#inauguration2009

I can remember my first time visiting in D.C. when I was in first grade. My mother accompanied me to a field trip to the National Zoo. My hopes were to see a white tiger (I did not get to see one, but I got a plastic white tiger toy) and to see the “Big Pencil” (Known to most of you all as the Washington Monument). Future field trips lead me back to the District. Historic tours and museums were about the only thing I experienced while visiting  D.C. as a child.

My mother’s best friend was from Washington, D.C. She moved to Richmond, Virginia after she graduated college. She talked about her move from D.C. as if she was escaping a war torn country.

“I’ve seen bullets fly past my face,” she testified to my mother and me one trip, while we were driving to drop her off with her family.

My mother’s friend grew up close to the Trinidad neighborhood. Her family owns house there. In the 90s the neighborhood was filled with gun violence. Now the family home is worth close to one million dollars. “It’s just so terrible here. This city needs help.” She made it seem like once I would step out of the car I would be robbed, shot and raped.

I didn’t grow an interest in the city for a while after that conversation. I had been interested in moving to New York, Atlanta or a closer city like Norfolk when I was in high school and college. Richmond was not the cool hipster town that it is now. To me living in Richmond was giving up on living in a fun town. It was the end of adventure. Don’t get me wrong I still love Maymont Park, Belle Isle and First Fridays gallery openings (In my opinion Richmond kills D.C. as far as an art scene goes), but those thing were still not enough of a reason to stay in Richmond.

My sister moved to D.C. before I graduated college and loved it there. She couldn’t stop talking about entrepreneur spirit of everyone she met, the cool events that she went to and how she felt at home.

Art school made it pretty difficult to visit. I had an internship, classes, two jobs and a fiancé (it didn’t work out, but we are both happily apart). I finally visited on probably the coolest weekend to visit D.C. ever.

Obama Inauguration Weekend 2009!

I wish that the above had explosions, because that’s how cool it was. It wasn’t really a weekend either. I came in late Saturday night. We partied from Saturday to Tuesday. (If you would even call it partying. My sister doesn’t drink and doesn’t really like to dance. We were just showing up at places and people watching.

My sister and I had a jam-packed weekend including a party at a now dead venue on V. St on Saturday, a gathering with cool people at a place soon to be known as Bloombars, a Common concert at Club Love on Monday, the inauguration in the morning and a poetry show at Busboys and Poets on that Tuesday night. I was in love. I was in love with D.C. It wasn’t the parties either. I just loved being around people who did more. I met entrepreneurs, musicians, artists and designers who worked hard and love their city.

I know everyone’s experience is different. I came to D.C after college and the city was booming with outsiders. I can’t act like gentrification didn’t shape my perception or that my love for D.C. isn’t really a taste for a diluted city. I will say that my love is genuine.  I found a great church, beautiful friends and a calling and adventure that I cannot wait to start.