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Lucky Ducks: DC welcomes its newest VIDs

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Pets

It's not everyday that one can claim to have been born at The Ritz-Carlton. For the sixth year in a row, Mother Ritzy Duck has returned to The Rtiz-Carlton, Georgetown, to honor her standing reservation and lay her precious eggs. Just in time for Mother's Day, seven bouncing baby ducklings were born, each deemed healthy by a local wildlife expert.

This year, "Ritzy" the VID (Very Important Duck) opted for a tall planter, located in the hotel's courtyard area off the main lobby. Hotel Security provided 24-hour service and offered velvet ropes and stanchions to keep curious guests at bay.

To ease Mama Ritzy's concerns during pregnancy, the hotel's "Just Ducky" Concierge issued a standard operating procedure to hotel staff - as per Ritzy's preferences, she was to enjoy only Ritz-Carlton bottled water and absolutely no "people food" to ensure that her figure would remain slim and healthy. During her daily lunch walks and swims with "Baby Daddy Duck," Ritzy's nest was monitored by a security camera and extra staffer. During the final days before hatching, Ritzy opted to enjoy gourmet organic duck pellets to ensure that she could rest in comfort as well as have food for her new ducklings at the ready.

When Ritzy and her ducklings are ready to leave the nest, they will enjoy red carpet treatment - a specially-designed duck crate will be placed into one of the hotel's private sedans for transportation to her permanent home in a nearby park.

To honor Ritzy's delivery, the staff at the hotel bar, Degrees Bar & Lounge, brought back her signature cocktail - The Duck Duck Goose - made with Grey Goose L'orange, pineapple juice and a splash each of grenadine and Sprite. And, out of respect for the nesting mother, the hotel has also opted to temporarily remove all duck-based menu items from the restaurants.

Tags: dc, ducks, georgetown, MothersDay, ritz carlton, washington dc

One-of-a-Kind DC Design Rolls-Royce Coupe up for Sale

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

If the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe is a little too stodgy for your taste, Indian coachbuilder DC Design may have something else to offer. This one-of-a-kind coupe was made for an Indian maharaja, and has remained in his private collection until now.

Blending elements of a Rolls-Royce with those of a Nissan 350Z, Ferrari Enzo and Maybach Exelero, the special creation known as "The Black Ruby" is up for sale with a sticker price of £750,000, or about $1.2 million in American greenbacks. But if that's not your cup of tea, DC has also given birth to such creations as a two-door Porsche Cayenne sport-utility and a $220,000 retrofit of the Tata Nano, which stood before DC's conversion as the cheapest car on the market.

Gallery: DC Design Rolls-Royce "Black Ruby" Coupe