My cousin Kate got married in Georgetown over the weekend at a beautiful historic church and estate home and I was so thankful I could make the journey up there as the last time I visited DC was in the fifth grade. We stayed in Alexandria which is roughly 10 miles outside the city and a 20 minute metro ride away.
Old town has a beautiful historic feel to it that lives up to it’s name, all the streets are brick and the main street in town, King St, is lined with boutiques, bakeries, and cuisine from every culture imaginable. King street runs right into the Potomac river which is a beautiful sight to see.
Friday morning I got up early, ate a quick snack in the hotel lobby and made my way out for an exploratory run through town. I didn’t really have a route mapped out, but got comfortable with the street grids the night before. It also really helps having an iPhone that has GPS and shows me where I am. The other great thing about the iPhone is that it allowed me to take some really cool pictures along the way (see below).
I could not have asked for better weather. It was probably 77 degrees and sunny which is exceptional for August in DC. It was a nice change of pace from the blazing heat and humidity in Orlando. Thankfully for me, and my cousin, it stayed that way the whole weekend.
The city itself is rather small, but it still has a city feel with lots of intersections and crosswalks so I made sure to stay off king street for the majority of the run so I wouldn’t have to make too many stops. The neighborhoods are lined with beautiful colonial homes and town houses that reminded me a little bit of Philadelphia.
I probably covered 3 miles or so on my run, it was hard to get an idea of time because I kept stopping to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. The terrain was all brick so I had to keep my eyes on the ground so I wouldn’t trip.
I always try to keep my eyes and ears open when i run in a new place because you can never be too careful when it comes to safety. I must say I felt safe the while time. I only came accross one block which felt a little iffy, otherwise it was nice. Maybe something to do with the cost of living being extremely high. I saw real estate ads for these shacks (if you will) selling for $750k!
I knew I wanted to run down to the Potomac and back so I could get a view of the river in the morning. Once I made it down there it was breathtaking. There is a nice spot in Founders Park that sits on the rocks that border the river and allowed me to take these great photos. My philosophy for running while traveling is to “run untill you find a reward” and what a reward this was.
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- George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple
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- Colonial Townhomes in Alexandria
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- The Potomac River
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- My “Reward”
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- Can you tell I like scenic shots?
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- The trails in Founders Park
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- City Hall
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- Me in the morning shadow
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- Great shirt!
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A quick observation about the people there: it is a very diverse mix of people hailing from all over the world. It also has a very preppy feel with most in some combination of plaid and polos. I also noticed 1 in 5 people walking around listening to their iPods, not sure what that means but it stood out to me for some reason. As you can imagine, images of McCain and Obama were everywhere being so close to the capitol. Im going to make the assumption that the majority will be voting for the latter. What I didn’t notice was a lot of runners. Maybe it was because it was a workday, summer vacations, or I just wasn’t looking in the right places. Although I did come accross the local running shop, Pacers, which was not open yet but I had to take a picture of this great shirt in the window “Virginia is for runners”. You get it right?
All in all it scored a 4 out of 5 on my rating scale for being runner friendly. Weather was great, everyone yields to pedestrians, beautiful scenery and safe.
Not sure where my next adventure will be, but I can’t wait. Running is the best way to get comfortable with a new city, get a feel for where things are, and observe the people. Make sure on your next trip, whether for business or pleasure, you carve out some time for a good run.
Click Here to view my MapMyRun route of this run: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/VA/Alexandria/296839575979
Click here to view my facebook photo album with pictures from the rest of my trip to DC: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2308206&l=fddcc&id=5106143
Filed under: Pictures, running, running on the road, Running Rants | Tagged: alexandria, dc, running, travel | Leave a comment »
Adventures of a First Time Marathoner 