SE Waterfront in Winter

Every once in a while we change up our routine and walk over to the SE neighborhood by the Navy Yard. It’s also called Yards Park and a lot of other things. None of it existed when we first moved here twelve years ago. Now, among all the high rises that were recently built and all the new ones that are half done with many more to go, it’s beginning to look like downtown. There is hardly any daylight in between the buildings. As one goes up, another goes up right next to it and blocks the view. The baseball stadium anchors one end and the Capitol Building can be seen up South Capitol Street with new buildings in all stages along the path. The one “free space” is by the Anacostia River. So we detoured over that way. Having just snowed it looked and sounded eerily quiet compared to all the construction noise opposite it. There were symmetrical reflections in the river mirroring the sky above. This place will soon be home to one of the most - if not the most - congested neighborhoods in DC. We don’t mind living near it, but probably wouldn’t want to live in it. When all is said and done it is pretty - along the waterfront. 

Washington Navy Yard

After stopping off for blood work at my doctors office in Eastern Market this morning, our walk took us towards the Anacostia River via eighth street. Our plan was to meander by the waterfront along the Navy Yard walkway. We moved over to about tenth street and down to the river, but the walkway was closed due to maintenance. So we came back to M street and headed west. All along this stretch and around the Navy Yard perimeter at least six city blocks long or more was a very tall brick wall with a few manned entrances for car and foot traffic. We started to notice signs entitled “behind these walls” that spoke of the history of this place on the Capitol riverfront. It’s been here for a long time and has gone through many changes. My initial interest was that John Wilkes Booth made his way across a bridge here somewhere as he made his escape to Virginia from Ford’s Theater. It protected the city during the War if 1812 and the Civil War. It was a bustling navy yard where ships were actually built, and also served as a celebratory site for welcoming royalty and political figures in years past. Most recently, it was the site of a disgusting mass shooting event. Maybe one of these days we will visit the museum. Since we moved to DC this area has transformed - Nationals Park, the Department of Transportation, countless apartments, condos, restaurants, retail, etc. It’s so dense now the UPS delivery people told us they are overwhelmed by the sheer density of the place. I heard it will become one of, if not the most populated neighborhood in DC. We are just waiting for the new Whole Foods store to open just two or three blocks away from where we live in Capitol Hill. But in the meantime it feels strange to think of all that has come before this. It was an unexpected and unplanned reminder of the city’s history.