We did a quick run for groceries at the Sam’s Club in Hyattsville that is literally right across the parking lot from FedEx Field where the Redskins play east of the District. We figured Sam’s would be a good place to stock up because the prices at the local grocery stores in the District are pretty outrageous. You know, we’d never thought that Lowe’s Foods would look cheap by comparison but trust me, they have nothing on the Capital Area Giant stores!
After getting provisioned, Nicholas and I got a chance to do a bit of exploring round the Washington area mainly to give him a change of scenery as hospitals have gotten really old, really quick!
We headed down North Capitol Street toward the east end of The National Mall (North Capitol Street forms the dividing line between northeast and northwest Washington where the Capitol building is the anchor). From there, we drove past most of the major sites you’d typically look for when visiting our nation’s capital:
- The Capitol
- Supreme Court
- The National Mall
- White House
- MCI Centre
- Dupont Circle
- Foggy Bottom (home of the State Department)
- The Watergate Hotel (home of a third-rate burglary that brought down a President)
I thought the traffic circles were going to be worse than they were. After all, I had watched The American President where Annette Bening complains about getting out of sorts at Dupont Circle. If she’s paying attention, I’m not sure I understand how as navigating the circle is pretty darned simple. Finding parking, on the other hand, is a legitimate gripe!
Navigating Washington isn’t really all that bad once you get a grip on what the major roads are inside the District itself. That is, if you can stand the totally insane drivers on really small streets with so many stoplights that it’s a miracle you ever get up to 45 miles per hour. And if you’re not in the District itself, you can expect a lengthy commute from where you are to where you want to go. It’s almost guaranteed you’re going to sit in traffic somewhere. It’s not like the distances are all that hideous…from Children’s to Bethesda is all of six miles. But you’re looking at an hour minimum to get there unless you’re driving at three in the morning!
One suggestion…you’d better know how to parallel park if you think you are going to get around the District. You know that skill we all learned in Driver’s Education and then promptly forgot because with suburban sprawl and massive parking lots, we’d never need to parallel park, ever. Not so in the District…not only are the parking spaces almost non-existant, most of them are parallel parking. And if you get into one the few parking lots, expect to pay boucoup buck$ for that privilege.
By the way, ever remember that game you’d play on those long, boring car trips where the object was to spot plates from as many states as you could (ideally, all fifty states) before your opposition? It’s a great way to become a license plate geek and get a few nuggets of trivia about the states (and provinces of Canada, particularly if you find yourself in Florida during snowbird season!). In other words, it’s yours to discover (Ontario) why it’s good to je me souviens (I remember, Quebec) all of the nifty little things we see on the roads in this land of enchantment (New Mexico).
As an aside, after six and a half years of snowbird season…I always thought it was yours to discover how lousy Ontario drivers are…and that je me souviens had to be Quebecois for I can’t drive for the life of me. Of course, neither of those are as scary as the headless drivers wearing Florida plates on their cars…the short old people who can’t see over their steering wheel and are apparently trusting in the Force to see them to their destination safely. But I digress… 🙂
OK, maybe you’re not a geography geek but it was fascinating getting a gander at the actual DC plates. And hoo boy, have the times changed and not for the better! You see, the slogan used to be either A Capital City which was a clever play of words or Celebrate & Discover. While it is possible to see some of the older plates…the new tagline is Taxation Without Representation. Apparently the locals aren’t all that happy about not being an actual state and having more than a token delegate in the House of Representatives. I’ve just got one thing to say to those District drivers who like that particular slogan…trust me when I tell you that taxation with what passes for representation outside the confines of the District stinks just as bad, friends! Just a suggestion from the outside looking in, guys!
Oh, where was I? Ah yes, navigating the District. On previous trips, either I wasn’t driving because I was on a charter and it was the driver’s problem to find parking near the MCI Centre for a Hurricanes game or we were staying at the Hampton Inn in Springfield (Virginia) and the big Park-and-Ride at the end of the Blue line is right across the way at the Springfield-Franconia station.
You don’t really get to appreciate just how congested this city’s streets are until you have to find your way round them yourself. I highly recommend you get a laminated folding map of the District…it’s a life saver and it’s very easy to take a quick peek and then fold it back properly than a paper map. And then just make a note of the major streets and how to get back to them as you wander.
Then you to can celebrate and discover what a capital city Washington, DC can be. And have a better-than-average chance of getting back to where you’re staying in one piece… 🙂