A Day in Alexandria, Monday, April 18

We started the day with coffee and jet lag!  Bill, our wonderful host, prepared a delicious egg casserole for breakfast with spinach and artichokes.  After breakfast, we set out to stroll around Alexandria's Old Town, a trip down memory lane for Rob and me.  It was nice to see all the old sights.  Old Town is just as charming now as it ever was.  We even stopped in front of the Italian restuarant Il Porto, where Rob had worked as a waiter back in 1978, 38 years ago -- yikes.  Time for a photo op:

During our walk we admired the Potomac riverbank, the old Torpedo Factory arts center, and the general environment.  The weather was absolutely perfect:  sunny and 80 degrees with low humidity.  Virginia is stunning this time of year with all of the blooming azaleas and dogwood trees.  The deciduous trees are also in the process of leafing out.  We stopped for lunch at a nice that restaurant that had a nice outdoor seating area, called Virtue Feed and Grain.  Rob and Bill enjoyed swordfish tacos, and I had a grilled chicken sandwich.

Before heading back to Bill's place, we made a side trip to take a peek at my old condo at Parkfairfax.  It looked the same, except my red front door was now painted tan.

 We also stopped to take a picture of friend Ann Dixon's condo just down the street.  We were able to remember which unit was hers.

After that, we returned to Bill's, where we enjoyed some wine and dinner on his deck, while Lucy and Gracie kept us safe from the neighborhood squirrels.  Dinner was a tasty Italian style casserole made with quinoa.  Here is me with Lucy on the deck:

 We turned in earlier tonight.