mini day trip.

BoyCat and i took advantage of the perfect fall day today, getting out into the fresh air and exploring our new surroundings. well, not our immediate surroundings, as those are just strip malls (tangent: however, i did find a little japanese/sushi restaurant in a nearby strip-mall that has gotten really good user reviews on a couple big sites. we will be trying that out pronto). no, today we hopped on the bus and took a short ride into old town. this is the only section of alexandria, so far as i can tell, that actually resembles a city. and one that's been around for a few hundred years, to boot!

i thought i'd share a few pictures from our little journey:

these are some typical-looking residences in old town. the area reminds me a lot of beacon hill, actually, except just a touch less urban. i dunno if it's that old town is right along the river, or south of the mason-dixon, or what. but either way, VERY colonial.

the river, as noted above.

when i say colonial, i mean colonial, people! see the gas lamp below. electricity, schmelectricity. and can any history buff explain to me what that little wrought-iron thing in the ground next to the stairs is? a shoe scuffer? hitching post? modern art that was just way ahead of its time?

some cute, old town doors. note the creative use of miniature pumpkins. well, i thought it was creative, until we saw it done in about half a dozen doorways in the area. i guess this isn't the most avant-garde type of neighborhood, really.

BoyCat noted that you knew you are priced out of an area when there's a fancy-looking dog obedience school on the corner. i feel the "towne" spelling emphasizes this fact. (side note: BoyCat later noted another visual representation of why we can't afford Old Town, which was a man eating lunch at cafe, at an outdoor table, with a companion. his little dog, instead of being leashed up along the railing or somewhere else on the sidewalk, was sitting on the man's lap. AND. the dog was wearing a sweater.)

apparently, they block off little areas of old town on the weekends to make pedestrian-only areas. hooray, pedestrians! and this is a street performer you won't see everyday.

parrots! in virginia! who knew?

and one last one, from the walk back to the bus stop, because i couldn't resist. this seems to encapsulate the delicate, um, sensibilities of old towners.