Washington, DC

Today I visited Alexandria to see the Washington Birthday Parade. I went early in order to first take advantage of some of the local sites that were open for free in honor of Washington’s birthday being celebrated around town today.

The first place I visited was Gadsby’s Tavern and took the tour of the tavern. It is an interesting tour of the historic building(s) that date to the 1700s. The tour includes showing the dining rooms, the sleeping rooms, and the ballroom. The ballroom was the most interesting because this is where they held Birthnight Balls for George Washington and he even attended a few times. The Birthnight Balls are actually still held in modern times here with the most recent being just the other day. This ballroom was also where Thomas Jefferson held his inaugural ball and all of the first six Presidents attended balls of some sort here.

Since I still had some time before the parade I also went and saw the Lyceum, which is Alexandria’s History Museum. This is an interesting little museum with the history of the city from the time of the Native Americans through the Union occupation of the city during the Civil War to modern times with the addition of the Metro stations.

From there I just wandered the Old Town area for a while and then found a place to sit on the cub on Saint Asaph Street until the parade started. The parade was kind of interesting, but there is so many points where there were either big gaps of nothing or the parade was stalled doing nothing because stuff got backed up. At least the rain did not start until the moment the parade ended where I was watching it. Although, I did have to walk the mile to the Metro in the rain. It was that or wait half an hour for the next bus in the rain. Ended up being a little less time in the rain by walking to the Metro.

In case you did not notice next Monday is President’s Day, thus this upcoming weekend is President’s Day weekend. Here are some ideas of President related things to do this weekend, including the celebrations in Alexandria that celebrate George Washington’s birthday.

American President’s at the National Portrait Gallery: This exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery is the only complete national collection of Presidential portraits besides the one in the White House, which is certainly much harder to see. The National Portrait Gallery, however, is easy to visit and while you are seeing this exhibit you can also pop into the special exhibit called the Presidency and the Cold War, which starts right at the end of the American Presidents exhibit. This special exhibit closes on February 24th.

George Washington’s Birthday in Alexandria: There are several different events around Alexandria, George Washington’s hometown, over the weekend to celebrate his birthday. It is a tradition they have been doing for over two centuries in this town. One of the main events is the Parade, which will be at 1pm on Monday, February 18. Go here to see the parade route. Another thing that is good to take advantage of is that many of the attractions in Old Town Alexandria that usually cost admission are free on February 18. I personally recommend checking out the Carlyle House, which has a special version of their tour reenacting a night when George Washington came to dinner here.

Memorials on the National Mall: The weather does not look like it is going to be the most welcoming to stroll on the National Mall this President’s Day weekend, but maybe it will turn out better than predicted or it does not bother you. There is the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial to enjoy. You could even cross over to Theodore Roosevelt Island.

The Carlyle House is a great historic attraction within the historic city of Alexandria just to the south of D.C. It stands back from the street with a rare yard encompassing it. For free you can enjoy the garden behind the house, although it certainly not all the interesting in winter.

The house is the oldest in Alexandria mostly because it was built out of stone and thus survived much longer with active preservation than the other structures made mostly of wood. It was built in the 1750s for John Carlyle and his family. It was completed in 1753 and owes part of its fame to it use as headquarters by General Braddock in 1755. During his stay here he held a meeting with 5 colonial governors to plan their approach to fighting in the French and Indian War.

For only $4 you can see the inside of the house. To see the house you go on a guided tour. The tours start on the hour and half hour. There is also a nice little exhibit to look at before you go on the tour. This exhibit includes a peg time line and little triangle cards of events in the Carlyle family and American/Alexandria history that fell into the time frame of John Carlyle’s life (1720-1780).

The tour begins with a short video about the history of John Carlyle that led to him coming to Alexandria and building the house. It also gives a brief history of the house from the time his family sold it to it becoming the Carlyle House Historic Park it is today. Between this video and the small exhibit located on the basement/entrance floor gives you get a pretty good idea of what the house is like. The tour of the upstairs is kind of similar, so those in wheelchairs that cannot get to the upper floors and actually take the tour can at least can an almost as good experience.

Now for those able, the upper levels are worth seeing and the tour guide I had was amazing. The tour begins by you going up the servants’ staircase to the main floor. This is a winding narrow staircase. On the main floor you go through the master bedroom, John Carlyle’s study, the entrance hall, and parlor rooms. All these rooms are made to look as much like they did during John Carlyle’s life.

The tour continues up the main staircase, which is much wider and grander than the servant staircase. On this upper level you are shown the children’s rooms. On this floor there is also a room they call the restoration room. This room has parts of it kept as the state the whole house was in when restoration began in 1970. This gives an interesting look at how much work went into restoring the house.

Location: 121 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, Virginia
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 4pm, Sunday 1pm to 4pm
Admission: Free for 10 and under, $2 ages 11-17, $4 18 and older

Top 5 Things I Did in D.C. in 2007

Alexandria, historic, house