WELCOME TO THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY!
By far, the easiest way to get here is by Metro. The Foggy Bottom/GWU stop is on the BlueOrange line. The George Washington University Hospital will be on your left as you exit the
station. Cross 23rd Street on I St. NW, then cross 22nd Street. In the next block, on your right, you
will see the Academic Center. Take either the elevator or the stairs down to the B-1 (Basement 1)
level. As you get off the elevator, turn to your left; those who take the stairs will see the double
doors marked Department of Music in front of them. Go through the 2nd set of double doors
(bathrooms are to your left between those 2 sets of double doors). B-120 will be the 2nd door to
your left.
PARKING FOR THOSE WHO ARE DRIVING
GW just tore down a multi-level parking garage between 23rd and 22nd Streets, so parking is, quite
frankly, a problem. It’s also not helping that the meeting weekend is also Alumni Weekend.
There is a parking garage on I Street across from the Academic Center; there is also visitor
parking under the Academic Center, intended for hospital staff and visitors. For all they know,
you’re hospital visitors, right? (No one asks.) I will warn you that it’s quite expensive, but
parking usually is in DC. From the Academic Center garage, you go into the building, get on the
elevator, and punch the button for B-1. There are on-street meters, vigilantly patrolled by the city.
On Alumni Weekend, every last one of them is likely to be taken, but lightning could always
strike.
FROM MARYLAND
The prettiest way to get here is to take Rock Creek Parkway. Get off at Pennsylvania Avenue.
The only way you can turn is right. Go down PA Ave. to Washington Circle and turn off the
circle at 23rd Street. Turn left at I Street, the next light. The two parking garages I mentioned are a
block and a half down I Street.
If you are coming from the Baltimore area. Take I-95 South to DC, then I-495 West towards
Silver Spring. Exit at Connecticut Ave South and go about 7 miles. At Dupont Circle, turn right
onto New Hampshire Avenue just past the CVS. Turn left at 21st Street, cross Pennsylvania
Avenue, turn right at I Street. The two parking garages will be at your right and your left in that
block.
FROM VIRGINIA
Get on I-395 N. Exit at 8B to merge onto VA 27 N/S Washington Boulevard toward
Pentagon/Arlington Cemetery/Rosslyn. Then take the ramp on the left to Arlington Memorial
Bridge. Continue onto Lincoln Memorial Circle. Turn left onto 23rd Street Nw, then right onto I
Street to find the parking garages mentioned above.
RESTAURANTS
As you drive or walk that block between 23rd and 22nd on I Street, look to your left: Così and
Sweet Green are possibilities, and the Whole Foods has its usual yummy take-out; tables and
chairs are conveniently located on the sidewalk. In the Marvin Student Center, next to the
Academic Center, the student eatery, called “J Street,” has just been newly renovated. In 2000
Penn, across 21th St. from the entrance to the Marvin Center, there is Bertucci’s (chain Italian)
and Kinkead’s, which is not as expensive for lunch as it is for dinner. For quiet and good, albeit
expensive, Circle Bistro is located in One Washington Circle Hotel. Also good is Notti Bianche
in the George Washington University Inn on 824 New Hampshire Avenue. A noisy TGI Friday’s
is in the same block of buildings across from the Academic Center as the parking garage; the
entrance is on 21st Street (2100 PA Ave. NW). There are, of course, multiple Starbucks in the
area. The closest is, believe it or not, in Gelman Library. If you go out of the music department up
the outside stairs, you will see Gelman Library on H Street. You can always bring take-out food
back to B-120 and enjoy lunch and gossip with friends.
The website urbanspoon.com lists other possibilities for Foggy Bottom and West End
Restaurants.