Update on goal #17: Travel on the entire DC metro rail system in one day
On any given work day, I drive to the metro taking the same roads, park my car in the same spot in the parking garage, accept a metro paper, and sit down in my favorite comfy nook of my metro car, which takes me from the first stop to the one near my office. I walk a few blocks to my building and take the elevator up to my floor.
I appreciate routine, but detest monotony. I become numb to the little things and I hate that. So sometimes, to break it up even in the smallest ways — I turn right when I should turn left, I walk on the opposite side of the street, or drive down a road I pass every day, but have never been down.
One small change in my routine and I could potentially be inside the cathedral that President Kennedy’s requiem mass took place before he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery or the hotel Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. ate lunch at. (Okay, I happen to be reading a RFK book right now and clearly have the Kennedy family on my mind.)
This change of scenery is one of the reasons I plan to attempt to travel the entire metro rail system tomorrow.
The other reason, as I’ve mentioned before, is that despite the fact that I grew up in the suburbs outside of D.C., I am constantly discovering new landmarks in this city. Sure, going from one side of the metro to the other isn’t exactly a landmark, but I’ve only been on 25% of its lines. So, it’s like discovering something new… kind of…
I’ve got my route laid out and I’ll be “live tweeting” my discoveries (follow #metrotrek if you’re bored). And I say “live tweeting” because metro hates AT&T and I won’t get service during 99% of my trip — which might be a good thing, you creepy stalkers.
And to WMATA, get your shit together before tomorrow. Okay?
– Lyssa
What an adventure! While Phoenix’s Valley Metro light rail network is by no means as complex or enormous as D.C.’s, I’ve discovered so many new restaurants and cultural hotspots in Phoenix that I never would have come across if I hadn’t taken the time to just sit back and take the light rail to its end and back.
Love it!