Finally, on Saturday night, my friend went off to a wedding and I went to Adams Morgan to meet up with some old friends. I took the Metro to the Woodley Park station, which has one of the longest escalators in the world, so I could then walk across the Taft Bridge, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Looking down to the east, you can see the Rock Creek Parkway and the Calvert Street Bridge. Below, is the view to the west as the sun sets sort of like in a Turner painting. I used to walk across this bridge late at night, and I always loved looking up and seeing the stars up in the sky because it was so dark out in the middle of the span. If you tried really hard, you could imagine between the traffic light signals when the cars had gone by that you were out in the country and not in the middle of a city.
Connecticut Avenue wizzes by, but I still think these streets make up one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in America. Even the cross-street, Kalorama, means “beautiful view” in ancient Greek. I used to love walking these streets back in the day. You have to be a millionaire to actually afford any of the apartments around here, though.
After a wonderful night meeting up with my friends at the old apartment building in Adams Morgan, I returned to my hotel by the Navy Yard. I took a Lyft back, with a professional, friendly driver, which was a change because taxis used to be a bunch of crooks back in the day in DC. We drove by the Washington Monument on the way to the hotel, and I remember thinking, “I don’t think I ever actually drove by the Washington Monument at night (or during the day) the entire time I lived in DC.” I lived up in the neighborhoods, away from the white marble monuments, where my friends still live. I thought it was hilarious that I was staying in the Navy Yard neighborhood, because I literally never went near there the entire time I lived in DC. It was a no-man’s land, with nothing but vacant lots and seedy businesses I didn’t want to be associated with. Now it has a major league baseball stadium and tons of swank luxury condos which cost more than houses in Ladue–no, really. Nobody in St. Louis believes me when I tell them that. I got back to St. Louis and told my parents they never need to worry about me moving back to Washington, DC ever again.
