June 11 & 12

Over the weekend, I wasn't really sure what to do to occupy my time but I mostly spent it driving around checking out different areas near my home. Saturday, I drove around and walked around Old Town Alexandria, which is a historic district. There also are some shops and lots of restaurants. It was a neat area. Most of the history there involves the Robert E. Lee family, it seems. Washington put in some time there as well. On Sunday, I drove in the other direction and basically checked out areas in Arlington, Baileys Crossroads, Ballston, Falls Church and umm, I think that's about it. Nothing historical there - mostly I checked out what stores and restaurants were on the major drag - Leesburg Pike. Every imaginable chain store is found on this road - some of them twice. I saw a fairly large number of single-family homes, too, which was basically a first for my week in DC. I guess the actual District has a bunch of townhomes, row homes, that sort of thing, which I've seen while walking around the Hill at lunchtime and are likely single-family homes, but for the most part, the areas of Alexandria and Arlington that are nearby me consist entirely of apartment complexes. Apartment buildings on top of apartment buildings on top of apartment buildings. Okay, maybe some are considered condominiums, but it all looks the same to the casual observer.