Georgetown wasn’t at all what I expected.    I imagined quaint, quiet and sleepy little area filled with darling little shops and cafes.  Just the name conjured up images of major “cuteness” in my head.

Well, yes, it has lots of cute and charming off-the-main-street areas. Most certainly  cafes and shops abound,  but my recent trip to the Nation’s capital and some time in Georgetown revealed a pretty of-the-moment and very busy spot. Traffic! Zounds.  I wasn’t expecting that.  Somehow I thought it would be like a small village.  It is not.

The main shopping streets are packed with trendy shops like Lululemon, Apple, CB2, Waterworks, Paper Source and Zara. Yep. Upscale hipster shopping.  What surprised me was the lack of local interesting and unique places.  It was fun but I felt like I could have been anywhere.  Maybe I missed something.

I liked this decorative approach……maybe a bit more of what I was expecting.

I even spotted a pop up shop in an Airstream selling sexy underwear.

What I did find charming were the side streets with the old homes.  Turns out Georgetown was established before Washington. It was a highly successful  port town long before the politicians took over.

 In fact, I did discover the canal a few blocks between the thriving urban shopping streets and the Potomac. Turns out the canal was started in the early 1800s but by the time it was finished thirty years later, it was obsolete because of the railroads.

At one point one could ride the canal boat but unfortunately this isn’t possible.

I enjoyed seeing people jogging and walking along the toe path and was amazed with how narrow it was at points.

Having lunch at an upscale restaurant  along the banks was a treat.  It was the kind of place that serves its own roasted red pepper spread along with the crusty just out-of- the-oven bread. Hmmmm   So good.

The area of Georgetown stretching along the river was fun.  People gathered there for classes,  yoga class and the stand up paddle boards, an activity that is hot-on- exercise-fanatics to do lists.    I enjoyed some photo displays of earlier eras. It was relaxing to see rowers gliding by in groups of two and three making that sport look effortless.