Christmas Eve night I figured I would go to my church in Georgetown. Waiting for the G2, our own neighborhood seemed very quiet. Not too many cars or people wandering around and the street noise that I was used to hearing seemed to have turned itself down.
On the bus, going along P Street I witnessed a very closed shops. The Giant was closed, the parking lot nearly empty except for 3 or 4 cars and a small crowd of men on the far end gathered together. In Logan the registers of Whole Foods were empty and the restaurants across the street closed. Over in Dupont, the CVS on 17th was dark, and I the 24 hour CVS on the Circle looked closed as well. There were a few restaurants in Dupont open, Mimi’s had a few tables with folks dining. From the window of Uni Sushi a waiter looked down on P Street forlornly.
Upon reaching Georgetown I had about 30 minutes to kill before wandering in to service and vying for a good seat. Georgetown was dark and scary quiet. There was hardly anyone on the back streets, away from the main drag. It seemed that a fewer street lamps were on and fewer porch lights. A quick walk down a few blocks I could see bushes and entrances to dark English basements that would make great hiding places for would be attackers. I made my way down to M Street quickly. Lots of businesses, like P, were closed. Like P it was missing its usual hussle and bussle and the traffic was very much toned down. There was one restaurant that was open with a handwritten sign declaring they’d be open Christmas Eve and Christmas.
Services ended at about 12:21AM, just enough time to run out the doors, and down the street, to beat the oncoming bus to the bus stop (a bit hard to do down a dark and uneven road in heels). The driver drove like a bat out of hell, shooting past purgatory, so most of P street was a big old blur. Mimi’s was closed. Most of Dupont on this Saturday night was shut. Cabs wandered around empty.