Washington, DC | United States
Washington, D.C. is about more than just politics or power.
It’s a city of friends, bikes, and independence. While people always talk about the historic sites or the cleanliness of the metro, no one ever tells you about the beauty of the city. The streets are lined with trees and historic brick row houses, the sky is a brilliant blue, and you can always catch a gold-pink sunset from someone’s roof top.
I traveled back and forth between New York and D.C. for months, making good use of Amtrak and the hashtag #biurban in my social media feeds. We finally committed to the District at the end of 2015 and have really appreciated the simple city life it provides. And yes, I do firmly believe in D.C. Statehood.
Northwest
It took me an embarrassing long time to understand the directional quadrants of DC, coming from New York where street names with numbers and letters were the only information you needed to arrive at the correct intersection. In DC, you’ve got to add which quadrant: NE, NW, SE, or SW. I finally figured it out and thankfully, spent most of my early days living and working in a single quadrant so I didn’t end up too lost.
Northwest is the physically largest quadrant of the four and covers everything from Columbia Heights to Georgetown to the White House. We live in Shaw, a centrally located neighborhood close to Howard University, one of the nation’s oldest historic black colleges. We love to pick up an herbal tea from our friendly neighbors at Calabash Tea and Tonic and wander through the streets of LeDroit Park, watching the warm light of the setting sun reflect against historic row homes and seeing the latest vegetables at Common Good City Farm.
Eat
One of my favorite places in DC is the Florida Ave Grill. One of my dear friends and I would meet there regularly on early Saturday mornings. We’d grab a spot at the counter and split Miss Bertha’s Breakfast Special of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and homefries made on the griddle.
While I love breakfast, I’m also a sucker for a good bowl of ramen. My husband and I have a special place in our heart for Haikan, a ramen joint up the street from our home, in part because the bartender was the first person to learn we were pregnant, but also because we regularly sit at the bar sipping sake and watching huge woks saute beansprouts for their signature Sapporo style bowl. Another favorite is across the street.
Thai X-ing is a magic place with a home-like feel made possible by a family style set menu of traditional Thai food and warm light from the setting sun streaming in through the second story windows.
When we can’t make it out to dinner, which is more often now with a baby, we steal an hour and drink 10 oz of whatever is on tap at All Souls, lounging on the patio in the summer or huddled in the corner of the zinc countered bar in the winter.
Listen
Before I lived in DC, I always thought of it as a bureaucrats’ city. I remember the first night that layer was pulled back to reveal something more. My friends and I piled into a tiny dive bar called Showtime on a Sunday evening. The bar was packed and everyone was dancing to the funk sounds of Granny and the Boys, a band led by a 70 year old woman on keyboard and her band of slightly younger men.
We get to see this same level of fun and funk at the DC Funk Parade which happens every May, filling the streets with marching bands and elaborate outfits.
DC also has a big jazz scene, a small piece of which we experienced at Twins Jazz bar on a Saturday night, ordering a bottle of wine and listening to piano, trumpet, and bass in dimly lite silence with twenty other strangers.
A friend also introduced me to Go-Go music, which was born in DC and can be heard steaming out of car windows on hot summer days with its classic heavy percussion and brass. We recently got caught up in its energy at a show in Pearl Street Warehouse, where we ate tater tots, drank cold beer, and moved to a dance inducing mixed of live Jazz and Go-go music.
Explore
As a Florida native, I struggle with winter’s cold winds and cloudy skies which typically keep me bundled up indoors from December to March. But I found an escape from winter through the variety of national museums, whose free entrance makes a perfect excuse to visit for just one painting or quick trip during lunch. I especially appreciate the National Portrait Gallery, as much for the history lesson through art as for the interior, glass ceiling courtyard that is the perfect escape during a rainy day. We will typically pack a picnic lunch and sit under the skylight, watching kids run through the water feature or teenagers take selfies.
I also love the National Gallery of Art’s East Building, which houses modern art and has an amazingly open and airy vestibule for when you are craving space in the claustrophobia that winter can bring.
I also beat the cold with the U.S. Botanic Garden, walking through the huge green house and it’s microclimates, trying to memorize a new state plant with each visit. I discovered the National Arboretum during the Fall, a perfect way to see the diversity of America’s trees in reds, yellows, and orange. We pack coffee and go early in the morning, watching bald eagle chicks in their nest or meandering through the bonsai garden.
When we wanted to go somewhere closer to home, and accessible on foot, we’ll pack a picnic and find a grassy spot in Meridian Hill Park. On Sundays, we’ll stay through the afternoon to listen to the huge drum circle that gathers and dances their way into the week.
This year, I’ve spent all summer at Rock Creek Park, a sliver of nature running through the District. We hike almost weekly along the creek and through the shade of the tall pines, amazed every time that this feeling of wilderness is just four miles from our home.
