Gardens - and Stairs - in the Neighborhood

We have had a delightful reprieve in the weather. And when it’s still too hot to walk the Mall, but not hot enough to necessitate walking in the air conditioned Union Station, we venture out in our own neighborhood on Capitol Hill. Since we had an appointment at noon somewhere, we sort of circled the wagons around our house and walked up and down the shady parts of the street. Having just driven through Alexandria I am always taken by the quaintness of the area, but also know how impractical these very old townhouse/row houses are. When we downsized from our two story house in the Midwest I knew I never wanted to see a staircase again. Our tiny condo unit is on the first floor and is just one floor. The idea of crawling up stairs at our age is daunting! Whenever I see a lot of steps to just get in to the house it makes me wonder how people put up with it - unless they have an alley in the back that gets them inside without steps. And some of them don’t even have stair rails to grab on to! Regardless, as an outsider looking at the gardens and steps on the front side of the rowhouses is simply lovely. Each one is distinctively different. It’s just not something I would want to live in, but I certainly enjoy the views.