Wanderings in Le Droit Park

On Sunday, my brother L visited me and A. We had a late breakfast at the Florida Avenue Grill. It's an old black-owned diner in NW. It just celebrated 60 years in business sometime this past year. I love it! So cramped, dingy, and busy. The diner's best feature (along with the great wait staff) is that the walls are adorned with framed head shots of its famous clientèle, mostly actors, politicians and musicians. There are so many photos! The grouping of photos is so random! The ones I can remember now are: Tichina Arnold, Ron Dellums, Ralph Carter, Denzel Washington, Armstrong Williams, Ron Brown, Adrian Fenty, John Ashcroft and Strom Thurmond!

After breakfast we decided to walk through the Le Droit Park neighborhood. This area used to be an enclave of the black elite of Washington, DC. The houses are spectacular! Old Victorian mansions and colorful row houses line the streets. Some have been renovated, others are still awaiting some TLC. The place has so much history.

There was one rundown house that we just couldn't figure out. The house looked as if someone had cut it in half with a knife. One side had a door, windows, and a porch, the other side was a brick wall. It was quite spooky--some of the windows were boarded up and the outside staircase was missing.

As we were staring at the half-house, a young man walked up to us and asked what we were staring at. I told him that we were trying to figure out the story behind the house. I added that I liked the house even though it was a little creepy. Then he said, "What kind of person likes a creepy old house?" Well I answered saying, "Even creepy things having some sort of value." His only response was to give me a puzzled look. He continued to look at the house with us, marveling a bit at the bricked up side of the house before he got bored and left.

I'm attaching some of the photos that I took on our walk. Not all turned out as I'd have hoped but it's been awhile since I've taken pictures. I think that my eye is a little rusty.