Colonials Weekend is the perfect opportunity for you to get off your bottom and show your family how well you know D.C. The Hatchet’s cheat sheet will help you seem like quite the Washingtonian, and give you an inside scoop on the lesser-known details of the District. Read up so you can be the tour guide this weekend.
Columbia Heights is a vibrantly diverse community, and has recently re-emerged on the District scene as a popular residential area, especially for young professionals.
With its reputation as a commercial center of Washington in the 1920s, to the riots and violence of late 1960s following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Columbia Heights has had a tumultuous past.
Known now for its new retail development, with stores like Target, Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond, Columbia Heights has all the basics you need for dorm life, and is only a Metro ride away.
If you find yourself in Columbia Heights in the early hours of the morning and don’t feel like going home yet, don’t worry. You can go to Bloombars (3222 11th St., NW), a nonprofit performance space, which shows a movie once a month from 2:30 to 6:00 a.m., after the bar shuts down.
The next Sunrise Cinema showing will be Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 a.m. Places like Bloombars are what make Columbia Heights feel like a community in an otherwise hectic city.
Insider Tips
Like what you taste at Sticky Fingers?
You can enjoy it at home soon: Look for the recipe book coming out in February 2012.
U Street is not a far trek.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, it is well worth a visit.
Sticky Fingers Bakery
Columbia Heights isn’t just for shopaholics, but for foodies too. It is home to Sticky Fingers Bakery, a vegan bakery that was voted Best Bakery and Best Vegan Restaurant by Washington City Paper readers in 2010. Though all the food is vegan, non-vegans and vegans alike can find tasty treats here.
Hours: Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
1370 Park Road, NW
Room 11
Room 11, a wine bar that seats an intimate 15 guests, is another favorite of many D.C. locals. Although the bar is frequently packed, once you get into this warm and cozy atmosphere, you won’t want to leave.
Hours: Sunday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
3234 11th St., NW
