Goodbye and good riddance, year that was. But what were the things that captivated us the most about this dumpster fire of a year? Below, a breakdown by month of our most-clicked stories on the blog:
January: Back in January, when we thought that COVID was a distant nightmare that would never affect us, we were all a lot more excited about Bistro Cacao moving locations. After taking over the space left behind by La Loma, Bistro Cacao slid over one spot west. I’m finding it hard to recall patios full of people.
February: Remember February? We were still congregating indoors with wild abandon and partying and having excellent THIH team meetings at Maketto and whatnot. This Hill Buzz from the week of February 25 was our most-read post this month: it covered Horace and Dickie’s departure as well as Mayor Bowser’s campaigning for Mike Bloomberg. Can’t believe that was this year, honestly.
March: The month started with a low level of ominousness –random mask-wearers, a shortage of hand sanitizer– that snowballed into a tentative shutdown on the 16th and culminated in our first stay-at-home order, declared on March 30 and in effects as of April 1 of this year. So it’s not surprise that in the midst of all this uncertainty, the most-read post was a guide of which restaurants were doing carryout or delivery around the neighborhood. It was also one of the many millions of times I wrote the term “social distancing” here on the blog. Ah, a more innocent time.
April: This month’s top story was a Lost Capitol Hill about stamps. We always love a good yarn about the comings and goings of the neighborhood of yesteryear, and this was a particularly intriguing post about Lady Freedom, the statue atop the Capitol, and her appearances on postage.
May: Our collective heartbreak was great when we learned that Montmartre would be permanently closing their doors after 20 years of loyal, dedicated service to every Hill celebration. The joy of welcoming Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to Barracks Row was a welcome second-place distraction.
June: Saige Ballard was killed while leaving a party off Stanton Park, one of almost 200 people killed in the District this year. The murder rate has reached its highest number in 15 years, according to Washingtonian. Neighbor and local artist Christine Vineyard, Lidflutters, wrote an obituary to her former student.
July: After starting Phase Two at the end of June, the District’s rate started to climb up again. The most-read story this month had to do with the Northeast Library’s closing down due to a staff member testing positive for COVID.
August: 2020 was also, amazingly, an election year. I talked to several candidates to DC Delegate and for At-Large on Zoom, and the interview with Mr. John Cheeks, candidate to DC Delegate, was the most watched interview of the bunch. If you want to see more, you can always check them out on our YouTube channel.
September: This story about a local resident designing and running his own IRONMAN race— with a huge help from his wife and friends– was very popular in September, around the time we needed uplifting stories to remind us that even during this particularly bad year, we can still do great things.
October: Artist Suzanne Firstenberg’s installation, “In America, How Could This Happen?” took over the lawn outside the DC Armory and provided a beautiful place to grieve. The installation was taken down at the beginning of December, but you can see it here in our most-clicked photo post of October.
November: The hospitality industry has been devastated by the COVID pandemic. Zac Hoffman wrote an opinion regarding the hardships experienced by the industry and calling on the DC government to insure workers are protected before the impending rollbacks would decimate the industry.
December: Our Hill Buzz from the first week of December was the most-read post of December, so far. The theme of this post was centered on Giving Tuesday, the annual call to donate to non-profits. The links are still active if you would like to do some year-end giving through this post. Close on its heels, our #LightUpTheHill post linking to my map of lit-up neighborhood houses is still going strong. Check it out!