Washington, DC – A Trip Down Memory Lane
It was only a short walk, but a very meaningful one all the same. One of the benefits of my job is there is a fair amount of travel. Sometimes to cool places like Austin, other times to not so cool places like Norfolk, and occasionally to places that surprise me like Little Rock. This last trip sent me on a clichéd journey down memory lane to Washington, DC – my home for two years after college. The hotel I was staying at in Silver Spring was across the street from my apartment home at the Georgian Towers, and the walk was the 7 minutes from essentially what was my first “grown up” residence to the metro station. It was a walk I trekked almost daily to catch the metro to my job in Bethesda or to go out in the evenings in Washington, DC.
My First Grown Up Home – The Georgian Towers
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t manage to retrace those footsteps from memory and had to ask the porter at my hotel. I couldn’t remember the walk past the row of city style townhomes I was so found of. Nor did I remember crossing the street and cutting through the modern business plaza with its cascading escalators down to the base of the Metro. The sleekness of the business plaza contrasted against the traditional look of the townhomes. Perhaps it was because my time in DC were dark days for me. I battled with many internal demons. I didn’t have many friends and didn’t find the city all that accepting to those working outside the realm of politics. I desperately sought to make friends and found myself lost in a city with an agenda that didn’t include me. Internally, I struggled with discovering who I was and who I wanted to be (These are questions I still ponder, but am no longer haunted by).
The Path to the Metro Past the Row of Townhomes
The Path to the Metro Through the Business Plaza
I enjoyed the short walk and the flood of memories – good or bad – that came back to me. Much had changed in the twelve years since I left Silver Spring. The downtown was flourishing with business and activity. The streets looked safe to walk at night. When I was there, the downtown was bleak and the streets were not meant to be walked alone after dark other than the well-lit path from the metro station to my apartment. Silver Spring, much like my life, had turned a positive corner. After leaving the Washington, DC area I moved to Miami where I found brighter days. I earned my MBA and met my now wife. The good things that came from those dark days helped me face the demons of my past head-on with a smile.
Washington DC Metro
