Diamond Jubilee: across Washington, DC

July 2021

The day before my 60th birthday, I was in Washington, DC. I wanted to wander across town to remember the many places that made an impression on me in my six-decade life journey.

Metro and I almost arrived in DC together (Metro predated me by a few years). I always loved the DC system for its "futuristic" design which holds up well even 50 years later. It started with only one line with a few stations. In adulthood, I saw the system completed, even connecting far away Dulles Airport to the District (which I have used many times).

Chinatown was not even a place when I was at Georgetown. One block of the city had several Chinese restaurants - hardly a neighborhood. It was created as the city developed. What had been a cluster of stores downtown was suddenly a recognized part of the city with a huge traditional archway (donated by Taiwan). I always laughed at DC's Chinatown - it was basically forced into existence.

The Portrait Gallery started as the Patent Office and later was used during the Civil War as a hospital (and after that several more incarnations). The building languished for many years. Finally, Eisenhower gifted it to the Smithsonian. I love the placement of the building and its "fight" to establish itself. Its huge, interior courtyard is a beautiful space to relax.

Woodward & Lothrop (Woodies) was the most famous department store in DC when I was a student. Finally, it succumbed to growing box store domination in the US and went bankrupt, but DC kept the building with its fine details in honor of the past.

The White House increasingly is removed from public access. Pennsylvania Avenue no longer continues in front of its facade along Lafayette Park. One of the big changes in DC since I was young is the increasingly difficult access to public buildings and spaces (due to security). It made me sad as I walked and remembered how easy it used to be to walk inside just about any public building (even the White House when I was a student).

The Old Executive Office Building (formerly the Department of War) stands next to the White House. After burning down several times, it was reconstructed magnificently out of iron and stone. I had seen several similar buildings on the jubilee trip. Apparently, a popular design is often copied.

The Renwick Gallery is the Smithsonian outpost of interesting exhibits just a stone's throw from the White House. My favorite exhibit was Carter's Indian portraits that I viewed with TFR years before. I think that was the most impactful collection I ever saw in my life.

In Georgetown, the old C&O canal cuts through the lower part of town. I remembered many joyful times with friends along the canal as well as solitary walks and bike rides.

I applauded the renovation and rejuvenation of the Georgetown Waterfront which was a sketchy place at best when I was a student. Washington Harbor and the surrounding park have transformed the former industrial wasteland into public space. I like it - but it came after I had moved from the District. I only ever enjoyed it as a tourist.

Just down the hill from campus on M Street lies the infamous Dixie Liquor shop where many a Georgetown student bought alcohol. Doing a run to Dixie Liquor was a big part of the Georgetown experience - even when I worked in administration. Dixie used to be where all the alcohol was purchased by both students and the university itself in my student days.

The Exorcist was released six years before I arrived at Georgetown, but it already had made an impact having been filmed around campus. The famous Exorcist stairs from N to M Streets were a shortcut from the campus down to the main shopping area (as well as something to show visitors). Everyone had seen the film and remembered the ending.

Just off campus close to the old Walsh School of Foreign Service Building stands the venerable sandwich and convenience shop, Wisemiller's. That deli has made sandwiches and provided snacks for generations of Hoyas.

As I learned in one of my summer courses, "The Art and Architecture of Washington, DC", the Healy Building was one of the candidate entries for the Library of Congress. Georgetown snapped it up after it was not chosen.

Most of the open land around Georgetown University has been built on (being a very precious commodity). The original quad in front of Healy and bordered by the library, White-Gravenor, and Copley is unfortunately some of the last remaining open green space on campus.

I always mourned the loss of the old DC streetcars (long before I arrived in the District). Their tracks in Georgetown are all that's left to remind us of their existence. I imagined how much better DC would have been if they had been retained.

I loved that Georgetown was filled with Federal Period architecture. The whole place always felt like some kind of museum.

Across the Rock Creek Valley from Georgetown (via the P and Q Street Bridges) lies Dupont Circle. Today it is a well-established (and expensive) place to live. When I was a student, the area was a sketchy place in the process of gentrification (mostly by gay men). Dupont Circle used to hold all the gay bars and the most trendy restaurants in Washington. Now it is bland, mainstream, and pricey.

Traveling east, the next circle of note is Logan. The surrounding homes all remain (unlike Dupont's which were mostly demolished). Logan Circle has become one of the most expensive places to live in Washington. When I was a student, that neighborhood was a complete "no go zone".

Upon my return to DC from living in Japan, I needed an apartment. Via my friend and colleague from Georgetown, Bill C, I managed to rent a space at 1600 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. It was a short, but memorable experience where I made some lasting friendships. Living there (in a dubious neighborhood) prepared me for living in Washington Heights in Manhattan the following year with Brian.

Finally, on Franklin Square, stands an old high school that has been transformed into a Museum of Language (Planet Word). I looked upon it with wonder. Although it happened long after I left the District, I felt thrilled that DC hosts a museum dedicated to my area of studies, Linguistics.

I loved the metro ride/walk across town that day. It was a lovely summer afternoon and the walk reminded me of wonderful years in DC as a student and later as a young professional. In Washington I met Brian and started a long journey with him. I had my first years of professional growth (and set backs) in DC. That walk reminded me of those formative years.

The next day would be my 60th birthday. I could scarcely believe it.