Surprise, Surprise
I'm actually really enjoying this summer in DC. It's the first summer I've really felt completely at home here, and not like a wide-eyed tourist pretending to be a local. I actually feel like a local now. I'm even getting used to the humidity. I know, it was a shock to me, too. I didn't really notice it until I realized that I didn't really notice it. Still not a fan of the random thunderstorms at 4pm almost every day, but they're usually over by the time I have to walk home from work, so I deal.
Work has definitely been keeping me busy, but hasn't been nearly as stressful as I expected, even though the run-up to recess is supposed to be the busiest time of the year. That's what happens when Democrats decide it's really not that big of a deal if we don't fund the government this year.
Summer here brings so many fun things to do after work or on the weekends that it's much easier to keep that all-important balance between personal and professional life. I think the best thing about summer is that it helps the people here, who are by and large the biggest bunch of workaholics in the nation, remember that the end-all-be-all of life is not actually work. People barbecue, picnic, and play like they're on summer break, and you don't get a dirty look if you leave the office before 7pm. It's great.
Last Monday, we went to Screen on the Green with a group of friends and had a great time. SOTG is probably at the top of my list of favorite things to do here. Some of my other faves are...
Jazz in the Garden - Every Friday night, the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden hosts a live jazz band, and hundreds of people (and almost no tourists) bring picnics and sit around the fountain relaxing with friends, drinking wine (or my favorite, Sangria) and listening to the music. There is no better way to start the weekend. And, it's free.
Eastern Market - My absolute favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning. The market is actually a bustling street market with locally-grown fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood, flowers, and pastries, not to mention all the booths selling everything from soap and jewelry to furniture and African art. My favorite is the Map Man, who sells maps and landscape prints from just about every country in the world, some of which are hundreds of years old.
Nationals Games - $5 tickets make Nats games one of the cheapest ways to entertain yourself and enjoy a warm summer evening. Plus, the stadium is only a 10 minute walk from our house.
In all honesty, the best thing about most of these diversions is that they are almost wholly unknown and unfrequented by the tourist crowd. Every summer our city is overrun with fanny-pack-wearing, left-side-of-the-escalator-standing tourists from every corner of the globe. People who live here have a love-hate relationship with tourists that tends to gravitate more toward hate when you're trying to get anywhere via Metro. But once the kiddies head back to school, they'll leave. So with that knowledge (and because we're more than willing to take the $5.2 billion they spend here every year), we deal. And spend our evenings and weekends enjoying some of the lesser-known attractions this amazing city has to offer, which is what I intend to do.
