This isn’t Washington, it’s D.C.—and it belongs to the people. On this episode of Unpacked, join host Aislyn Greene as she meets the D.C. locals who are shaping the city. They share the diverse communities, places, and histories that make the district unique. From a blossoming food scene to thriving cultural legacies, discover the D.C. that most tourists miss.
Transcript
Aislyn Greene, host: I’m Aislyn Greene, bringing Unpacked to you live from Washington, D.C. I’ve traveled here in late March. And yes, the district has been in the news lately. But we’re not talking politics today. Because this isn’t Washington. This is D.C.
Aislyn [in interview]: I didn’t really realize that people distinguish Washington from D.C. So could you help me understand that a little bit more?
Sunny Sumter: Well, when people think around the world of Washington, D.C., they think of it being the nation’s capital, the White House, the federal component. But what folks miss out on, and I think it really is what makes D.C. so incredibly gorgeous, is its local community.
Aislyn: That’s Sunny Sumter, the president and CEO of the DC Jazz Festival. We’re going to hear more from her later. Because today’s story will be told in five acts, bringing you those gorgeous voices of D.C..
Act one: The Wheel DC. And yes, that was a bike pun.
Aislyn: OK. Shall I roll?
Jeff: Let’s go ride.
I’m with Jeff Miller, founder of the DC Cycling Concierge, a bespoke cycling tour company. And yes, he did in fact meet me at my hotel with two bikes, two helmets, gloves, windbreakers, snacks, and one hell of a plan for the day.
Jeff Miller: So, what I’m thinking is I’d like to take you over towards Georgetown, so the oldest part of D.C., give you a little sense of where things began. And we could work our way over to the Anacostia River and we could ride a little bit of trail here. And I don’t want to deprive you of cherry blossoms. They’re starting to pop, so we could check out some of the cherry trees around the tidal basin, but also East Potomac Park is, uh, an amazing spot.
Aislyn: We start our ride on what is maybe D.C.’s most iconic street.
Jeff: So this is Pennsylvania Avenue, so the White House is directly behind us.
Aislyn: But here, on America’s Main Street, the bike lanes are in the middle, instead of the sides. Jeff moved to D.C. nearly two decades ago to lead a cycling organization, so he knows exactly why that is.
Jeff: We’d been advocating with others to get bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue. And so when I saw the first drawings of that in the middle of the road, I’m like, “What?” Like, I’d only ever known bike lanes on the sides. And the reason they wanted to try in the middle is because all these buildings on the other side, your right side—this is all called the Federal Triangle, so it’s between Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, and it gets really wide toward the White House.
So you got all these agency buildings, uh, commuter buses that will bring in federal workers, pull up to the curb, drop them off, pick them up, turn off the highway. So there’s a ton of conflict on the side of the road. And they said, “With all this width, you know, this being the grand parade route, let’s just try it out in the middle.” And, and then the benefit is you get the best view.
Aislyn: I mean it’s kind of amazing. Speaking of which, can I take a photo of you with this?
Jeff: Absolutely. Take, take all the photos you want along the way.
Aislyn: The view is incredible. And that center bike lane is just one of many examples of why D.C. is such a fantastic city for cycling. I take a photo of Jeff with the Capitol in the background. But the real beauty of cycling with Jeff is that his tours take you beneath the surface of this dynamic, complex place. There are, of course, the famous monuments and museums, but each of them has another layer or a surprising story, and Jeff seems to know all of them.
Jeff: All of our national museums, they have the name Smithsonian attached to them. Do you know the origins of that?
Aislyn: No. I don’t.
Jeff: OK. So there is a man born in England in the mid-1700s by the name of James Smithson. His father, his father’s the duke of Northumberland, so he’s in the royal family, pretty big deal. You know, he’s not like the Prince of Wales or anything—I think a lot of people would have to, like, kick the bucket before he’d get to be the king. But James has a little problem, though, in that his mother is not the duke’s wife.
Aislyn: Oh.
Jeff: And his father never acknowledges his existence. His mother’s very clear: “Yeah, that’s your dad.”
Aislyn: Jeff tells me that James doesn’t grow up with money, but he does get a really good education and goes on to become a preeminent scientist and build up his own fortune. He also becomes rather taken with a fledgling country you might be familiar with.
Jeff: He reads everything the Founding Fathers write. He’s, you know, he’s literally reading the Declaration and the Constitution. He’s reading the Federalist Papers, you know, [written by] [Alexander] Hamilton and John [Jay].
Aislyn: He would be reading the little Apple things that we all sign our lives away.
Jeff: Exactly. Exactly. Um, so I think he’s, I think he’s pretty impressed with, you know, what this new upstart of a country is doing.
Aislyn: James never marries and is survived by one pretty unhealthy nephew, so in his will, he leaves a rather odd provision.
Jeff: His will has the most elaborate plan B, which is, “Should my nephew not be able to receive my gift, I want everything to go to the United States of America, to create a Smithsonian institution for the increase and fusion of mileage.” So he even gives them their mission statement. And he details it further. So lo and behold, he dies [in the] 1820s. His, um, his nephew dies just a few years later. And so in 1832 the United States receives a gift of over $500,000 worth of gold and this mission to create a Smithsonian institution.
Aislyn: Jeff tells me that most people don’t know this about the Smithsonian. But he once had a very special guest who knows more than most of us do.
Jeff: So I get this call to this guy who has this really deep, Long Island accent I’ll, I’ll try to butcher, but um, uh, Jimmy is his name. He goes, “So Jeff, you’re gonna be riding with the one and only Steven Tyler.”
Aislyn: Oh my gosh, really?
Jeff: And I’m like, “Wow, cool.” And, um, you know, but it was funny ’cause he was, like, announcing, you know, he’s like this concert announcer too, apparently.
Aislyn: Steven actually lived in D.C. for a few years, so he knows his way around the city, and apparently he knows enough to make a really bad joke that I kind of love.
Jeff: Steven pulls up next to me, and he, he calls it by its proper name. He goes, “Hey Jeff, isn’t that the Smithsonian Institution building?” I’m like, “Yes.” I’m like, no one’s ever gotten it right, you know? I was like, “Do you know where the Smithsonian gets its name from?” And he’s like, “Yeah.” And I’m like, “Crap. He already knows that backstory.” Like, I’m, I’m out of a job here. What am I gonna tell this guy, right? Like, “Look at this great view.” But he pauses for a second. I’m sort of, like, reeling. And, and he goes, “Yeah. From Aero Smithsonian.”
Aislyn: Oh my God. Oh, and he puns.
Jeff: You know, and my retort is, “You’re good with words.”
Aislyn: Yes. Exactly.
Aislyn: Another surprising aspect of D.C. is how green it is. It’s so easy to get outside of the urban center and into green spaces, or a waterway, or a park. And of course all of these places also have great history and stories.
Jeff: And this is the Rock Creek bike [trail]. So this is a trail that goes, um, like, eight miles up into, uh, Rock Creek Park. Rock Creek Park is our third oldest national park. It’s, uh, formed the day after Yosemite in 1800s. You can see a lock, the remnants of a lock right here, these old walls. Yeah, this was called Tide Lock. So it was, it was basically a gateway into the C&O Canal. And then across the entrance of Rock Creek, they used to have, uh, a gateway that water could flow in and out, but it prevented boats from coming in. And, and the name of that, that piece of canal infrastructure was called the Watergate.
Aislyn: Yep, on one side of us is a nondescript waterway you wouldn’t necessarily look at twice, and on the opposite side is its infamous namesake.
Jeff: So a hundred plus years later, when they build this, it takes its name, I see, from the old piece of canal infrastructure that this neighborhood is known as. So this is the Watergate and that is where the original water gate was.
Aislyn: And we explore some of the city’s African American history.
Jeff: And there’s a YMCA where a number of famous African American writers and poets would stay as young men. Uh, Duke Ellington was born on 13th Street and lived in a couple different houses there. Uh, straight ahead, slightly out of view, is his old club, the 9:30 Club now. And U Street, the next block up, was, was known as Black Broadway. So during segregated times, this was where all the African American musicians and theater groups and so forth performed. We’re going to take a left.
Aislyn: Toward the end of our ride, we spot a man dressed in full vintage military regalia. He’s standing in front of a bronze statue and what looks like a smaller version of the Vietnam Memorial.
Jeff: Good day, sir, how are you? Remind me your name.
Marquett Milton: Marquett, Marquett Milton.
Jeff: Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. I’ve had several friends tell me about you.
Aislyn: Hi. How are you doing?
Marquett: Thank you for coming.
Jeff: So this is the African American Civil War Memorial. This pays tribute to the 209,000 African Americans who served in the Civil War. And the African American Civil War Museum, which is gonna open this summer, um, is started by, uh, a gentleman, Dr. Frank Smith, who had been on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, uh, in the civil rights movement. And, and as I’ve heard him explain, he was, you know, helping register people for voting. And he has this older African American man saying, “My father would be so proud of you.” And he goes, “Oh, thanks.” And he goes, “Yeah, my father was a Civil War veteran.” He’s like, “What?” Like, he never heard of an African American man—
Marquett: He was 90 years old.
Jeff: And so he’s like, “You wait.” And he went and he comes back with his father’s uniform, folded it up.
Marquett: It’s still in good condition, with his granddaddy’s rifle and everything.
Jeff: So that opened up a whole new door for Dr. Smith.
Marquett: That’s right.
Aislyn: We’re going to hear more from Marquett later in the episode, but for now I am starving. After about six hours of cycling, Jeff and I finally part ways. Thankfully, I know just where to go.
Server: Hi, how are you?
Aislyn [in interview]: Good. Um, I’m Aislyn Greene. I’m here for kind of an interview-tasting?
Server: Sounds good. We have your table all set.
Act Two: Shoot for the Moon Rabbit
Aislyn: I’m here in Moon Rabbit, a fine-dining Vietnamese restaurant that’s a cult favorite among locals. And the menu is fascinating, starting with the cocktails. I order a pho dac biet, which is like the martini version of a savory bowl of pho.
Server: So we have your pho dac biet, which is a pho-infused martini, and then I have a little surprise—I’m going to spray a little bit of cilantro mist.
Aislyn: As I sip my delicious drink, the chef of Moon Rabbit pulls out a chair and joins me for a bit.
Kevin Tien: My name is Kevin Tien. I’m the executive chef and owner of Moon Rabbit in Washington, D.C.
Aislyn: Kevin’s first iteration of Moon Rabbit opened in 2020. It was part of a hotel in D.C.’s new Wharf development, then closed in 2023, much to the sadness of locals. So I ask Kevin to share why he picked this spot in Penn Quarter for his reboot of Moon Rabbit.
Kevin: I really love this space for a couple reasons. One, because we’re actually a part of Chinatown, so I thought it’d be really great to be back in the AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islanders] community. Number two is my first job in D.C. was actually right here, for José Andrés, at Oyamel. And then, like, finally, this space I really love because with a lot of, like, the bookshelf built-ins and a lot of, like, the homier touches . . . I really wanted to make it feel like the guests were, like, dining in my home as opposed to, like, a commercial building.
Aislyn: It does feel really homey. Would you mind just describing a few of the design details we’re seeing?
Kevin: Yeah, so a lot of the bones were still here in the restaurant when we moved in. But all of the design aspects are actually done by me and the team. Everything you see on the bookshelves, from figurines to Taylor Swift to Pokémon to cookbooks, those are all, like, personal effects of mine that I’ve collected over the years.
Aislyn: I love it. It does feel very comfortable to be here. So I feel like we should talk about the food next. Will you tell me about this menu? How is it different from the first Moon Rabbit? And what do you see as its primary influences?
Kevin: When we were located down at the wharf, we definitely had a lot more tourists that would visit, uh, obviously because we were part of a hotel. So we kept that in mind and kind of kept a lot of our menu more familiar. Our menu tended to be, like, very, like, Vietnamese, Cajun-inspired.
Now that we’re here in the Penn Quarter, we’re a little bit more adventurous with our menu, I would say. We’re really exploring the regionalities of Vietnam from north to south. And really, you know, just not being afraid of, like, putting certain things on our menu, such as, like, pork blood.
Aislyn: And how would you describe, because you have so many restaurants at this time, how would you describe D.C.’s culinary scene?
Kevin: At this moment, I think D.C.’s culinary scene is like, uh, I can’t really use the word blossoming because I think over the past, like, five years pre-COVID, it’s been blossoming a lot. But I think, like, we’re, like, really in our stride. It’s, you know, when I moved to D.C., I think a lot of times you have the impression that it’s like a meat-and-potatoes town. But I think it’s not. One of the most amazing things for me was seeing how diverse the city is and how many different cultures are here.
And I think that’s what our dining scene, like, really reflects right now. We talk about America being a melting pot. And I think our culinary scene is, like, this huge melting pot. From, like, Ethiopian to Korean to Peruvian to Vietnamese and Chinese, and you know, you get a lot of these restaurants from different backgrounds in fine dining, casual, and mom and pop.
I think for me, I think D.C. is just like a really big city of opportunity. I think as the food scene grows in D.C., I’m very, like, lucky to be able to, like, grow my food with it.
Aislyn: Kevin sends out Wagyu-stuffed leaves, and fried quail with duck sausage, plus his famous turmeric buns, which are these light, fluffy rolls served with a roasted tomato butter that my server tells me the staff competes [to] take home, if there’s any left at the end of the night. I end with a dessert made with one of the world’s most divisive fruits.
Server: This is going to be our durian and white chocolate mousse with a little dill oil, surrounded with white chocolate and passionfruit granita. So obviously the durian is in some ways stigmatized. This is a super accessible way in—it’s light, sweet. Enjoy!
Aislyn [in interview]: So I’m standing outside this gorgeous building, uh, it looks like an Impressionist painting done up in the colors of, like, Cuba and the Caribbean? Gorgeous.
Act Three: A Walk on the Wild Side
Aislyn: The next day, I find myself standing outside of what looks like a church that’s been dipped in a painter’s palette. It’s called the Culture House, and I’m here to meet Monica Alford, founder and CEO of Wild Side Media.
Monica Alford: We are a one-year-old, so very new, uh, media outlet and events, curation, and programming business in the D.C. area. Women-owned, queer-owned.
Aislyn: Wild Side is all about celebrating and uplifting the creative community in D.C. And Monica looks the part. Perfectly coiffed blue hair, blue-and-green–striped eye shadow, and amazing jewelry. I see a skull ring and what looks like wood-cut earrings in the shape of tigers.
There’s activity all around us: people setting up for a private party, there’s a man hanging art for an upcoming show called Black Cowboy: American Muscle by Brandon Hill. So Monica and I head upstairs to a huge room with a stage, everything again doused in a riot of paint. We hop onto the stage, cross our legs, and settle in for a chat.
Aislyn: Can you tell me a little bit more about your relationship with D.C.? Did you grow up here?
Monica: I grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, in a little, like, artist hippie enclave called Lake Barcroft. Now it’s very bougie and unaffordable, but back in the day, my grandparents were actually one of the first couples to move into the neighborhood, and one of my first journalism gigs was writing for the Lake Barcroft newsletter in middle school and high school.
But I would be sitting in these artists’ homes that were, you know, part of the [Washington] Color School, like, and they hung out with Warhol and they had the most amazing stories. And I’m 16 or 15 writing, you know, “What was that like?” You know? So I feel like a lot of my love for the arts, you know, came from those, from those experiences, knowing that I was just sitting on gold with these talented artists.
Aislyn: Monica went to school in Boston and always thought she’d wind up in San Francisco or New York. But D.C. called her back.
Monica: I started really believing in devoting my career to highlighting, you know, D.C. as a creative hub because so many people don’t see this side of it. And that’s sort of why I stayed.
Aislyn: That’s amazing. And I’m curious to know how it’s evolved. Like, do you feel like you tapped into it or it’s also grown in recent years?
Monica: I think it ebbs and flows. It’s really interesting if you talk to an artist, whether they’re from here or this is just their home base. They’d say D.C. feels like home base, but it feels really small sometimes, so we go elsewhere for inspiration or to, like, clear our heads or to get national or international notice, but, but they still feel, like, a pull back to this area.
And one of the recurring, you know, statements I feel like a lot of artists make or anybody who’s in the creative community, everyone’s so bummed when they go to another town. Not everybody knows D.C. or understands what we have to offer. And that feels frustrating to people who, you know, are bought into, you know, they drank the Kool-Aid. They’re like, “But wait a minute. We do have amazing theater and hospitality.” Like, so why, why is our community so vibrant and we have international tourism dollars and—well, who knows about funding these days—but, um, in general, there’s a lot of funding in a city that, like, goes towards being the queer capital, you know, more queer people per capita than anywhere else in the country or, you know, having all these thriving, uh, hospitality cultural hubs—
So I think, I think what hasn’t changed is that people still don’t understand what D.C. has to offer. But on the flip [side], we are a really diverse area. Going back to the DMV, it’s important to mention, you know, in, in Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, we have one of the biggest cultural melting pots. Like I, I grew up, uh, in Falls Church, where everyone around me [was] Afghan, Ethiopian, Central American, South American. We have Eden Center a mile from where I grew up, which is like an epicenter of, of all the, like, really, really authentic Vietnamese food. And the whole Vietnamese community goes there. It’s like cultlike status.
I think, um, D.C. proper, we aren’t as—we don’t have, like, boroughs, you know, it’s not like we have, you know, like little Italy or we kind of have a Chinatown, because we’re a transient town and so many people who, who work in D.C. proper might be here three to five years, five to seven years. But the point being, we, we really are such a, a cultural melting pot. And I think that if you, like, you come and spend two days or three days in D.C., you’re not gonna see that though, ’cause you might not know to go to those places.
Aislyn: Well that was one of the things that kind of caught my eye when I was reading about what you were doing, was this idea of like more celebratory journalism. So how would you recommend that travelers engage with this side of D.C., maybe starting with, you know, Brandon and the space as an example?
Monica: So Culture House is, it was at first called Blind Whino, when, when it was a repurposed and it’s, it’s literally an old church. We’re sitting on the upper level of it right now on the stage where I’ve interviewed Mayor Bowser. On the outside it’s like a very psychedelic, you know, like painted murals of the outside of this, this church. And then usually whatever artist is installing, like Brandon Hill, who’s a dear friend, collaborator, and, like, probably I’d put him in the top, you know, 10 most well-known artists in D.C. Mostly known for his murals. So in the parking lot outside, he did a kind of, like, a muralscape along the, the edge there. And so oftentimes the artist here will have something outside to kind of draw the eye to that.
The way it’s always worked, is it’s used as an event space. They’re setting up for a private event downstairs. Upstairs can be for us to, you know, sit cross-legged and have an interview, or interview the mayor for a cover shoot. And then the lower level is usually used for an immersive exhibit. And I don’t, I think this space has actually slept on a little bit. And I think that, usually how I know when there’s a solo show or an emerging artist, or established artist show, it’s through word of mouth. You know, you, like Brandon put it all over social. I got the press release, I knew it because he is my friend.
Aislyn: How would you characterize or define D.C.’s art scene?
Monica: I would say thriving, um, vibrant, emerging, eclectic. Um, and, one thing you should look up, and I just kind of discovered this last week, I’m trying to think about what I’m gonna do with it. So, um, in Prince George’s County, which we call PG County, it’s in Maryland, but it’s right over the D.C. border, like northeast D.C., and there’s parts of it that are, you know, not a place you’d wanna be maybe at three in the morning on a certain street corner.
But then, um, there’s also a thriving arts community between, Mount Rainier is the neighborhood, and then Hyattsville is the town. And I think they’re only like a mile or two from each other. And there’s something like 250 artists that are at least—like we’re talking like, you know, 35 and up all the way through like 70s, 80s that, that have been, you know, shown some, some just locally, but mostly nationally and internationally too, that have working studios between Mount Rainier and Hyattsville. And there’s like four or five of these kind of, um, ecosystems where they are. And the one I was at had the biggest, uh, number of those 250, at 70 artists in this, in this space.
And apparently the guy who owns it is like, “Jeff Bezos is a client,” and he, he started it up maybe two years ago, and it’s got active train tracks behind it. So the artists I met said they’re calling it Artists by the Tracks informally, but I mean, I went to—
Aislyn: Just, anyone can go?
Monica: Well, so they’re, they’re doing an open house on May 10. I think that people can try to schedule something with an individual artist to do an open studio or come visit. And then the outdoor spaces, muralists are starting to go, like big-name muralists, like Kelly Towles is one of those Brandon Hill–level folks, and, um, his stuff’s all over the city. He’s done a lot of international things. I saw, I immediately saw one of his murals, and I was like, “Oh, Kelly’s been here. This is legit, you know?”
They’ve been trying to do more like block parties. They’re gonna do like a fashion show, some, you know, like, just like fun outdoor things as the weather’s nice. But the open house will be the first time they’re inviting everyone who has studio space to have people in if they want to.
The artist that I want to go see is named Mark Kelner, and I actually, he did a solo show here in 2018, 2017. And it was like, uh, kind of like Warhol meets communist propaganda. He had like a, a, a bunker, like a bomb shelter, and his parents are, are Russian, but he grew up in the area, so it’s like a lot of juxtapositions between some stories there. Like strip, strip mall America and like iconic, like DMV D.C. area things. And also like Russian heritage and culture and communist propaganda. All, all the things. He, he restores like old signs, like, like, uh, Otis Redding, James Brown, like the ones that look like the OG Go-Go ones that are all layered.
And then, then he takes me to this woman, Valerie, and her stuff looks like it should be in the Hirshhorn. It’s like these massive—I don’t know even if it’s plaster or stone—but then it’s got like tiny mosaics inside of it. And she’s like this teeny little thing in overalls, and she’s got all of her cool gear out, and um, they were like, “Would you come and do like a whole series on camera of interviewing people in their studios? Like nobody knows that we’re here. And we do things out in D.C., but this is where we can afford space. And this is like this little artist enclave and we want people to know and come engage with us here.”
And you know, the accolades these folks have are insane but—so D.C. surprises people.
Subway: This is a Green Line train to Greenbelt. Please move to the center of the car. The next stop is U Street. The door’s opening on the left.
Act 4: The U Street Time Machine
Aislyn: Hey, Marquett. How are you? Nice.
Marquett: Welcome back.
Aislyn: I had to come by Metro. Nice to see you too. Thanks so much for meeting up with me, and wow. We got lucky today because yesterday was kinda crummy.
Marquett: I know. Oh my God. It was all that rain, yesterday was cold. Now God’s blessing us.
Aislyn: I’m back with my new buddy, Marquett, the historian and Civil War “soldier.” I’ve met Marquett at the U Street subway station, home to the African American Civil War Memorial. There’s a bronze statue of soldiers in front of three low granite walls covered with stainless steel plaques that list the names of all 209,000 Black soldiers who served in the Civil War. And it’s where Marquett starts every single one of his U Street Time Travel Tours.
Marquett: So I’m Marquett Milton. Well, Marquett Awa Milton from Washington, D.C., and I’m the head historical interpreter at the African American Civil War Museum and also a tour guide of the whole U Street Corridor community.
Aislyn: Marquett is taking me on a somewhat abbreviated version of his walking tours. And he is outfitted in what he wears for every one of his tours.
Aislyn [in interview]: And then before we start, will you tell me about the uniform that you’re wearing? Because it’s pretty unique. So you can like, recognize you a mile away.
Marquett: Yep. I’m dressed up to represent the United States Colored Troops. The regiment I represent is the first United States Color Volunteers, which was organized on Capitol Hill, but they had to train at Mason’s Island because it was unsafe for African Americans to train in the city.
Uh, a lot of locals did not want African Americans in uniform, in service. Uh, they served three years, fought many battles. Never lost a battle. Uh, 700 of them made it back to Washington, D.C. In fact, they paraded in front of the White House, uh, which President Johnson would give a half an hour speech, honor them for their service. And some of my friends say that must be the [most] positive thing he ever did since he was in office.
Aislyn [in interview]: And your uniform, is it, like, actually historically accurate?
Marquett: Yes. It is a 100 percent historically accurate, from the shoes, from the gators, uh, these are, uh, sky-blue wool trousers. This right here, which is called a sack coat, which have four infantry buttons, and I’m also wearing on my uniform jacket, which is called a corps badge. This is the corps badge, the Army of the James, which had 26,000 African American soldiers. But I represent that regimen and also I speak [on] behalf of the United States Colored Troops, because this is one of the, the number one untold story in America’s history.
One of the America’s best-kept secrets that President Lincoln, uh, was losing the war, and he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a government’s cry for help for African Americans to come save the Union. And they accomplished the job by bringing all 10 states back into the union. And because they won the war, they freed themselves. The 13th and 14th, 15th Amendments passed. So slavery’s abolished in the United States. Now African Americans are now citizens of the United States, and Black men now earned the right to vote.
And what do they do with a new foundation freedom? Well, they built this community, the community you in right now, and General Howard built Howard University. Uh, one of the veterans that’s a captain, his name is Captain P.B.S. Pinchback. After reconstruction, he lives right in this neighborhood and made sure this was a middle class for African Americans. In the 1930s was this considered the first Black Broadway. So you are walking in a time machine of a legacy of African Americans after the Civil War building, uh, schools, churches, and business.
Aislyn [in interview]: Amazing, obviously this is a story that needs to be, you know, better known, but what, what led you to be here today?
Marquett: Well, uh, so, uh, me personally, I felt like I was lied to my whole life about history. I’m born and raised here in Washington, D.C., and I hear a few stories from the elders about this neighborhood in D.C. history.
Personally, I became a tour guide, uh, from my friend Johnny Coleman. Uh, he, he recently passed away, uh, but he said, “You have a lot of history and knowledge of this neighborhood. Why not be a tour guide?” And another person that, uh, uh, encouraged me, uh, to be a tour guy too, uh, woman named, uh, uh, Briana Thomas, who wrote the, the, the Black Broadway book. And also my wife, Bridget. She said, “You should do it. All your friends are telling you you should be a tour guide. And people need to know this information, especially what’s going on now, but this history connects with everybody.”
Aislyn [in interview]: How would you describe the neighborhood today?
Marquett: Yeah, so this is called the, the U Street corridor. Uh, I called it a, a, a history art district because it’s, it is a lot to see, uh, a lot of stories. Also, some of the locals are still here. Even though, uh, this neighborhood’s being gentrified, but there’s still locals here, which, you know, they tell me stories. They sit right here at the, at the plaza. Uh, they tell me how it was once was, uh, all these, uh, stores and shops that had pies and everything, how they used to pay a nickel. So, you know, those stories are good to share with the youth.
Aislyn [in interview]: And you’re the, you’re a keeper of history.
Marquett: That’s right. And I’m like the caretaker of, of the whole neighborhood.
Aislyn: Marquett and I start to walk down U Street, and we immediately smack into an icon. Well, not literally.
Marquett: This is the Masonic Temple, which was built in the 1930s. And also a lot of famous people was, uh, members here. Duke Ellington himself was a Mason here. Mr. Mitchell was once a grand master. Uh, Marion Barry was also here. My boss, Dr. Frank Smith. So a lot of famous folks, uh, were Masons here in this building. And also so D.C. music, uh, is known as Go-Go. The, the father of go-go, his name is Chuck Brown, used to have shows here. So the community would come here and, and watch the, the performance of, uh, Chuck Brown. Uh, the NAACP was also once in this building.
Aislyn: Less than a minute later, we’re at another historical site.
Marquett: This is Lee’s Flowers.
Aislyn: Lee’s Flowers is the oldest Black-owned flower shop in D.C. It’s so historic there’s even a PBS documentary about it and the sisters who run it now.
Marquett: Uh, Miss Stacie runs Lee’s Flowers. Uh, what you see in here is her grandparents. Uh, that’s William Lee. And that’s Winnifred uh, Lee. Uh, they started in 1945. They passed it down to their son, Rick Lee. Uh, Rick Lee in 1968, uh, when they had the ’68 riots, uh, the community were destroyed. Well, Mr. uh, Rick Lee had a, a, a shotgun made sure nobody touch his business, his legacy, but later he passed it down to, uh, Miss Stacie and Kristie, uh, uh, Lee . . .
Aislyn [in interview]: And they still run it.
Marquett: They still run it today. And I’m, I’m here in the evenings. I work here in the evening, so I’m a member of the family. We could have a, a sneak peek inside real quick.
Aislyn: So beautiful. Wow. Look at these roses. Holy moly.
Marquett: This is Joy, this is daughter. They will be the next generation taking over the business, the family legacy.
Aislyn: The shop is warm and fragrantly humid in the way that flower shops are. Roses and lilies and leafy green plants so shiny I want to reach out and touch them. We wave goodbye to the sisters, and as we step back outside and into an alley where African American families once lived, Marquett shares his vision for this neighborhood that was once a segregated part of the city and now faces gentrification.
Marquett: Uh, my dream one day is to turn this into a historical art district. Soon we’re gonna put historical, uh, signs up to show you that these were once communities for African American families. So we actually got permission from the owners. They’re gonna paint a mural of what the alley looked like back in the 1920s, 1930s. So that’s gonna be coming soon, maybe by next year. And also we’re gonna hire artists to do, uh, Civil War images in the metro. So people can see images of, of the soldiers coming out the station. Then you see the statue [with] all the names.
Aislyn: To help preserve and celebrate this history, Marquett has been doing his tours for 15 years, and he still finds that travelers miss out on this part of the city.
Marquett: Most folks come to Washington, D.C., it’s just the National Mall. But we want to encourage the folks to visit other sections of Washington, D.C., to get the real D.C. culture. So I want to help with that.
Aislyn: Our tour continues. Marquett takes me in the YMCA, which was founded in 1853 and now acts as a de facto museum with photos of the legends who have visited U Street—everyone from Malcom X to Barack Obama. He takes me to the many places that Duke Ellington lived and played. He takes me past Industrial Bank, which was the only Black-owned bank in the country when it opened in 1913. I mean, everywhere we turn, there’s more hidden history to uncover. And then we get to what Marquett calls the root of the neighborhood: what was once something called Camp Barker.
Marquett: So, uh, during the Civil War for Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, he had the first free African Americans here in Washington. April 16, 1862. So, uh, a lot of the slave holders here in the district was given $300. And, uh, now where did the people go, uh, when they left their owners? Well, the government had built these contraband quarters for refuge for them. And about 3,000 folks stayed at this camp.
Aislyn: And now Camp Barker is something totally different: Garrison Elementary School.
Marquett: I’m alumni here.
Aislyn [in interview]: You are?
Marquett: Yep. Did not know it was historical. So the principal here, we have a good relationship with uh, Principal Kip [Brigham Kiplinger]. He has a partnership with the museum.
Aislyn: In 2018, the school wrapped a full modernization, which included a mural by Luis Peralta that features little kids and a bunch of historical figures with surprisingly familiar faces.
Marquett: Do you recognize one of these soldiers?
Aislyn [in interview]: I was gonna say, I was like, this looks a lot like you.
Marquett: Yep. Yep. That’s me.
Aislyn [in interview]: That’s amazing. You’re in the mural.
Marquett: That’s my boss, Frank Smith.
Aislyn [in interview]: Can I take a photo of you?
Marquett: Okay.
Aislyn [in interview]: OK, so that’s your boss?
Marquett: Yes, that’s my boss. Dr. Frank Smith.
Aislyn: Marquett is actually in the mural several times, each time as a different historical figure.
Marquett: So everybody’s a living historian, including myself. Except for Spencer Douglas. He’s from that time. And, uh, this is William Lloyd Garrison. This was who the school was named after.
Aislyn [in interview]: And this is Frank Smith too?
Marquett: Yes. Frank Smith as well. He’s representing Alexander Augusta, who was an African American medical doctor. That was a lieutenant colonel. Oh, don’t worry, I’m not dead. They’re just taking my teeth out.
Aislyn: I’ve also seen today that everywhere we go, Marquett knows someone, or kinda everyone.
Marquett: How you doing, Bridget?
Bridget: Have you met my baby?
Marquett: How you doing? Me and your dad are close friends. I hope to see him Sunday when we celebrate the Battle of Adwa.
Aislyn [in interview]: You really are the mayor of U Street.
Marquett: Oh, yeah. Uh, doing this for a long time.
Aislyn: Our last stop is Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark diner that has been open since it was founded in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, or the queen of U Street.
Marquett: We got time to go inside real quick?
Aislyn [in interview]: Sure, let’s do it.
Marquett: I hope Miss Virginia in there. You get to see Miss Virginia Ali.
Aislyn [in interview]: Oh, I’d love to meet her.
Marquett: Sometimes my tour, I end it here. And also, uh, even though it has a good chili dog, but it has good music, soul music. And that was part of the community’s culture. It was the music. And you see a lot of folks. Now this is Bernard Demczuk. He’s the Ben’s Chili Bowl historian. Me and him close. And That’s Miss Virginia. Uh, so as you see, Chris Rock was here.
Aislyn: Miss Virginia isn’t in today, but there are lots of hungry people eating the signature half-smoke, D.C.’s official dish. It’s a smoked hot dog served with mustard, onion, and Ben’s spicy chili sauce. And as we head out the door, D.C.’s official music happens to start playing.
Marquett: And that’s go-go. So you hear those drums? That’s Miss Virginia right there.
Aislyn [in interview]: Oh, she’s cool.
Aislyn: Back on U Street, Marquett and I hug goodbye. We’re standing outside of the expanded African American Civil War Memorial Museum, which is reopening on July 18 with a big celebration. So I ask Marquett, “How did you come up with the name of your business, U Street Time Travel?”
Marquett: Because when you walk with me, you traveling back in time. From the Civil War up to 1968. And the whole world need to hear this story of this community.
Aislyn [in interview]: I love it. And a little bit we’re traveling into the future too, right?
Marquett: That’s right. You be traveling to the future because the past is the future and the future is the past, and they all connect.
Act 5: It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That DC Swing
Aislyn: The second-to-last stop on my D.C. journey is a place that multiple people have suggested, St. Vincent Wine. And while the wine is delicious, I’ve actually come for the music. Four times a week, local jazz musicians play here, and on this Monday evening, it’s none other than local legend Joe Brotherton.
I sit next to a man named Cecil who is a lawyer by day, poet by night. And he introduces me to the musicians playing this evening. I linger late into the night, but my musical odyssey isn’t over. Because D.C. has a thriving jazz scene. And there’s one person who knows it better than almost anyone else.
Sunny Sumter: So I am Sonny Sumter, the president and CEO of the DC Jazz Festival. And our offices are located in the Southwest neighborhood of the Wharf.
Aislyn: I’ve walked from my hotel to the Arena Stage, one of the most prestigious theaters in the district. Well, actually it’s three theaters, but that’s a story for another, more architectural podcast.
Aislyn [in interview]: Testing, testing, testing. Hey, Hannah. It’s Aislyn. I just got here. I think I’m at the stage door.
Aislyn: I enter through a side door and I’m immediately inside the backstage belly of the center. There are posters of all the shows, extra stadium seats, and it’s so big and twisty that Sunny’s assistant, Hannah, has to come rescue me.
Hannah: So this is Arena Stage. Um, this is like the next stage area. And so we just share those little cubicles with the rest of the arena staff.
Aislyn [in interview]: So neat.
Hannah: It’s a really cool place to work.
Aislyn [in interview]: I bet.
Hannah: It’s really cool.
Aislyn: Eventually, we make it to Sunny’s office, where she is wrapped regally in blankets, with bright, stylish glasses, surrounded by photos of her with jazz luminaries—and even a photo of her performing as a young musician. Because Sunny got her start as a singer. And her voice is magnificent.
Aislyn [in interview]: OK. So can I test the levels by having you—
Sunny: You can test the level. I just have to remember not to get excited because I have a big voice.
Aislyn [in interview]: That’s great. That’s why I adjust this. So just be yourself.
Sunny: Right now. I’m being myself, but as I get excited, I’m gonna go and talk like this.
Aislyn [in interview]: I’ll go like this—see my arm.
Sunny: Right. I wouldn’t do that. I’m joking.
Aislyn: Sunny and I settle into a chat, starting with her musical background.
Aislyn [in interview]: Well you are a musician yourself. Could you tell me a little bit about your background and what led you to the chair that you’re sitting in today draped in a warming blanket?
Sunny: Well, I am all things jazz and have been probably since nine years old when I used to listen to Sarah Vaughan as I braided my grandmother’s hair. Uh, little did I know then that I, that song that I heard, “Lullaby of Birdland” sung by Sarah Vaughan would be the starting blocks for my jazz journey. I went to Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Georgetown, here in D.C., and from there I went to Howard University where I majored in music business and minored in jazz studies.
And I thought I was doing all of that to be a singer. My dad said, “Why are you majoring in voice? You can’t do anything with a voice career.” So I said OK. I majored in music business.
And from there I started a really long journey as a singer. And sang with some of the most important jazz musicians. Larry Willis. Jimmy Cobb, uh, Shirley Horn was sitting in my, in the recording studio for my third recording. Some really fantastic mentors, uh, Keter Betts who played for 18 years with the great Ella Fitzgerald.
Uh, and so from there I really launched my career and was very excited to be an artist. I also worked in public policy at the Aspen Institute, so it was on the business side of nonprofit work. And, uh, got a little phone call, uh, from a great man by the name of Charles Fishman. We called him Charlie. He managed Dizzy Gillespie for many years.
And when Dizzy passed away, he lived here in D.C. He looked around and there was no jazz festival and he said, “Wait a minute. I’ve been traveling, going to jazz festivals throughout the Western Hemisphere for years. Why isn’t there a jazz festival in D.C.?”
Within six months, he had the funding from the city, and he started a jazz festival, on a paper napkin at Cashion’s in the neighborhood of Adams Morgan. Yes, indeed. He and his wife, Stephanie.
Aislyn [in interview]: That’s so cool.
Sunny: So he called me up and said, “Hey, just help me out with partnerships. Can you help me out, you know, as a consultant?” That’s how I started in 2008.
Aislyn [in interview]: And now it has become this legendary festival. Do you still have the napkin framed somewhere?
Sunny: Well, Stephanie, his wife has the napkin. Um, sadly we lost Charlie, uh, recently. Uh, and we’re actually having a celebration of life for him at the Kennedy Center this year. Very excited about that. People will be coming from all over the world ’cause he was really celebrated. He was a fantastic producer, not just here, but in other parts of the country and, and internationally as well. So yes, we have the paper napkin, but it’s just not in this office.
Aislyn [in interview]: Well, how would you describe D.C.’s music scene? I know there’s a lot of jazz history here, which I think goes, is a little bit underrated or people don’t seem to know that in the way that they know other iconic jazz cities.
Sunny: And it’s so funny because if you tell it to us that live and breathe jazz in D.C. all the time, we think that this is this major jazz hub and people are coming from everywhere and we’ve got all this great, exciting jazz just popping off. And then we talked to other people, they said, “Wait, I thought jazz was dying. What do you mean?”
But the truth is, is that we are one of the most important drivers of jazz internationally. Jazz is really a global brand now. And I do believe that it’s largely because of great cities like D.C. that has such a great thriving jazz—Blues Alley being here, with the Smithsonian, um, and even the, um, in the suburbs like the Strathmore in Montgomery County and Wolf Trap, that does great jazz programming—that D.C. has become known as this fantastic jazz epicenter. And Jazz Fest is turning 21 soon, our organization, and we’d like to think that we played a leading role in that.
Aislyn [in interview]: How would you describe Jazz Fest now, 21 years in? What and when is it?
Sunny: So the Jazz Fest is over Labor Day, and that was kind of by default. We had Jazz Fest in June every year, and it [had] become this great attraction on Father’s Day weekend. So people would bring their grandfathers and fathers and aunts and godparents. And then the Wharf came to us and said, “You know, we really could use the festival over Labor Day. It’s such a dead season. People go away to beach houses and do that last weekend to the beach with their families before school starts to kick in.”
And we said, “No, we don’t really wanna do that. We love June.” But then the pandemic happened. And we had to postpone, the first year in 2020, and then we said we’re gonna do it in June in 2021. We had to kick it down the road, to kick the can down, and we decided on Labor Day. And we couldn’t believe how many people came out.
Aislyn [in interview]: Amazing. And what kinds of things this year might a traveler or a local experience?
Sunny: Oh, well, first of all, we’re five days. We’re doing a big downtown celebration, so in front of the National Portrait Gallery art steps, that’s important on F Street. We’re also doing the Hamilton Live, which is just steps from the White House, the Great Hamilton. And our, uh, JazzDC All-Stars, which is our orchestra, is performing, and last year they blew the roof off. So we’re expecting an exciting day. And oh my gosh, ticket sales are already through the roof. It’s, it’s insane.
Aislyn [in interview]: So how do you kind of continue to tap into and, I don’t know, just stay connected with that local talent. Like what does your week look like?
Sunny: I actually went to Larry Applebaum, who was a celebrated music archivist from the Library of Congress, who also had a radio program called Sound of Surprise every Sunday on WPFW, the jazz radio station here. He passed away recently, so there was a celebration for him at Westminster Presbyterian Church, which happens to be around the corner at 4th and I, Southwest, and they had Paul Carr, Allyn Johnson, Nasar Abadey, and Herman Burney playing the music. And these, they all have their own individual bands, but they came together for this. And I thought I was seeing—I got, you know, to see all of our stars in one place for this celebration for Larry Applebaum.
But I go out quite a bit. I like to go and hear music ’cause I, we have so much great talent here. Oh my goodness. Some of them will be featured like Akua Allrich, Lyle Link. Um, Tony Martucci is, is coming with so many great local talent that we don’t have enough. Christy Dashiell, which is a Grammy Award, a Grammy-nominated artist this year in 2025, graduate of Howard University, has an incredible singing voice, is one of our artists this year.
So I think what makes D.C. unique as a festival is showing off D.C, right? So people get to come to museums and the museums are still free. Smithsonian is still free, but also they get to go to, we have award-winning restaurants in all the neighborhoods where we’re having great music.
Aislyn: So someone coming to the city outside of Jazz Fest, where would you send them for jazz?
Sunny: Well, Blues Alley is D.C.’s premier jazz club. It’s in Georgetown. It’s a lovely intimate room where you can be right up on a, on jazz artists. So people love that people come from around the world. In fact, a friend of mine was in town just this weekend from Japan, Atsuko [Yashima], who manages the great Makoto Ozone, a fantastic Japanese pianist, and she was just here and she went to Blues Alley. She knew about it. She was like, “I’ve gotta go to Blues Alley while I’m here.” So that’s, it has a great reputation.
I also like to go to Westminster Church because it has a Friday concert series. Every Friday you can hear some of D.C.’s finest local and Baltimore talent that comes in for that. So that’s a good place. I would always say, you know, the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center program fantastic jazz throughout the year. So I like to tune into them too. And I don’t mind going over into Virginia to do the Wolf Trap or some of the other clubs. But I would, I tell you, there’s some local spots here too that—Jojo restaurant. You could hear some great jazz there too.
Aislyn: Well, I mean, I feel like everyone must ask you this, especially because you have such a wonderful speaking voice, but do you still sing?
Sunny: I went on a tour travel mission with Destination DC, with the Cherry Blossoms Festival, and with the DC Jazz Festival, and I performed at the Sumida Street Jazz Festival in Tokyo a few months ago. So if you had asked me this question a few months ago, I may have had a different answer, but since I did have that performance and it went well, ended up having two shows that I, I won’t say that I’m retired, which is what I may have told you before.
What I will say is that I like performing under the right conditions. I will come out and perform for, for benefits and things that, that really make a difference because I enjoy it. But my, but my hat, my primary hat is running this great organization.
Aislyn: Well, you’re doing a wonderful job. Last question, is there a song that you, a jazz song that you think represents D.C. or could represent D.C.?
Sunny: Ah, of course. Cause we know this is the home of Duke Ellington. So it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swang. [Singing] Do what? Do what? Do what? Do, what do, do what do do? That song is D.C. right? And it’s so D.C. that even Chuck Brown, who is the father of go-go and you know the official music of D.C. is go-go, Chuck Brown does a go-go arrangement of “It Don’t Mean a Thing if Ain’t Got That Swing.”
Aislyn [in interview]: I’ve gotta find that. That’s amazing.
Aislyn: Since I left D.C., I’ve listened to the Chuck Brown version of “Don’t Mean a Thing” so many times, it’s become like my personal anthem. So there’s a link in the show notes so you too can immerse yourself in the sound of D.C.
I’ve also included links to all the people I met and the places I ate. Because I visited so many more places that I had room to include here, so I’ve actually put a Google Maps list together of my itinerary. Because I barely scratched the surface of food in the district, let along theater, hotels, you name it. So enjoy, I have great recommendations for your next trip to the district.
And speaking of hotels, we’re gonna be back next week with a deep dive into a Kyoto classic.
Andre Fu: I felt that there, there is an opportunity to create a really, that sense of journey as, as you go through the gate. And I, and I really want to celebrate that as a point of arrival, that feeling that you’re going into a place that has stood the test of time.
Aislyn: Ready for more Unpacking? Visit afar.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Tiktok. We’re @afarmedia. If you enjoy today’s exploration, I hope you’ll come back for more great stories. Subscribing always makes that easy, and be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platforms. It helps other travelers find it.
And if you want to ask a question or suggest a topic for coverage, you can leave us a voicemail at the link in the show notes, or email us at unpacked@afar.com
This has been Unpacked, a production of Afar Media. The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland. Music composition by Chris Colin.
And remember, the travel world is complicated. We’re here to help you unpack it.
