I recently spent the day showing around a man I had just met. His name was Flat Stanley.
Flat Stanley came all the way from Wisconsin, where my niece in her second grade classroom colored him a fetching green and gold t-shirt. (Turns out, Flat Stanley is quite the Packers fan).
I was prepared to be a good hostess and take Flat Stanley to all the major sites of Washington. But it turns out that this Flat Stanley fellow has been around the block a few times. He has already seen the White House. And the Washington Monument. And the Lincoln Memorial. I could hardly believe my ears when Flat Stanley leaned in close and whispered: “Lauren, what really interests me about D.C. is its walkability.”
Flat Stanley explained that he’s been doing a lot of reading on airplanes lately—it seems he’s always traveling—and he’s pretty well convinced from what he’s read and what he’s seen in his travels: walkability is the next big thing (and maybe it was the first big thing?). He couldn’t wait to check out D.C. after all the recent attention the District has been getting as a walkable city.
All he had to say to get my attention was, “Lauren, let’s go for a walk.” And the rest is history.
As a hardcore pedestrian, Flat Stanley was pretty grateful for the nice crosswalks at the busy intersection where I work.Not only is Flat Stanley a pretty serious pedestrian, he wanted to check out all the public transit options in D.C. We started at the Dupont Circle Metro and explored them all.Metro? Forget the trains! Flat Stanley couldn’t get enough of the escalator (all 319 stairs of it).Flat Stanley said his favorite thing about busses is the people-watching.Walking: it’s like riding a bike. Flat Stanley said Capital Bikeshare is one of the coolest bike share projects he’s ever seen.The good thing about walking? It loves to coach along a hearty appetite. Flat Stanley said he had a hankerin’ for Italian. And with a sidewalk sandwich board advertising spinach ravioli on special—who could blame him?
I met Flat Stanley for the first time in Yellowstone. He had not been so we had a grand time. Great post Lauren 🙂
Thanks, LuAnn! Glad you liked it. Flat Stanley is such a good travel buddy.