Ah, Old Town!

So Charity, C, and I were going to have dinner in Old Town, Alexandria and then hang around for fireworks.

My goal was to get to Alexandria early and walk around downtown a bit.  There are lots of unique stores (as well as the ubiquitous ones) and I was hoping to do a little window shopping.  After circling the town, looking for parking, Charity and I walked over to the paper store where we saw our game-playing friend from last week.  She said she didn't see us at the most recent game event; we told her we skipped and will be going to one soon.  We chatted a bit, she pointed out some new items and by the time we left there was not a lot of additional shopping time.

Instead, we walked down to the river and along the waterfront.  I discovered that slides are GREAT for collecting tiny rocks ~ I stopped several times to shake them out of my shoe and eventually started walking on the grass.

We ended up at the restaurant about a half-hour early and I welcomed a chance to sit down and cool off.  It was at least 90 outside, and I was VERY sweaty.  I could feel drops of perspiration dripping down the back of my top onto the small of my back, and I pulled out a tissue to dab at my face and the back of my neck.  To top it off, before I left the house, I noticed that the tan line on my arms had faded considerably, which encouraged me to wear the cap sleeve top.  Now I noticed that my arms said "oh yeah.  We forgot to peel" and I had little circles of dead skin on my upper arms.

Ah well.

I still had a nice walk and a couple of normal interactions.  When I went to take a picture of Charity in front of the same fountain, a passing woman asked if we'd like a picture of the two of us.  I thanked her, handed her the camera and we posed.  Later, walking toward the restaurant, a woman was helping an elderly woman into a wheelchair.  She asked us where the celebration was and I told her about how far and how to get there.

The best was yet to come.

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