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"Trip to Georgetown"
By Mary Harding
Georgetown is a charming area of DC with great businesses with falafel, cupcakes, clothing, and high end shops. The corner of the city always reminds me how upscale and historic DC can be with the cobblestoned sidewalk and stores like Reformation in time worn townhouses. However, without a metro station, it is a hike. Personally, I can only make that trek from Foggy Bottom or Dupont Circle once every semester. It also happens that every time I decide to make this trek I choose shoes for their fashion over their functionality. This excursion was no different with my boots having heels that made walking on cobblestones anything but pleasant. My friends who came with me and who wore proper footwear were excited to have a day out to not worry about work.
Although some of my friends like to look at clothes while in Georgetown; what makes this trip so worthwhile for me is the amount of bookstores and art galleries. When approaching from Foggy Bottom one of the first stores you see upon entering Georgetown on the left side of the street is Bridge Street Books. My friends and I always know we are in the right place when we cross the bridge to see the Four Seasons Hotel on the left. This place is a two-story store that sells mostly new books in a wide variety of genres from history to classics, and they also have new fiction. The second floor of the shop is my favorite area because it harbors books on classical mythology, philosophy, and most of its fiction. Bridge Street Books always draws me in with its discounted books on a table outside the store and always keeps me and my friends here for longer than expected due to the selection of works that they have.
When I could finally be ripped from the first store, our next stop was an art gallery. DTR Modern Galleries, one of many art galleries in the area, is only two or three doors down from Bridge Street Books. Like the name suggests, all the art is modern. Currently, there are many pieces that play with optical illusions as well as three-dimensional sculptures of people made out of metallic squares, most of which seem so lifelike and also remind me of robots from science fiction. There are couches and seating all throughout the space and I will admit that we had to ask the curator whether it was appropriate to sit in the seat or if it was a part of a display. The curator was very amicable and encouraged us to sit and look at the art and overall enjoy the space. We were also told that the gallery sold the furniture in the space as well as housed the art. There also was a couch in the back room, living room area, that was amazing to sit in, though maybe it just felt that way because of the long walk.
The last stop on this adventure was The Lantern, which is on the opposite side of Georgetown from Bridge Street Books and across from a large antique store that overflows with treasures worth more than my left kidney. This bookstore is more quaint and specializes in used and rare books with the first floor having a plethora of historical and cultural books while the second floor carries most of its fiction. The store selection, like most used bookstores, is hit or miss, and it has a diverse collection of different books from German or Russian plays in their original language to Edith Wharton novels to books that contain women’s health research from the early 2000s. In addition to books, vintage postcards and magazines sat on a table for sale on the first floor near the largest stack of almanacs I had ever seen. Although I found nothing that day, I know it is a place that I want to come back to in the future. A friend also found some postcards from World War II of London under fire there and wants to go back to see if she can find some more.
The conclusion of this journey required more walking. The closest metro to The Lantern was Dupont Circle so the new trek began going past picturesque Georgetown houses and ended up passing a few embassy buildings on the way. Overall, the day in my mind was a success. Two bookstores were visited. Bridge Street Books and The Lantern both are such different places but each unique and fascinating in their own ways. DTR Modern Galleries, besides having the most comfortable couch, houses some amazing artists. This area has so many more places to visit that these three just scratched the surface to the kind of fun you can have in this area.
October 2021
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