Alexandria,VA

Well, once again the east coast weather is disturbing our plans. Because of Hurricane Ida, the mid- Atlantic coast has been experiencing rain, flooding, high winds and very large waves. The weather stations are referring to it as "Atlantic Assault" (Nor'Easter). We were planning on going out to Ocean City and down the Assateague Island National Seashore, but that has been post-poned until next week.

Today we visited Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria is an integral part of Washington DC metropolitan area, although it is a distinct city of its own. It was founded in 1749 and George Washington considered Alexandria his hometown. He owned a small townhouse here and socialized in the local inn's and taverns. He was also elected vestryman of Christ Church Parish. George Washington purchased pew 60 for 36 pounds and 10 shillings when the church was first opened. Also Robert E. Lee attended services there regularly. The church claims that every president since the early 1900's have attended the President Day services, except for a handful like Nixon and JFK. We were disappointed that the church was not open to the public due to a wedding.

The highlight of our visit was the Torpedo Factory Art Center. It is a large warehouse constructed in 1918 for the manufacturing of torpedo casings during WWI and WWII. Today it is owned by the city and features 82 working artists' studios, six galleries and an art school. The public can watch the artist and crafters at work. I have a photo of the inside of the factory plus an artist we met who was a young physicist who worked on the Atomic Bomb. He's aged a little since then and his work was quite strange, as you can see.

The city sits on the shore of the Potomac River, facing Washington DC across the river. In our photo, you can see the US capital. The other photo is a cobblestone street of row houses called Captains Row, one of the oldest and most picturesque area in the city. Many of these Federal houses were built by sea captains in the earlier days. The charm and quaintness of the Old Town architecture has much historic significance but also has many galleries, antique shops, boutiques and restaurants. And very busy, even this time of year and with this weather!!