If you want to see some American Graffiti, this is where you come. Jimmy Cliff and Cliff Richard…read more(ew) like it here too, hence it's named the Graffiti Cliffs. I didn't even know the Graffiti Cliffs of Georgetown even existed (even) until my most recent visit, which is weird because I know everything, lol, and I used to live around here. But it's a must visit. I love it. The views are amazing and the graffiti on all of the cliffs and things around here is awesome. The sometimes strict local police let everything go here, so it's basically just a free artistic place. It's sort of like a tolerance zone for prostitution, but instead, it's art. Although Barbi and I consider some forms of prostitution to be art, too, especially when we do it. So Graffiti. Not as much fun as prostitution but it might be better to look at depending on who the client is. I mean artist. However, I learned that just a few weeks after I visited here, they closed it off. Not even for Coronavirus, but before Corona. Hopefully it'll be opened up again as soon as Coronavirus is over. It better be.

I like the graffiti cliffs for a multitude of reasons. My main reasoning is it allows me to get an…read moreescape from the hustle and bustle of the city while still being right in the middle of it. Additionally, it offers a great view of Rosslyn, Georgetown, and the Potomac. It is one of those experiences in the city that takes you away while still being present. A couple of downsides to this area is that it can be a bit sketchy and you're best to watch your back when you come up here. On the flip side, they're there for the same purpose that you are - to chill. You leave them alone and you will be left alone. It is easy to access for the most part. Just take the stairs up from the parking below by the kayaks and you'll find yourself on the C & O Trail. Wear good shoes. You will be better off than wearing sandals.

Fantastic DC icon colorful, bright and as much DC as the monuments! Just type Watermelon House for…read moredirections.

The local artist is SO NICE and alludes his love to art. He is known for his "watermelon house" and…read moremural down the alley...

Cutest house and easy to find in such a charming neighborhood…read more Does someone actually live here?

You've got to admire a Spite House. It's known as the Hollensbury Spite House and is 7-feet wide…read moreand 325 sq feet. It was built in 1830 and is considered to be the narrowest historic house in the U.S. So inquiring minds want to know -- why was it built? It was built to block an alleyway with too much traffic.

"I love these murals, but when do we enter the museum?" Me. "These are the museum," my friend. And…read morethis is how I've come to enjoy the DC Alley Museum as the best outdoor-only free museum experience that I've ever had! For the past 10 years, Shaw's Blagden Alley has partnered with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to transform its building walls into canvases for local artists to showcase their work. The result is an alleyway filled with a cavalcade of murals big and small, that blend in well with the local businesses within said alleyway. While walking through this vast alleyway I saw so many incredible works of art that I lost track, and the photos that I took barely do justice It's an absolute street art lover's dream! The best part is that you can either walk through it in a quick dose, or you can do so while grabbing coffee at La Colombe, a cocktail at Calico or Death & Co, or even a workout at DC Strength and Nutrition. Checking out the website is a must to learn more about the core mural artists and to find out about events like their Alley-Oop Music and Arts Festival.

Murals galore! They are all different and unique and range in size. How fun to just explore various…read morestreets and find unique art at every turn. Sometimes you can't even tell if it's part of the outdoor museum or part of the storefront of a creative restaurant. Definitely worth checking out. There is a coffee shop, bar, restaurants, and other business nestled within this space. We need more art, less arguing!

The Temperance Fountain was commissioned and donated to the city in 1882 by Henry Cogswell, a…read moredentist from San Francisco. It was originally a fountain but is no longer. Cogswell believed that easy access to cool drinking water would keep people from consuming alcohol. Hence the "Temperance." I don't know that it worked. The fountain has four stone columns supporting a canopy on whose sides the words "Faith," "Hope," "Charity," and "Temperance" are chiseled. Atop this canopy is a life-sized heron, and the centerpiece is a pair of entwined heraldic scaly dolphins. Originally, visitors were supposed to freely drink water flowing from the dolphins' snouts with a brass cup attached to the fountain and the overflow was collected by a trough for horses. It's been called "the city's ugliest statue" and I don't know that I've seen enough to really have a vote. I can certainly appreciate the message of temperance but now I just want a cold beer. Sorry, Henry. [Review 14277 overall, 1601 of 2020, number 92 in Washington.]

Another of this interesting monuments no one seems to know about. It used to be a fountain. This is…read morenow basically just a statue. Looking up the history is more interesting than looking at it. You can learn when this was placed here and why. Back in the 1800s there was a small population who rebelled against having alcohol. If you know anything about the Temperance Movement, then you understand the meaning of this. This fountain was placed here by members to encourage people to drink water. It remained even after the Temperance Movement was over. This is probably because this city is full of statues. Many have been erected and many have been forgotten about. This certainly is a piece of history, even though it's bad history. It can be found located in the triangle on Pennsylvania Avenue. Close to here is the Archives and Navy Memorial. This is an interesting object to walk past on the way to other things.

4 stars for a fun Georgetown holiday tradition…read more One of the nice things about living in Georgetown the last few years is getting to see the fun traditions. One of the better traditions is Georgetown Glow, the yearly holiday light exhibit festival. The way it works is you drive and/or walk around the Georgetown area looking at light exhibits that artists put together. Some of those exhibits are very artistic, like the 2019 light swing that changes colors as you swing or the 2018 Love You exhibit near Washington Harbor. Others are more traditional, like lighted snowflakes as you drive through Cady Alley or the 2019 light in a window display (not all of them are meant to blow you away). The way you find the exhibits is with a map that you can get online or find in paper form for some of the exhibits. The exhibits run for about a month through December and January. At the end of the timeframe, some exhibits will give away parts to the public. In 2018, an exhibit with a bunch of small pop culture lanterns was given away and made for a very fun momento. Overall, Georgetown Glow is a great Georgetown tradition that shows off local artists and helps get people into the holiday spirit. While I know some Washingtonians don't like making the trek over to Georgetown, it is worth making the trip each year.

Georgetown Glow is free public art with elements to captivate all ages & demographics. It can be…read morepaired with some history or can be enjoyed to captivate your Instagram followers. It is currently in it's fifth year, running from early December to early January. It looks like the installations change every year so there is something new to explore and enjoy. I won't go through every installation that I saw for this reason. There are some really instagramable moments, my favorite in 2018 was definitely Prismatic, but I have a big soft spot for Run Beyond as well. You should definitely plan to get out and explore a lot of the installations, just walking or driving by won't give you the full effect of some of them. Some of them also can't be seen from your vehicle, bundle up and explore! There are also a few that incorporate motion & sound. Here is the biggest "well duh" moment- see these installations after dark. Not during sunset, not at dusk- make sure it is really dark for the full effect. I mean- they are light installations, so maybe that shouldn't even be mentioned. I opted to see Georgetown Glow as part of a tour group (Free Tours by Foot DC) and our tour started almost an hour before sunset so I made a point to revisit the installations we saw early on during the tour- it was definitely worth the trip back to see the earlier installations. I thought taking the walking tour was a great way to see some of the installations and learn more about the history of Georgetown. Our tour guide was excellent, but was definitely a better Georgetown guide vs a Glow guide. She had great historical stories to connect to the themes of the art installations as we walked through Georgetown. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all of the artwork during this foot tour, but we had plenty of time to explore the ones we did encounter on our tour. I would recommend doing Georgetown Glow both ways, take a tour if that's your thing, but really for the art itself I think you can easily enjoy every installation without the tour aspect and just read the information provided on the website to learn more. It is an outdoor, free, public display so expect that a few of the installations may have technical difficulties. I visited on the second night of the displays and noticed some light vandalism, most likely caused by careless spectators. It didn't take away from the overall effect though. One thing I appreciated is even though this is a December outdoor light exhibit, it wasn't Christmas themed. There is definitely plenty of holiday cheer to enjoy as you explore the city between installations. The art itself focuses on different themes giving you a brief mental break from the holidays.

The sight of so many kites flying on the Mall from the Monument to the Capitol is one of the best…read moresights in DC during the beginning of spring and the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I wish more people flew kites everyday than just on a specific day dedicated to flying them. It is a tourist event, so the Mall is packed during Kite Festival. Be careful when you're walking; there are kids and adults running around, you can potentially run into kite string, all that jazz. If you're flying a kite, be careful not to run into people or let your kite hit someone. Since it'll be a crowded event and during the Cherry Blossom Festival, you can be sure that the Smithsonian metro stop (closest metro stop to the Kite Festival) will be crowded with people too. If you can, take the metro to L'Enfant Plaza and walk towards the Mall. It'll be much less crowded. Similarly, walk to the L'Enfant Plaza metro station when you want to leave.

I am creating a review for this so people next year can read about it and go!…read more This is an annual event that usually happens in March or April when the weather turns nice. I never had the luck to see it in previous years but I'm so glad I went down to the Mall today! It lasted for about 5 hours but I was there for only about an hour. It was really perfect kite-flying weather, mostly sunny, 45 degrees, moderate wind. I walked up to the Washington Monument and suddenly saw all the kites. There must have been about three hundred of them. Well, math is my weak subject, but there were definitely a lot of kites up there. Small kites, big kites, parachute kites, animal kites, homemade kites, professional kites... have I said "kites" enough? They had stations where you could make your own kites and other stations with art displays about the kite-making process. They also had contests in roped-off areas but they were taking a break when I walked by that area so I didn't see any kite-fighting. Two things made this a worthwhile event for me. One was the colors. The kites had all kinds of designs and colors, red, blue, green, yellow, white, stripes, polka dots, Elmos, and so on. The other was the little kids. There were hundreds of happy babies and toddlers and little kids. It was really cute. Thank you Miriam for sharing this wonderful event!

There is nothing like street art to tell the unique, compelling story of a city's soul. This huge…read moremural does the job better than most. If only George wasn't gagged, what would he say now? Read on to learn more... The mural was painted by Aniekan Oudofia and Liz Brown. An activist organization, DC Vote, coordinated the project. As you may be aware, residents of the District of Columbia do not have the same representation as the rest of us citizens of the United States of America. They have no senators and no representatives in congress. None. Zippo. DC Vote fights for full and equal representation for the residents of the District of Columbia. I quote the following directly from DC Vote's web site: "The District of Columbia was created in the late 1700's to help protect the original Congress from unruly mobs. At the time, the area was sparsely populated farmland and swamp. There is no way our Founding Fathers could have envisioned that their action would lead to the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of American citizens in the thriving DC of today." If only George wasn't gagged, he would perhaps call for DC being fairly represented! What do you think? Opinions likely vary.