The Georgetown Metropolitan

Last summer, GM got a bum heel and had to give up running for a while. Because he still likes beer, ice cream and other highly caloric treats, he needed to find a replacement exercise. And he found it right here in Georgetown at Thompson’s Boat House: recreational rowing.

While GM had experience with other boating modes, like kayaking, canoeing or sailing, his rowing experience was limited to an inflatable boat when he was a kid (dubbed “My Yacht”). And rowing is not something you can just jump into without some training. But luckily Thompson’s is all set up to offer it. So GM signed up for a series of sculling classes.

And that is why he found himself standing around Thompson’s with a group of strangers at 6:15 AM one Monday last July.

That day, GM and his classmates spent an hour and a half learning the basics of how to scull. (Rowing has two basic styles: sculling, where you have two oars; and sweeping, where you have one. So long as you plan on rowing by yourself, you need to scull. With two people, up to eight, you can sweep or scull, although sculling is unusual for boats over four people.)

And then the following day, and the rest of the week, he and the rest of the class were back on the docks at 6:15 AM getting into boats and getting the hang off it. By the end of the week, GM was certified to rent out a boat from Thompson’s. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some cool home elevators in Georgetown (and other places).
• Ewing hangs out with GU students.

2800 block of Pennsylvania Ave.

Listen, don’t get GM wrong. He loves coffee. He has it every single morning. The stronger, the better. No milk, cream and/or sugar. Just straight, bitter and black as onyx. But it’s really getting out of hand in Georgetown.

Next Monday, the ANC is holding its May meeting. And a variety of items are on the agenda. One item that’s not up for actual discussion is the apparent arrival of yet another coffee shop within a block or so of Wisconsin and M St. This one is an Melbourne, Australia-inspired company called Bluestone Lane. It’s not, to be clear, a Melbourne, Australia-based coffee company. It’s just inspired by Melbourne. Which apparently has a great coffee culture. Which sounds both believable and also something that could easily be complete BS. (“Oooooh, did you hear about the new ice cream shop? It’s Dublin, Ireland-inspired.”) This particular coffee chain so far only has shops where rich New York financiers work, live or summer.

It will apparently be moving in to 1064-66 Wisconsin Ave., which is a bit of a mystery location since 1064 is Pinstripes and 1066 is Frye Company. Perhaps Frye Company is closing or consolidating or decided to co-locate with a Melbourne, Australia-inspired coffee shop.

This will add yet another coffee shop (or cafe that sells coffee) within frothing distance of the center of commercial Georgetown. That list will eventually include:

• Paul Bakery
• Laduree
• Starbucks
• Grace St. Coffee
• Peet’s
• Blue Bottle
• Dean and Deluca
• Simit + Smith
• Pain Quotidien

Here is the rest of the non-Melbourne, Australia-inspired agenda: Continue reading →

Photo by Ontheway Advice.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Lululemon is back to its normal space.
• GM missed this while he was away in New Orleans, but the Lady Godiva store closed.

Tudor Place

This week for now and a long time ago, GM visits the intersection of N and Wisconsin on May 3, 1971. This was a day of wide-spread anti-war protests around Washington. (A wonderful collection of photos from the protest, from which this photo was drawn, is here).

The photo shows protesters blocking traffic, which strikes GM as a pretty level-headed response by young people who were being sent halfway around the world to die in a jungle for a pointless war. We’ve learned so much since then! Now our pointless wars are mostly in the desert. Continue reading →

Photo by Donald West.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Man punches and attempts to sexually assault a woman, is arrested.
• Laduree finally opens.

Photo by German Laulion.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice profile of ANC Commissioner Monica Roache. (Which is part of a new blog by the BID)
• New condos are still super expensive in Georgetown, but existing condo sales prices are now being exceeded by Logan Circle.

GM’s off to New Orleans for the rest of the week for Spring Break. Catch you next week!