One of the great annual events held in DC returns again September 23rd: WalkingTown DC. What it is is a series of fantastic free walking tours throughout the city. In some cases they’re commercial walking tours that offer the tours gratis, and in some cases (and typically they’re the more interesting ones) they are organized only for the event.
GM has been doing these for years. His favorite was from a few years ago that was based in Mt. Pleasant and told the story of the neighborhood’s music history as it wound from honky tonk to Hispanic to punk rock.
You don’t have to pay, but in many cases you have to make reservations. This is particularly the case for Georgetown related tours, which fill up well in advance of the day. There are two Georgetown tours this year:
Georgetown
Meet in the park at 28th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW, next to the gas station. End near 34th and M Sts., NW.
Neighborhood: Georgetown
Nearest Metro Start: Foggy Bottom or Georgetown-Union Station Circulator bus
Nearest Metro End: Foggy Bottom or Georgetown-Union Station Circulator bus
Fitness: Moderate, 1.3 miles
Reservations required.
Tour Theme: Neighborhood History
To put it simply, a walk through Washington’s tony Georgetown neighborhood is a venture through time — of 200-year-old mansions and their eccentric owners, of fortunes in trade won and lost, of marvelous architecture from Federal to Victorian, of the once-bustling freedman community Herring Hill, of political intrigue, of green preservation and urban renewal. And, of course, no one can mention Georgetown without the Kennedys. In the 1950s John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline almost single-handedly turned the neighborhood into the city’s politically fashionable place to live. We’ll point out the houses of the movers and shakers, as well as the remarkable historic properties here that are open to the public (and, yes, The Exorcist steps!). This two-hour, two-mile tour winds up in Georgetown’s shopping and restaurant district just in time for lunch. Or if you’re on a roll, we can point you to the C&O Canal, a historic and bucolic waterway.
Presented by Cultural Tourism DC member organization Washington Walks and led by Washington Walks tour guide Amy Kunz.
Note: Be prepared to climb a hill or two.
Oak Hill Cemetery Tour
Meet and end at Oak Hill Cemetery gate, 3001 R St., NW at 30th and R Sts., NW.
Neighborhood: Dupont Circle
Nearest Metro Start: Dupont Circle, North exit or G2 Metrobus to 30th and P Sts.
Nearest Metro End: Dupont Circle
Fitness: High, 1.5 miles
Reservations required.
Tour Theme: Washington in Conflict
Oak Hill Cemetery at the eastern edge of Georgetown overlooking Rock Creek is one of Washington’s most scenic and historic cemeteries, a shining example of the Rural Cemetery movement of the mid-19th century. On this walking tour we will visit the graves of dozens of locally and nationally prominent leaders, including media figures, Cabinet secretaries, Civil War notables, and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, Joseph Henry.
Presented and led by native Washingtonian and lifelong Civil War buff Craig Howell.
Note: Expect steep and rugged but short sections along the roads and pathways. Wear sturdy shoes.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 