Saturday Mornings in a Capital City

Have you ever gotten up really early on a Saturday and just walked around parts of Downtown DC? Before you shrug at the idea of getting up early on a weekend, hear me out. Washington is a city that has moods and waves and patterns. Washington rush hour is a wave of activity in the morning and afternoon. Washington traffic is a pattern, well sort of anyway...if you can call chaos a pattern, that is. As far as moods, early Saturday mornings capture what I call Washington in a good mood.

It is when you get the best of all things Washington. Today for example, is that perfect April or September weather, only it is July. The city is buzzing with the perfect mix of tourists and locals. All us businessmen and businesswomen are home reading the weekend edition of the Post, or the NYTimes for all you wannabe "real city" folks. Okay, so maybe I am not at home reading the Post, but I am at a downtown cafe, enjoying my coffee and bagel watching the world walk by my window.

I love the looks on the faces of the tourist families as they begin their long days walk around the city. They are so eager and so happy to be here. The tourist kids on the metro remind me why this is a great city. You know the kids that swing innocently on the handrails and get all excited at the idea of going to a spy museum or going to the top of the Washington Monument.

So, I just want to give a shout out to all those early risers, whether you are a tourist or a resident, eager to discover Washington at its best. Thanks for making my weekend mornings enjoyable.

Oh, and if you end up liking Saturday mornings in Washington, you should try Sunday mornings. I swear the city is so quiet that you can walk right down the middle of Wisconsin Avenue at 6 am as if it was a sidewalk. That reminds me of the time I went skiing down the middle of Wisconsin Avenue to go to the grocery store. I will save that entry for the winter months, when Washington is bound to have a blizzard crisis with all the bread and milk shortages.