The city where we ran out of time

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I definitely wasn’t ready to leave this time. I know, I know. I say it every single time; just look at Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, and, if I’m being honest, even Exhibit D.

But this time I really wasn’t ready. So caught off guard that I wasn’t able to tidily summarize what this place meant to me, gift-wrapped and delivered with all the bows and ribbons, until a whole month after it was in my rearview.

I loved every minute of living in the DMV (District of Columbia-Maryland-Virginia for the uninitiated), which honestly is a first out of all of the places we’ve called home. Everywhere else I grew to eventually love and was more or less dragged away, kicking and screaming. But not this time. Not DC.

After getting the keys to our house, which I lovingly began to refer to as The Little House with No Right Angles (oh the fun of renting a house built in 1930), we checked into our hotel in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. All I remember is walking down the street, wide-eyed, mouth slightly ajar, and Mark saying, “Just think, you haven’t even been into the district yet. This is only Alexandria.”

“Just think, you haven’t even been into the district yet.
This is only Alexandria.”

There isn’t a singular thing I can point to as to why I loved living here so much, because it was mostly everything. DC was the perfect combination of everything I like about somewhere.

DC is an active city

With more than 108 trails covering 4,561 miles in the metro area, it was never hard to find a scenic (and safe) way to get our fitness on. Even though we didn’t belong to any particular fitness community, it felt like we were a part of one. Our house was conveniently located about a mile from a 17 mile rail trail spanning from Mt. Vernon to Georgetown, which meant almost every long run or casual bike ride included views across the Potomac of the Washington Monument, Thomas Jefferson and the Lincoln Memorial. I also loved watching the seasons fade into one another along the trails, golden leaves leaving bare trees behind only to come back as a carpet of pink flowers. When it got to be too hot in the city, we could easily escape to the boat on Lake Anna, about an hour and a half south of our house.

Learning was a daily activity

This was our first time living on the East Coast, and I was never bored by the history surrounding us every single day. Just walking a couple of miles out our front door, I could stumble upon the original state lines dividing the DMV, walk through Martha Washington’s apothecary, and stroll the oldest cobblestone street, preserved from the 1700s. And once again, that was just Alexandria.

History was never my favorite subject in school, but that didn’t stop us from going to all of the museums in the district. Most weekends, especially in the winter, were dedicated to learning something new: First Amendment rights at Newseum, the history of espionage at the International Spy Museum, and the portraits and lives of influential people at the National Portrait Gallery.

Out of all the things we did in the district, these outings were my favorite. I’m incredibly sad that we didn’t get to see more due to the short amount of time we lived here and COVID-19 cutting that into an even smaller window.

The character and charm of the neighborhoods

While COVID-19 made it difficult for us to see a lot of the museums and other points of interest, it helped us explore every inch of our neighborhood and surrounding areas. I loved walking miles upon miles and seeing all of the historic houses, each with its own special charm. It seemed like it didn’t matter how many times I walked a certain route, something new always caught my eye. Much like running the rail trails, I loved watching all the seasons shift through the streets.

If you’re bored, it’s your own damn fault

Aside from all the museums and history happening on every street, there was also always something going on. Whether it was catching a Nats game, celebrating Apollo 50 with a projection on the Washington Monument or chowing down on all you can eat crabs, there was always something to do (pre-COVID, obviously), and we took full advantage. The best part was that we could always truly enjoy ourselves without having to worry who would be the DD… which brings me to my next point.

Never, ever having to drive anywhere

Before moving to DC, I was so excited about the public transportation. Some people love to drive, but I am not one of those people. I’m perfectly content gazing out the window, not paying attention to anything other than the random thoughts inside my head for a solid 30-40 minutes. I never drove in DC. In fact, I can probably count on my two hands how many times I drove the entire year we lived there, and most of that was to road trip to Virginia Beach to see my bestie. There were at least 20 to 30 restaurants (maybe even more), within a two mile walk of my house. Mark and I love to walk everywhere (if that wasn’t completely obvious), so this was a perfect situation for us.

If we felt like being lazy or it was raining, we could either catch the Metro or the bus because they both use the same card. The bus stop was literally at the end of our street. Plus, since public transportation is such a thing in the area, it’s super clean and relatively safe. Everyone takes the bus.

Everything was so convenient, Mark didn’t even have to drive or take transit to work. He was able to ride his bike almost the whole way there on the above mentioned rail trails. Honestly, it was the quickest way to get there, because the rumors are true, DC traffic is no joke.

All the East Coast adventures

Probably my favorite part of DC was how easy it was to explore the East Coast, something completely new for us. We’ve spent a lot of time living on the West Coast, but this was our first time getting to live on the other side. Other than some trips to Florida and NYC, we also have not been to a lot of the states on the East Coast, so we took advantage while we could.

While we lived in DC, we were able to do a long weekend in Boston and road trip to leaf peep in Vermont. We had plans to also hit Philadelphia, New York City and West Virginia, but thanks again, Rona, for ruining half a year.

So that is why I loved our time in DC. A lot of people tried to tell me that Alabama wouldn’t be so bad when we got the news we were heading there, but the feelings I had weren’t about where we were going. It was all about what we were leaving behind. It just felt so unfinished. The only part that gives me comfort is that we did what we could given the times. There weren’t really any spare weekends that we wasted. It just got cut short, but you never know when you may get a second chance…