Quiet DC Streets

When we lived on Capitol Hill we spent most of our walks on the Capitol side. And working to the Library of Congress was a very short two block commute. Now that we moved to northern Virginia we still enjoy taking morning walks near the National mall. One of our favorite and easy parking places is by the tidal basin. There, we usually walk along the basin, constitution gardens, or the Washington Monument. Lately we have been heading in the opposite direction toward the Smithsonian castle. Last week we thought it might be a good idea to walk towards the White House. The last time was at Christmas to see the national tree and whatever else was going on. That morning was distinctly odd. First of all it took forever to even get there. The traffic was backed up so much I wanted to turn around. But when we started our walk the streets were literally deserted. It was like a ghost town. Not even the WWII Memorial had any takers. The sidewalks near the White House were empty - and of course they were blocked off from foot traffic so we had to take the long way around. That’s always so annoying that you can’t walk where you want to. And of course the police never tell you why it’s closed off. I was also looking for photo options for the “shoot from below” subject this week. The skies were so blue, but I really didn’t find anything that interesting - except the large amount of smoke coming up from the manholes. The lack of pedestrians was astounding. In the end the walk was nice in spite of the traffic getting there. I don’t mind not having to deal with the crowds - but this was really strange.