When Did Meridian Hill Park Become a Hangout for Circus Folks? was originally published on City Desk on Apr. 17, 2009, at 11:38 am
I went to Meridian Hill Park on Easter for a story about the federal government’s War on Pickup Soccer. Or something like that.
I lived in Mount Pleasant for 15 years, and used to bring doughnuts and bread and coffee and the newspaper there on weekends, because it was nearby and because in the spring Meridian Hill is by a far sight the most beautiful DC park I’ve ever been to.
But I pretty much stopped visiting since moving to Petworth in 2002.
Yet Sunday’s visit confirmed all my happy memories of the park’s fabulousity, and then some. The big revelation: All over the place on the top level, all sorts of wannabe circus performers were practicing their off-beat tricks.
Unicyclists. Acrobats. Even tightrope walkers!
Tightrope walkers? How long has this been going on at Meridian Hill?
And what does that say about DC? (True story: I didn’t see ANYBODY in the park reading a legal brief or lobbying on behalf of military contractors.)