It was a drizzly September day-- there's been little respite lately from the damp-- and I decided to go for one of my expeditions. This Georgia Avenue trail was not one of the most scenic or fascinating of the Neighborhood Heritage Trails, but its main advantage was that I got to view the campus of Howard University for the first time. As I've lived here longer, I've come to regard Howard with a certain reverence. The campus, too, while not ostentatious, felt dignified and solid and old. A few details, though overall the rain depressed my photographic efforts:
I ate lunch at a Potbelly close to campus and read Bob Woodward's Fear. From Howard, the trail mostly moseys straight up Georgia Avenue, with a brief detour over to parallel Sherman Avenue, only a block away. It's an excellent illustration of the gentrification landscape: Georgia Avenue, mostly, is still lined with small local storefronts that are graffitied, barred, and/or drab and dingy-looking. Down-and-out individuals limp by with regularity. But turn off this main drag onto a side street and the row houses are looking freshly-painted and bright, with many rainbow flags (strangely, often the first sign of DC gentrification), flowers, and arty-looking porches. The businesses along Sherman Avenue are a little more upscale and funky-in-a-cute-way, despite being only one street away from Georgia. Here and there, a block of Georgia Ave. is following suit. It's only a matter of time, it seems, before all of Northwest DC is downright adorable.
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