Georgetown in Bloom

Get outside, and celebrate the beauty of the season with a walk through this D.C. neighborhood.

Spring never comes quietly to Georgetown. It's as boisterous as a brass band. It's as palpable as the sun that warms your back when you stroll brick sidewalks past ornate townhomes and trees bursting with blossoms.

"We all look forward to this season," says Gail Griffin, superintendent of gardens and grounds at Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, as she stands on a terrace overlooking the 10-acre public property. Groves of cherry trees, flowering plums, and legions of tulips wrap the grounds in ribbons of color.

If you want to find the heart of Georgetown, take a walk on 31st Street NW. on a spring afternoon. From the Potomac River, 31st Street stretches north for 11 blocks to Dumbarton Oaks Gardens.

When you walk, the beauty of the historic neighborhood comes into focus. If you drive, it's just a blur. Wisconsin Avenue NW. and M Street, main thoroughfares lined with shops and restaurants, are narrow and crowded, and there hasn't been a handy parking place since the Eisenhower Administration. Wear comfortable shoes, and stow your car at Colonial Parking at 3000/3050 K Street NW or Constitution Parking at 1054 31st Street NW. or 3217 K Street NW.

Start with lunch outdoors overlooking the Potomac at Sequoia Restaurant. If you get here early enough, ask for a table beneath a tree laden with cherry blossoms. Try the Chesapeake Bay fresh blue crab cake sandwich served on a homemade bun ($13.95).

Enjoy a leisurely meal, and then follow 31st Street NW. north two blocks to M Street to see the garden and grounds of the Old Stone House, completed in 1765 and said to be the oldest dwelling on its original lot in Washington. Legend holds that George Washington used it as his headquarters while choosing land for the Nation's Capital.

Plenty of other officeholders and famous residents have gravitated to Georgetown as well. Jackie and John Kennedy lived at nine different addresses here. The visitors center distributes maps for a self-guided tour of the Kennedy homes.

When he first came to Washington in 1946, Kennedy rented the house at 1528 31st Street NW The three-story Colonial Revival home was a hub for dinner parties and political gatherings.

Tudor Place, a landmark celebrating its 200th birthday this year, sits behind hedges at 1644 31st Street NW. Formal gardens grace the 5-acre grounds of the house built by Martha Custis Peter on land purchased with a legacy from her stepgrandfather, George Washington. On the hill where the house sits, you get a sense of how the area looked when Tudor Place was built.

At the end of 31st Street, the colors of spring play a beautiful rhapsody across the hillsides at Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. Tulips trumpet. Cherry blossoms sound a drumroll. If you're ready for winter to be over, a day like this is music to your ears. LES THOMAS

For area information: Stop by the Georgetown Visitor Center at 3242 M Street; (202) 333-1600 or www. georgetowndc.com. Dumbarton Oaks Gardens: (202) 339-6409 or www.doaks.org. Tudor Place: (202) 965-0400 or www.tudorplace.org.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Mar 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved