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A Late-Night Walk

Driving through a city in a car or tour bus, there is only so much one can see. Most of the city goes by in a blur. Stops are made on a preset schedule. For a true tour of any city, the best way to see it is by walking. When walking, one can see a city at their own pace. As many or as few stops as desired can be made. In my travels, walking has provided some of my most memorable experiences.

One of my more memorable walks happened late at night. It was not so much the walk itself that was memorable, but the circumstances surrounding it. It was January 1, 2000. A group of friends and I had spent much of the evening on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., welcoming in the new millennium with countless other people. After 1a.m., the crowd began to disperse and we were faced with a decision. Earlier that evening, a friend had dropped us off near the Mall before continuing onto her own New Year’s celebration. Did we join the throngs of people waiting for one of the city buses? Or did we take a chance and walk back to my friend’s home? The area surrounding the Mall is rather pedestrian-friendly. But, my friend did not live in the Mall-area. Rather, she lived in a row house in the Northwest Washington neighborhood of Georgetown. That was nearly three miles from our location on the Mall. Still, we debated our transportation. We took a look at the mass of people waiting to board the buses and then at the relatively car-free streets of the District. We made the decision to walk, retaining the option to flag down a bus if we changed our minds during the walk. We set off from the Mall for my friend’s home. Having been surrounded by thousands of people for much of the night, the nearly empty neighborhood streets were quite a shock. We meandered through the streets of Washington, past darkened storefronts and restaurants. Occasionally we would pass another group of people leaving whatever celebration they had attended that evening. But, for the most part, there were few people out at that hour.

After some time, we realized that something was missing. We had not yet seen one of the buses. Dozens had been queued up when we left the Mall. At least one of them was surely driving our route. But, we had not seen or heard any of them. We had only seen other pedestrians and the occasional car. It did not matter, though, as we were nearing Georgetown.

After walking for nearly ninety minutes, we arrived at my friend’s home. Another house guest, who had been attending a different party, was already there. Settled in the living room, we were all sharing stories of our respective events, when a bus rumbled down the street. It was the first bus that any one of us had heard in more than two hours. We could not believe it. We had out-walked the bus!

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