Oh Beautiful, For Spacious Skies

When I first started this blog in 2009, I was living in London and writing a weekly column at the Jewish News. That column, Erica from America, chronicled my attempt to complete 52 quintessentially British tasks in one year (read more about that here). Now, two years later, my 52 adventures are complete and have all been posted about, and I thought perhaps this meant the blog would become obsolete. But I just couldn’t let my baby die. It would be sad and, really, unnecessary. Because while I’ve been blogging about my List of 52 online, I’ve been having other traveling adventures out here in the real world.

I’ve decided to continue writing about my various travels and invite you to come along. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog (or if your name is Becky, Rebecca or Lauren) you know I like to go places. I have a very long list of spots to see before I die. Since returning to the states I’ve traveled to a nice amount of new places and I’ll write about some of that here to catch readers up. Meanwhile, I’ll also be blogging about where I’m currently visiting, so make sure to check back!

When I tried to come up with what my first blog post would be about for this new direction, I decided to start with where I am right now: Washington, DC. I’ve been living here for the past year and sometimes I take for granted that it’s also an amazing spot to visit. Probably my favorite thing about DC is it takes the best parts of New York and London and combines them to make a city that is very metropolitan but still charming, with clean streets and lots of greenery. Plus, there’s plenty of really old stuff, which I like.

I live off of Dupont Circle, which is a pretty well known area in the District. (“American President” fans out there, it’s the circle that Sydney Ellen Wade always said she couldn’t drive on…which I now understand perfectly.)

Here's a prettier shot of the interior of the Circle:

When it's warm out, people swarm this area. And if you're really lucky, those people will be the cast of "Mama Mia."

I spend a lot of time in Dupont Circle (duh, I live there). There are great restaurants, cafes and shops in this area, and all I have to do is walk behind my house to get there. If I'm not hanging out in Dupont Circle, though, I'm in Georgetown. I LOVE Georgetown. It's like a little English village. There's a cottage there called The Old Stone House, which is the oldest home in DC. If you visit the House gift shop, you can try on neat hats.

There's also an area in Georgetown where you can hang out on the Potomac and have a drink near the water. My favorite time to visit is sunset, you get a great view! My relatives Amy and Denise visited and I took them to the spot...it was a hit!

I also played host to my Dad, who visited last month to take advantage of cherry blossom season.

Notice how he's all bundled up? His Florida skin didn't appreciate the DC version of spring. I admit, it can sometimes get cold here. But it is a treat to wake up one morning and be surprised by this:

It may be cold, but snow is pretty. Plus, it's a good excuse to make snow caterpillars, a joy I first discovered in London (as posted here).

Whatever the temperature, though, it's pretty neat to be strolling your neighborhood and pass this:


What about you? I'd love to hear what you all think about the place you call home...