Georgetown After Dark

Georgetown was established in 1751 — forty years before Washington, D.C. existed. Turn off M Street's chain stores onto any numbered street going north and the real Georgetown appears. Federal-era townhouses, brick sidewalks, doors painted aubergine, forest green, glossy black that reflects the streetlights.

The Exorcist Steps at 36th and Prospect — seventy-five stone steps plunging to Canal Road, steep enough for both your quads and your film-history brain to protest. From the top, the Potomac and the Kennedy Center glowing on the far bank.

Martin's Tavern on Wisconsin has served Georgetown since 1933. Dark wood booths, brass fixtures, a bartender who remembers your drink. JFK proposed to Jackie in Booth Three. The crab cakes arrive golden-crusted and held together by almost nothing, which is the mark of a crab cake that respects its ingredients.

The side streets get quieter going north. By R Street you're alone with the brick and the gas lamps and century-old magnolias. A cat watched me from a windowsill. I waved. It did not wave back, which felt appropriately Georgetown.