So everyone knows the best thing about summer is that it’s finally hot enough so that you won’t freeze your butt off if you plunge into bodies of cool, clear water.
Yes, I love to swim. I prefer the beach, where the water is natural and salty and there is soft sand everywhere to play and lie upon. I love getting all hot in the sun and sticky with the ocean’s brine, and then finding a shady spot to guzzle some cheap beer and fried seafood. That is the best.
But in absence of a readily-available ocean, (the nearest one to DC is about a 3-hour drive away, if you leave early enough to avoid the otherwise inevitable and maddening traffic) I sometimes must settle for the man-made version: a public swimming pool.
As a youth, I always made time for the pool. I remember hot hot hot summer days visiting my dad in Vienna and walking with my stepsister down to the Dunn Loring pool, where we’d be in the water until the whistles blew for ‘Adult Swim’. We’d order Laffy Taffy and Lik-M-Aid from the concession stand. We stayed in the sun until we got good and crispy.
But oh, that was suburbia, and now I live in a crowded, noisy, dirty city! What’s a girl to do? There must be decent pools in the District of Columbia, but where? After some digging on the internet, I did find a few good leads. But there really isn’t any great guide to the DC public pools! Tragic!
Tomorrow, though, I’ve decided I’m going to strike out anyhow, and see what I can discover. The Volta Park in Georgetown is opening its pool season as of today, so I plan on investigating its chemical-laden waters tomorrow when it opens at noon.
There are apparently several outdoor public pools in the District, including one in the Tidal Basin with views of the monuments! Mon dieu! Not to mention one walking distance from my house at Upshur and 14th. Field research commencing! I will report back, too!