Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GEORGETOWN
When Abigail Adams arrived in Washington in 1800, she described Geor-
getown as “the very dirtiest hole I ever saw.” Then a major port with a huge
slave and tobacco trade, cheap housing, and commercial wharves, the town
may have been unattractive. But the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and its
competitor, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, brought prosperity to Geor-
getown, and therefore style. When the canal began to fail after flood dam-
age, slum conditions returned, until Franklin D. Roosevelt partly rehabilit-
ated the area. Its current modish position stems from the Kennedy era,
when Georgetown became fashionable.
1. DUMBARTON OAKS MUSEUM AND GARDENS
This elegant Federal-style house, with its Philip Johnson-designed wing, houses a
world-renowned collection of Byzantine and pre-Columbian artifacts. El Greco's
Vis-
itation
is here also, possibly the Spanish master's last painting. The house and mu-
seum are surrounded by acres of gorgeous landscaping (for further details see
Dum-
barton Oaks
)
.
1703 32nd St, NW • 202 339 6401 • Museum open 2-5pm Tue-Sun;
Gardens open Mar-Oct: 2-6pm Tue-Sun • Free
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2. WASHINGTON HARBOUR
Dockside cafés, good restaurants, lovely views of the Potomac and the Kennedy
Center, the Watergate complex, the Thompson boathouse, walkways for strolling,
and benches for resting make the harbor a magnet for Georgetowners. The Washing-
ton Harbour residential and commercial building is an architectural exuberance de-
signed by Arthur Cotton Moore and Associates.
3000-20 K St, NW, at the bottom
of Thomas Jefferson St, NW (between 30th & 31st Sts)
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