DC…..yea I was here for awhile and saw a lot
The next day in DC was an exciting day for me before I headed downtown. I wasn’t going to a place as cool as the White House, but I was excited that I was going to be in a different neighborhood for the first time during the trip. Instead of walking around the Mall I was heading to Capitol Hill.
At Capitol Hill I used my walking cards to explore the Eastern Market which was essentially closed that day except for a few stands that had a small family crowding around the goods. I then walked around the Lincoln Park area which included Gessford Court - a street with a lot of red-brick buildings and trees - and Lincoln Park itself that had a few statues symbolizing the freeing of slaves in the US. O Abe, aren’t you such a good guy?
I then headed south to check out the Washington Navy Yard. I have a very close friend of mine in the Navy currently, he’s actually about to end his service soon, but I went through the Navy Yard with him on my mind during the entire trip. I was surprised how many museums they had in the Navy Yard, whether they were a traditional building museum or a ship museum, I had plenty to do and see for a couple hours before deciding I was ready to head towards Chinatown which required me grabbing a subway.
Chinatown was so much different than I imagined. I have New York’s Chinatown engraved in my mind and how dirty, cheap and everything else everyone else associates with Chinatown in NYC. It’s not that I dislike the Lower East Side of NYC, I think it’s a lot of fun, but Chinatown isn’t that clean or fun a place to be for the weary tourist or New Yorker. DC’s Chinatown was almost completely opposite of what I imagined it’d be like (basically opposite to New York’s). The streets were clean and everything seemed nice. There were also numerous museums, like the Portrait Gallery, which I entered and spent an hour or two meandering through its halls. They had a phenomenal Presidents chamber where you could see portraits of all the US Presidents, as well as watch film of some of the most famous Presidential speeches. I then went to the Sports portrait gallery and left the museum feeling satisfied, which isn’t guaranteed after a portrait gallery.
I then headed towards Dupont Circle where I became more familiar with DC’s commercial neighborhoods. I was so relieved to be outside the government section, that I felt that I could’ve been in a completely new city when I got to Dupont Circle. I strolled along Connecticut Avenue and its abundance of shopping opportunities, and then made my way towards Massachusetts Avenue to check out the Embassies located in DC. In London, there were numerous places for embassy’s to be located but I remember Ambassador’s Row, or Embassy Row, I don’t remember it’s name exactly, and it was one of the most beautiful streets I’ve ever walked along. The embassy’s were magnificent in size and beauty and after a mile of these buildings on both sides of the road, one’s left speechless. Unfortunately Washington didn’t have a street like this but Mass Ave included plenty of embassy’s, minus London’s flair.
I checked out 16th street where there were numerous beautiful houses from the Gilded Age, and then decided to make my way towards Meridian Hill Park. Unfortunately, as I got closer to the Park the weather turned on me and I was forced to take cover in a McDonalds where I also purchased a $1 burger before sprinting to the subway while getting drenched and heading back to the girls place. Just like any of the other days in DC, I had seen a bunch of new things, and still felt as if there was still so much more to see. The size of DC always amazed me.
Tags: Summer 2007 Road Trip, Travel
