions hold in store. will you be founding a national doorographic society ? was it just the links that require moderation ? or is this the beginning of a monty python marathon weekend ? so many questions, so little said-a-give. hmmm more coffee. now what exactly are the symptoms of cabin fever ?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. They certainly bought those doors in bulk! I have one of those fall out shelter signs that I . . . liberated from my college dorm stairwell. To the best of my knowledge, Elam Arms (no girls allowed past 11, though on a Saturday and Sunday morning you could look across the pool to the other arm and see plenty in the windows), had no basement so I felt justified in my decision.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Hi Dan – now you’re the past Chairman .. I guess you can take liberties here too?! Interesting to read about Silver Spring – and then seeing all the doors … including the dreaded fallout shelter … I sincerely hope we don’t need these ever again – cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I still have to be careful, Hilary, but characterizing some (myself included) as geeks really isn’t much of a stretch.Many of us wear that tag like a badge of honor. I haven’t seen a fallout shelter in a long time. I hope we aren’t due for a comeback.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  20. I think your post was my entertainment for the evening. You are one of the funny geeky folk.
    Always love seeing church doors. Whoa! That is some blue door!
    Thanks for the laughs (and doors).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. Joey always likes the lamp. This is the first she’s seen next to a fallout shelter sign! As long as Jason Robards doesn’t come out of that door, it’s all good.
    I also really like the Vasco de Frampton. Your quirky allusions to Norm are always good, but that one was a hoot! :P
    That church had a bonafide plethora of great doors! Good eye!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  24. The community we bought our new house in is called “The Springs”. I inquired about the Springs and where they were before we made an offer. I didn’t want a surprise to find one was under the house. There are two so it got an “S” at the end. Thankfully neither is too close or under the property. :)
    I guess if there’s just one Spring you wouldn’t need the s at the end right?

    I thought St. Michael’s is very stately. I like the crest, decorations around the main entrance, and that gate was nice.
    It seems so odd the Hotel Clerk wouldn’t know how to get to the church, it’s huge and so beautiful with all the brick, spire, and all. Thankfully the clerk at CVS knew how to get there.

    I liked your composition of Community Center, and the long shadows as well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  26. That was a doorscursion well worth taking Dan. The doors on St. Michael’s are gorgeous and I do believe you’ve given us our first fallout shelter door. Scary to think it might ever be needed :-(
    Awesome post :-)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Norm. It’s funny how my willingness to take a walk for a potential door photo has changed. Early on, I would have talked myself out of this walk. One modern church, how good could the doors be? Now, I’m all “that’s only a 5-minute walk and it must have at least one good door!”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  29. The church has stately (almost presidential) elements to it’s appearance! It is a beautiful example and so grateful for all your varied angles.
    My favorite photo is the one with dark tree branch shadows (silhouettes) displayed, Dan. 🌟
    I think the part about the blue frog thingy that is hard to do is I work (blog) only from a cellphone! It is hard to get my shortcut http, I would have to visit the library to bring up my shortened version. Unless, someday, someone were able to show me how to reach it on my phone. . . Not using words but actually lteeally “show me.” 😀 I am not tech savvy. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • What kind of phone do you have, Robin? I would be happy to send you a series of screen shots from my iPhone. I fill out the form, almost every week, from my phone.

      I do like the photos with the shadows from the branches.

      Like

      Reply

  30. I haven’t seen a fallout shelter in ages. Beautiful church door. On my first visit to the Main Street downtown area of Silver Spring in 1968, three remarkable things happened: 1) I saw the tattoo of a WWll concentration camp survivor for the first time. 2) I ate swordfish for the first time. Yum! 3) I saw the new John Lennon and Yoko Ono album. They were naked. Went back the next day to buy it, but it had been pulled from the shelves. Worth a lot of money today! Thanks for the memories, Dan. Sorry to ramble.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • The fallout shelter was the surprise, at least for me. I’ve stayed in that Courtyard several times during football season, and they make a big deal of the NFL association. I hadn’t seen a fallout shelter in many years.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • yeah – I was just sharing with another blogger that I had an old book that had info on how to take cover and what to do in a shelter – but it was lost over the years – and I do not think I have seen any in real life

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.