The Intersection of 14th and U
It's been a few weeks since we went exploring. It rained most of the weekend, but Sunday things cleared up, and we didn't have evening services at church, so it was a perfect afternoon for an outing. Harvey thought we might ride the subway to Silver Spring, Maryland, a DC suburb where we once went to a concert but hadn't seen much else. But we've discovered on previous outings that although the subway is a fun experience, for a family of six, it's usually less practical than driving. It's more time-consuming, and even with the cost of gas and parking, it's more expensive: around $3.50 per person each way. We left the house around 4:30, and at the last minute, we decided to drive to a different destination around five miles from our house: the intersection of 14th and U.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Street_Corridor
DC has so many pockets to discover, and we've really only scratched the surface. In Tulsa, I feel like there were a few walkable areas or neighborhoods with cute shops and restaurants where people gather and are usually out and about (e.g., Downtown and its subdivisions, Cherry Street, Brookside; I realize the number is growing). Here, I don't think I can begin to count the different neighborhoods like that; there are at least five or six or them within five miles of our house alone. So there's always someplace new and different for us to see.
We have a handy app on our iPhones called Explore DC, and Harvey had seen the area of 14th and U on the app and was curious to check it out. It was once a hub of the African-American community in DC, and today it's thriving with shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, and theaters. We found a great parking spot right on our walking route, and it was free on Sundays. We didn't see many other kids during our stroll there (one baby in a stroller and one toddler around Judah's age), but the sidewalks were broad and it wasn't overcrowded, so our pack of six managed just fine. We stopped at a memorial to African-American Civil War soldiers and a famous restaurant called Ben's Chili Bowl, and we had dinner on the patio at a Mexican restaurant called Alero, which was reasonably priced and tasty. So it was a relatively inexpensive jaunt and a fun and lovely evening: another checked box on our list of DC neighborhoods to explore.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Street_Corridor
DC has so many pockets to discover, and we've really only scratched the surface. In Tulsa, I feel like there were a few walkable areas or neighborhoods with cute shops and restaurants where people gather and are usually out and about (e.g., Downtown and its subdivisions, Cherry Street, Brookside; I realize the number is growing). Here, I don't think I can begin to count the different neighborhoods like that; there are at least five or six or them within five miles of our house alone. So there's always someplace new and different for us to see.
We have a handy app on our iPhones called Explore DC, and Harvey had seen the area of 14th and U on the app and was curious to check it out. It was once a hub of the African-American community in DC, and today it's thriving with shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, and theaters. We found a great parking spot right on our walking route, and it was free on Sundays. We didn't see many other kids during our stroll there (one baby in a stroller and one toddler around Judah's age), but the sidewalks were broad and it wasn't overcrowded, so our pack of six managed just fine. We stopped at a memorial to African-American Civil War soldiers and a famous restaurant called Ben's Chili Bowl, and we had dinner on the patio at a Mexican restaurant called Alero, which was reasonably priced and tasty. So it was a relatively inexpensive jaunt and a fun and lovely evening: another checked box on our list of DC neighborhoods to explore.
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| At the African American Civil War Memorial |
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| Near U Street Music Hall |
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| Exploring 14th Street |
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| Posing outside Ben's Chili Bowl |
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| Get it? |
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| Spooked by the Halloween decor at Alero |
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| At Alero: Enjoying the food and the family |
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