The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Ted Eytan.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The story behind the new Allbirds store in the former Ben & Jerry’s.
• GU weighing in against the proposed cut of the G2 bus.

1300 block of 33rd St.

Tonight the City Tavern Club is hosting what should be a fascinating talk by Yvette LaGonterie. Ms. LaGonterie is a retired federal employee who has used her time to research her family’s history. And in particular, she is exploring her family’s connection to the building that now houses the City Tavern Club.

As the name suggests, the building was once a tavern. And at least three generations of LaGonterie’s family worked there enslaved. This is an incredibly important aspect of Georgetown’s history to delve and highlight. To do so inside the building itself should be all the more moving.

The event is free and open to anyone, but you need to RSVP to membership@CityTavernClubdc.org. See you there!

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Update to an article GM ran earlier this week: he misread a report from the OGB. The Parrot Ropewalk tennis courts aren’t being totally eliminated. It is just being reduced to a single court with a new north-south alignment. The Lover’s Lane courts will be rebuilt with their current alignments.
• The skeletons found under the Q st. home do not include Yarrow Mamout’s, but are likely from an African American burial site.

3100 block of P St.

The ANC is meeting for its March session next Monday at 6:30 pm at Georgetown Visitation.

The agenda, below, has a couple interesting items. The first is the proposed cuts to bus service (which GM has already discussed). Presumably the Commission will come out strongly against the cuts. It’s too early to tell whether pressure against the cuts will reverse the agency’s position. The cuts are largely driven by budgetary pressures, particularly new rules pushed by Virginia that limits the amount of money WMATA can get. Thanks jerks! How about we cut a lane of traffic on I-66 coming in to DC as thanks?

Anyhow, the ANC is also introducing a new feature where they highlight a small independent business. This month they are featuring Georgetown Cafe, a small coffee shop on N St. just east of Wisconsin Ave.

Here is the full agenda:

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E
ANC 2E Public Meeting
Monday, March 2nd, 2020

Continue reading →

Photo by Donald West.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Fun map of Georgetown from 1877.
• A rare auction of a Georgetown home was apparently taken off the table.

C & O Canal

The gardens of Dumbarton Oaks are spectacular throughout the year. But during the spring, they are somehow even more beautiful. But the beauty comes in successive waves. Visit only once a season, and you might miss out. Or even if you do visit at a perfect moment, you might simply miss out on some corner of the gardens that are especially gorgeous that day.

GM spends every spring carefully timing his visits to the gardens to maximize the best parts. And its only fair that he share this knowledge with the public. So without further ado, here is a Users Guide to Dumbarton Oaks in the spring.

The guide is broken down by the particular attraction and when to visit to see it. Weather obviously can affect the timing a great deal. So if you are really eager to see one or more of the vernal shows below, it’s best to check it out on the early side and come back again if you’re too early.

Refer to this map on the gardens’ website for where to find the exact locations of the scenes below.

Plum Walk

One of the first displays of spring in the gardens is the Plum Walk. It’s a row of about a dozen plum trees that blossom with strikingly purple flowers. Like many of the items on this list, it is perfect for portraits, particularly of couples. When it’s in bloom, you often find newly engaged couples posing along the walk. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New water taxi service.
• Some sort of weird furniture store concept it replacing North Face.