The Georgetown Metropolitan

The K St./Water St. protected bike has finally been extended to the entrance of the Capital Crescent Trail. This work, which has been long in the planning, took place over the last several weeks. It has transformed the western end of this stretch.

Heading from the east, the first notable addition you will likely notice is the new mini traffic circle at 34th St.:

The purpose of this circle is to facilitate cars turning around at this point, rather than heading all the way down to the Capital Crescent trailhead. To discourage going further, DDOT has removed almost all of the street parking west of this spot. Anyone who has been down this way on a weekend afternoon knows how dangerous it is as drivers scream down the street looking for free parking, only to then have to execute a dangerous three-point turn to head back once they realize no spots are open. It will be much safer with far fewer cars driving west of 34th St.

When GM walked by recently, the circle was not having its intended effect, at least not yet. For one, drivers went right through the circle. GM is informed that a raised surface in the center will soon be installed that will discourage this. Further, unfortunately not all the parking was removed, so people are still going to be driving past the circle despite the chances of finding a spot being basically zero.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM’s foster dog Socks is still available for adoption! Please let anyone who’s in the market for a new dog know about him!
• GU’s weekly Covid numbers still stubbornly stuck in the lower double digits.

Last week, the City Tavern Club put out for permanent display a photograph of Alfred Delaney Clarke. Clarke, along with several generations worth of family members, was an enslaved resident of the building in the decades leading up to the Civil War when it was host to the Georgetown Hotel. The photo is the only known photo of any resident of the historic tavern building.

The photo was in the possession of descendants of Clarke, seventeen of whom were present for the dedication last week:

Clarke and his family were enslaved by Eleanor Lang, who ran the hotel from 1832 until 1865. This relationship first began when Lang purchased two teenage girls in the 1820s. She would ultimately enslave no fewer than eleven members of Clarke’s family.

The connection between the tavern building and the Clarke family has been rigorously researched by Yvette LaGonterie (who is also one of the members of the family). She gave a fascinating talk at the City Tavern Club in the weeks before Covid hit. (It was probably the last time GM was in a crowded indoor space!) The club itself has actively welcomed and encouraged this research and this display is part of its own reckoning with its past. Or as Mary Beth Torpey, president of the club, stated in the event’s press release “it is through the Clarke lineage that we collectively can honor and appreciate the full story of the building’s past.”

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Developer pitches idea to redevelop some properties on Water St., only truly waterfront homes in DC.
• GU to soon require all visitors to be fully vaccinated.

A lot of people know that Dumbarton Oaks is beautiful in the spring. But GM likes to issue this annual reminder that it’s also quite lovely in the fall:

Dumbarton Oaks is well known for its spring displays of incredible seasonal bounties. But people often overlook how spectacular the acres of gardens are in the fall. Hurry up and catch it now before it’s gone.

But here’s just a taste. The wildflowers of the Herbaceous Border are breathtaking:

The rest of the garden is at that magical moment when the gardeners loosen their grips and the plants give off one more explosion before the winter:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Trail construction threatens historic black cemeteries.
• Beautiful vintage sketch of Georgetown from Rosslyn.

Since early August, the 7-Eleven at the corner of O and Wisconsin has been closed by order of the Department of Health. However it is completely unclear what the violation was nor whether the store is attempting to remedy it.

When GM inquired with the Department of Health for information about the closure, he was directed to the agency’s online record database. But when he searched for the order, none came up. There are plenty of orders relating to 7-Elevens around the city, but none are for this particular location. So GM can’t say what the actual violation was, nor any records that indicate that 7-Eleven is trying to fix it.

Browsing records for other stores, it looks like common violations include things like not keeping warming trays warm enough, or refrigerators cold enough. For instance, at their location at 1315 2nd St. NE, they were cited in November of last year for failing to, among other things, “have proper eating, tasting, drinking or tabacco use”, “receive food at proper temperature”, and “wash fruits or vegetables”. That location continued to display some bad behavior during the agency’s follow up inspection three weeks later. But ultimately no further action appears to have been taken.