Archive for the 'Old Town' Category
For Shopping or Dining, Old Town Alexandria Is a Garden of Delights
June 1st, 2008 Categories: Old Town, Scenic Sundays
On upper King Street in Old Town Alexandria, J. Brown, Notting Hill Garden, Embellishments, K. Aubrey, Gold Works and Le Gaulois offer delights to buyer and browser alike.
Michael
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Six Old Town Homes Featured on Historic Garden Week Tour in Alexandria
April 19th, 2008 Categories: Alexandria, Old Town
Six Old Town homes were open to the public today for the beginning of Historic Garden Week in Virginia. During the April 19-27 festivities, visitors across the Commonwealth will step through the gates of more than 250 of Virginia’ s most beautiful gardens, homes and historic landmarks. Three dozen separate tours will present a rich mosaic of formal gardens, walled gardens, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, water gardens, and even secret gardens. Visitors interested in architecture and interior decorating will have the opportunity to see renovated historic properties as well as contemporary residences. (Photography is NOT permitted in private houses and gardens.)
300 South Lee Street sits on land once used as a storage yard for lumber for James Green’s ‘Cabinet Manufactory’ dating to 1934. The two story building now occupying the space dates from 1885. In 1997 the present owners completed a renovation that included an excavation to provide basement living space under the entire length of the house. Prominently on display are an 18th century English desk, a 19th century map of New Orleans, and a framed $100 bill from the Bank of Louisiana dated 1862. A 19 century cigar-store woodcarving of George Washington marks the point where the original house ended. Mr. and Mrs. Brian B. Gibney, owners.
210 Duke Street is a classic home built in 1787 for Dr. James Craik, George Washington’s Revolutionary War private secretary and physician, and is now know simply as “Craik House.” Dr. Craik used the front two rooms of the house for his medical practice; he is buried in the Old Presbyterian Meeting House yard on South Fairfax. After Craik’s death, the building was used as a school and boarding house before being purchased by the Thompson family in 1943.
The Thompson’s also acquired the adjacent frame flounder house at 208 Duke Street and united the two buildings in 1946. Purchased by the present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis J. Garcia, in 2004, the house and garden have been carefully restored. The garden in particular reflects 18th century design and features marble steps salvaged from Blair House during a mid-20th century remodeling. Read the rest of this entry »
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The King St. Trolley is a FREE Ride for Tourists and Alexandria Residents
April 3rd, 2008 Categories: Alexandria, Green Living, Old Town, Things to Do
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley , ding, ding, ding went the bell . . . seven days a week from 10:00am to 10:00pm the clangs and bells of the Alexandria City trolley can be heard up and down King Street.
Offered by the city as a way to encourage tourism, manage congestion and reduce mobile transmissions, the red and black trolley cars are a welcome, and seemingly natural, addition to the streets of Old Town.
Originally designed in conjunction with the City’s National Harbor initiatives, the trolleys will compliment the water taxis that run every 30 minutes between the Old Town waterfront and the new Gaylord National Hotel at the foot of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Prince Georges County. The National Harbor project is expected to bring hundreds of new visitors to Alexandria with the FREE trolley service benefitting tourists, residents and businesses alike.
Four trolleys will circulate approximately every 15 minutes between the waterfront and the King Street metro, stopping about every two blocks, at signed stops, to pick up and drop off passengers.
The service is FREE (we just can’t say that enough) and there is no limit to the number of times you can get on and off.
Previously, transportation from the Metro Station to the heart of Old Town meant a cab, a 15 block trek, a bus or, if you were driving, a fruitless hunt for parking. Now, visitors and residents alike will have a FREE, easy to use, alternative.
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley, ding, ding, ding went the bell . . . check it out!
Michael
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