Fort Dupont Ice Arena in DC

[Black Sheep]

Has anyone here ever been to the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in Washington, DC? I'll be in DC next week for Worlds. At first I wasn't going to bring my skates because I didn't think I'd have the time to skate or easy access to a rink. Then I found out about the FD rink through the Worlds 2003 site. It looks easy enough to get to, but my uncle says it's in a high-crime neighborhood.

[jenlyon60]

Yes. Fort Dupont is in a less than savory neighborhood. But they keep cops around there (there used to be a little police substation there, not sure if it's still there).

If you do plan to skate there, I would recommend taking a taxi both ways... don't try to use Metro as it goes nowhere near there.

I've skated at Dupont on and off for years... in fact I used to skate there when the neighborhood was a LOT worse than it is now. It's a really neat rink... has a great view of downtown DC.

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by jenlyon60
If you do plan to skate there, I would recommend taking a taxi both ways... don't try to use Metro as it goes nowhere near there.

Is it hard to get a taxicab going from FD? In some cities, cabs don't frequent the "less than savory" neighborhoods.

[jenlyon60]

I don't recall because it's been about 15 years since I used a cab from there.

But I have seen cabs on the surrounding streets when I've driven there (that was just over a year ago).

[Mrs Redboots]

Surely the thing to do is get a card from the cab driver on the way there, and then telephone the company when you want to leave?

[coco]

I used to work w/a guy who spent all his time (literally!) working on fundraising for Fort Dupont and the Fort Dupont hockey club (don't know if that was actually their name or not). That was years ago so I'm glad to hear it's still around. I used to drive through anacostia (that neighborhood, I think) for work and I recall seeing cabs around there, but you may have to call for the return trip.

I was actually just coming here to ask about rinks in the DC/NoVA/Montgomery County, MD area. There's fairfax, of course ;), and Fort Dupont, but anyone else aware of others close to DC? I may be moving back there (and I didn't skate the first time I lived there) so I'm curious....you can pm me I guess, so we don't takeover the thread...

[Black Sheep]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and info., but I've changed my mind altogether about bringing my skates because I could use a break for a few days, esp. after the show and all. I bet I'd skate much better if I was well-rested. 8-)