For long-timers in DC: What have you never been to/visited that you most want to ? (Washington: amusement parks)

[scrapper105]

I've lived in DC or a close-in suburb for going on 20 years. Came here for college and never left !

I found myself over on 9th street in NE the other day near NY Ave and I was shocked how much had changed. Particularly that beautiful bridge going over NY Ave. I was also surprised at how quickly it came back to me and even with a detour I was able to get from where I was to where I wanted to be.

It also sort of made me sad, remembering way back when. When I moved here, Woodward and Lothrop was still downtown and they had a coffee shop ! I still regret never eating there.

I started thinking about the other places in DC that I've always heard of but never been to. The Palisades neighborhood, Dumbarton Oaks, the Iwo Jima memorial, the Aquatic Gardens. I also regret that I never had lunch in a restaurant that was located in a department store. I think there was one left in the L&T in Chevy Chase until a few years ago. It just seems so "Mad Men" to me.

But you know where I've never been that I most want to ? That fancy neighborhood in SE DC. I think it is called Hillcrest and I've also heard that it's gated.

If you're a long-timer in DC, where is the place you never visited that is now closed/gone that you are most sad about ? What's the place you most want to go to ?

[RozCat]

Hillcrest isn't gated. Just head out Penn Ave. and hook a right on Branch Avenue. It looks like pretty much like Tenleytown, AU Park, Chevy Chase or Crestwood or any residential neighborhood in NW with similar-styled detached housing (Georgian colonial architecture?), except some of the houses are a little more runned down. Mayor Gray's house is in Hillcrest and a few congressmen live/have lived there, since is short hop to Capitol Hill.

I've been in DC about 20+ years too. Doesn't feel long enough to feel nostalgic for places, but as I've noted in other threads, I do miss the pre-internet, pre-gentrification post-grad culture among Hill workers, media types, grad students, non-profit types, musicians, researchers, artists, writers, etc.. Maybe because there *weren't* that many places to go and we were all broke, it seems we were routinely going from group house to group house hanging out, partying, meeting all kind of smart, ambitious and driven folks.... from Ann Coulture to Malcolm Gladwell...

[HurricaneDC]

I've never seen the USMC parades/band at the War Memorial and Barracks.

e: Only been East of the River two or three times, depending on what counts. Once for a field trip to the Frederick Douglass House, once for community service in Anacostia Park and once when I was taking a buddy home (who lived in Seat Pleasant, we went down the BW Parkway, got off on Nannie Helen Burroughs)

[mynameiscarmen]

I've never been to the Kennedy Center or seen fireworks on the Mall on July 4th. I don't have strong desires to do either, but they are very D.C. things to do.

[slowlane3]

I miss Sholl's Colonial Cafeteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and the Capital Children's Museum - now shuttered
the old "Circle" theater at 22nd and Penn Ave - old classic $1 movies

I remember in the 1960's, being allowed to walk up the Washington Monument
and the F.B.I. building tours, that were very popular with kids then
Glen Echo and Marshall Hall amusement parks, both by the Potomac River

[PhenomenalAJ]

Dumbarton Oaks would be the one I've wanted to see but never got around to. I've been here so long that I've seen nearly every attraction. I'd love to also visit the White House but its a massive pain to get a tour. I havent been to Nationals stadium for a game yet either, I'll probably go at some point before the season ends.

[justtitans]

I was born in dc and raise in pg and still live in pg. Please do not laugh........I've never been to georgetown

[BigCityDreamer]

The National Arboretum. They have ruins of the old Capitol Building that was burned down by the British. I've got to see that!

[It's Cin!]

I've seen photos of the columns that are in the National Arboretum and would love to go there myself someday.