Last weekend Amber and I made the trip down to Alexandria for a family visit and a little escape from the city. Just to get this out of the way early, fuck Amtrak.

We were in Old Town, which was the hometown of George Washington. History!

Between the brick and the cobblestone, you could almost imagine the place as it was in the 18th century. Legions of tourists and a conspicuous number of Volvos ruined the illusion.

It really did feel old though. It was pretty cool.

I mean, who has gaslights all over their towns anymore?

I suppose a major highlight of the area is the architecture.

A large number of houses had these signs on them. It means the house it’s attached to can’t be fucked with.

This is what is locally known as the smallest house in the world. It’s pretty damn tiny. That sign above the front door is for the local firefighter’s union. So even though it’s small, it will always have protection.

The fact that this is someone’s driveway hints at what you’re dealing with in Old Town.

I got the feeling that, with architectural changes strictly forbidden on the historic houses, front doors are the only place people can personalize their house.

How badly you do want to grab this and just smash the hell out of that door?

This is a new one by me. A basement window garden?

Window falcons are more my style.

Amid all the Volvos and Mercedes we came upon this lovely old Land Rover just waiting around for its next adventure.

How about the face on this guy?

Trucks apparently aren’t very common in Virginia. Not only do the license plates have to explain that the vehicle in question is indeed a “truck,” but also apparently that vanity plate was still available. In California that probably got swooped in 1948.

But hey, at least they’re bike friendly! Bad ass!