Photo by Matthew Borkoski courtesy The Wharf
If you’re looking for a base of operations for a weekend in the District of Columbia, consider The Wharf.
The $2.5 billion, mile-long, waterfront development is six blocks from the National Mall and celebrated its grand opening in fall 2017. Built around the refreshed, circa 1805 Municipal Fish Market, The Wharf folds 10 acres of green space that includes an ice rink, walking and bike trails, and four piers into a development mix of housing, shopping and eats along the Potomac River. For someone who last visited the fish market a decade ago, when it was a no-man’s land known for seedy motels and Maryland blue crabs, The Wharf seems to be having a Cinderella moment.
It’s a stunning contrast, akin to a top-shelf version of Richmond’s own mixed-used riverfront development. As here, a healthful, independent waterfront bucks convention: Businesses at the Wharf veer local, with waterfront restaurants including Hank’s Oyster Bar, Del Mar de Fabio Trabocchi and chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Kith and Kin.
Three international hotels offset this independent mindset: the lifestyle hostelry, Canopy by Hilton, which is connected to Hyatt House Washington D.C. The Wharf, and the InterContinental Washington D.C. — The Wharf. I chose the luxe InterContinental, with its Juliette balconies glimpsing the water, L’Occitane spa, rooftop pool and a 96-seat, upscale-contemporary Afro-Caribbean eatery, Kith and Kin, with an exciting menu stocked with berbere-spiced chicken and goat roti. Since I didn’t spend a dime on the museums, I splurged on my stay, where rates began at $250. The $50 a day, all-you-can-valet parking, would have been another bargain to notch on my belt, had I not traveled by foot or water taxi to recreate.
As if to prove that one needn’t pit herself against nature, an osprey nest sat atop a construction crane. Hatchlings watched me dip my SUP into the river at Recreation Pier for a leisurely paddle to East Potomac Park Day Dock. Kayaks and SUPs are available to rent at The Wharf Boathouse. (You can also catch a gratis jitney if you’d rather be ferried.) Once disembarked at East Potomac Park, I hit through a bucket of balls at the 36-hole public golf course. Mini golf, a playground and tennis courts are other options.
Enjoy chilled seafood and Iberico ham on the veranda at Del Mar. (Photo courtesy Del Mar)
After an afternoon outside, I headed back to my hotel and cleaned up for happy hour at Fabio and Maria Trabocchi’s coastal Mediterranean restaurant, Del Mar, inspired by their home in Spain. After following Maria on Instagram, I knew to order chilled seafood and Iberico ham at the upscale emporium. Everything, from the drinks served in blown-glass blowfish chalices, to the enormous jewel box of a bar on the water, was a splurge. After noshing, shops were still open, soI moseyed into Politics and Prose Bookstore, which is chockablock with D.C. authors.
There are other routes to traverse from The Wharf: a 20-minute water taxi to Georgetown that also stops at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; or a complementary shuttle to the National Mall that disembarks by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The next morning, eager to see the Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s designed Dolcezza Coffee & Gelato in the Hirshhorn lobby, I took the latter. Sugimoto has created a peaceful, powerful public space. Cruising the Internet over tables made from 700-year old nutmeg tree with cappuccino and pastry at hand made my early morning coffee routine feel like a gift. Upstairs, more than 100 works by Georg Baselitz, one of Germany’s most renowned artists, span his six-decade career. The show runs through mid-September. October brings “What Absence Is Made Of,” with new acquisitions by Annette Lemieux, Ed Atkins, and Huang Yong Ping, alongside Hiroshi Sugimoto works from the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection.
Free Events Near The Wharf
6 p.m. nightly: Shows at the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are on the house
Sept. 23: DC State Fair
Sept. 28: Truckeroo, monthly food truck meetup at The Bullpen at Nationals Park
Sept. 29: Art All Night, visual and performing arts festival, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
