A Walk in the Park—from Maryland to Columbia Heights

Last Friday night, we went to my friend Taylor's house in NE for a little Spring party. At least, that was the idea. Instead, it was 30 degrees outside and we were all packed inside. Thankfully, we had a Wii to keep things interesting.

So the Bride decided to leave early with some friends who were driving. I stuck around for a while, trying to stay as long as possible while still being able to Metro home. So at 2:25 or so, I pack it up and head out the door, right as the snow starts falling.

I halfway ran/jogged across the miserable Giant/Home Depot parking lot at Rhode Island and through the acres of parking until I saw a northbound train pass through. I walked the rest of the way and got up on the platform at about 2:35. The Bride called while I was on the platform and I told her I'd be home in about 20 minutes or so. After watching a southbound train pass (more on that later), I hopped on a northbound train to Fort Totten. I know outbound trains run later than inbound ones, but I was pretty sure there was an inbound Green/Yellow line at about 2:50 or so from Fort Totten.

I was wrong. Uh oh.

The last one left at 2:44, meaning that when I got off the red line at Fort Totten and sprinted downstairs, I missed it by about 4 minutes or less. (Which also means I would have been better off taking that soutbound red train I saw to Gallery Place since the last green/yellow train comes through there at 3:15 or so.

As I ran down the escalator and saw the display sign on the platform with no trains listed, the station manager came on the loudspeaker and informed me that I was a dumbass. Except she didn't embarass me and instead just told all of us that there were no more Green or Yellow line trains going south. I thanked her quietly for the good graces.

By this point, the snow is really coming down. So I go over to the trusty street maps and without breaking stride, take a peek at which way to walk to get to New Hampshire Ave, which I know will take me all the way to CH.

I see one cab in the massive Ft. Totten parking lot, with a girl getting in the back. I don't have any cash with me, so even if I do manage to score a cab somewhere, I'm doing the dreaded post-midnight ATM visit somewhere on the way home, which is akin to begging someone to jam a gun in your ribs and empty your bank account. At least that's what I tell myself so I won't ever be stupid enough to make any ATM transactions after dark in the District. (or anywhere, for that matter)

It's just a bad idea.

So since I barely glimpsed at the street map, I failed to notice/remember that the green/yellow line runs east/west at Ft. Totten, and not north/south like I'm thinking in my foggy, sleepless, wine and cheese-saturated brain.

Upon walking through the parking lot, I promptly make a right turn instead of a left turn, heading back under the elevated red line track, which should have tipped me off that I was going the wrong way. Did I notice? Nope. So I tried to constantly head to my left while walking north on 3rd, and then 2nd NE, and eventually did get to New Hampshire Ave, where I was heading for.

Now here's where I get even stupider. I've managed to turn myself around in circles so badly that I probably couldn't have told you which way was up. So I turned right on New Hampshire and walked for three blocks until I saw Eastern Avenue — otherwise known as the road that lets you know you're about to be in Maryland.

D'oh.

So after whapping myself on the forehead, I walked the last 50 feet up to the intersection, and crossed it, so when I told all my friends this story, I could tell them about how I walked all the way to Maryland, and then back home.

Here's my route so you can see just how stupid I was:


As you can see, my wrong turn cost me at least a mile if not more. I didn't think I could cut across Gallatin Street and through the park, which would have saved me, oh I dunno, say a mile? Although I would have been a little leery about walking through the park at 3 in the morning. (More than walking all the way home from Ft. Totten at 3 in the morning, right?)

The snow is really falling as I start heading back SW on New Hampshire. My brown coat turned white with all the snow sticking to it and my hair was soaked. About 20 minutes down NH Ave, a cab passed me going the other way and slowed waaaaay down to see if I waved him over....

This is where my stubborn cheap streak comes in. I waved him on, figuring I didn't walk the wrong direction for 20 minutes and make it halfway home from Ft. Totten to end up paying 10 bucks for a cab ride home. So I waved him on and continued my pattern of running 2 blocks and then walking some. Ok fine, I was just running one block and walking 3. Geez.

About an hour and 15 minutes after I got off the red line train, I walked in my front door on Meridian Place. And let me tell you, I was tired. So I of course went back to our DC map to see how I had erred because I just couldn't sleep without knowing. And then I went to bed.

I started thinking about how far Taylor actually lives from me as I was telling him this story while we sat in the Verizon Center for the Caps game Saturday. (Can I tell you how sore I was just trying to walk 7 minutes to the CH Metro at noon just 9 hours later?) I suspected that I could have walked all the way home from Taylor's, and not only would I have gotten home sooner, but it would have been a shorter walk.

Thanks to gmap.pedometer.com, you can see that I was right. And so are you: I am an idiot.

My route, including stupid right turn: 4.35 miles
Walking straight from Taylor's with NO wrong turns: 3.51 miles

I'm signing up today

The Bride and I haven't signed up for Flexcar or Zipcar, partially because with one car, we really just haven't had to yet. There is always the trouble that she can't drive our car, since it's a five-speed, but I can take her where she needs to go generally. But after seeing that Flexcar is waiving the membership fee in DC until the end of the month, I think we'll go ahead and do it.

I think there's a larger lesson to be learned from this quote in the WBJ about why car-sharing works as well as it does in the city:

As for people returning cars late, messy or with gas tanks on "E", Schneider says it's not an issue. "This is not car rental," he says. "It's a shared neighborhood asset." Flexcar hopes to promote good behavior by positive reinforcement, such as crediting members' accounts when they gas up at the end of their trips.

I think there's a key to civics in there somewhere — when you give everyone a little bit of ownership, and they begin to sense that a commodity is an asset that belongs to them, they take care of it. Sort of like the difference between cleanliness of blocks where the houses are full of renters, and another one full of owners.

If we end up buying an apartment in the next year or so, we're definitely considering getting rid of the truck and putting the money towards a house and doing zipcar or flexcar fulltime, providing we live near where one is parked. Imagine that, no more car! We've been thinking about it, and the success of car-sharing in DC is the only way we'd be able to do it.

With the Examiner mention of Flexcar, I also saw this letter from a Metro user who is complaining about not being able to track usage on your SmartTrip card. Right now, you either have to go to headquarters at Judiciary Square or to Metro Center to get a printout of your usage.

"I liked the paper fare cards because you can see after each trip the amount remaining and can do quick math to understand what amount was deducted. With this SmarTrip card I have no record of transactions. Many times I have gone through the faregate and gotten messages such as “see attendant” or other various messages. On one occasion when I went to the attendant, he took the card and swiped it on a computer. I was told to re-enter and then leave again. It would not let me leave again! I asked to see for myself what records are on the card and was told only someone in some office in Virginia has that information. I can’t help but be suspicious that I have been erroneously charged. Since these cards are registered at WMATA why can’t someone go to WMATA’s website and look up the transactions online or even get a paper print out at any station. I believe, it would improve customer service to have this information available.

Metro still has a long way to go to streamline a few features with SmartTrip, especially if they want everyone to use it — or begin charging people who use paper fare cards more.

Yeah, so that it's right now. Boring stuff, I know.