Cuddling the gentle Potomac River less than seven miles from our Nation’s Capitol, Alexandria, Virginia is a city rife with American history. In fact, it’s location along the Potomac, a windy creature that snakes its way through Maryland, D.C., West Virginia and Virginia before emptying into the Chesapeake Bay, is much to blame for the city’s early prominence on the American stage.
A port town for England as far back as the 1750s, Alexandria was unavoidably destined to play a role in the American Revolution. The fact that colonial fat cats like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin liked to chum around town only sealed its fate. It’s even believed that in the run-up to the war, General Washington ran exercises for his troops in the Square.
Post-revolution, Alexandria became a part of the District of Columbia along with Georgetown and, of course, Washington. However, a combination of factors, including governmental neglect, soured that whole Federal City thing, and Alexandria returned to its old stomping grounds of Virginia.
The timing wasn’t so good, though. Moving back into Virginia made Alexandria a city of the confederacy, something the Union troops who lived walking distance away didn’t much appreciate. The town was seized at the very beginning of the American Civil War and held for the entire duration.
The history of Alexandria continues well into the 20th-century, with exciting stories from World War II, the Civil Rights movement and many other important eras, but the bulk of the history tourism today concerns that first 120 years from founding to the end of the Civil War.
There’s plenty to see. Most historic attractions in Alexandria can be found in or near Old Town, the historic district. Certainly one of the most popular attractions is Gadsby’s Tavern. This musty, charming place dates back to 1785 and was visited regularly by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and several other important colonial and early U.S.-era players. Today the Tavern is half restaurant, half museum. While everything is worth seeing, the food doesn’t live up to the history.
Other worthwhile historic attractions include: the home of Robert E. Lee, Christ Church, the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the Torpedo Factory and Captains Row.
For Alexandria hotels, consider the Holiday Inn Alexandria – Historic District. It’s pet-friendly, located close to all of the above and, being a Holiday Inn, great for families with little ones.
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We a party of 4 adults will be in Alexandria<VA on March 7, 2009 and there through 3/9/09 Is there a private tour or any tours available during this time in and around Alexandria,VA and Washington DC please reply asap, thank you, dianne
Hi Dianne, thanks for your question.
There certainly plenty of tours in the area, especially if you expand your scope to include Washington DC. Private tours are harder to come by, but I’ll do my best.
In Alexandria:
The go-to tour company in Alexandria is the “Footsteps to the Past” company. At any given time, in any given season, they offer anywhere from 3-10 different tours, history to haunted, groups to individual, 30 minutes to 3 hours. Just depends on what you want to do. They haven’t released their March schedule yet, but they tend to do something special every month (like a Black History Tour in February, for instance.
Another cool thing about Footsteps to the Past is that they can even cater a private tour to you with enough warning (so act fast). If you know there’s something about the town that’ll interest you most (the Potomac, historic Old Town, etc.), you can plan a private tour arround it. You can read the rules about that down at the very bottom of the home page.
There Web site is kind of confusing, but just keep reading and you’ll learn about all of their tours piece by piece. You’re good time is secure in the hands of this tour company. Here’s the Web site: http://www.footstepstothepast.com/
Depending on when you arrive on March 7, you may be able to enjoy the “Old Town Alexandria Tasting and Historical Walking Tour”. That may seem an odd combination, but it’s a great idea. For this tour, you and your group enjoy a guided, narrated walk through Alexandria’s historic Old Town with the added bonus of getting to sample the cuisine of several of the district’s family run restaurants. These tours are notorious for selling out (when food’s involved, what’d you expect), so you’ll want to get call ahead reservations. Learn all about it at their Web site: http://www.dcmetrofoodtours.com/virginia_tours.htm
Of course, there are also cruises on the Potomac to consider. Here’s a good company: http://www.potomacriverboatco.com/
Or you can simply enjoy a carriage ride through Old Town, if quick and inexpensive are what’s desired.
In Washington DC:
Honestly, you’ll trip over a tour in Washington DC every time you turn around, and with so much competition the price is usually pretty reasonable. There are the obvious Capital Hill, National Mall and monument tours, and if you’re first time visitors, that would be our recommendation.
One fun tour, though admittedly not the cheapest, is the “Segway Night Tour of Washington DC”. Explore DC’s most fantastic sights lit up in their nighttime glory while riding a Segway. Learn about it here: http://www.trustedtours.com/store/Segway-Night-Tour-of-Washington-DC-C331.aspx
There are also walking tours that do the whole nighttime thing in case you just can’t stomach the Segway or don’t own the requisite Blue Tooth headset (ha ha ha).
If you have more questions, please let me know. Have a great time in Alexandria and Washington DC.
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