The Polaroids of Chris Earnshaw. Chris Earnshaw is an odd and brilliant and sloppy man who vibrates with great joy and grand melancholy. For decades he has ambled through bandstands, major motion pictures and demolition sites, searching for prestige and permanence, all while being ignored on the gray streets of a humdrum capital.“You know, I believe in the inevitability of the spirit,” he says. I’ve heard about people gripping the rails of their deathbed, thinking the void awaits them. But that can’t be it, can it? There must be something next, something beyond, for all of us.

I don’t want my life to end with people not knowing, or people saying, ‘He could’ve been something!’ ”So several years ago, he put rubber bands around some of his photographs. The photos were mostly Polaroids from the ’7. Washington, but from a certain angle that saw past its monumentality. The images went straight for the city’s brickness, its wrought- ironness, its grotesquerie, its deterioration and destruction.

There were portraits, too, of its nameless inhabitants. The photos were crimped and smudged, though, and seemed like one man’s trash. Chris took the Polaroids in fistfuls to Georgetown, to the office of a man named Joe Mills, the head of photography at the Dumbarton Oaks museum.

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  • The actual town that inspired the Gilmore Girls Washington, CT (aka Washington Depot, CT) is cited to be the main inspiration for Stars Hollow, so naturally, I.

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Joe flipped through the photos, offered a kind word about their strange beauty and shrugged off their rumpled owner. But Chris kept coming back. He insisted that he had a notable volume of work, a legacy, until Joe said: “Fine, I’ll sort through them.

Stress from demanding deadlines to overbooked time schedules, back-to-back activities, addressing family concerns - all, can cause the sudden onset of a throbbing.

But you have to bring them all in.”And so Chris did. Three thousand of them, in plastic bags and green metal filing drawers. The photos showed a city that was going, gone. Polaroids hold a lot of detail, but at a remove. The intricacy isn’t immediate. Whole worlds are caged by those small frames. You can’t see that at first.

But scan them into a computer, enlarge them 2. It was like hacking through the jungle and finding El Dorado,” Joe says. Like stumbling on Tutankhamun’s grave.”A worker hoses demolition dust on the 1. N Street NW in the 1. A keystone of Bacchus was removed from the razed Aston Building at 1. G streets NW. “I got the worker to pose,” Chris says. Alas, poor Yorick.’ ” (Chris Earnshaw and Joe Mills) ACT ITime cracks, crumbles.

It might be 1. 97. Or 1. 98. 2, or 1. Cranes bend and swing over the capital, which rewards a certain kind of ambition, savors a certain kind of history, the kind that’s carved into granite and marble.

The rest is just bedrock for glass boxes that go for $8. Which means it’s around 2. Jimmy’s maroon Chrysler minivan has no shocks, and its back end bounces like a jet ski as they head out of Chinatown, bound for the track.“Opening day at Laurel!” Chris says, scarfing chili in the passenger seat. The gas gauge is keeled over on “E” but Jimmy always gets them there, to the track and back for $2. The clang of construction comes from the gaping hole near Mount Vernon Square, and Chris is off: “The Home Savings Bank, built in 1. It was one of the first high- rises in D. C. to have both commercial and residential.√ The 1.

NPR building, much uglier of course.” The Walmart going up at Mount Olivet Road NE.“I think it means ‘gentrifiers welcome.’ They’re trying to kick all the native peoples out.”At Montana and New York avenues.“A hundred years ago, it was called the Devil’s Bowling Alley, because of the gambling joints. THE WILD WILD EAST OF WASHINGTON, D. C.!” Chris cackles at his own narration.“You’re like an elephant,” Jimmy says.

You remember everything.”A day at the races! Wrinkled khaki pants.

Oxygen tanks. The cigar smoke and musk- malt cologne of functional alcoholism. You can still catch a whiff of glory, in the nerves and manure and money, the gentlemanly gamble on split- second greatness.“The track,” Chris says, “is out of time.”His wallet is held together by a fraying blue rubber band. He plucks out three 1.

Wendy is the keeper of all my secrets. I knew her as a freckle- faced young girl.”“Pace yourself, okay?”“Trying to take care of business, Wendy. I’m happy when I’m gambling, Wendy. I’m just gonna do a little something for myself. Wendy, you’re a princess.”“Why don’t you try to get yourself organized.”“You got a fresh rubber band? This one just died.” He picks out a sinus pill from a Luria’s jewelry tin.

I’m happy, Wendy.”“Yeah, Jay,” Wendy says, calling him by one of his many sobriquets, this one an ’8. Bowie and Laurel in his green ’7. Chevy Impala with a sixpack riding shotgun, tearing back and forth between tellers and televisions after hitting a trifecta, fists in the air, bellowing, “Jay!

Jaaay!! JAAAYYY!!!”One of his grandfathers owned part of a horse in Suffolk County, N. Y., and spent whole racing seasons in the pink bosom of Miami Beach.

His grandmother’s middle name was Coolidge, a nod to an apparent kinship with the 3. United States. Chris, whose birth was announced on page 2. New York Times — Mrs. Samuel Earnshaw Has Son; “The child will be named Jonathan Wetherbee” — keeps his spare change in a dirty Ziploc bag, and he keeps the bag in a taupe tote with the rest of his precious garbage, and he wields his wooden cane not as a crutch but as a totem of lost nobility. Chris Earnshaw took thousands of Polaroid and Instamatic photos of Washington, Philadelphia and New York in the 1. Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post) One minute to post.

He goes outside to the stands in his burgundy blazer and black felt cowboy hat, the attire for his latest nickname, the Cowboy Poet. He clutches a small bouquet of betting receipts that represent his last $4. C’mon, 9,” he shouts at a 3.

Bates Motel, raising his cane. It comes in second to last. He goes over his tallies, in case he miscalculated, but he never miscalculates. Which means he’s done, dead, toast, totaled.“I don’t have a thing,” he says, the September sun sitting off balance.“I don’t have a thing,” he says, the horses headed for the paddocks.“Jesus,” he says, the only man left in the stands. Joe Mills has been in charge of photography at the Dumbarton Oaks museum for decades. On the side, he likes to rescue marginalized artists from obscurity, insanity, what have you.

He considers that a solemn duty. Can you imagine what’s lost out there, he says, from the garages and attics of the world? Masterful outsider art that’s ignored or incinerated because the artist seemed nuts. Because the artist is nuts. Because the artist couldn’t frame the art properly for the world to see it.

He knows that the proper organization of a scattered body of work can bring it out of oblivion. Joe can see through chaos, because Joe once lived in chaos. And so he believes that Chris Earnshaw is a great artist. One of Washington’s best photographers, in fact. But Chris’s ability to exhume and perform a story from a single image is a different kind of art. For him, the Polaroids hold a talismanic power.

By looking at them, he can resurrect what is gone and forgotten. Take this one: A shot of a drunken bum, a motherless pietà heaped on a stone curb at 3. M streets around 1. Divinity in dereliction.“That was Freddy,” he says.

He was one of Georgetown’s most visible people. He was a growling, very hirsute, crusty- faced creature. He hung around Dixie Liquors because people would buy him vodka and beer to amuse themselves watching him get totally polluted. But that was a real person, Freddy.”Ten years after Chris photographed him, Freddy froze to death in a phone booth, prompting a neighborhood outcry that led to the creation of the Georgetown Ministry Center, which helps the homeless.“He was once an architect. Can you imagine that man once in a suit, sitting in an office, designing buildings? And now he’s stinking, has several inches of dirt on his face, like a mask.”People. His life, Chris says, is “geared towards enshrining and preserving the richness of human experience..” The following section contains audio.

New York, September 1. Watch Not Easily Broken Putlocker# more. Don Fincke. He was a bona fide Bowery alcoholic.

Washington Depot, CT vs. Stars Hollow Washington Depot, CT The actual town that inspired the Gilmore Girls. Washington, CT (aka Washington Depot, CT) is cited to be the main inspiration for Stars Hollow, so naturally, I had to check it out.

Amy- Sherman Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, talks about the genesis of Stars Hollow in an interview for The A. V. Club: “I went on vacation to Connecticut, because I wanted to see Mark Twain’s house. I stayed at an inn, and it was very charming, in a tiny town, and everybody seemed to know each other, and there was a pumpkin patch across the street.”“I went on vacation to Connecticut, because I wanted to see Mark Twain’s house. I stayed at an inn, and it was very charming, in a tiny town, and everybody seemed to know each other, and there was a pumpkin patch across the street.” – Amy- Sherman Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls. Local Pharmacy, Washington Depot, CTSo, according to Amy- Sherman Palladino, Washington seems like the perfect place to find Stars Hollow, right? Wrong! After doing some research on forums, I learned from other travelers and local residents that Washington Depot is nothing like Stars Hollow.

And after visiting the town myself, I wonder if Amy- Sherman Palladino was actually referring to the general surrounding area of Litchfield County, and perhaps Washington was the only town name she could remember because she was staying there, at the Mayflower Inn. At any rate, I can now confirm to all Gilmore Girls fans and future travelers – if you seek to find a town like Stars Hollow, you will not find it in Washington, CT. According to The Gilmore Girls Companion book, New England resident, Edward Herrmann (Richard on Gilmore Girls) says: “Washington Depot is nothing like Stars Hollow; it is a weekend haven for New Yorkers.”. Washington Depot is nothing like Stars Hollow; it is a weekend haven for New Yorkers.” – Edward Herrmann, actor who plays Richard on Gilmore Girls. Where’s “Luke’s Diner?”Amy- Sherman Palladino mentioned visiting a diner in her interview for The A. V. Club: “I went to a diner, and people kept getting up to get their own coffee. No one was there to be waited on.

It seemed like a fun environment to put [the characters] in.” For starters, while most towns will have a square or main street with several businesses, the “village” of Washington Depot is tiny – almost non- existent – and mainly consists of a grocery store and pharmacy. Where is this elusive diner Amy- Sherman Palladino speaks of in Washington, CT? It’s more likely she was referring to a diner in a more charming nearby town, like Kent, CT. Washington Food Market in the Depot We saw a “Dean” stocking groceries! After feeling a bit underwhelmed by the town depot, we decided to go inside the local grocery store, Washington Food Market. We bought a couple of sodas – or as Dean would say, “pop” – and that’s when we spotted a boy who couldn’t be any older than 1.

After stalking the aisles looking for a Taylor Doose, we paid for our drinks and left. Sadly, that was the highlight of our Gilmore Girls/Stars Hollow scavenger hunt in the Depot. The Mayflower Grace Inn, Washington, CT An extravagent version of “The Independence Inn”After prowling around town (which took all of 1.

The Mayflower Grace for lunch – the inn that Amy- Sherman Palladino says inspired The Independence Inn. It’s a beautiful establishment, and judging from the exterior and the fact that it also has a restaurant, I could definitely see Lorelai and Sookie working there. However, the similarities stop there. When I think of The Independence Inn, I picture a warm, friendly, and homey yet elegant environment. The Mayflower Grace Inn – with its absolutely gorgeous and lavish interiors – somehow felt cold, stuffy and pretentious.

Don’t get me wrong, the staff was very nice and professional, but I could tell even they wanted to loosen their collars a little bit. Foodwise, lunch at The Tap Room was okay – the bread on my lobster roll tasted stale, but the actual filling was really delicious. Same goes for the $2. Enclosed Patio at The Mayflower Grace Inn Aside from the food, the environment was quite lovely…we sat in a cozy corner with a fireplace on one side and a window on the other. It started snowing during lunch, so I decided to step out to their enclosed patio and film the flurry (see the video here).

It was kind of magical. I had a Lorelai Gilmore moment. So, with all that said, I would still recommend you visit The Mayflower Grace. Just keep in mind what Edward Herrmann (who plays Richard Gilmore) has to say about the place, according to The Gilmore Girls Companion book: [The Mayflower Grace] is so fake they have resorted to those awful cutesy bronze statues in the lobby.

A pile of ye olde luggage sits right next to the check- in desk.” Rest assured, I believe The Mayflower Grace has since been renovated – no replica luggage or cheesy statues were in the lobby when I was there in December 2. Edward Herrmann visited. If you’re looking for an inn that more closely resembles the look and spirit of “The Independence Inn” or “The Dragonfly Inn”, check out my blog entries for Old Lyme and Stonington, CT. Cozy Reading Room at Mayflower Grace Inn Other Similarities to Stars Hollow. Cute local grocery store, Washington Food Market – similar to Doose’s market. Town festivals & events, such as “Holiday at the Depot” during Christmastime…though we weren’t able to attend, it looked like a small, yet charming town event. Inns – The Mayflower Grace, while a bit fancier compared to The Independence and Dragonfly Inn, appears to offer a luxurious New England Inn experience.

Major Differences from Stars Hollow. No gazebo. No town green or square.

Lack of cute shops, restaurants and other businesses in the Depot area. Sleepy town, not many locals milling around the Depot running their errands and such. About my quest – see my video footage of The Mayflower Grace and other towns that look like Stars Hollow! I’ve been obsessed with the quirky town of Stars Hollow for years now, and did some research online to see which towns resembled it the most.

I scoured blogs, articles and forums, taking notes from real Connecticut residents and other Gilmore Girls fans, who were also on a similar quest. Then, I narrowed down a comprehensive list of the top towns to visit on my journey to finding a real- life version of Stars Hollow. See the video of my journey below!