The Moon Travel Guide Series published “Washington DC”, a large paperback book filled with color photos, along with a set of map pages and a good-sized fold-out map, attached to the inside of the cover. rear – which invites potential buyers to “See the city with a local.
The series began in 1973 with Bill Dalton’s “Indonesia Handbook”. It now offers travel guides in states, cities and national parks, as well as several “Road Trip” guides and seven “City Walks” routes in cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin and Rome.
The new DC book is by Samantha Sault, who previously wrote a weekly entertainment column for the Washington Times. Teaching “a true love for ‘the swamp’,” Sault grew up in the Washington metro area, studied government and politics at the University of Maryland, and lived in Dupont for a decade.
The guide dives straight into the local scene with a list of the “10 Best Experiences”, the only surprise being number nine: Happy Hour. “This is how business is done in DC,” said Sault. Further down, a page recommends eight happy hours, including the bar at Georgetown’s Fiola Mare.
The more than 300 pages are divided into tabbed sections such as Nightlife, Arts and Culture, and Boutiques, with the entries grouped under the neighborhood headings. Each section contains entertaining mini-stories, such as “Pizza, Beer and Fake News” and “Bust Loose: The Go-Go Sound”. The “Highlights” pages show the author’s choices: “Best place to party during Pride”, “Best multi-use trail”, and more.
Half-hour walking tours of Dupont Circle, U Street and Shaw, Navy Yard, and Anacostia are a nice addition. The 35-page Day Trips section – focusing on Alexandria, Annapolis, and the Maryland East Coast and Shenandoah National Park and surrounding area (including Virginia Wine Country, Middleburg, and Little Washington) – is like a mini-guide. bonus.
Because the book is organized by subject, you have to do a lot of flipping to cover a particular neighborhood. It’s easy to miss something important. Dumbarton Oaks Park, for example, can be found in the Activities section under Greater Washington DC (Map 9). And the decision to combine Georgetown with Foggy Bottom seems odd.
But, above all, the book is fun to dive in and out. Sault has an engaging and believable voice that takes readers beneath the polished surface of DC. Those who want to go further should check out the suggested reading, which includes Robert Caro’s’ Master of the Senate ‘, Margaret Leslie Davis” Mona Lisa in Camelot ‘and’ The Beautiful Things Heaven Wears’, her novel about an Ethiopian from Dinaw Mengestu. immigrant who owns a Logan Circle grocery store.
