We moved out of Virginia and became official D.C. residents this weekend.
Moving is always an irritating experience for me because I have to confront all of my past bad purchases. However, this move was easier than most.
We were adults and hired movers. Getting out of the Virginia apartment did take a while however because of the sheer size of the building (long hallways, etc.) and the perpetual weekend traffic jam on the bridges connecting Virginia to Washington D.C.
Ingrid the labradoodle in front of the Pentagon City Riverhouse Complex.
The Arlington Riverhouse was a great starter apartment.
Since moving to the D.C. area in August, we have lived in the Riverhouse Apartments in Pentagon City. It is a huge complex of three, 17-story buildings. The buildings are surrounded by greenspace and amenities like tennis courts, parks, two pools, BBQs, soccer and baseball fields, playgrounds, and an off-leash dog park. There’s also a full mall across the street that includes not only a Macy’s and Nordstrom, but also big-box stores like Costco and Best Buy.
Oh, and the mall has a metro station that is only two stops away from Washington D.C.
Pentagon City and nearby Crystal City are full of high-rise apartment buildings full of yuppies. There are ample Starbucks, and the properties plus surrounding areas are generally well-maintained. The only odd things about living in the area are the occasional cannon-fire rounds from Arlington National Cemetery, the helicopters from the Pentagon, and the Costco carts strewn all over the neighborhood.
Costco carts are frequently strewn across Pentagon City – it’s very common to find them in carts, sidewalks and in apartment buildings.
Street art in Crystal City – it changes pretty regularly.
Michael, Ingrid and Gunter in front of apartments in the Pentagon City / Acadia area.
One of the Riverhouse apartments in the Pentagon City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia.
Ingrid and the gallery wall in our Riverhouse studio in Pentagon City.
Ingrid and Gunter in front of one of the pools at the Riverhouse apartments in Pentagon City.
Brunch at Oz Restaurant in Clarendon, Arlington.
The Pentagon City fire station and 9/11 memorial.
Ingrid and Gunter on a wooded pathway in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood behind Pentagon City.
The decision to move
Despite the convenience of Pentagon City, we had to make the move to D.C. primarily because of the dogs.
Our 10-hour workdays plus the commute time between D.C. and Virginia meant that the dogs were in the apartment too long during the day. Daily dog walkers would have been absurdly expensive over time.
Ingrid among the boxes as we are moving out of the Riverhouse Apartments in Arlington, Virginia.
We also spent way too much on Ubers.
Another unexpected cost of living in Virginia is taking rideshares to D.C. – there is only one gay bar in northern Virginia, so if we want to meet-up with friends after work, we have to pay between $30 and $50 in round-trip Uber fees. Pentagon City/Crystal City may be in the D.C. urban core, but the subway delays and highway congestion can easily make it an hour-long round-trip.
A drag queen performing at Freddies’ Beach Bar in Arlington.
Michael at Freddie’s Beach Bar.
Freddie’s Beach Bar in Crystal City is the only gay bar in the D.C. suburbs.
Settling into the District
Life is definitely different in Washington D.C. – we are walking-distance from work and surrounded by stores, museums, and restaurants. There’s also significantly more litter, rats, aggressive panhandlers, and people who will follow you while screaming conspiracy theories about robots taking over the government (I was followed by screamers twice yesterday.)
We still have a lot of unpacking to do (the apartment looks like an episode of hoarders) but becoming D.C. residents has been an surprisingly stress-free experience so far. 🐀
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