Washington DC…home of Better Than Good

Recently I’ve been on a whirlwind of travel, which has taken me to two of my favorite cities, namely NYC (my most favorite ever!!) and San Francisco (very close second).  Neither trip was as long as I would have liked but I was just grateful to go.  I have a travel bug.  Sure I was with my mother in NYC, so my sister and I weren’t able to go to any of the bars or clubs we would have otherwise, but hey… next time.  San Francisco was great, but a very short stay as it was all about getting my son back to college.  Plus SF is different for me because it’s relatively easy to get there.  It’s a short plane ride or a long drive.  I prefer the shorter option, but I don’t mind driving when the outcome is honestly one of the most beautiful cityscapes there is.  Incredible natural rugged beauty of the northern coast of California meets impressive architectural elements.  The Bay Bridge and of course, the Golden Gate Bridge are awe inspiring.   I have good friends who live in the area and now my son is back up there for school, so it’s a win win kind of place for me personally.

So why, you may ask, did I choose DC as a setting for Better Than Good?  Wellllll… I didn’t.  The characters did.  I know I sound like a whack job, but it’s the truth.  At least it’s my truth.  I love DC, but I’ve only been a couple of times.  I don’t know it nearly as well as I know NYC or SF, or even LA (NOT my favorite city), but it obviously made an impression.  On my last visit there a couple of years ago, I was lucky to be there on an extremely temperate beginning of September.  The weather was blue skies and a mild seventy-five degrees day and night.  The worst of the crowds seemed to have gone for the summer leaving short lines at the Smithsonian museums.  If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll know I’m a sucker for a museum.  I was in heaven waltzing from one museum to the next and paying an entry fee of…nothing!  Unreal!  I had no idea how walkable the city was either, which I appreciated because it’s really the best way to get to know a place.  We walked everywhere.  Including all over Georgetown, where we explored the university and all the cool shops on M Street.  Somewhere, somehow, something registered and that’s where it began for the boys in the Better Than Good series.  

I’m writing this now because although I live and write in southern California, I find myself in DC in my head rather consistently as I work on the third book.  Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and yes, Georgetown feature predominantly.  I’ve been to all and plan to go again (soon, I hope), but it’s been a while and I am very interested and open to hearing what people have to say about these areas.  Any fun facts or trivia anyone would like to share?  Please feel free to contact me… here, twitter, email or facebook… you choose!  

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”  Robert Louis Stevenson