DCist is not a big fan of MapQuest. Despite the fact that the mapping service can be very useful, direction queries can often give confusing directions, or in some cases, directions that are just plain wrong.

So we decided to torment the MapQuest computers by giving it two locations near the White House: 1550 Pennsylvania Ave. NW and 1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. One is inside a restricted zone, the second is outside. 1550 would be where the Treasury Department is. 1750 is building “owned and leased” by the General Services Administration to the west of the White House Cosi and Starbucks.

Unless you are the president of the United States, you will never be able to use the directions provided by MapQuest because most of the route sits on closed off streets on the White House campus. But here is what they give us: East Executive Avenue, then turn right across the White House’s South Lawn to State Place to 17th Street. Now this is where DCist gets confused. Instead of making a left on Pennsylvania Avenue, Mapquest takes you west on G Street to 18th Street behind the World Bank, and then to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Just like constantly changing security regulations in the capital, MapQuest’s directions are making DCist’s head spin.