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From cafes to canoes to pop-up spas, folks find unique ways to celebrate Park(ing) Day in the District

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September 16, 2016 at 4:59 p.m. EDT
As part of Park(ing) Day 2016, the National Park Service created a “lake” on F Street NW in D.C. (Lori Aratani/The Washington Post)
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This post has been updated and corrected to note that the K Street display was by goDCgo.

If you spent any time strolling the streets of downtown Washington on Friday, you may have spotted a pop-up spa or a mini lake filled with wooden fish in a space normally filled by a car.

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It was Park(ing) Day 2016, which is not about parking — at least not in the traditional sense. The annual event, which started in San Francisco more than a decade ago, is a chance to rethink urban spaces by reimagining parking spaces, as well, parks. And there was no shortage of creativity among participants in the District.

For their display, the folks from the National Park Service (celebrating its 100th birthday this year) created a “lake” in the middle of F Street just a stone’s throw away from District Taco. The whimsical scene included a canoe and fish. The goal is to remind folks of the green spaces in the region, said Rylinn Sorini, an intern with the NPS.

The folks at the car-sharing service goDCgo created a “commuter oasis,” complete with massage chair.

A few blocks away in Chinatown, passersby could try their luck at a supersized game of Jenga.

And don’t forget the dog park:

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