Monday, 8/24 Mount Vernon to Alexandria
After a lovely & peaceful night anchored in the Potomac River near Mount Vernon, we weighed the anchor and headed upriver about 10 miles to Alexandria.
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Chris washing mud from the anchor chain
as Carol raised the anchor. |
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| Passing by Washington's Mount Vernon home |
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| Fort Washington & its lighthouse |
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| The Woodrow Wilson bridge over the Potomac |
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| The view from below |
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| Our first view of Washington DC |
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| This fireboat seemed to be in a hurry. |
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| Relaxing at our T-head slip in downtown Alexandria |
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Our view down the dock of the
Torpedo Factory |
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The Torpedo Factory is now a 3 story artist complex where
they come to work and display their work & wares |
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| The 2nd floor of the Torpedo Factory |
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Chris & Suzanne at one of the sculptures
in downtown Alexandria |
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| Oops |
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| Jim & Carol at the downtown fountain |
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| It was tough walking on this cobblestone street |
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The Woodrow Wilson bridge & ferris wheel at night.
Notice several planes waiting to land? |
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| The skyline was beautiful at night |
Tuesday, 8/25
Alexandria, VA
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| First thing in the morning, we went exploring on Alexandria's bike trail |
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| This was an interesting fountain / sculpture |
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| Did someone break it with the arrow? |
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| Another arrow & spewing at the top |
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| Looking down between the 2 eyes |
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| How 'bout a little pucker? |
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| Rest break at a marina near the Washington airport |
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Can you see the airport, Washington Monument &
the Capital Building? |
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| The bike path included a beautiful boardwalk through the marsh |
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| ...between the buildings & the river |
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| ...and even some nicely paved areas |
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We were surprised how attractive all
of Alexandria, VA is. People who work
in D.C. live here |
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| We stopped for lunch at a sidewalk cafe on King St. |
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| Great presentation & food! |
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After lunch we took a guided walking
tour of Old Alexandria |
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| Notice the "snow birds" ? |
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| Up close |
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| Alexandria really is a beautiful city |
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Gadsby's Tavern is where George used to hang out.
His town home is just a block away. |
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| Gadsby's subterranean ice vault |
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| They used to store tons of ice in here to keep the drinks cold. |
In Washington's time, if a home wanted to be protected in case of a fire, they had to get their fire insurance from 1 of several fire departments in Alexandria. If there was a fire, only the one who covered them would respond.
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| Our tour guide standing in front of Washington's Alexandria home |
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| George peering down |
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We had never seen a sundial on the side of a building.
It was pretty accurate. |
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| The 7 foot "Spite House" |
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The owner built it to spite his neighbors. Their horses kept
messing up the alley next to his white house so he built the
little house to close up the alley. |
