DC: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

We are finally in our new location: Alexandria, VA!!  We have been here for just over two weeks, but a first impression is a lasting impression, so here's what I think.


The Good

Let me paint a picture of why this place is amazing.

I got into my car last Saturday at 11:15am and the local NPR station was playing my favorite show: Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me.  I drove five minutes to pick-up my very first Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) box which included all kinds of yummy, organic produce from local farms.  Outside the restaurant that organizes the CSA (called Food Matters - I have yet to try it out, but it looks great), a troop of girl scouts sold me my first six boxes of cookies for the year.  Later that day, we all got in the car, picked up Nathan's brother, Justin, and visited the National Zoo - for free.

My first CSA bag - complete with wildflower honey!

Flamingos at the National Zoo

There are literally one thousand adventures to be had waiting for me at my doorstep every day.  I don't need to go very far - heck, I don't even have to drive to get anywhere if I don't want to.  The possibilities are endless.  I feel like I could go anywhere and do anything here, using DC as my launching pad. 

 View of the National Mall from the Mt. Vernon Trail

In Rochester, I had to join a special group to practice speaking Spanish.  Here, I've had to use my Spanish just to get around and talk to my neighbors.

In Kansas, we lived in a construction zone and I feared that Alison might kill herself if she started moving on her own through that house.  Now, there is crown molding in our apartment and everything was updated as of a couple years ago.

People are very open-minded here because they come from all corners of the country.  The DC Badgers alumni group sends me almost daily event emails, whereas in Kansas, the only other Badger in the area had an asterisk by his name claiming he had died in 1994.

The Bad

Could there BE any more people here?  Every single nook and cranny of this area is overflowing with people.  People on the roads, people in the stores, people in the restaurants.  Big people, small people, people of every background.  If there were a nuclear holocaust and we were all forced to find our own food, there would be around a 1000 to 1 human-to-squirrel ratio and we would surely all die of starvation.

I miss my view of the bluffs from my front door in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Yes, we have an amazing top floor view from our new place, but nature trumps urbania.  That is just a fact of life.

Stainless Steel Tree in the National Sculpture Garden

Please don't let this be the future of our natural world! (Although it IS really neat!)

The Ugly

Picture the largest freeway you've ever seen.  Then picture it full of cars during rush hour.  Now double the amount of cars on the road.  Add people who learned how to drive in places like Rochester, MN where they do not know how to drive. Then add a few tourists.  Now have someone tell you the traffic is only really bad during rush hour. Now picture yourself maming that person because they are completely, horribly wrong.

Traffic is awful here.  The infrastructure just can't handle the people and drivers have to pull crazy stuff just to get where they need to be.  Stop lights last for days.  It's best to just stay out of your car.  Period.