DC 4.0

Hey there, Good Readers.

Just wanted to thank you for popping by every day to keep up.  I know you're not used to me blogging every day now, so I appreciate the visits since I'm trying to stay ahead of the game on this visit, instead of letting it lag for weeks.  Obviously I won't have time for anything when I return to NYC as I'll just have two weeks to pack and move!

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Today I intend to get right out to the Air & Space Museum before the historic aviators wing closes on Sunday for renovations until May 2010!

But I have to get this post out of the way right now, yes?

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So, Thursday:  I spent the afternoon wandering around Georgetown.  There were not many tourists out, so I felt somewhat conspicuous using even my phonecam.  So I waited until dark.  It's the kind of villagey place that would look better with the lights on anyway.  You'll see.

Georgetown is twee.  It is the original Old Town, so it's like Colonial/Federal style overload, which I love.  It's full of tiny antique shops, little art galleries, and boutiques for many things. You know you're in a posh place when you walk up the street and see:  Ralph Lauren, Karen Millen London, Reiss London, Lacoste, Rugby, United Colors of Benetton, Occitane en Provence, Bo Concept, and so on.

If any of you have been to Richmond-upon-Thames, in SW London, you will know what I mean.  Georgetown is even more twee than that, more spacious, less crowded, even more picturesque, and cleaner.  (Washington is the cleanest city I've seen in aaaaaaages!)

Like Richmond, it's on the river - the Potomac.  It also has the C&O canal which was once a major shipping and transport route all the way up to Ohio.  It was preserved from paving over in the 1960s, and is today a walking and bike trail.  

However, by the time I reached the Canal I had spent too much time at Barnes & Noble choosing from a wide array of DC maps and looking at too many books *ahem* and so it was dark out.  But again, don't worry.  When I am living in Friendship Heights, I can hop on the bus at FH station and pop down to G'town anytime I want.

I got a great waterproof, tearproof Nat Geo map.  I love how the new foldout paper maps are lightly matte plasticized and less fragile while still being lightweight.  I want to put a good, clear map on my wall so I can finish memorizing this city.  I am pretty familiar with it already from studying apartment locations over the past few months, but I need the overall layout burned into my mind.

So who wants to see cute pics?

As it was dark when I left the bookshop, I walked up to near where the water is.  Rick, I did see Grace Church - in the dark, but didn't even know it would be there!  

I was getting hungry and was a little fed up of the grocery store quick meals I've been on this week, so decided to eat something proper.  So as I was walking up Wisconsin Avenue, I stopped at a little Mexican restaurant called Los Cuartos.

The a good restaurant salsa experience:  warm, thin, crispy tortilla chips, and a spicy salsa with lots of cilantro and no black pepper.  (They don't know how to do it in London or NYC, where the chips are thick and hard, there's not enough cilantro or chile, and too much black pepper.)

Guacamole, pico de gallo.  Under the cheese:  chicken tamale and chile relleno.  Rice and refried beans.  I have never ever eaten the last two items, preferring to fill up on the important stuff!

A little shop called Paper and Tea off Wisconsin Ave.

Paper and Tea from across the road - a cobbled road with an old tram track.

A home decor shop across from Paper and Tea.  The back of this store was also cute with ivy, a little gate, a little door, and a basket on a chair.  

A little Episcopalian church on Wisconsin Ave.

A cute little wine cellar.  I had liked the front door while passing it in the day.

An antique store window dressing in true Federal style - which is the American version of the early 19th century Empire (French) or Regency (English) styles

Carrots luxuriating on my corduroy trousers......again.

Another thing I have liked about being out and about in DC is not hearing the abrasive Noo Yawk or hard Northeast regional accents. Plenty of normal cosmopolitan American voices.  I heard a few Southern accents which made me smile.