Alexandria Turns 277

Balloon vendor on King St in Old Town Alexandria at the 277th birthday fireworks celebration (My favorite photo!)

Alexandria turned 277 this year. The same year America turns 250 — a small town holding its own birthday candle up next to the country's, three miles from the Capitol, at Oronoco Bay Park. A full day of celebration, year after year.

In the evening the bay took the light of the fireworks and doubled it, rain and all — a reminder, that this whole celebration is happening on the water.

In the winter it’s easy to forget that this is a port town. Easy to drive through King Street, past the shops and the brick sidewalks, and forget that the whole reason this place exists is the water. In the summer, it’s the perfect backdrop for celebration. To celebrate being a democracy, being a specific and unique town, being a waterfront, historic and modern and small, all in the same 277 years.

I've lived here all my life. As I get older, I appreciate all that it is more and more — Saturdays in the park, Pop’s ice cream after dinner, live music every night, the boats and the water taxi cutting across the bay.
Everything about Alexandria is home to me, and there is always something new to experience.
And that’s what I love so much about it.

Happy Birthday Alexandria!