Day 5 - Georgetown

We were up early again and this time we needed to get over to Georgetown for a walking tour we had planned. This is on the west side of DC and we needed to get the bus again as there was no subway in the older part of the city. We left about 08:30am and the bus got us over there with about half an hour for breakfast. We went to a Paul’s bakery which we have been to in London before. Fairly fancy (and expensive) but a nice brekfat when you’re on holiday.

The tour started at 10am, we met at a local park and it was obviously the little group standing in the corner. We have used this tour group before (DCtoursbyfoot) and they have a good pay what you feel policy that means it’s actually very reasonable. Not because people pay less but that the tour guides are self employed so there is little overheads and they get to keep all the money.

Start of walking tour

We set off and were taken to an old canal which was built in the mid 19^th century. It was shortly before trains so actually fell into disrepair fairly quickly. It is currently dried up but is being renovated for a tourist attraction which should be finished in a few years.

Street next to canal

The next part of the tour involved looking at some notable out buildings which were typical of the time period before Washington DC was created to be the new capital of America. There was an old prep-school which was turned into a hospital during the civil war and eventually we walked up to Georgetown university which was also built around the same time. The other bits of the tour included notable residences of famous people including the Kennedy’s and John Kerry.

Halloween decorations already out!

Georgetown University

Once we finished we didn’t hang around for long at the university and headed back. We did bump into a couple on the bus on the way back and we agreed that the tour wasn’t as historic as suggested in the title, and more trivial type information. It was still interesting though and the guide was good. Georgetown has a lot of cupcake outlets so we grabbed one from a place called Baked and Wired which the tour guide suggested.

Cupcakes from Baked and Wired

We had a bit of extra time so rode the bus back to the Natural History museum and had a quick look at their exhibits. By Friday afternoon it was quite busy but we were still able to get around everything ok and then headed back to the hotel.

We got changed quickly into some warmer clothes as we planned to go to the basketball in the evening which we knew would be cold. We went back to the MXDC restaurent to have the paella this time. It was great and we ordered it without aoli and coriander so it wasn’t too strongly seasoned. It was then a short walk over to the Capital One arena for the basketball.

Paella from MXDC

Capital One Arena

The basketball game was a pre-season game between the Washington Wizards and the Miami Heat. The arena is very modern compared to venues in the UK. There was a lot of entertainment during breaks and intermissions, including music, dancers and games. We really enjoyed ourselves. We then rode the subway straight back to Union station (after a little trouble topping up our metrocards!) and back to the hotel.

Inside the arena