Here are a few ideas that guide my writing about and also could guide your walking along Virginia Avenue.
Get it all?
I neither know it all, nor do I have enough time to research it all. I think I know enough to make the walk fascinating and fun. Only part of the point is the data itself, the street’s details. Another part is the human reaction to and interaction with this particular geography. Let me be frank: I’d love to produce an exhaustive tome of the street and its environs. Like making and chronicling that trip on one of America’s historic highways, I would need to work full-time, for the researching, the writing, though the trip itself doesn’t take long. Maybe this will be the first version that, in each succeeding edition will become more detailed. For now, the point is to enjoy the walk and in the process, get some of the information, enough for now.
A Liberator along the avenue
The little things
Nothing is too small to notice. I will point out buildings where several thousand people work as well as a tiny feature of that building. We’ll notice the many parks along the way, as well as a plaque by a fountain or the bark on a tree. Part of this endeavor’s joy is noticing the little things and seeing them as pieces that fit in a puzzle, the grand whole that is this street. I wonder about life in general, and this street in particular, what all is hidden in plain sight. Especially in the presence of the showy and spectacular, like big bronze statues and massive, spreading trees, it’s easy to miss the delightful details.
Go Slow
Depending on how fast you walk, you could travel the 1.1 miles in 10-20 minutes. If you want to exercise, then go that fast, maybe a few times. The road has some slight inclines that might raise your pulse and respiration. If, however, you’d like to appreciate this fascinating and unique street like I do, I suggest a considerably slower speed. In fact, I suggest frequent stops to read this travelogue and then, more importantly, to look, to see, to take it all in, and to react. Frankly, multiple walks up and down Virginia Avenue are the best bet for taking it all in. Even with what I hope will be an interesting and handy booklet as this, you can hardly see it all the first time.
…or left, whichever gives the better view
Walking and Reading/ Reading and Walking
I’ll be writing the travelogue as if I’m walking northwest down Virginia Avenue, starting at Constitution and moving toward Rock Creek Parkway and the Potomac. I will be writing about features on both sides of the street so it doesn’t matter which side you walk on. Actually, I suggest four slow walks, two up and two down, each on different sides to give the eager, observant walker a different perspective. Probably, what you’ll end up doing is crossing the street several times, the better to see this up close or that from farther away. And one more thing: I’m not your mother, but please don’t read and walk at the same time and especially don’t cross a street while you’re perusing a scintillating tid-bit I’ve written. Stop to read, then move along when you’re ready.
I’m so anxious to show this street to you. Over the last several months, I’ve become quite fond of the old girl. I hope you grow fond of her, too.
