Wharf Life DC Celebrates Its First Anniversary

A year ago, we were encouraged by several of the Wharf merchants to help them better promote their businesses and to get the word out about what was happening on the SW waterfront. Today, we celebrate our first anniversary, and we are so proud of what we’ve accomplished in helping to tell the story of the District Wharf neighborhood.

We have something nobody else has, hyperlocal knowledge about nearly every facet of the District Wharf. We know the store owners, the bartenders, servers, chefs, and security guards. This kind of insight has helped us to create great information and share it with residents and visitors to the Wharf.

Wharf Life DC provides consistent and continuous information about what to do and where to go at the Wharf. Right from the beginning, we launched partnerships with the Wharf businesses to highlight their events and services.

One of our first partnerships was with The Anthem for ticket giveaways. We were excited to give away tickets to lucky fans for great shows such as Griz, Peter Frampton, and Umphrey’s McGee.

We also focused on hosting community events. We were proud to partner with Hank’s Oyster Bar for a happy hour event featuring owner Jamie Leeds who provided an impressive spread of food and drinks for local residents and was on hand to greet everyone.

Wharf Life DC partnered with Union Stage for our launch party as well as their occasional tap takeovers featuring local bluegrass music.

We hosted a happy hour with Cantina Bambina to help launch its roll-up windows and we hosted a Zoom happy hour raising money for their employees during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Another proud Wharf Life DC partner is Shop Made in DC. They stock and sell our hats and tee shirts at their Wharf location.

We also launched a partnership with Nift, which encourages the support of local companies by giving away gift cards to participating businesses and motivating customers to shop among the Wharf businesses with no expense to those businesses.

Our followers have relied on the news and information we have provided to enhance their time at the Wharf including our restaurant reviews and our very popular “Best Of” lists. The lists include information about where to get the best oysters, chicken wings, or craft beer at the Wharf.

We are very proud of our Shop Local; Shop the Wharf campaign which reminds readers that the majority of Wharf businesses are small and family owned businesses.

During the coronavirus quarantine we featured the Heroes of the Wharf who were going beyond the call of duty to help frontline healthcare workers and first responders. Businesses such as Kirwan’s, A Beautiful Closet, Grazie Grazie, Mi Vida, The Grill, and The Press stand out as taking steps to truly make a positive difference.

We have been thrilled to bring our followers exciting news about new businesses at the Wharf. We got the scoop on new places such as the opening of District Flow Yoga, Colada Shop, and Chopsmith, as well as the yet to open Nara-Ya and Surfside restaurants

Last fall, we launched the Wharf Life DC Job Center to serve as an employment bridge between Wharf businesses and those wishing to work at the Wharf. As the Wharf reopens, the Job Center will serve an increasingly important role in helping our community to get back to work.

During the citywide shut down, we launched a video series called Wharf Life During Quarantine in which we continued to highlight the Wharf businesses that operated throughout with pickup and delivery options. Highlights from that series include our chats with Pearl Street Warehouse, Officina, and District Flow Yoga.

By far one of the considerable accomplishments for Wharf Life DC during its first year was its Best in Show grand prize victory during the District Wharf’s Parade of Lights featuring our “world’s largest World Series trophy” replica. It was an amazing night to celebrate the Nationals World Series championship!

None of this happens without the contributions from so many people who help make Wharf Life DC operate every day. Jean Link, Aubrey Whittier, Jenna O’Brien, John Leary, Laura Cowles, and Ramsey Poston, all make up our team, and honestly, we feel guilty for having so much fun on the job this past year.

Finally, thank you, thank you, thank you to all our supporters who have followed us on social media and have subscribed to our weekly newsletter, and to the Wharf merchants who continue to support our efforts. Cheers to all of you.

Here’s to another great year.