On a Wall

Last month we took Dan's mother out for lunch in Alexandria.  As we returned to our car I had to capture this wall mural.

In trying to find an explanation of this mural I came upon this article about the neighborhood in the Washington Post.

Doesn't it look like the horse and jockey are racing the engine?  

I found this explanation finally:

The historic Del Ray mural outside of Cheesetique on Mount Vernon Avenue shows imagery of the old Potomac Yard railway linking Alexandria to Washington, D.C. as well as the St. Asaph Racetrack.

There are many more murals in Delray, as I discovered in trying to find the above explanation.  Next time we're there I'll have to look for them.

By the way this is where we ate (Screen shot from internet).  It was delicious BBQ.  I had Dan bookmark it on the GPS.

Cemetery Scouting

Friday, July 14th Dan and I took a break from the regular day routines to be tourists in Alexandria, Va.

Here is one of the spots we stopped by to see - a cemetery.  Dan's great grandfather is buried here.

Joining Fences.

Do you know why they put a fence around a cemetery?

People are just dying to get in.

We found the headstone of Dan's great grandfather amongst the poison ivy and other weeds.

I took this photo upside down and then righted it to show here.  

Dan has no recollection of his great grandmother even though she died 6 years after he was born.  His mother confirmed that they saw her a lot.

Geneva was a great aunt, daughter of the great grandfather.

This person is no relation other than the father of the great aunt's husband.

Looking back at the graves with the one we came to find almost engulfed by the weeds.

I need to post some of these photos on my Ancestry.com website now.

It's not know why this cemetery was chosen maybe something as simple as proximity to home.  From the first photo you can see its not filled to the brim with graves.  But then again maybe it is but without markers.

Torpedo Factory

Friday, July 14th Dan and I took a break from the regular day routines to be tourists in Alexandria, Va.

Here is one of the spots we stopped by to see.

Torpedo Factory.

Here's how it looked when torpedoes were assembled here.



It's right on the Potomac River.

It closed for a time then with the conflict in Europe and Japan on the move, it reopened in 1940.

In 1974 it became a place for artists of all mediums to rent studios.

We ate lunch here on the first floor of the building.

Inside was an exhibit on torpedoes.

Upstairs on the top floor is this museum.

Ever time there is new construction in Alexandria the archaeologists come first to find the evidence from the past.

You can try to put together plate fragments.

 The rest of the space on each of the three floors is divided into studios.

Looking down from the second floor to the first.

We didn't make any purchases but there were lots of paintings, sculpture and jewelry for sale throughout.

Jones Point Park

Friday, July 14th Dan and I took a break from the regular day routines to be tourists in Alexandria, Va.

Here is one of the spots we stopped by to see:



Much of the park is under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge which spans the Potomac from National Harbor, MD to Alexandria, VA.

As the photo above says there's lots of history in this place.  The rudder below was evidence of WWI history.

We followed the trail through the park reading the history signs.  These markers mark the original boundary.  This part of the District of Columbia was returned to VA.

The pathway around the point on an incredibly hot day.

View of the Potomac River from the old lighthouse.

Joining Fences

More boundary markers.

The original is encased below that glass lid.

Remember my writing about Benjamin Banneker.  He was involved with survey the District of Columbia.

I was surprised to see Maryland on this side of the Potomac.

This stone answered my question.

Heading back under the bridge after circling the point.

The park was well used.  We spied mothers with strollers in exercise groups, cyclists, joggers, walkers, basketball players and even in line skaters.  There was even a restroom.

Joining Tuesday Treasures