Washington DC: Fun and Interesting Facts
My last trip to DC was a brief overnight stay, while I was cycling down the East Coast with a friend. After riding 80 miles through torrential rains for most of the day, we could smell the end of our journey, could feel ourselves peeling our socks off of our blistered feet, could taste a big meal waiting for our weary muscles.
We’d entered an enormous green swath on our map that promised to eventually become “Rock Creek Park”, and according to our directions, once we made it out the other end of the park, we’d be in our nation’s capital!
We rode for two hours and 17 miles through paths, winding trails and empty roads. We knew we must be close to the city, but we had no way of knowing exactly where we were. This park, it seemed, was an extremely deep ravine, with tunnels cutting through the sides of mountains, and breathtakingly large bridges arching over the river we were riding alongside. We were lost, wet, cold and desperate, but awestruck at the beauty and enormous scale of everything surrounding us.
And then, out of the mist, a rider appeared from a bend in the path and asked us if we knew where we were. We admitted we hadn’t a clue, and told him where we were trying to go. He told us we were painfully close, but that this Rock Island situation could be a bit confusing for the out-of-towner. He took us on a few twists and turns that we never would have found otherwise, and before we knew it we were climbing a steep road to the top! We were free, and downtown!
What’s number one on my “list of things to check out in DC that are NOT memorial or museum related”?
1. Visit Rock Creek Park
On any other day of my life, this place would have been a hidden treasure. Recreation facilities include a golf course; equestrian trails; sport venues, including a tennis stadium, which hosts major professional events; a nature center and planetarium; an outdoor concert venue and picnic and playground facilities. Rock Creek Park also maintains cultural exhibits, including the Pierce Mill and Civil War fortifications, such as Fort Stevens and Fort DeRussy. Rock Creek is a popular venue for jogging, cycling, and inline skating, especially on the long, winding Beach Drive.
This place is truly amazing for its ability to hide any clues that it lies within urban Washington DC. It’s an easy escape from some of the more touristy areas, and at almost 1,800 acres (twice the size of Central Park), there’s an abundance of area to explore every week. Check out the National Parks website (www.nps.gov/rocr/index.htm) for more information about rules and guidelines for the park.
Now, we’ve all gone to Washington DC in 8th grade and seen all the things we’re supposed to see. But what about you folks that live in Washington on a daily basis? You certainly don’t want to spend a Saturday checking out the Lincoln memorial. Sorry Lincoln. What else is there to do in the city during the summertime besides the Air and Space museum and the Holocaust Museum?
2. Start buying local!
The following FRESHFARM markets are open again for the 2010 season:
Penn Quarter Market
Location: North end of 8th St. NW, between D and E Sts. NW
Season: April 1 to Dec. 23, 2010
Day and time: Thursdays, 3pm to 7pm
Farmers sell fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, cookies, seasonal soups and pastries, soaps, plants, orchids, cut flowers and meat.
Dupont Circle Market
Location: In the 1500 block of 20th St., between Massachusetts Ave. and Q St., in the adjacent parking lot of PNC Bank
Season: Year-round, rain or shine
Day and time: Regular season (April through Dec. 2010): Sundays, 9am to 1pm. Winter Hours (Jan. through March 2011): 10am to 1pm
The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times of London named the market one of the top farmers’ markets in the country. During the peak season, there are more than 30 farmers offering fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit pies, breads, fresh pasta, cut flowers, potted plants, soaps and herbal products.
H Street Market
Location: 625 H Street NE (parking lot directly across from the H Street Self Storage)
Season: May 1 to Oct. 30, 2009
Day and time: Saturdays, 9am to 12pm
The farmers at H Street bring handmade cows’ milk cheeses, yogurt, organic and grass-fed meats, fruits, vegetables, eggs, pastries, sorbets, ice creams, flowers and more.
Foggy Bottom Market
Location: I Street between New Hampshire and 24th Street, NW
Season: April 7 to Nov. 24, 2010
Day and time: Wednesdays, 3pm to 7pm
Foggy Bottom farmers bring their premium pickings of tree and field fruits, vegetables, eggs, organic and grass-fed meats, handmade cheeses, breads/desserts, preserves, herbs, flowers, plants and more.
Freshfarm Market by the White House
Location: 810 Vermont Avenue, NW (between H St, NW and I St, NW)
Season: May 6 – Nov. 18, 2010
Day and time: Thursdays, 3 pm to 7 pm
Shop for pasture-raised meats, artisan cheeses, milk and yogurt, fresh fruits and vegetables, breads and baked good, cut flowers, preserves and more.
Visit FRESHFARM’s website for hundreds of recipes based on the items you buy at the markets – a neat tool (www.freshfarmmarket.org)!
3. Visit Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens
There’s plenty to learn at this park, which is the only National Park to display cultivated aquatic plants.
From the National Parks website (www.nps.gov/keaq/historyculture/people.htm), a brief history of the park is given:
“In the late 1800s Walter Shaw, bought a small parcel of land here on the flats of the Anacostia River. Perhaps homesick, Walter Shaw had a few wild water lilies from his native Maine sent to him to add to the pond. They flourished, and he began filling in more marshland, making more ponds as he added new varieties of flowers. When Shaw died in 1921, the Shaw Gardens was a commercial enterprise run by his widowed daughter, Helen Shaw Fowler. She expanded the local attraction where U.S. presidents, their wives, and neighbors visited in summer.”
The gardens are an excellent spot for yoga and tai chi practices, or for families to spend a relaxing day discovering the intricacies of nature. Plan a trip in late summer or early fall to see the exotic and large Victoria water lilies.
4. Go camping just 13 miles outside of the city limits
I’ve lived in large cities for the last eight years. I love it. I love the activity, the noise, the people and the density. But every now and again, I want to escape to the woods, talk to nature a bit, and see more than the three brightest stars in the sky that manage to poke their way through the dim-purple city-lit sky in the city. Greenbelt park is the perfect location to do exactly that. At only 13 miles outside of Washington DC, it’s the perfect escape after work on Friday. You’ll arrive before nightfall, and have a campfire going in no time. You’ll absolutely forget that you’re so close to all the things that you’re not doing at home: laundry, tidying, grocery shopping, feeding the kids (oop?!).
The park has miles of hiking trails and picnic areas for a serene getaway.
5. Take a day trip to Tilghman Island for the Seafood Festival
Mark your calendar. June 26 is the annual Tilghman Island Seafood Festival. You live on the Chesapeke Bay. The fact is, you have excellent seafood available at your disposal whenever you feel inclined. But take it from a Bostonian that was transplanted to the painfully-landlocked city of Chicago. Sieze that seafood and don’t ever take it for granted! If there’s a seafood festival being hosted on the shores of a gorgeous island, you need to be there!
In addition to amazing seafood for the eatin’, there is an oyster shucking contest, a crab picking contest, vendors, a boat docking contest, live music, a silent auction, a row boat race, a work boat race, a live auction and interactive demonstrations! Phew! Sounds exhausting. Be sure to fill up on delicious seafood to ensure that you survive the day (www.tilghmanmd.com/tilghmanday.htm)
6. Visit the Flea Market at Eastern Market
Location: Hine SchoolYard at 7th and C St. SE at Easterm Market Metro
Time: Every Sunday 10am to 5pm
Info: http://www.easternmarket.net/
This flea market is a shopper’s dream. Vendors sell Art, antiques, accessories, bags, beads, books, buddhas, crafts, clothes, collectibles, carpets, cameras, community finds, furniture, frame, fun imports, instruments, incense, jewelry, jackets, jeans, “junque”, maps, masks, mirrors, music, prints, photographs, pottery, tees, tools, tin, vinyl, vintage… Enough said. Check it out.
7. Get back to Rock Creek park for some Latin Jazz
Remember that “concert venue” mentioned in number one? It’s better known as Carter Barron Amphitheater. And on Friday, June 11, this venue is hosting Jazz Under the Stars. “Breathe in the summer air, sip a glass of wine, and hear the world-renowned Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band and Colombian Jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda, with special guest Paquito D’Rivera. See their website for tickets and other jazz events taking place throughout the summer in DC, www.dcjazzfest.org.
8. Follow up that jazz with some food and wine
Roll out of bed the morning after Jazz Under the Stars and move your way on over to National Harbor, on the Potomac River for the 2010 Food and Wine Festival. The show is open on Saturday June 12 from 12pm to 9pm and on Sunday June 13 from 12pm to 6pm. The festival will feature chefs that use local, fresh and responsibly sourced ingredients. Events include cooking for kids, seminars and chef demonstrations.
The festival is open to consumers and trade professionals. Buy tickets on their website, at www.foodandwinenh.com.
9. Attend the Smithsonian [Folk Festival]
This festival takes place for two weeks every summer, overlapping Independence Day. This year, it begins on Thursday, June 24. According to the website (www.festival.si.edu), ” It is an educational presentation that features community-based cultural exemplars. Free to the public, like other Smithsonian museums, each Festival typically draws more than one million visitors. Over the years, it has brought more than 23,000 musicians, artists, performers, craftspeople, workers, cooks, storytellers, and others to the National Mall to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and aesthetics that embody the creative vitality of community-based traditions.”
10. Get wet in the Potomac River
Rent a kayak from Jack’s Boathouse (www.jacksboathouse.com). Located at 3500 K Street, this is an ideal spot to head towards downtown by paddling east, or away from the city by paddling west. Jack’s offers canoes or kayaks, rented by the hour, or as part of a guided group tour. Take a look at the city from a different angle – get in the water!
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