Hidden Chinese Garden

Past PS7 and on the way to Brasserie Beck, you can find the oddly shaped brick walkways and suspended glass overpasses of Techworld, built in 1984 and one of DC’s stranger mixed use buildings. This weird place, which looks like some 80s urban planning student’s Jetsons-inspired class project, is home to our closest post office [UPDATE – it’s closing! Boo to the dysfunctional money-strapped USPS!] and what seems to me a totally unnecessary Vida Fitness.

Hidden off to each side of Techworld’s main plaza, however, are two small and, in their own way, charming little Chinese concrete gardens.

I have wanted to bring Lucy to visit them for a while, and today we went over after a Nando’s lunch with Dad. Unfortunately, three decades of smoke breaks by the federal employees in the surrounding offices have littered the gardens with butts – and we have to watch L around cig butts because she’s picked up some bad pretend-smoking habits along with her dance moves from Singin in the Rain. (According to this article, Donald O’Connor smoked four packs a day during filming, which makes his dancing in a way even more impressive.)

Yuk mommy

But we think she enjoyed herself, especially since she kept waving “bye” as if she wanted us to leave her there the rest of the afternoon.

Pants match the cobblestones

I must admit, I couldn’t stop thinking it’d be a great place for a playground…

In the spirit of the newly released Marty McFly Nikes, Lucy and I say, “Techworld — back to the future!”

That was fun. Now where’s the spaceship?