Alexandria

Cross the Potomac for the short drive to the neighboring town of Alexandria. The boyhood home of Robert E. Lee is steeped in history and many of its 18th-century homes have been preserved. A walking tour of the town provides a glimpse into that earlier time and visiting Alexandria’s many boutiques, antique shops, galleries, and restaurants can make for a delightful diversion. Christ Church, where George Washington attended services and where Lee himself was a member almost a century later; Lee’s boyhood home; the Old Presbyterian Meeting House; Woodlawn Plantation with its formal gardens; and Mount Vernon are all worthy of your time. Most impressive of all is Mount Vernon, made all the more so if you approach this home of George Washington by boat as he did in his day (Driving the George Washington Memorial Parkway to Mount Vernon is a lovely alternative way of getting there.) This ancestral home dating back to 1738 has been restored as it was in Washington’s later years. The main house, the outbuildings, and the gardens set on a rise up from the Potomac River are lovely as well as historic.