Roaming Around in Old Town

Having an Anniversary called for a day off work, so Hubby and I took a Monday Mental Health day and drove down to Alexandria Virginia and spent the day wandering through Historic Old Town.

I love walking through towns just snapping pictures of cool old buildings.

Some had real gas lights,

And you have to love a place where some streets are cobble stone :)

 I love regal City Halls. I'm starting to get a collection of city hall pictures ~ I'm not sure what that's about.

It was a beautiful day, with lots to see and wonderful places to shop and eat.

One of the historic sites we toured was the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum.  This Apothecary shop was a family business that operated at this site from 1796 until 1933.
 

When it closed for business this is what it looked like, all the fixtures are original.  The city of Alexandria now owns it and operates it as a museum.  It's a very interesting tour.

The bottles and contents are original.  I really liked the look of the labels.  They are in such nice condition for their age because the labels are behind the glass made of gold leaf.  I thought they were really cool, I'd love shelves like this in my kitchen :)

This note was there, written on behalf of Martha Washington, requesting a quart bottle of castor oil to be sent out to Mount Vernon.  It's dated April 22, 1809, Martha was in failing health at that time, and passed away one month later.   I love handwritten notes from the past ~ I think they connect us on a personal level...make sure that you write things down sometimes and don't always type them! 

My favorite part of the Apothecary though was this upstairs storage room.  It was absolutely full, floor to ceiling, with these old containers.

...I was in antique storage bin heaven ~ so cool!

Alexandria is right outside of Washington DC (just on the other side of the Potomac River), and well worth spending an afternoon there if you get the chance to visit the area.  

Yesterday was a fun day, one of those "Take a Breath" kind of days that we all need.  Tomorrow I'll be back to some quilty stuff ~ but in the meantime, don't forget that our Give Away for the QuiltAlbum software is still going on!  Go Here to my Previous Post and leave a comment for your chance to win!  One lucky winner will be drawn on Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m EST!

Enjoy the Day!

~ Dawn