Hello,
My friend is a tourist after my own heart. I asked if she would like to spend the day in Alexandria, and she was game to go with me. I had another one of my infamous walking tours that are only supposed to take 90 minutes and off we went! Now, I have done two of these walks before--Georgetown and U Street and neither one of them was even close to 90 minutes in length. It is nice to know that this one fit the pattern. The editors of the guide book I got these tours from needs to seriously reevaluate their time frames!
Anyway, we were able to take the Metro to Alexandria and then ride the bus to the Visitor's Center. This town really welcomes its tourists. There is a free trolley service that goes the length of the main drag--King Street--and most of the sights are within a few blocks of this street. It would have been possible to take photos of everything we saw because it is all so picturesque, but we were trying to stick to the guide (yeah, right). We were able to see the church George Washington attended, the school he helped support for free African Americans, and a reproduction of the house he used as his surveyor's office. We also saw Robert E. Lee's childhood home and where he received his elementary education. There are still cobblestone streets that are really cool, but I don't think I would want to drive on them. We also toured the Carlyle House and gardens and ate lunch at Gatsby's Tavern. Eating at the tavern is a very touristy thing to do, but the owner was very nice and actually sat and talked to us about sights we should make time to see. The last place on the tour is also the last thing on King Street before it ends in the Potomac River--the Torpedo Factory. It really was a torpedo factory during W.W. II, but now it is a place where artists-painters, potters, jewelry makers, etc-- have studio space and sell their work. It's a really neat place to walk around and check out all the different art work. All this only took 7.5 hours!
Our day wasn't over though! We had to leave Alexandria in order to get to the Marine Corps Sunset Parade. There is a shuttle bus from Arlington National Cemetery out to the Iwo Jima Memorial where the Commandants Own Drum and Bugle Corps played. They are a really impressive marching band! It reminded me a lot of watching my boys perform with their high school marching band. After the band played, the Silent Rifle Drill Team performed their maneuvers. It was a great night, but just as the Marines were finishing the Marine Corps Hymn it started to POUR down rain. It had been overcast and humid all day, but as we were leaving Alexandria the sky looked like it was clearing. The clouds had actually helped keep it from feeling too hot as we were touring. Well, our luck didn't hold and we got drenched! Thank goodness we were only two Metro stops from home and dry clothes!! My friend said that even with the soaking it was still worth going, and I can't argue with that!
Tami
wet and wild in DC--isn't that a DVD?
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