DC Bucket List

So I have been in DC nearly full time for seven months now.

I really am not at all a list maker, but I figure that it is about time to make a list of things I want to do while I am here so that I don't get to the end of my time and wonder why I have not done this or that. I expect that this list will be dynamic--at least I hope so. I am curious what has been on other people's lists that you forgot of missed out on. Or what you have seen and loved and should not be missed.

In DC
Attend the DC State Fair  12 Sep 2015
Tour the West Wing   19 Mar 2016
Go bowling at the White House 11 April 2016
Take in the 4th of July on the National Mall 04 July 2016
Attend Supreme Court Arguments
Check out books and use the reading room at the Library of Congress
Go to the Tidal Basin to see the Cherry Blossoms  21 Jan 2016
Take a pleasure cruise on the Potomac
Fly a helicopter over the city Security rules say no. Bummer.
Have a drink with Abe   25 Jan 2016 during Snowzilla
Go to a party at an embassy
Ride through all the DC Metro stations
Average one BikeShare bike ride per day for a year 10 Sep 2016 345 in 300 DC days
See the cherry blossoms 20 Mar 2016


Music & Arts
Attend an event at the Kennedy Center  14 Oct 2015 Organ recital
Hear the Netherlands Carillon 02 Jul 2016
Go to the National Symphony or Opera
See performance at Folger Library 28 Feb 2017
Listen to the Netherlands Carillon 03 July 2016

Sports
Attend a Capitals hockey game  07 Feb 2016 vs the Flyers
Go to a Nationals game vs either Brewers or Twins

See a DC United match

Get into a Georgetown basketball game

Outside DC
Take the train to NYC   14 Jan 2016
Drive through Shenandoah
Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway
Visit Gettysburg
Travel on some foreign delegation June 2016 to Central Africa


I decided to not list all the Smithsonian museums.
I also did not list the US Capitol since I spend plenty of time there already.

Last Week I Had A Car

Last week I had a car. 

That, in and of itself, is nothing special. Except that for the past four months I have been living in DC without one. Walking. And biking. And Metro-ing. And rarely catching rides.

While having the car was productive, I was happy to give it back. Really happy. Don’t get me wrong, having a car in the city allows me to get everything I need done. I can get to big box stores. I can get to the military installations. I can get anywhere I need.

But after 400 miles of driving I realized that from the safety and comfort of the rolling steel cage, DC looks just like Oak Park IL, and White Bear Lake MN, and Peoria AZ, and Stamford CT, and any number of other metroplexes. The highways and roads are just the interconnecting tubes of a large urban human habitrail. I can get where I need, but where to park? Toll roads? I felt utterly disconnected from the world around me.

What the car really did was point out to me that I have really enjoyed the walking and the biking. Being part of my surroundings. Hearing the compressors running for the Whole Foods refrigerators. Smelling the garlic and harrissa at the Lebanese place. Watching the tourists meandering on King Street. Feeling the bumps on the roads and trails on the Bikeshare bikes. There is an intimate connection to my neighborhood that is missing when I strap myself in the driver’s seat. I missed that. I was glad to have it back.

I don’t know that I can really live in the big city completely without a car, but I am not sure that having a car would at all increase my happiness or satisfaction. If I stayed in DC long enough, I might need to have one for real. I would likely get music gigs that would be off the metro lines and likely after hours. There are some purchases that are just not realistic to carry on bikes. Sometimes the weather really does suck and I turn into a wuss. My daily life can certainly be done car-free however. Uber, taxi, and occasional rentals can fill some of those gaps.

I could see that having a car would allow for more freedom to explore. See friends and family in VA. Go to Gettysburg, Williamsburg, or the Blue Ridge Parkway. Get lost on the back roads in West Virginia. Trek down to the shore of Chesapeake Bay or the Outer Banks. But surely I can accept the cost of a weekend rental for those times? Isn’t that far better than having a vehicle sitting in the parking garage 95% of the time? Would I turn into the hamster in the habitrail if I had a car full-time? Perhaps I would. There sure is ease and comfort and convenience in it.

But for now, I am enjoying the return to my walking. And biking. And Metro-ing. And rarely catching rides.