Chicago Addick living in Bermuda
Friday 20 July 2007
  Washington DC - A 2nd look If you ever get a chance to visit the capital of America, please do so. The city reeks of importance and power but is also a walking homage to the political and military history of this giant of a nation.

I spent a weekend here in February last year and you can read all that that by clicking here, and this time I did some of it again but also explored other areas of the city such as the historic Georgetown, the student-y Dupont Circle and the wonderfully named Foggy Bottom.

Foggy Bottom is one of the districts oldest areas, and is a low lying area besides the river and was said to be forever shrouded in fog, hence the name. However today Foggy Bottom is associated with two things. Firstly the nation's State Department HQ is located in the neighbourhood, and second is the main campus of George Washington University (GWU).

Also worth visiting here is the impressive Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with its opera house, concert hall, and theatre and the Watergate Hotel, now a huge crumbling relic of times past, including the Richard Nixon Watergate scandal when burglars under Nixon's command broke into hotel rooms in June, 1972, to gather information about the President's election opponents. The word 'gate' now automatically follows any kind of scandal of course.

Dupont Circle is one of many ‘circles’ in DC that are an American attempt at a roundabout and historically the middle of the circle would contain some over the top monument recognizing some historical figure, this originally a chap called Samuel Francis Du Pont and then surrounding the circle would be home to wealthy residents all trying to outdo each other with their grand houses. Today within the circle is a park, a favourite spot for chess players, who play on permanent stone boards and political rallies.

The actual neighbourhood stretches north and one can imagine the bohemian feel of the 1960’s with anti-war marches and street artists and bars smelling of hash. Nowadays it is a student area with bars and pubs smelling of..... you get the picture, although there are actually many nice looking Edwardian looking residences and upscale condominiums, occupied by those government officials that have long since paid off their college debt.

Georgetown is a must see. This part of town pre-dates the establishment of Washington DC and was first settled by Europeans in 1696 and named after the English monarch at the time King George II. Sat alongside the Potomac River and with veins of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal stretching inland the area grew into a thriving port transferring tobacco.

In the first half of the 20th century Georgetown was an industrial hotspot, and many of the original buildings can still be seen, some carefully restored into offices and homes as well as a Ritz Carlton hotel, once a refuse incinerator.

There are some beautiful homes north of M Street, the main commercial artery where the majority of the shops and restaurants can be found. Of course a thriving industrial corridor brought money into the area and some of the houses are magnificent and equally so are most of the very English style terraced homes. And just as I was thinking about this being the perfect place for a small holiday home, my eyes caught a glimpse of a realtors window. Oh well.

The prices started rocketing around here when John F Kennedy (left) was a resident and now the area is home to politico's, media gurus and investment bankers. In fact despite being famous for having the universities main campus and medical school sat high up on a knoll with it's iconic spires peering over the town, college kids are pretty scarce around these boutique laden streets.
Georgetown University is older than the District itself, having been founded in 1789 and is the nation's oldest Roman Catholic affiliated body of higher education. It's main campus is vast with over 100 acres and includes 58 buildings and of course athletic facilities that put the UK to shame.

Most of Georgetown is quietly residential, strikingly hilly with a number of small parks and a couple of cemeteries, such as Mount Zion and the gothic looking Oak Hill. Near here is Dunbarton Oaks, a mansion where the United Nations was first created in 1944.

The busiest area of Georgetown is around M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, spoiling visitors and locals for choices of restaurants and pubs. K Street gives a good vantage point of the waterfront. Down here by the river there is a lively little area of bars and restaurants, and a river sightseeing tour is recommended.

If you are a film buff then the 'Exorcist steps' (right) can be found connecting Prospect St with M Street at 36th St. The classic 1973 horror film was set in Georgetown, and 75 stone steps that Father Damien Karras hurls himself down can be seen with the blood now cleared up. Actually the steps were heavily padded for the stuntman the throw himself down and it is said that at the time university students charged onlookers $5 to watch from their dorm windows.

The historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which stretches 184 miles between DC and Maryland is certainly worth a stroll. Mule-drawn boats, worked by men and women dressed in early 1800's attire carry visitors on the canal at Georgetown. Hundreds of original structures, including locks, lockhouses, and aqueducts, serve as reminders of the canal's role as a transportation system during the canal era.

All in all this is a beautiful setting, and if you find the whole monument watching in the nations capital a bit tiring, then spend some time in Georgetown. You won't regret it.
 
|



<< Home
About Me
After living in Chicago for four and a half years, I moved to the beautiful if bewildering island of Bermuda in July 2008. This blog is about being an exiled and depressed Charlton Athletic fan and whatever else the day brings.
CAFC Links
  • Charlton Athletic FC
  • CAFC Player
  • Forever Charlton
  • CAFC Picks
  • CASC
  • City Addicks
  • Community Trust
  • Fans Forum
  • Charlton Life
  • / forum
  • Charlton Scrapbook
  • Addicks Downunder Forum
  • Fellow Addick Blogs
  • Addicks Diary
  • Doctor Kish
  • New York Addick
  • All Quiet in the East Stand
  • SE3 Addick
  • Jakartass
  • Charlton Athletic Online
  • Views from an Iberian Valley
  • Charlton North Downs
  • Blackheath Addicted
  • Drinking During the Game
  • Kings Hill Addick
  • A Red Divided
  • Deepest Darkest
  • All in a Day
  • Johnny73
  • Confidential Rick
  • Charlton Casual
  • Many Miles....
  • Croydon Addick
  • Stickleback
  • And Nothing Else Matters
  • Out in the rain
  • Hungry Ted
  • Bermuda - all 21 square miles of it
  • The Royal Gazette
  • Weather forecast
  • Discover Bermuda
  • Bermuda National Trust
  • Bernews.com
  • Bermuda Blogroll
  • Bermuda Shorts
  • Jen in Bermuda
  • Daily London fix
  • Diamond Geezer
  • Onionbagblog
  • 853
  • The Cabbies Capital
  • A piece of my heart still in Chicago
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Chicago Bears
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • Chicago White Sox
  • Chicago Cubs
  • Chicago Fire
  • My Chicago stuff
  • Andersonville
  • Bucktown
  • Chinatown
  • Evanston
  • Gold Coast
  • Greektown & Little Italy
  • Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Square
  • The Magnificent Mile
  • Old Town
  • Oak Park
  • River North
  • Roscoe Village
  • South Loop
  • Streeterville
  • Ukrainian Village
  • Wicker Park
  • Wrigleyville
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • My Bermuda exploring
  • Paget Parish
  • Southampton Parish
  • Town of St George
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • Travelogue
  • Atlanta
  • Bahamas
  • Beachy Head
  • Beaver Creek, Colorado
  • Bermuda
  • Buenos Aires
  • Californian Hwy 1
  • Charleston
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Dubai
  • Eastbourne
  • Ft Lauderdale, Florida
  • Grand Canyon
  • Hiroshima
  • Honolulu
  • Houston, Texas
  • Kohler, Wisconsin
  • Kyoto
  • Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • Las Vegas
  • Lille, France
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico
  • Miami Beach
  • Mt Fuji & Hakone, Japan
  • Munich
  • New Orleans
  • New York
  • Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Oman
  • Orlando
  • Palm Springs & Joshua Natl Park
  • Park City, Utah
  • Reykjavik
  • Route 66 and Hoover Dam
  • San Francisco
  • San Diego
  • Santa Fe
  • Saugatuck, Michigan
  • Sedona, Arizona
  • Sonoma & Napa Valley
  • St Petersburg, FL
  • Taos, New Mexico
  • Tokyo
  • Uruguay
  • Washington DC
  • The good old days?
  • The men in charge Parts I
  • / II / III / IV / V
  • Carlisle (a) 1986
  • Luton (a) 1989
  • Sunderland (h) 1975
  • Stoke City (a) 1994
  • Crystal Palarse (a) 2000
  • Norwich City (h) 1987
  • Coventry City (a) 2001
  • Barnsley (h) 1985
  • Bristol City (a) 1994
  • West Brom (a) 1995
  • Hull City (h) 1976
  • Burnley (h) 1978
  • Nottingham Forest (a) 1989
  • Sheffield Wednesday (h) 1986
  • Ipswich Town (a) 1981
  • Birmingham City (a) 1993
  • Hereford United (a) 1989
  • Interesting stuff
  • We're not on the telly much but who is?
  • Football Pyramid
  • Football Ground Guide
  • The Political Economy of Football
  • The Fiver
  • London 2012
  • TV Cream
  • Nice cup of tea and a sit down
  • Banksy
  • www.flickr.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from ChicagoAddick. Make your own badge here.
    And not so interesting
    Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Powered by Blogger
    EMail me
    ChicagoAddick@Gmail.com
    Follow me on Twitter
  • ChicagoAddick
  • CAFC on Twitter
  • Archives
    June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / July 2008 / August 2008 / September 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / January 2009 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / February 2010 / March 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 /