Olivia Macaron
3270 M St., N.W.
Saturday, Oct. 17, evening
Conditions: Clear and cool

Again, a later start than I’d hoped for meant I had to improvise a stop.

First stop was the garden, where I picked tomatoes and herbs and mourned the loss of the big pepper I’d been hoping would turn red. Possibly a four-legged marauder, but my bet would be on the two-legged variety.

Second stop was Bridge Street Books, D.C.’s oldest indie bookshop. I was looking for two books of poetry by local authors, and their selection tends to be the deepest. They had neither, so I ordered one and bought a book in translation (another of their specialties) that The New York Times described as “an oddball fairy tale.”

I took a jaunt up the Capital Crescent for a short way, but it was getting toward sundown and I didn’t want to be on the trail alone past dusk. So I turned around at the first connection to the C&O Canal Towpath and headed back to Georgetown.

I decided to finally visit Olivia Macaron, a specialty shop tucked into the side of the Georgetown mall next to what used to be Dean & Deluca. It’s been there seven years, but I’d never bothered to visit, because a) there are other macaron shops in D.C. I like and b) if I’m on M, there are usually baked good shops I’d rather visit. Welcome to pandemic times when everything good is closed and everything open has crazy lines.

I am pleased to report that should you be hankering for a macaron, Olivia’s is perfectly nice. I’d long assumed it was an outpost of a New York shop/chain, but it turns out that it’s an independent shop. (Check out their blog for adorable Halloween macaron hacks.) Because it was late, they had a limited supply of cookies left, so I took the recommendation of the clerk.

I had a cup of Earl Grey tea and a honey lavender macaron, which I consumed on a bench in front of a closed bike shop on a nearby street because there is no bike parking by the mall or on that busiest stretch of M Street. The cookie and tea were good, but there were too many passersby with poor mask skills, so I don’t think I’ll be back to Georgetown on a Saturday evening anytime soon.

My final stop of the night was an impromptu one. As I was biking home, I realized that the Kings of Rock Creek, a local band was performing an outdoor show in Rose Park. I’d heard their music wafting over to the garden sometimes in the summer and passed by some of their corner store concerts en route to other places, but this was the first time I really had nowhere else to be. So I needed to be there. It felt so … normal to be outside listening to a show (albeit in the chilly October air), and the two bands played a fun mix of their own songs and covers. They shared they have two more shows this month, so I now know where I’ll be the next two Saturday nights.

Mileage: 4.65 miles