Adventure in Old Town

There are two things that tie me most to DC, the first being my church community and the second being where I live, Old Town Alexandria. I live in a place that breathes life back into my tired soul after a hard week's work. It's probably one of the quaintest communities in the DC-metro region and it's really great living here. During the summer, I biked along the Potomac about every other week, and in the early fall sat in a nearby park soaking up the sun every Sunday afternoon while enjoying a good book or children playing nearby. Today I decided to do a little Christmas shopping at the little shops and boutiques that line King Street and Cameron. My experience today was invigorating and enlivening, in almost every which way. It was lovely.

Here are a few "taste and see" glimpses of what made my walk around town so wonderful for me:

-A Used Book shop where the first thing I noticed as I walked in was the "Art and Architecture" section near the front. Tons of books with pictures of Renoir, Monet, and Rembrant graced the shelves, any of them a worthy addition to a living room table-and in my case an imaginative read-through at the local coffee shop on a blustery evening. Meandering through the fictional books, I discovered some well-worn copies of a few Walker Percy novels and a misplaced book by Plantiga on the ontological argument. The drama section had two whole shelves of Shakespeare-that is about as big as Barnes and Noble's entire drama section, mind you. And then, there was an entire section dedicated to music, with musician biographies, and operas and other small pieces for the musician looking to play something new. Clearly, I spent about 30-45 minutes in this store alone.

-Bellacara beauty store, with wonderfully scented-although overpriced-soaps, perfumes, candles and lip glosses.

-A store full of beautiful Brazilian handicrafts, with huge carved and painted wooden wall hangings, and the scent of cinnamon and spices lingering from some unseen candle or potpourri container.

-The Paper Source store, down by the water, which I absolutely love...The walls and displays were covered with tons of beautiful things at every turn of my head-ornately designed cards, boxed teas, colorful papers with gold and silver leafing.

-A curried pecan chicken salad sandwich on toasted sourdough, bought at this little hole-in-the-wall shop off S. Royal St. I must say, it was pretty good :) and the little Chinese lady who made it, working alongside what looked to be her husband, was so kind and friendly.

An antique store, an Asian art and home decor store; a store with hand-picked gowns and shrugs that look like they just came off the runway; delicious homemade chocolates, fudge, and peppermint sticks at Old Town Market; I could certainly go on...

Sure, we could call these things luxurious, but they're also beautiful, well-made, and-for the most part-uniquely tied to a local culture, instead of to a major corporation that rarely sees its own customers. It'd be foolish to say that over-indulging ourselves in such things, and certainly purchasing large quantities of these things on a regular basis, would be healthy. But, at the same time, it's so refreshing to see a place with shops focused on niche markets, and ones that aren't bustling to the brim with busy, hurried Christmas shoppers. These places stand in stark contrast to the strip malls, department stores, and mega-stores of our culture. There is a distinctive goodness, a care and attention, about them that is unmistakable. Walking out of many of the stores, I took in a breath of fresh cool air and simply smiled to myself, continuing to make my way along the brick sidewalk with my scuffed thrift store cowboy boots and big yellow coat. Maybe i'm being overly romantic, but my Christmas shopping adventure made for a wonderful Saturday morning and early afternoon.

Music pick of the moment: Ten out of Tenn Christmas Tour. www.myspace.com/tenoutoftenn
While it could be that i'm a little biased, i'm pretty stoked to see them in concert and hang out tonight.