The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week on Know Your Trees, GM wants to help you help yourself. Rather than discuss a particular species, GM wants to show you how to find out what trees are on your block.

It’s all well and good to read about trees on the Internet or through a guidebook. But it’s better to look at trees up close and observe how it changes throughout the year. And you’ve got a small textbook right outside your door.

Every block in Georgetown probably has anywhere between ten and twenty trees. GM recommends you try to identify each tree on your block (or if you want to start off slowly, just learn those on your side of the block). And while you could try your hand at identifying the trees based upon field guides, there’s a cheat sheet. Continue reading →

Photo by Mark Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Chicken fingers are all well and good, but there better be something else for that tuition.
• Speaking of GU, there’s a senior who’s running for State Senate in the greatest state in the Union. (If he wins, he’d actually represent GM’s home town).

Dumbarton Oaks

GM has decided to catch up to 2010 and join Instagram. So go follow him @thegeorgetownmet! He will post photos daily from his archive of a thousand or so photos, plus new ones! Check it out!

Photo by Mark Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Reminder: Dumbarton Oaks Gardens open again tomorrow!
• Washington Harbour for sale again.

1600 block of 32nd St.

With freezing temperatures still in the forecast, it’s hard to believe spring is right around the corner, but it is. And with spring in Georgetown comes a series of annual and beloved events. Here are GM’s favorites:

The Georgetown House Tour

First of the two grand dame tours, the Georgetown house tour will be held this year on April 28th. It is held every year to benefit St. John’s Episcopal church. As the title states, this tour gives you a chance to walk through 8-10 of Georgetown’s nicest homes. The patrons party is always the place to hobnob with the nobbiest hobs.

The Georgetown Garden Tour

Of the two tours, the Garden Tour is probably GM’s favorite. Like the house tour, you get a chance to look behind the gates of 8 or so homes, but GM just thinks there’s something more interesting about gardens than interiors. This tour–the event’s 90th edition–will be held on May 12th, and is run by the Georgetown Garden Club. Continue reading →

Photo by Marc Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• High school rowing shell and motorboat tip over into frigid waters at Thompsons, but thankfully everybody is going to be alright.
• Despite skepticism, this group agrees that the gondola could be a good idea.

3100 block of R St.

Sure you could celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday getting drunk on Guinness at a chain bar, but why not take an opportunity to explore Georgetown’s Irish history?

As you may know, during the early 20th century, parts of Georgetown were heavily Irish. The center of it was on the west side, close to the Catholic landmarks of GU, Trinity and Visitation.

The Irish concentration is long gone, but with the help of old photos you can imagine the ghosts still walking the streets. In the 30s, photographer Carl Mydans walked through the poor and heavily Irish blocks of west Georgetown and captured the scene of children treating the sidewalks as their playroom:

Continue reading →