On Saturday, December 5, Glover Park has three things on its calendar within a few blocks of each other. The Friends of Guy Mason Holiday Market fills the recreation center on Calvert Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. After dark, Miracle in the Alley lights up the alley behind W Street between 38th and 39th Streets. Between the two is Kiin Laow, the Thai restaurant and bar that opened in late October at 2340 Wisconsin Avenue NW.
None of the three is a citywide attraction that happens to land in Glover Park. Each is run by people with ties to the neighborhood. The market raises money for the group that looks after the building it fills. A neighborhood grant pays for the alley lights, and neighbors organize the night. The restaurant comes from a family that already runs a Thai kitchen in Dupont Circle, and it has brought a long-dark Wisconsin Avenue space back into use.
The day, stop by stop
| Stop | Where | When | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friends of Guy Mason Holiday Market | Guy Mason Recreation Center, 3600 Calvert St NW | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Friends of Guy Mason Recreation Center |
| Kiin Laow Thai Restaurant & Bar | 2340 Wisconsin Ave NW | Check with the restaurant | Kesorn Aswalap, owner of Sampanee in Dupont Circle |
| Miracle in the Alley | Alley behind W Street, between 38th and 39th Streets | Evening; last year's started at 6 p.m. | Neighborhood organizers, with the Glover Park Citizens' Association as grant agent |
Morning: a market that raises money for the building it fills
The Friends of Guy Mason Recreation Center describe their purpose as working with city agencies to maintain, improve and beautify the park and the recreation center. The holiday market is how part of that work gets paid for. The group's vendor registration listing on Eventbrite calls the event a fundraiser and charges each vendor a $150 fee. It welcomes vendors selling food, jewelry, clothing, Christmas decorations and more. Booths are roughly 15 feet by 15 feet, and the listing gives a 9 a.m. doors time ahead of the 10 a.m. start.
The market also sits at the end of a busy few weeks for Guy Mason. Glover Park Village, the neighborhood's volunteer network for older residents, holds much of its late-autumn calendar there or nearby:
- Tuesday, November 17, 3:30 to 5 p.m.: Artist Talk & Art-Making at Guy Mason
- Tuesday, November 24, 4:30 to 6 p.m.: Celebrating the Glover Park Village Community at Guy Mason
- Friday, November 27, 1 to 2 p.m.: the Monthly Coffee and Conversation at Point Chaud Cafe & Crepes, 2300 Wisconsin Ave, the day after Thanksgiving
The same rooms host a Village gathering one week and a fundraising market the next. Guy Mason works as a shared neighborhood room, and the market on December 5 helps pay for its upkeep.
In between: a new kitchen at a familiar address
From Calvert Street it is a short walk to 2340 Wisconsin Avenue, the former Town Hall and Social Beast space. PoPville first reported a restaurant coming to the site back in 2024. In August 2026 it reported that Kiin Laow was hiring and identified it as a sister restaurant to Sampanee Thai in Dupont. The restaurant held its soft opening at 5 p.m. on October 22, and the first 100 guests that day got free Thai tea for a year.
The owner, Kesorn Aswalap, also runs Sampanee. She trained in culinary school at the Grand Palace in Thailand and ran a cooking school in Bangkok before coming to the United States, and she runs Kiin Laow with her two daughters. The menu takes in more of Asia than Sampanee's, which sticks closer to Thai cooking. The soft-opening list included shrimp cocktail, Thai sausage and chive dumplings, curry short rib, branzino on panang curry and cauliflower steak, plus soups, salads and skewers à la carte. The bar is meant to be the room's focal point, with pan-Asian cocktails.
The name loosely means "let's eat and drink." In Thailand it is a common answer when a group heading out for the evening asks what to do next. That makes it a fitting stop between an afternoon at the market and an evening in the alley.
Longtime neighbors will know the address. In the past couple of decades it has been home to Busara, Blue Ridge, Town Hall, Ghostline and Social Beast, and its 5,800 square feet of indoor space sat empty for four years after Social Beast closed.
Kiin Laow opened after almost a year of electrical, permitting and build-out work. As of late October, the main dining room and bar were open. A secondary dining area with its own bar, a side dining room and a large enclosed patio were still being evaluated. At ANC 3B's October meeting, Kate Dean, executive director of Glover Park Main Street, said the owners also plan events and classes on the second floor, such as flower arranging.
After dark: $2,500 of lights in a residential alley
The evening ends a few blocks away, in the alley between 38th and 39th Streets behind W Street. In October 2025, ANC 3B's meeting report described Miracle in the Alley as an annual December event celebrating Christmas and other holidays. Dan Theisen, one of its coordinators, told the commission it draws about 300 people.
Last year's opening night was Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 6 p.m. At the commission's November meeting, Commissioner Gupi Howie, the other coordinator, listed lights, inflatables, hot cocoa, candy canes and snacks, plus a neighborhood Santa who might show up at 6:30. "Anyone is welcome to come," she said, according to the ANC 3B meeting transcript.
This year's date is Saturday, December 5. According to its October 2026 meeting report, ANC 3B unanimously approved a $2,500 grant to pay for professional installation of the lights. The Glover Park Citizens' Association is the grant agent, and the report describes the event as public and open to all. Commissioner Howie recused herself from the vote because she is one of the organizers.
The neighborhood's own advisory commission approved the money, its civic association is handling it, and two neighbors run the night. On December 5, the market closes at 3 p.m., and last year the lights came on at 6.
If you own near Guy Mason or the W Street blocks and want a neighbor's read on how this part of Glover Park is changing, Jack Realty Group is glad to talk it through. Book a neighborhood consultation, and we will start with the streets you already know.
