The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• How the Key Bridge Exxon condos could affect the gondola proposal.
• While there haven’t been many signs of progress, and a large “for lease sign” is up, GM hears that the Compass Coffee is still coming to the old Georgetown theater.

3200 block of P St.

GM has been doing “Know Your Trees” for almost a year. And the reality is that he’s covered just about 90% of all trees you’re going to see in tree boxes around Georgetown. So now he’s into the real deep cuts. And today that includes the Kentucky coffeetree.

The first thing to know about the Kentucky coffeetree is that it doesn’t grow coffee beans. It was named that because the seeds it does grow look like coffee beans. But that’s where the resemblance ends.

The leaves of a Kentucky coffeetree grow off long branches like this:

Photo by Missouri Department of Conservation. Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown library closed for two days due to….snakes.
• GU found human remains in 2014 during construction of Arrupe Hall. Some speculate that these could be remains of enslaved or free African Americans.

3200 block of P St.

On Monday, the website Washcycle reported on a new project by the National Park Service that would substantial improve a path used by many Georgetown cyclists.

The path is part of the Rock Creek Park path, but it’s the part that stretches from Virginia Ave. (near Fletcher’sThompson’s Boat House) and travels between the river and the Kennedy Center to the Lincoln Memorial. It is an excellent route to take from Georgetown to get to the mall and beyond (it is also GM’s morning commute route). But for the long section where the path is next to the Kennedy Center it is a rough brick surface that is not terribly comfortable to bike over. And it is a bit narrow too.

NPS has several improvements it is proposing. One is to resurface the path along this whole route with a “consistent porous asphalt”. They also plan to reconfigure the benches to make the whole path effectively 14 feet wide instead of the 6 it is now.

This is also a route very popular with walkers and runners. The extra width will help with that, but it is still imperative that cyclists yield to the pedestrians and make sure to pass only when there’s plenty of room.

Washcycle has more great details like a plan to fix the weird circular path just east of the Roosevelt Bridge:

This is actually called “the Belvedere” and it used to be the grand western end of Constitution Ave. Here it is from above in 1951:

Once Roosevelt Bridge was built, Constitution Ave. was diverted to the on-ramp. But some of the elms which once lined the street still stand.

Anyway, check out Washcycle for more details.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• 30th St. getting a much needed repaving.
• The new Indian place that is taking over the old Dolcezza space is now open.

3200 block of Volta Place

The votes are in, but in the end the only votes that counted were ours. GM went with the second blue. It is…really blue. Maybe a bit too much. We’ll see.

Thank you for your votes….

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM is hearing reports that the Key Bridge Exxon is shut down. If the condo development moves forward, that would mean time is running out for the gondola project.
• A little bit more on that Cynthia Rowley store that’s coming to Cady’s Alley.