How popular are the restaurants and stores at National Harbor?

[PotomacCyclist]

I decided to ride across the Wilson Bridge last night and poke around at National Harbor. I’ve only been there once before. I know it was a Monday night, but there didn’t seem to be many people in the restaurants and stores. I’ve also heard other comments about how few people visit the complex. Is this usual? Are there more people on the weekends and on Thursdays?

The bike trail leading from the bridge to National Harbor still stinks. Large sections of it were soaked with water. I don’t know why. The tide wasn’t that high and we haven’t had any heavy rains in recent days. I was riding my mountain bike. I’m never riding to National Harbor on skinny tires until they pave that messy trail.

One of the problems with National Harbor is its location. Or at least the lack of public transportation. I know of some local events that chose not to use their facilities because of the lack of access. Many people in the area don’t have cars. Metrobus is not reliable, especially for longer trips. Metrorail does not have any stations nearby.

I think National Harbor would be more competitive for winning some of the expos for athletic events (the two triathlons, Marine Corps Marathon, Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, other races) if it were more easily accessible by bike (and not just mountain bikes). Extending Metrorail over to National Harbor would be extremely expensive and difficult but it wouldn’t be that difficult to pave over that stupid bike trail. A paved trail would open up National Harbor to all of the cyclists who ride on the Mt. Vernon Trail and those traveling from Alexandria. It would take more work to open up bike access to the north. The bike trail network in SE DC and in Prince George’s Co. seems to be lacking. They should work on that too.

Topic

[Jsnyd]

I really wish they would consider more trails in SE and PGC. I understand why they don’t but it could really help out. I didn’t even know the National Harbor was connected by trail. My wife and I have considered riding in for dinner since we aren’t too far.

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.845426,-76.949711

[jabberwocky]

The last time I rode there, some security guard followed me and my group around giving us sh*t for having our bikes with us. He kept telling us bikes weren’t allowed in the complex, and wanted us to lock them at the end of the path and walk around. I haven’t returned and likely won’t.

[KLizotte]

I’ve only visited a few times, always on weekends, when all the restaurants looked pretty busy – but then again, I’ve only gone when the weather was really, really nice.

I have hybrid tires so managing the crushed seashell trail to the complex hasn’t been a problem at all but I could see how it would be a real problem for skinny tires. Yes, I agree that it would be a good idea if they at least covered half the walkway with asphalt so bikers, strollers, wheelchairs, etc. could use it.

I think the complex gets a lot of convention traffic (big facility, lower prices than downtown DC convention center/hotels). I understand the highly priced water taxi stops there.

I recently investigated the feasibility of seeing the NPS sites along that side of the Potomac. Supposedly there are some on-road bike routes. When I used Google’s “real world” view of the routes, I decided that the roads were not very hospitable to cyclists (no shoulder) and that most of the scenery along the way was kind of boring. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Kathy

[PotomacCyclist]

Google Maps doesn’t show any bike trails connecting to National Harbor other than the Wilson Bridge trail. Oxon Hill Rd. is recommended as an on-road route, but the bike lanes don’t extend that far in either direction. Some of the neighborhoods to the north and east have a reputation for high crime rates.

As for scenery and sightseeing, the only spot that I’m aware of in that area is Fort Washington. But there are no trails down to Ft. Washington. I guess you could try the two-lane local roads, but those don’t look very appealing in the street view on Google Maps. You can get a view of Ft. Washington from across the river, by riding down on the Mt. Vernon Trail.

I didn’t have any problems with the security guards. Maybe they only bother larger groups of cyclists. I never had to walk my bike anywhere. I didn’t see any “Bikes Must Dismount” signs. (Yeah, the signs should read “Cyclists Must Dismount” but I often see “Bikes Must Dismount” signs. Doesn’t make any sense. The bikes aren’t going to dismount.) I thought there used to be signs last year, but I don’t remember.

I don’t think I’ll visit there too often, but it’s a nice change of pace. It’s very peaceful to ride up on the bridge and see the lights of DC and Alexandria from afar. (Note: There are several planned dips in the trail on the bridge. These can be quite hard on skinny road bike tires. Beware.) The view of the bridge itself from National Harbor is spectacular too. I’d like to check out the Waterskiing Santa some year. It’s kind of funny that that has become a new DC tradition. Other cities have their parades. We have Waterskiing Santa, accompanied by his waterskiing elves and reindeer. No joke.

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[JustinW]

National harbor does make a good stop on a long-ish ride. It also gives you a good reason to bike over the Wilson Bridge, which offers great views despite also offering jarring expansion joints periodically as you cross. Those joints present a great chance to practice your bunny hops.

The place seems to be not-yet built out enough to seem completely viable. Time will tell. Still, it is a fun alternative.

There are some decent / good restaurants there and some curiosities, including a Peeps store for the sugar-rush fiends out there. There is more – some people live there and some businesses (non-retail) are located there as well.

[StopMeansStop]

NH = tourist trap

[Dirt]

I like National Harbor. We go there once per month or so. They’ve got a few good restaurants. One of my loops home goes through there and I sometimes stop for a beer on the way.

[KLizotte]

@PotomacCyclist 8328 wrote:

I’d like to check out the Waterskiing Santa some year. It’s kind of funny that that has become a new DC tradition. Other cities have their parades. We have Waterskiing Santa, accompanied by his waterskiing elves and reindeer. No joke.

Wow, the things I have been missing. Hadn’t heard of the “Xmas on water” event before. I absolutely love the grinch pic.

[Dirt]

Okay… this place is totally cheesy, but a totally fun way to spend an evening. We need to do book club there some time.

http://www.bobbymckeys.com/

[PotomacCyclist]

I just took a look at the Bobby McKEY’S website. Among the songs playing in the background is a Journey song. Does that mean (soon to be former) Mrs. Salahi is going to be there? I hope not! (For those not up on their DC-area gossip, she ran off with Neal Schon, the guitarist for Journey, this month, just before the Salahi winery had a bankruptcy auction.)

Pretty funny. I think it’s good for the DC area to have some places that don’t take themselves too seriously. A lot of places are either formal, “work hard/party hard” bars or hipster hangouts. Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp need their own place too.

[Dirt]

@PotomacCyclist 8391 wrote:

I think it’s good for the DC area to have some places that don’t take themselves too seriously.

This place is definitely that. It is totally silly and really fun. The piano players are AMAZING. The food is okay… bar food. The beer flows. Make sure you’ve got a place to sober up or someone to safely drive you home after. I think we’re gonna have to do a date night this fall where we spend the evening singing away, then flop at a room at the Gaylord so we don’t have to drive home. Add in dinner at a different restaurant first, and you’ve got the makings of a really fun Friday night.

[Mark Blacknell]

Not a fan of National Harbor at all. I don’t like their anti-cyclist approach (intentionally bad connection to trail, poor bike parking, and reliable harassment from security). I don’t like the way they screw their own workers’ transportation options. But I *especially* don’t like them stealing the Awakening from Hains Point.

~

Kathy, a few months back there was a thread about riding from DC to Oxen Hill. It’s not, in my view, dangerous (tho’ I’d probably skip doing during an evening rush hour, your first time). Results in some nice views over the Potomac, and the Oxen Hill park right where DC/MD meet is just beautiful. Plus you get to ride past the DC Fire Dept. training facilities – if you’re lucky, something will be on fire Happy to chat more about it if you’re interested in trying it (it’s not very well marked for cyclists – I got lost the first time I tried, but I’d not talked to anyone about how to do it.).

[baiskeli]

Do not, under any circumstances, go to Ketchup. You have been warned.

[KLizotte]

@Mark Blacknell 8403 wrote:

Kathy, a few months back there was a thread about riding from DC to Oxen Hill. It’s not, in my view, dangerous (tho’ I’d probably skip doing during an evening rush hour, your first time). Results in some nice views over the Potomac, and the Oxen Hill park right where DC/MD meet is just beautiful. Plus you get to ride past the DC Fire Dept. training facilities – if you’re lucky, something will be on fire Happy to chat more about it if you’re interested in trying it (it’s not very well marked for cyclists – I got lost the first time I tried, but I’d not talked to anyone about how to do it.).

Many thanks for the offer. Didn’t think there was anything worth pedaling to in Oxon Hill but now my interest is sparked. To keep the traffic flow light I’ll probably wait till we get a gorgeous fall Sunday morning when the trees are looking pretty (presuming we ever see the sun again). I’ll check out possible routes online and if I have any questions I know who to email

I think the Awakening looks cramped in its current location but I like how the kiddies play all over it. At least he’s no longer lonely!

[PotomacCyclist]

@baiskeli 8414 wrote:

Do not, under any circumstances, go to Ketchup. You have been warned.

I actually went to Ketchup last month. I had forgotten about this thread. It wasn’t too bad. Probably not somewhere I’d go all the time, but it seemed OK. Perhaps a little pricey for hamburgers. At least they were more like steaks on a roll than McDonald’s paper hamburgers.

The near-disaster of the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K running race at National Harbor a few weeks ago highlighted the problem of the lack of access over there. (I didn’t run the race but I’ve read more rage-filled comments about this one race than for all other DC-area events in the past 3 years combined.) They tried to squeeze 20,000 runners at the same time into an area with about 5,000 parking spaces, only one real road entrance and no reliable public transportation.

It’s too bad that the transportation issue is such a mess. The main atrium is impressive, especially when the gigantic hanging Christmas “tree” and the banners are lit up at night. I think National Harbor (and Prince George’s County) really, really, really needs to join Capital Bikeshare, immediately. While CaBi wouldn’t be able to handle a big event like the 15K race, it does provide a useful option for some visitors. I think more people would ride over from Alexandria if there were CaBi stations at National Harbor. (Alexandria is adding CaBi stations next year.) The only problem I can think of is the somewhat steep ascent over the Wilson Bridge. That might be tough on a CaBi bike, especially for the casual cyclist.

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I missed out on the Waterskiing Santa though. Maybe next year.

[Author]

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