Let's start our series on the DC campuses with Georgetown University. Not only is Georgetown an academically elite institution (with alumni including Bill Clinton, at the undergradute level), but the surrounding neighborhood is also extremely famous. Below are a couple shots of the campus (from the 37th St. side), which my fiancee Sylvia tells me features Gothic architectural style.
Also visually interesting is the adjacent residential neighborhood, featuring an array of pastel-colored townhouses. Somewhat reminiscent of San Francisco (although with much less severe incline), one must go down a hill to get to the "main drag" commercial area.
The hub of the commercial district is the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, NW (under L'Enfant's design for DC's street system, letter-based streets go east-west, numbered streets go north-south, and streets named after states run diagonally). Most of the stores and restaurants in Georgetown -- which appear to cater primarily to an upscale clientele -- run along M Street. That includes an Uno's pizza, at which I dined.
Nearby, running roughly parallel to M Street is the Potomac River, on the other side of which are a number of glitzy buildings in the Virginia suburbs. Washington's excellent Metro subway system does not run in Georgetown, but one can catch buses on M Street going to the subway.
