I've moved in and out of Washington, DC at least a half dozen times over the past 30-some years, so it's more "home" than anywhere else. But what I keep experiencing when I return now on visits is that old adage, "you can't go home again." What happens when we leave and come back to favorite places?
Our remembrances of the old days lock in time -- and the new experience can be terribly irritating. Let's face it, in the grip of our memories, we hate change! And then I found a favorite old haunt had not changed at all -- the restaurant, Vietnam Georgetown (read on).
First I have to grouse a little about how DC has changed. To wit -- traffic: Washington is gridlock. The city has grown three or maybe six times since it took off and decided to be more than a government town in the late '60s, but the road infrastructure hasn't. Downtown at rush hour is simply gridlock, not slowly moving confestion as in LA, but complete gridlock.
I got to ride on the Metro the first day it opened in the early '70s. What a frolicking overland cruise to the suburbs! Today those who have moved to the suburbs while they work downtown have to push and shove to get to work on the Metro, the system is so beyond its capacity. Same with the once innnovative highways, like I-66 through northern Virginia. Forget that. It was practically outdated once it opened. Today the fastest way from Dulles International Airport to downtown DC -- depending on the time of day -- is not along the highways that beckon you with road signs but via the twists and turns of neighborhoods, for which no maps exist. They have long caught onto this game by installing vexing road bumps throughout, but I still fool them and weave through their precious streets. One data point of small note: twenty years ago there were 90 Washington Flyer taxis serving Dulles International Airport. Today there are over 600.
But the theme of this article is not whining; it's goal is wisdom and some tools for being able to "go home again." Here goes...



