Finding the New Me

April 17, 2016 - Finding the New Me

Spring is here and life is fine.  I’ve been extremely busy, with all the activities I enjoy (including a wonderful visit from Elisa and Sylvie).  At the same time, I’ve been plagued by a nagging sense that something is not quite settled.  I’m just now realizing that I don’t quite know who I am and that discovering the new me is going to be a long process. 

Miss Sylvie helping Grandma Robin

After more than 32 years of married life, I have to find my way back to my identity as a single woman once again.  I’m certainly not the person I was in my 20s and early 30s.  I’m okay with daily living, i.e. being alone in the house, preparing meals for one (much easier!), managing finances, etc.  But how will I feel about traveling abroad alone, which I did quite often before I got married?  To challenge myself, I’m planning a trip to Europe on my own.  I’ll be splitting my time between Budapest and Vienna, two cities I’ve longed to explore for many years.  Now that I am free to travel again, I hesitated a bit before making my reservations, but my love of new experiences won out in the end.

I’m indulging my sense of adventure on a much smaller scale by making solo trips in areas of DC that I’m not familiar with.  Yesterday, I focused on the area of Southeast DC along the Anacostia River near Elliott’s childhood home.  At the end of Pennsylvania Avenue, I found Barney Circle, where he said the streetcars would turn around.  The neighborhood is just starting to see some long overdue rehabilitation.  I spent some time traipsing along the Anacostia Riverwalk, a bike and walking trail that’s a recent addition to the Southeast landscape.  It wasn’t quite what I had expected.  From Barney Circle, I started down an abandoned road, which led past the back of a parking lot for RFK Stadium to a wide strip of concrete.  Aside from a couple of joggers and walkers, the area was pretty deserted.  Through the scraggly bushes lining the trail, I caught a glimpse of the river and the Sousa Bridge.  Several crew teams were rowing past.  Soon, however, the river disappeared from sight and the path joined M Street, where I had a great view of highway entrance and exit ramps.  While Elliott wasn’t walking beside me today, I felt a kinship with him and wondered what the area looked like in the 1910s and 1920s when he might have roamed through there looking for adventure. 

The Anacostia River and the Sousa Bridge

A section of the Anacostia Riverwalk

He often spoke of the Washington Navy Yard, where his father worked for many years.  As a result, I was excited when Google maps on my phone indicated that the Navy Yard was up ahead on M Street. I was hoping to get inside to take a quick look but the gates were firmly locked.  Slightly disappointed, I decided to take advantage of the perfect spring day and continue my stroll into the Barracks Row district.  The barracks are still used by the Marines, but the area has seen a renaissance of restaurants, cafés, and quirky shops.  With the beautiful weekend weather, the sidewalks were overflowing with mostly younger people and their four-legged friends.   

The Navy Yard was all closed up.

I'll have to tell Matt about this donut shop on 8th Street SE.

Ambar serves Balkan cuisine.

Quite on the spur of the moment, I treated myself to lunch at Ambar, a Balkan restaurant I’ve wanted to try for a long time.  It’s definitely worth a return visit with a group of friends so we can sample the many small plates on the menu.  I ended up at the Eastern Market metro after making a loop of about 3 miles from my starting point.  It reinforces my belief that walking is the best way to get to know a city and I look forward to many long walks in Budapest and Vienna. 

Today, it’s back to the glass studio.  I’ll include some photos of my latest work in my next post.