A Day in the Past

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I decided to scrap my original plans of Smithy hopping and go for a stroll(D.C. terms for power walking) in Old Town Alexandria. You've read posts about Old Town before, but every time I've been this winter it's been dark and frigid, and I can only window shop at all the cute little boutiques. Well, window shopping is all I did yesterday, but it was a glorious day! Small miracle: only my light spring trench coat was necessary!


Old Town, Alexandria is situated on the Potomac River and served as a port city for centuries. The waterfront marina is quite nice, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge connects the quaint community to the bustling city life of the District.

Portions of the road are paved with cobblestone, and all the sidewalks are treacherous bricks, even worse for the heeled female than Converse's difficult walkways. I learned this the hard way when I took my parents for dinner in 5 inch stilettos and had to hold on to someone's arm for dear life as we trekked the 7 blocks to the restaurant. But, that being said, with comfortable shoes, the sites are quite worth the walk. The few architecture pictures I got were the chances to take pictures without moving cars of herds of people, so they aren't the most amazing structures, but they do depict the character.





The Old Town theater is a place I hope to go soon. It's a one theater movie house where you can eat dinner, have a beer or glass of wine, and enjoy the movie. They play current movies, and all their profits are based on vending. From what I hear, it's not uncommon to have to wait ten minutes while the film strip is being changed or the sound comes back on, etc., but it's all about the experience.


I would've stayed to watch Sherlock Holmes, but ... the looming 5 o'clock traffic hour kept me on a tight schedule. Although I was in a community that seemed to be in the past, the fast pace of the 21st century city was never far away, evident in the zooming cars and the people that never slowed or yielded.

I was really looking forward to going inside the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop, but unfortunately, they observed the holiday as well... This shop has served the likes of George Washington and Robert E Lee. It operated as a drugstore from 1792-1933 and is today a museum and gift shop. From my peak inside the windows, it seemed to have some neat period items.

There was a bake shop I walked 8 blocks to sample a cupcake at only to discover that from one glance at their cupcakes, I would not enjoy them. Let's put it this way... their gourmet cupcakes looked like the ones at Barnes and Noble that starbucks sells. Pretty on the outside, boring on the inside. So, I'm still on the lookout for a bakery that rivals the likes of my cupcakes, and yes, I know I'm a food snob. :)

As an aside, it made for interesting discussion at lunch today when I declared that I'm pretty sure this is the first MLK day I've ever had off from school or otherwise. After all, I am from South Carolina, where some people believe the Civil War was the war of northern aggression... That being said, I was thankful for a holiday. :) So happy belated MLK day!