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If you like to track your exercise regime with the popular app Strava, you may have noticed from time to time that it gives your workouts some odd suggested names. For example, above is from a row that GM did a few months ago. (For those who don’t use the app, it basically uses sensors in your phone or other devices to track your workout, including where you went, how fast, etc. When you save each workout, it suggests a name for the workout, which is where the workout took place.) It suggested that GM’s row workout be called “Potomac Boat Club Building – Hamburgh”.

The first part makes sense. That’s were GM left from (and returned). But where the heck is Hamburgh?

Well it’s a former town founded by German immigrants in the 18th century. It was where Foggy Bottom is now (here’s a cool map from the Library of Congress showing the original town in red superimposed over the Washington street grid that eventually replaced it:

But why in the world would an app in the 21st century suggest you use a name of a long gone town of German immigrants? Continue reading →

1300 block of 33rd St.

Photo by Vincent.

Do you need to get a Covid test? Do you like spa-like experiences? Why not both? That’s what’s waiting for you in the storefront of a former shoe store on M St.

Same Day Testing has set up shop at 3237 M St. in the former Aldo Shoes. Last week GM, in an abundance of caution following (masked and outdoor) exposure to someone who later tested positive for Covid, decided to give the service a try and here are his observations:

Setting up an appointment was super easy. Literally a half hour after Googling for the company, GM was in the waiting area. And he was blown away at how the how experience was like some sort of a spa:

The seating area is tastefully decorated with a random assemblage of stuff, including what looked to be an antique chestnut roaster. And quiet EDM music was piped in through unseen speakers. Within ten seconds of entering, GM was checked in by way of a QR code texted to him when he made the reservation. He was then directed to take a seat in one of the faux leather chairs along the wall. Continue reading →

Photo by Vincent.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New look for the proposed new apartment building on Prospect.
• A little bit more of Georgetown’s small role in the new Wonder Woman movie.

1500 block of 33rd St.

After years of construction to repair and shore up Key Bridge, which left the landmark looking sparkling clean, the abutments were recently tagged with graffiti.

GM first noticed the tags last week, and he believes they were added within a couple weeks. One of the tags says clearly “JACK”. (Former Councilmember Jack Evans did not reply by press time to deny he was the artist since GM did not actually reach out to him.) The others say “GEO” and “JTEA”.

It’ll take some powerwashing, but the graffiti is unlikely to leave any permanent damage. It still goes to show, though, that you can scrub a wall clean, but someone out there will simply see it as a clean canvass.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• California woman pleads guilty to placing a bomb threat against Georgetown Visitation in response to the school’s decision to list same-sex weddings in the alumni magazine.
• Another splashy video in support of the planned beer garden at Penn and M St.

Potomac Boat Club

Walk down M St. today and you’re treated to a nearly endless string of moderate to expensive clothing stores, carefully planned to target the regional and international visitors who populate the brick-lined sidewalks alongside you. Dig a little further back into history and those same blocks were populated much more by moderate to rowdy bars and restaurants, representing one of the only such dining destinations in the Capital.

But dig even further back into the 20th century, and you’ll discover an M St. that is almost unrecognizable to the M St. of today. That’s because in the middle part of the 20th century, M St. was extremely car oriented.

GM was struck by this fact recently while perusing a collection of photos published by DDOT. Many of the photos GM had seen before, but seeing them all together in succession really hit home how dominated M St. was by a thick collection of gas stations, car dealerships, service stations, and other businesses built entirely around the car.

A few years ago, GM recounted how many gas stations once lined M St. But it went far beyond just a place to get gas. You can see them in the DDOT photos. Above is 30th and M, and shows the used car lot that once stood where, well, the Latham Hotel once stood.

Here are the others (in no particular order):

This is just east of 33rd and M, with Sunoco gas station, a used car lot, and a Chevron billboard (to boot) on the left. Another used car dealership in on the right in a building that no longer exists.

Here’s another shot from 30th and M, showing that there was a Sinclair gas station next to the used car lot. A bit further back, you can just make out the Ford dealership that once occupied the Nike Store building. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• In a sign of the times, Reverie transitions to being a pizza shop for the time being to weather the winter.
• Here’s a nice rundown by the Georgetowner of other restaurant openings and temporary changes around Georgetown (and elsewhere).