John here.

The Setting

Imagine arriving at the start of your coast to coast tour. The stunning scenery. The waves crashing on the beach. The wind in your hair. The sand between your toes. The salt air. You can almost see the curvature of the earth at the far horizon.

We’re starting from Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, D.C.  at mile zero of the C&O Canal. Uh, what’s that I see across the water in the near distance? Arlington, Virginia!?  Just what the heck are we dipping our wheels into? Where’s the coast?

Georgetown Waterfront Park sits on the Potomac River. The closest beach is at least 40 miles away by bike at Chesapeake Beach, Maryland on Chesapeake Bay. From there it’s about 125 miles south-southeast as the crow flies to the open ocean at Virginia Beach, Virginia, or about 80  miles east as the crow flies to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on the other side of the Delmarva Peninsula.

Thus does the question arise: Georgetown Waterfront Park. Coast? Or not coast?

My Rationale

Permit me a few moments to shuck and jive, tap dance, perhaps holler “Look, there’s Elvis” a time or two.

I hang my delusion of "Georgetown Waterfront Park as Coast" on two phenomena.

Phenomenon Numero Uno

What happens several times every day on the coast of an ocean? Tides! That gravitational interplay of the sun and moon on the world’s oceans. The rising and falling of the water level as the earth turns. Tides are  correctly described as long period, low amplitude tidal waves.

So, what about Georgetown Waterfront Park?

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Phenomenon Numero Dos

The ocean is salty. You've tasted it. You've spit it out. How about the water at Georgetown Waterfront Park? It’s brackish, as in slightly salty, as in a mixture of river water and seawater. Salty ocean water infiltrates as far inland on the Potomac River at Little Falls Dam, 5 or 6 miles upstream from Georgetown Waterfront Park. So, salty water at the start.

Conclusion

Georgetown Waterfront Park is arguably on "the coast". Let's check off the criteria

• The tide rises and falls.
• The water tastes of the ocean.
• Perhaps you can imagine
  • The stunning scenery (maybe Arlington, Virginia is beautiful)
  • The waves crashing on the beach (the tidal wave is pretty quiet, but perhaps the wake of a boat is lapping the shore) 
  • The wind in your hair (not a headwind I hope)
  • The sand between your toes (there may be some sand mixed with the mud, but we'll have shoes on)
  • The salt air (okay, maybe not this one)
  • The curvature of the earth (it's out there)

I rest my case. We're riding coast to coast. No offense, Atlantic Ocean.