I don’t understand what the big deal is about Clarendon. Sure, there are some cool restaurants, but I just can’t get excited about a place whose town center involves Pottery Barn and The Cheesecake Factory.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a Starbucks latte as much as the next mom, but after living in DC it all feels so generic. If I sound like a pretentious a**hole, I apologize, but I just got back from the Clarendon Whole Foods and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

First of all, there’s never any parking. I had forgotten about this when I decided on this Whole Foods instead of the one in DC. Haven’t you people heard of a parking garage? It may take half an hour to drive two miles in DC, but at least when you get there you can park. I circled Clarendon three times before finding a space three blocks away from the store. Hiking, while lugging groceries in the rain with a cast on, isn’t my idea of a fun time.

By the way, there are plenty of grocery stores on the Hill (Harris Teeter at Jenkins Row is my fave), but this was a special trip to stock up for my vegan cleanse. One hour and $173 dollars later, I headed home with my tiny bag of groceries and a few observations about Clarendon. [Read more…]