The Georgetown Metropolitan

GM doesn’t normally do this, but he was especially touched by a comment he received the other day in response to posting the image of the old Roy Rogers on Wisconsin Ave. It’s from reader “George” and it’s a love letter to Georgetown’s past:

I remember the balloon man, I heard he was busted for selling heroin, he used to be outside of the Little Tavern, at Wisconsin and N St. And those were not “Hells Angels”, they were “Pagans”. They were scary! Used to be a lot of them in the middle sixties, down on M Street, when the auto parts stores were there, and the saddlery store, near Desperado’s, and the laundromat on M St. And the other Little Tavern. Near Stohlman’s Chevrolet, and Menehan’s and Hardware, around the corner was Weaver’s. And the Cellar Door. And the head shops selling trippy posters and black lights. Before “Up Against the Wall”. Remember when Britches first opened on Wisconsin, just below N? 1967. And Doc Dalinsky’s, Mrs. Crocker’s lamp shop, Dorcas Hardin’s dress shop. Bill Fitzgerald’s Wine and Cheese Shop, next to Peoples Drug Store. Or Coffee, Tea and Spice? Rive Gauche! The French Market, Magruders, the Sealtest dairy at 25th and M St? They delivered! Rich’s shoe store. John Learmont’s Records and Books. Arpad’s Antiques. Long before, my mom kept her horse in the stable at 23rd and P Street. We used to take the street car to the amusement park at Glen Echo! My sister and I once got stuck there because our nanny didn’t have the 5 cents for the return trip. Buying our goldfish at Woolworth’s. Exotics pets up at Friendly Beasties. And the man with his haunting bell, who would walk the streets in the summer, sharpening knives. Lad Mills selling Esso on Que Street. Georgetown was a great place to grow up, and still is. Continue reading →