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A Scottish Christmas in VirginiaAlexandria celebrates its heritage and the holidays in bonnie styleBy Angela Fox
In between all the festivities we found time to shop and dine along King Street. We had an exceptional dinner of fresh seafood at the Warehouse Bar and Grill one evening and lunch at the Bittersweet Café, which offers a selection of homemade soups, salads and sandwiches – plus a wonderful hot and cold buffet sold by the pound. Just pile your plate with veggies, hot casseroles and entrees, salads and more and they’ll weigh your plate (not you, thank heavens) and charge accordingly. Be sure to sample a chocolate cream cheese cupcake or other delectable item from their bakery, too. Alexandria has hotels and inns to suit every taste and budget but for convenience, comfort and service, you can’t beat Hampton Inn Old Town, located right on King Street just two blocks from Metro stop and a short walk or DASH About (the free weekend shuttle) bus ride to everything in Old Town.
Other uniquely Alexandria celebrations include George Washington’s Birthday, a citywide event honoring the city’s favorite son, February 19-21, 2005. Highlights include the Birthday Celebration at Mount Vernon, Washington’s country estate a short drive (or Metro and bus trip) from Old Town, on February 21. Admission is free on this day to the historic home with a wreath-lying ceremony at 10 a.m. followed by musical performances. Another top event is the Birthday Parade through Old Town, the largest parade anywhere honoring our first president, with marching bands, floats, military and reenactment units, Masonic groups, equestrian entries, antique cars, and of course, George and Martha Washington. Photographs by Virgil Fox FOR MORE INFORMATION Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association |
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In
1669, Scotsman John Alexander purchased the land of present-day Alexandria,
VA from an English sea captain for six thousand pounds worth of tobacco and
liquor. It’s a real estate deal that rivals the purchase of Manhattan from
Native Americans for a handful of beads. Today Alexandria boasts some of the
priciest homes in the area and a prized location on the western shore of the
Potomac River just a short Metro subway ride from the monuments and museums
of Washington DC. But with fashionable boutiques and gourmet restaurants
vying for attention with historic sites and rows of beautifully renovated
Colonial homes, Alexandria is a destination unto itself as my husband and I
recently discovered.
Early
December is one of our favorite times to travel – the Thanksgiving crush is
over and the Christmas one has yet to begin. Yet every destination is
decorated for the holidays and festive events abound. This is especially
true in Alexandria, a city that celebrates Christmas in high Colonial style
all month long. King Street, which bisects Old Town (the historic heart of
the city dating from 1749), is a mile long display twinkling white lights,
wreath-hung doorways and decorated shops and restaurants. At one end is the
towering George Washington Masonic National Memorial (patterned after the
lighthouse in Alexandria in ancient Egypt) and at the other the Potomac
River, with its marina, shops, eateries and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
Our
visit coincided with the 34th annual Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend, held
the first weekend of December each year in benefit of The Campangna Center,
a non-profit organization providing an array of programs for at-risk
children. The highlight of the weekend is the Saturday parade honoring
Alexandria's Scottish heritage with more than 100 Scottish clans marching in
tartans and playing bagpipes. The men in kilts are joined by living history
reenactment units, dog clubs, antique cars and, of course, Santa Claus
himself riding on a fire engine. The parade slows down often for fencing and
medieval battle exhibitions and musical performances from the marching
bands, making it possible to nip into a café for a coffee and return without
missing a beat. The dog clubs, with both two-footed and four-footed
participants, are among the most popular groups in the parade. You’ll see
breeds like Scottish Deerhounds, Scottish and Cairn terriers, Irish
wolfhounds, West Highlands and many more, all decked out in plaid collars,
coats and bows.
After
the parade we joined the Designer Tour of Homes, featuring six charming,
architecturally interesting homes decorated for the holidays. It was a rare
treat to peek inside these private homes, many built over 150 years ago and
all exquisitely restored and furnished. Next it was on to a Revolutionary
War encampment at Carlyle House, a Georgian Palladian manor house built in
1752 by Scottish merchant and city founder John Carlyle. The men and boys in
uniform and women in Colonial dress painted a vivid picture of military life
over 200 years ago. We capped off the day with the 5th annual Holiday Parade
of Boats, Alexandria's twist on holiday lights competitions. In this parade
more than 50 brightly lit sailing and powered leisure boats cruise along the
Potomac River past the city's historic waterfront. Themes range from
patriotic to tropical to our favorite, a Viking ship motif. 
Earlier
in our visit we had taken an excellent walking tour of Old Town with
Wellington Watts, owner of Alexandria Colonial Tours, which offers a variety
of tours from the historical to the ghostly. Highlights of the walking tour
include Christ Church, a beautiful English country-style church built
between 1767-1773 and attended by George Washington and Robert E. Lee and
Gadsby's Tavern Museum, which consists of a 1785 Georgian tavern and the
1792 hotel, where guests included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
The tavern has been authentically restored to its 18th-century appearance
and is now a full-service restaurant where we enjoyed a lunch of crab cakes,
fish and chips and mulled cider. We also stopped at the Old Presbyterian
Meeting House built in 1774 and the site of memorial services for George
Washington. A memorial to an unknown soldier of the American Revolution is
in the churchyard.
Alexandria
celebrates New Year’s Eve in grand style as well, being one of dozens of
communities across the United States, Canada, and Australia that rings in
the New Year with First Night, a family-oriented, alcohol-free tribute to
the arts. On Dec. 31, Old Town is transformed into a musical fantasyland
starting at 6:00 p.m. and culminating in a fireworks finale at midnight at
the George Washington Masonic Memorial. With purchase of a First Night
Button (around $10) you gain admission to an array of performances and
exhibitions featuring the best in theatre, dance, music and the visual arts.