When it came down to it, I didn’t expect anything great to happen when I moved here. In my mind, I was moving out of mental necessity to a place I knew very little about, even though I thought I knew everything.

Part of the problem, as I see it, with America’s view of D.C. is that they don’t see the city when they’re here. Granted, I might be wrong. I’m not following tourists around the city studying their every move (in fact, I try my best to avoid them. See: Cherry Blossom Festival). But if I had to guess what the itinerary looked like for the average Middle-Class, Middle-American family, it would go something like this:

-National Mall (no, there is not an H&M there)
-National Zoo
-The “Smithsonian” (That mythical museum that I still haven’t found in my 22 months living here).
-Ben’s Chili Bowl (Only if they have a friend back home who went to D.C. and didn’t go to Ben’s and was told by all of their friends who had been that they should have gone)
-Georgetown (For some of the shopping that they missed at the “Mall”)
-Arlington Cemetery (Because any good family vacation should include a trip to a sea of white stones in the ground reflecting the true cost of war)

What I really wish is that tourists would see all of that stuff in one day and then explore a few of the neighborhoods of D.C. Or at least the good ones (sorry Takoma…maybe next time). And there are a lot of good ones: Dupont Circle (excellent people watching), U St. (socially significant, great study of gentrification, good food beyond Ben’s Chili Bowl), Captiol Hill (great walking neighborhood, if not the city’s best), etc, etc. I’m leaving out some of my personal favorites too (Cleveland Park, Glover Park). My sort of point is that there’s a lot that the area outside of Maryland and Northern Virginia doesn’t know about D.C. I mean, how often do tourists get off at the Cleveland Park metro stop and explore the neighborhood?

Monday night while watching Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations,” Anthony said when travelling to the Greek Isles, “(paraphrase) Most people who travel here spend their time looking at ruins. I can do that at home watching the Discovery Channel. I want to really experience it.”

I’ve always tried to make a conscious effort to not go for the easy stuff. Philly cheesesteak? I’ve been to Philly. Never eaten a cheesesteak there. Times Square? I’ve been to New York about 2 dozen times. I’ve been to Times Square once. I’ve never been to the Statue of Liberty. San Francisco’s cable cars? No use for them. I’ve always felt as though you see more of a city by actually, you know, seeing the city. The people who live in Philly don’t go out of their way to go stand in line at Pat’s or Geno’s. And New Yorkers don’t stare in wonderment at a big Cup o’ Noodles on the weekends.

There’s nothing wrong with coming to the National Mall and taking pictures of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. I mean, one of my favorite things I’ve done here may be standing in the spot that Doctor King stood at delivering the most famous speech of the American 20th Century. But when all of the “Mall” stuff is done, there’s nothing wrong with getting onto the subway or into a cab and taking a walk around one of the city’s interesting and historic ‘hoods. To me, there’s no better way to appreciate this city.