Day 5 in Washington DC Thursday Oct 8 Alexandria

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Alexandria Virginia website

The weather continued to be perfect on Thursday. We thought it would be fun to take the trains to a destination outside downtown DC. I had heard that Alexandria was another old town in the style of Georgetown, so that's where we headed.

Alexandria was actually much more fun than Georgetown. The city was the third in the country to be listed on the national Register of Historic Places. It is a delightful walk back into the history of our country and its beginnings. In addition to being the city of George Washington near his Mt Vernon home, it was also the home of Robert E. Lee, and was a Union stronghold at the onset of the Civil War. It is truly charming, with homes and buildings from the 18th and 19th century, cobblestone streets, and great shopping and restaurants.

The King Street Trolley is free, traveling from the Metro station stop to the waterfront along the Potomac. We arrived in town and looked for the visitor center. A very nice volunteer told us what not to miss and we decided to follow the self guided walking tour through town. There we saw many highlights, including the restored Torpedo Factory now filled with art studios and working artists. The architecture is amazing, and I took way too many pictures of houses, buildings and street views. I just can't resist. We took the tour of Gadsby's Tavern, where George Washington often ate in town when he was visiting from Mt. Vernon. Later, we walked past his townhouse just up the street from the tavern. Christ Church was especially lovely, where I sat in GW's pew, near a little plaque with Eleanor Roosevelt's name marking her position when she visited that church. Almost every president has worshipped here at one time or another.

Meandering back through town, we found a delightful little French restaurant/cafeteria and had lunch outside watching people passing. It was great. Back up to the Metro station, the looming George Washington Masonic Memorial called us to travel farther up King Street. We climbed the steps of the imposing building, but it closed at 4 pm, so we didn't get to the 9th floor view. Just climbing the steps allowed an impressive picture of Alexandria with Washington DC and the Potomac in the distance.

This was my favorite place for just spending time and exploring. It is much like Charleston, South Carolina in style and history. Traveling back to Falls Church on the Metro was simple and uneventful as usual. We are getting to be old pros at this subway thing.