Wish We Were Here: Washington DC
I wonder how many inhabitants of first century Britain were able to visit Rome. If so, every time I visit Washington, I know how they must have felt. This is where real power lies. However interesting we find our local affairs, Washington is the imperial capital. As such, it is a company town; its industry is politics. And its size and prosperity are a testament to the failure of one type of politics and the success of a rival doctrine.
The city has grown and prospered because of the growth of the modern state. Every time there is an election, it is not only new legislators who arrive in the nation’s capital; with them come aides and advisors. No doubt many of their candidates had been running against Washington, calling for smaller government and claiming that the incumbent whom they were trying to unseat had gone native and succumbed to the capital’s corrupting influence. The insurgent wins and finds – as do his staff – that life within the beltway has its attractions. The years go by and he himself is unseated by a younger figure, running against Washington. But instead of going back to the boondocks, he – and his advisors – stay on in Washington, often working as lobbyists. So the cycle continues and the city continues to expand.
Forty years ago, once you left Dulles airport, the road ran through bush and woodland. The first sight of DC was the spires of Georgetown University which indicated that you were almost at your destination. Now, there are shopping malls, offices and high-tech looking workplaces all the way into town. In that town, everything is centred on politics. There is a buzz, at parties, in think-tanks and in restaurants. This is not confined to domestic politics. Imperial politics extends to foreign affairs. Expertise will be available on any country you care to mention. Often, these academics have the ear of policy-makers. This does not mean that the resulting conclusions are always the right ones. Amidst the intellectual excitement, one oddity will strike a British visitor (this one, at least) when he goes to a restaurant. At lunchtime, it will seem as if prohibition had never been abolished. Everyone else appears to be drinking water or iced tea. Matters are more relaxed over dinner but a bottle of wine will often suffice for two diners. How very un-European.
But despite this curious attitude towards wine, Washington has become progressively more civilised in recent decades. After the era of the Virginian gentlemen – Thomas Jefferson et al – standards collapsed. When he captured the White House, Andrew Jackson – no prohibitionist – brought rough whisky and rougher manners. Senators slept several to a bedroom. Spittoons were in common use. Although things improved somewhat, JFK was not being unfair when he made his famous comment about the capital combining the charm of the North and the efficiency of the South. Today, there is much more efficiency and still plenty of charm. But there are problems. Although there is a sizeable black middle class, there is also an underclass: think of The Wire. There are bits of the city which you would never need to visit and you could not safely visit. But you will spend most of your time either in the centre or in the North-West, in or near Georgetown.
There, you will also find greenery. Rock Creek Park is pleasant, though it is usually infested by militant joggers. It is now illegal to swim in the creek itself. Gone are the days when Theodore Roosevelt regularly bathed there in the nude. In the centre of town, you will find the capital’s capital: the Mall, with its monuments – Jefferson, Lincoln and others less well-known – plus its museums. This is American history expressed in architecture. The wokers must hate it.
If you were thinking in terms of strolling along the Mall, the season has to be right. Once summer comes, so does humidity. Life becomes intolerable without air-conditioning. That said, I have heard it argued that air conditioning is a mortal threat to the Great Republic. Before it was invented, the Congress had to get out of town for at least two months. Now, it could sit all year if it chose, enacting more laws and imposing further regulations.
That said, the American political process is endlessly fascinating. Nor do the locals seem to mind if a visiting limey joins in partisan arguments. This one cannot wait to do all that again.
Things to do:
Food
Washington has a range of excellent restaurants. Redolent of old Washington, The Palm has been serving steak, lobster and Congressmen for nearly a hundred years. The Old Ebbit Grill is similar, the Jockey Club more European and more feminine in its cuisine. Drawing on the resources of Chesapeake Bay, there are excellent Japanese restaurants. When I last visited, Kaz Sushi and Sushi Ogawa were both in fine form, it would be worth drawing on up-to-date local avisandum.
Art
The National Gallery is one of the world’s great treasure houses. The Phillips Collection is well worth a visit and the innumerable branches of the Smithsonian cater for every interest and taste.
Countryside and sea
Mosey down the Maryland shore. You will find pleasant beaches and lots of shack-style eateries serving delicious crab-cakes. Go out to Skyline Drive, part of the Shenandoah National Park. ‘Shenandoah’: what a beautiful sound.
