Morning Walk on Capitol Hill

Our main purpose for driving in to DC was to buy a small plant to replace the one that died after many years. We bought the original plant at Ginkgo Gardens - our go to place when we lived on Capitol Hill. My husband nursed that plant every day. It’s amazing how long it lasted. We parked near the store but first took a walk around the neighborhood. In spite of the ninety degree temperatures, we stayed on the shaded side of the streets to avoid the direct sunshine. That’s what we used to do when we lived there - walk north and south and try to avoid east and west. The first interesting item was the grim reaper hiding in the lower level entryway. We headed towards eighth street and the Marine barracks that have been there since Thomas Jefferson’s time. Many of the restaurants have remained, but a few have also closed. But what I always liked the most about our walks here were the townhomes and row houses. But more than that the gardens were always so appealing. We missed the wisteria this year and many of the gardens remain unkempt. But a few looked pleasant enough. The heat certainly makes the city move in slow motion. We feel for all of the road workers renovating Pennsylvania Avenue. It was really a delightful walk and always brings back the good memories of living in this neighborhood. 

Capitol Hill Rowhouses and Townhouses

Now that it’s a bit cooler, our morning walks have taken us from the shaded park in our northern Virginia neighborhood to our old Capitol Hill concrete jungle neighborhood that is ten miles away. Actually DC is just five miles from where we live, but we like going back to the old familiar place that we lived for thirteen years. About once a week we like to change up the scenery and this is a good option because we get a car ride in and see what we might be missing. The crisp blue sky and turning fall leaves added to the drama. We found a parking space right next to our old condo building, and made our way along all the familiar streets. We purposely avoided the National Mall and federal buildings on this go round since we had just been that way the last time to see the new Eisenhower Memorial. We need to go back there in the evening to see the exceptional backdrop and uplights. Everything was still very quiet as the offices were still closed and the car and foot traffic remained quite sparse. It also takes away from the vibrant neighborhood we were familiar with making things look more run down than it probably is. I love the architecture, but hated living in an 1890’s building. They look so beautiful from the outside, but if it’s not completely renovated beware of all the problems. We don’t miss any of that. 

US Botanic Gardens and Back Home

Last week we took a ride to our old neighborhood on Capitol Hill. We parked the car in front of our son’s old residence -  just a few steps from our old condo, and followed our old footsteps for a morning walk. We lived in this neighborhood for thirteen years. I worked at the library of Congress for ten, and we moved to northern Virginia over a year ago. We have driven in to town several times since March, but never got out of the car. The city was still very quiet - we felt like the only two people walking about except for work people fixing street things, renovating the house office buildings, and the air and space museum. So we walked to the Capitol, the reflecting pond, down the mall to the Smithsonian castle and back. One of our favorite places is the US Botanic Gardens. Because it was the end of the summer season, everything was so overgrown. We know every square inch of that place having passed through it so many times. It’s so pleasant! When we returned to our car we always get nostalgic about our old neighborhood. If it wasn’t for all the 1890’s ongoing and forever building problems we might have stayed. But it was becoming too inconvenient with street parking and everything else. We used to drive in to town for library programs as entertainment. That doesn’t happen anymore. So every once in a while we drive in - just for the heck of it. On the way home we stopped at McDonald’s for take out breakfast - something we haven’t done in six months. It was a delightful ending for the perfect adventure. It doesn’t take much these days. 

Old Town Alexandria

When we first moved to DC thirteen years ago we would frequent Old Town Alexandria. It was just across the Potomac River from our home on Capitol Hill. Since we moved to northern Virginia ten months ago, we don’t go as often. But it’s close enough to visit whenever we want. So last Sunday we thought brunch in Alexandria would be a good idea to avoid super bowl crowds on Sunday evening. After that we took a ride on the GW Parkway to Mount Vernon - one of our favorite routes. On the way back home, we took a side trip through Old Town. It’s a very charming place but has the same old infrastructure and parking issues of DC. But I love the architecture and the ambiance of the place. The townhouses and rowhouses are reminiscent of days gone by. George Washington spent a lot of time here. There was a golden retriever tied up outside someone’s home taking a nap. The new building complexes going up along the Potomac River blend in with the traditional vibe. King Street looked the same - a “tourist trap” of sorts - but interesting to see. The “narrowest” home is a sight - it once was an alleyway but looks funny in between the two houses beside it. And of course the cobblestone streets look great, but not so good for your car. We stopped for gas on the way out and continued up the other direction on the GW parkway - a very familiar road. It doesn’t matter how often we travel along it - it’s always an interesting ride. 

Old Town Alexandria Rowhouses and Townhouses

One of the first Virginia cities we visited was Old Town Alexandria. It is simply charming. When we first moved to Capitol Hill thirteen years ago we found many of our favorite restaurants in Old Town and continue to visit them since we moved to Virginia a few months ago. Last week we went to a favorite Greek place; Tyesterday we took a ride to a breakfast place that we like on Duke Street. After that, we went to see the Tall Ship Providence that is docked near Chart House on the Potomac River. Nearby are the water taxis and marina for many boats as well as several touring vessels. On the way from Duke Street to the river are typical Old Town rowhouses and townhouses. I never get tired of looking at them. They are very distinctive and have been around for a long time. But we also know the reality if living in these vertical housing units - stairs, tiny spaces, dark interiors, and terrible parking options. Near the water it gets flooded more times than not. We actually looked around Old Town for a potential “retirement” home, but decided against it because the irritations of living in DC are similar there. It’s a very touristy place too - which is both good and bad. So for now we like the idea that we can still visit, and we do. 

Tiny Spaces between the Rowhouses - Gates, Garbage, Gardens

I’m not really sure of the difference between a rowhouse and a townhouse. But I do know there are a lot of them on Capitol Hill. We enjoyed our one acre of land in the Midwest - distinctly separate from our next door neighbors. Here, your outside walls become a part of someone else’s all the way down the block. In fact someone literally broke in to the shared wall of our son’s house during the next door neighbor renovation. You could literally see in to the next house! If not totally connected, some of the structures have a tiny pathway between the two buildings. There are generally no windows on either side. It would have been interesting to see all these places being built - one after the other. What is more interesting is to see what the owner does with that space. Usually there is either an iron or wooden fence, but sometimes garbage cans fill the space. If it’s a little bigger, a garden path may appear. It’s often hard to tell who actually owns the space - maybe it’s all shared? That would never work. So if you look hard enough you’ll see the one to three feet separation between dwellings. So if you need to get to the backyard without going through the house you might be able to squeeze through. Otherwise you’ll need to go around the entire block to get there. Talk about impractical? But many would think it is utterly charming - until you live in one.