Alexandria, Virginia

Patton-Fowle House

Waterfront

City Hall

Christ Church. October 2021

a far away escape

In the Georgetown years, going to Alexandria was almost like visiting another planet. It took a few years for the "new" metro to reach it and even then it was a longish walk down King Street to the historic town center. When I did finally make it there, I must admit I fell in love with it. Alexandria was Georgetown's twin. The port of Georgetown, Maryland was just a couple of miles upriver from the port of Alexandria, Virginia in the days before the District was created. Over the years Georgetown had industrialized its waterfront and then a terrible freeway cut it off from its lovely hilltop homes. Alexandria had escaped the same fate and retained free access to its waterfront (although it was more prone to flooding).

My first visit to Alexandria in the early 80's was an adventure simply because I was traveling to the end of a metro line and then walking some distance to a place that I had only heard of by name. "Old Town Alexandria" was just as lovely as Georgetown with its cobblestoned, tree-lined streets AND it had a developing waterfront. One of the key projects along the river was the Torpedo Factory Art Center which was housed in an old munitions factory. Urban legend says that because the factory built bombs, it was was constructed to withstand a bomb blast. When it came time to knock it down, the vibrations from the heavy equipment rattled the nearby 18th century homes to their foundations and it was stopped. The building was gutted and is now used by the community. Inside the "factory" are local artists' studios where one can actually meet the artists to discuss their work (which is for sale). I found the whole concept amazing at the time and it became one of my favorite spots to wander on a weekend away from university.

Many years later while waiting out the last gasp of the COVID pandemic at the Perry Place refuge in Brookland, DC I found myself needing to "get away". Later in life I had become a confirmed "walker" and decided that it was worth riding the metro out to Alexandria to walk around (since I had covered a lot of DC by that time). Funny how as a 60+ adult I experienced the walk from the metro to the waterfront as quite "short" and wondered why my 20-year-old self had found it so "far"? Alexandria had grown and developed. There were many more waterfront apartments and condos. They had at least moderately attempted to keep in line with the architectural theme of the area. Most of the riverfront was pedestrianized and became a series of small, urban parks. Even if Georgetown had since rediscovered its waterfront and developed it, Alexandria's was still much better. I became a regular at a bar built on a pier overlooking the water called "Barca" which was a play on words for both boat and the first letters of the Spanish city, Barcelona since it claimed to serve "modern Spanish cuisine" (clearly, they had never been to Spain - but I still loved the place).

Alexandria was a great place to wander, read historical plaques, and remember names of famous people I learned about in high school. Much like stopping in Philadelphia or Boston, in its day the port of Alexandra really WAS important and the notable people of early US history most likely would have passed through it at least once. I mused about the city as a place to retire, but alas that ship had probably sailed even when I was a student at Georgetown. A house in old town is probably worth millions of dollars these days. Nonetheless, Alexandria for me will always be the waterfront, a walk through the Torpedo Factory, and a collection of homes from a bygone age for me. It remains my favorite "far away" place that is still easily connected to downtown DC.