The Explorers

We want to make the most of our time in DC, so we usually plan to spend Saturdays taking the kids to experience the plentiful local attractions and activities. One of our first Saturdays here, we had hoped to take the family to ride the Metro around for the first time, but we had some errands to run, and they took more time than we expected, so we drove around instead. 

We had lunch at a sandwich shop, Potbelly, in a newly developed area on the waterfront. Then we headed off to pursue one of our goals for the day: find one of the few DC YMCAs and check it out. But it was a long drive made longer by the ubiquitous traffic, and by the time we got to the Y, Judah was a mess. It was her nap time and we didn’t have a paci for her, so she was screaming and crying. We turned around and came home. 

The drive to get to the Y was interesting though. We passed through what Harvey said was downtown and then through Chinatown, and of all the places I’ve traveled, it’s the first Chinatown I ever remember really noticing. There were several chain restaurants and retail stores like Loft and Urban Outfitters, and they all had signs in Chinese below the English names. One street had a huge I don’t know what you call it--like a Chinese canopy over the street. (I guess you could call it a gate.) 

It almost seemed like another world from where we live or even from Capitol Hill. I had a similar feeling on our first drive to Restoration Church in Northwest DC. It’s in an affluent neighborhood, and on the way we passed by all the embassies, the National Cathedral, and the American University. We also recently drove through Georgetown, and that was a whole other world, crazy crowded and busy and beautiful. 

I guess that’s a big city--different pockets with different populations and different socio-economic groups. Southeast is mostly African-American. Capitol Hill and those other neighborhoods we drove through appeared to be mostly white. Chinatown was a mix, but I’m sure obviously mostly Asian. Those areas feel intimidating to me, like I don’t belong there--even though I live in the same city, they feel foreign, unattainable. Like I would love to go to Chinatown and go shopping. But how will I ever manage that with a family? I can’t just go on my own and enjoy a leisurely shopping trip. I can’t really even take Judah for a morning, because by the time I drove there or rode the Metro, I wouldn’t have much time left before her nap time or before going to pick up the kids from school. It would be fun to go with Harvey. But again, we can’t just pick up and go. Exploring is going to be a challenge. We’ll see how much we can make happen. Thankfully we have some time to do it.