Are you planning to attend the 2007 NASFAA Conference? Are you looking for things to do in your spare time or if you plan to stay a few extra days? In the weeks preceding the Conference, we will highlight different attractions located throughout Washington, DC and the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia. This week we tour DC's neighborhoods.
The best way to get to know Washington, DC is through its' neighborhoods. DC's neighborhoods are diverse in their feel, their culture, and their offerings. Some neighborhoods to explore in DC are:
Adams Morgan (Walking Distance; Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro Station - Red Line)
The intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road is where this buttoned-up city goes to let its hair down. Long a multicultural hub, today its restaurant scene is a veritable global village ranging from Ethiopian and Thai to Mexican and Indian. By day, urban adventurers leisurely stroll the heritage trail and take in colorful mural art while ducking into present-day coffee shops, boutiques and bookstores. By night, festive crowds that get younger as the evenings get older fill the streets, nightclubs and bars.
Capitol Hill (Capitol South/Eastern Market Metro Station - Orange and Blue Lines; Union Station - Red Line)
If you're addicted to C-SPAN or Sunday morning talk shows, chances are you've heard of "the Hill." Though the neighborhood itself may bear the name of the Capitol building, it stretches to include a residential district of Victorian rowhouses, parks and tree-lined streets as well as the Library of Congress, Supreme Court building, Folger Shakespeare Library, National Postal Museum and Union Station. Eastern Market (the oldest operating public market in the city) thrives on Saturdays and Sundays, Barracks Row along 8th Street SE is dotted with shops, restaurants and bars, and the Washington Nationals call RFK stadium home.
Dupont Circle/Kalorama (Walking Distance; Dupont Circle Metro Station - Red Line)
Named for the circle where Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire Avenues meet with P and 19th Streets, Dupont Circle itself is the meeting place for this cosmopolitan neighborhood. It's perfect for people-watching, playing a pick-up game of chess or sipping a latte or chai while sitting on the edge of the fountain. Arts and entertainment collide with an impressive mix of restaurants, shops, hotels, quaint B&B's, galleries and museums (The Phillips Collection, The Textile Museum, Woodrow Wilson House and National Geographic Society's Explorers Hall to name a few). Embassy Row radiates from the circle with the largest concentration of the city's 150 international embassies.
Georgetown (bus route from Foggy Bottom Metro and Rosslyn Metro Stations - Orange and Blue Lines)
One of the original municipalities in what is now Washington, DC, this area has become a major shopping and historical area. The beautiful waterfront area will allow you to have a nice lunch or dinner while overlooking the Potomac. Shopping occurs throughout Wisconsin Ave. and M St. This is also the perfect opportunity to walk some of the historic neighborhoods where current politicians live. Appropriate sites include www.shopsatgeorgetownpark.com and www.georgetowndc.com. Look for information on the latter site for the Georgetown Metro Connection to get you there.
Mount Pleasant (walking distance)
With its main streets and town square, Mount Pleasant still feels like the village it once was. But it has also seen lives as a fashionable streetcar suburb, a solid working-class neighborhood, and an enclave of counterculture politics. Today, Mount Pleasant is best known for its vida, beckoning with authentic Salvadoran pupusas, mariachi bands, genuine bodegas, and restaurants bringing the sabor of Central America to the nation's capital. Architecture buffs will find that Mount Pleasant's trademark rowhouses and apartment buildings have survived remarkably intact. In fact, the entire neighborhood is protected as a historic district. Mount Pleasant Street is most lively on Saturdays, when shoppers clog the weekly farmers' market (May through November) or load up on everything from masa harina to tofu at bustling bodegas that line the commercial strip
Southwest/Waterfront (Waterfront-SEU - Green Line)
South of the National Mall is a neighborhood home to the award-winning Arena Stage (the first theater company to be awarded a Tony Award outside of New York), Benjamin Banneker Circle and Fountain, the Titanic Memorial and L'Enfant Plaza. The scenic waterfront area features a shimmering array of piers, sailboats, yachts, fishing boats, seafood markets, and restaurants. Sightseeing cruises depart from the marina regularly. Though once a working-class, immigrant neighborhood Southwest was revitalized through early urban renewal programs in the 1950s. Revitalization has come to the waterfront once again, with the opening of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Portals, a luxury office and condominium development.
U-Street/Cardozo (U St./African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Station Metro Station - Green Line)
This neighborhood, famous for its influence in jazz culture (and the birthplace of Duke Ellington), is undergoing revitalization. Jazz clubs still abound with a number of great music selections every night. A growth in shops (upscale, cultural, you name it - you're sure to find it) has made this area a must see regardless of your tastes. And while you're visiting this area, make sure and stop for food at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl. Tons of information on this neighborhood can be found at www.rawdc.org/dc/ustreet.html.
Woodley Park/Cleveland Park/Connecticut Ave. Corridor (Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan and Cleveland Park Metro Stations - Red Line)
These charming residential neighborhoods are located in upper northwest Washington, DC. This part of town is family-friendly - boasting the vast and leafy Rock Creek Park and the Smithsonian's National Zoo - home to the now-world-famous panda cub Tai Shan. Its tree-lined streets are lined with friendly boutiques, coffee shops and sidewalk cafes featuring cuisines from around the world. It's also home to the architecturally stunning National Cathedral, the world's sixth-largest cathedral.
Posted 04/06/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
