This post comes in 3 parts. Part 1 will cover the Georgetown waterfront. Part 2 will take you on a ferry ride under many of the city's bridges. Part 3 will cover the Alexandria waterfront. There are lots of other interesting riverfront things in and around DC, but I happened to be at all these locations over this past weekend, so you get a photo thread out of it.
Part 1: Georgetown
Georgetown's waterfront is part park and part mixed-use. The mixed use part was built in the mid 80s, while the park was just recently completed (replacing a waterfront surface parking lot).
Here's the park:
The waterfront is separated from the main part of Georgetown by the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. There are a lot of nice features built in, such as stairs down to the water, fountains, etc.
The bridge you see here is the Key Bridge, which goes to Rosslyn VA.
Looking down river, towards the Kennedy Center (Washington's opera house).
Now coming in to the mixed-use area.
Part 2: Ferry ride
The reason I was at the waterfront, and the reason you're seeing these pictures, is that on Friday my wife and I took a Georgetown-to-Navy Yard ferry to get to Nationals Stadium and watch a ballgame. So here are pictures from the ferry.
It's not a large ferry.
But it gets the job done. Off we go!
Looking back at Georgetown and the Key Bridge.
That's upstream. We're not going that way. We're going downstream. First thing we run in to is the famous Watergate, where President Nixon found trouble.
Next, the Kennedy Center.
Very multimodal.
A major feature of the ferry ride will be the several bridges that we go under. The first one is the Roosevelt Bridge, which carries I-66 from Washington to Virginia. In this picture you can also see the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which goes to Arlington Memorial Cemetery.
Roosevelt Bridge is not known for its beauty.
Once past Roosevelt Bridge we start to see some of DC's famous monuments.
Washington's obelisk peaks above some trees:
Oh hai, Lincoln:
Washington and Lincoln lined up perfectly:
Approaching Arlington Memorial Bridge:
Washington doesn't get a lot of big ship traffic, but it does happen occasionally, and happend more often in the past. The older bridges either open or swing to let in ships.
Airplanes on approach to National Airport come in over the river.
Looking back upstream, National Cathedral is perfectly framed:
At this point we're sailing along West Potomac Park, which is the part of the National Mall between the Potomac and the Tidal Basin.
Jefferson:
After Jefferson we reach the cluster of 3 bridges known collectively as "14th Street Bridge". They carry I-395 across the Potomac. Each of the 3 has its own name, but they all look alike and they're all part of I-395, so nobody knows the individual names.
Immediately after 14th Street Bridge comes the Metrorail bridge (carrying the Yellow Line) and then Long Bridge, a 100-year-old span that carries Amtrak, VRE commuter trains, and freight.
After the bridges we're following East Potomac Park, which is an island. In this image you the island in the foreground, with a famous dome in the background.
At this point some interesting things start to show up on the Virginia side. The 2 towers you see here are the Alexandria Washington Monument (left) and the National Airport control tower (right):
Landing plane.
The airport has a little light house, which amuses me.
Crystal City, VA is a large business district behind the airport. For decades it had an FAA-imposed height limit, leading to a canopy of midrises that actually looked a lot like Washington. But the height limit was recently lifted, so taller buildings are popping up one by one.
This is the US Air Force Memorial. The cranes are unrelated (they're building a new park).
Looking back upstream, it's clear the river has widened. You can see Rosslyn VA on the left bank, and the Washington Monument on the right. The National Cathedral is inbetween.
Rosslyn VA:
Now we are going to sail up the Anacostia River a little bit, to get to the baseball stadium. This is Hains Point, at the confluence of the rivers. Although in this picture you're not actually seeing the Anacostia yet. Hains Point is the southern tip of East Potomac Park, the island which separates the Potomac River (left) from Washington Channel (right). The Anacostia River is even further to the right, off frame.
Looking up Washington Channel:
Now here's the Anacostia, and another bridge! This is the Frederick Dougless South Capitol Street Bridge. It's slated to be torn down and replaced soon.
The city hasn't decided on a new bridge design yet, but the idea is it will be a lot prettier.
Looking under South Capitol Bridge, we see one final bridge before reaching the dock, the bike/ped Yards Park Bridge, which carries the Anacostia waterfront trail over a small inlet.
We come around a little curve and voila! Two landmarks:
Pass under South Capitol Bridge and emerge right near the stadium.
Looking upstream at our little docks, and the Anacostia River:
Zooming in on Washington Navy Yard, you can see a couple of ships. Note the historic schooner - more on that later.
For now, let's dock and find our seats.
Part 3: Alexandria waterfront
OK. All the pictures up til now were from Friday evening. From here on they're all from Sunday evening. These are "accidental" pictures, that I snapped with my cellphone while I happened to be at the waterfront.
I was in Alexandria on Sunday just hanging out, when lo and behold that schooner from a few pictures ago sailed by. It's the Pride of Baltimore II, which sails around the Chesapeake basically for fun.
The bridge you see is the Wilson Bridge, which carries the Beltway (I-495).
We took a walk a mile or so up the waterfront, which is mostly park.
This is how low the planes are:
Looking north towards Washington:
That's all, folks!
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..Most people do not know much about DC other than the tourist checklist. It is sooooo much more than a postcard. The metro reagion has over 5 million people makeing it the 7th largest.........CITY.....in the nation..
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