Skeleton Halloween Party on Prince Street in Alexandria

It was a sight to see. Our morning walk took us to Old Town Alexandria - a favorite place of ours over many years. Even before we moved to DC, we visited Old Town. When we lived in DC we oftentimes went there for lunch. Since March we don’t visit as often, just for a ride and back from our new home in northern Virginia. The Halloween party on Prince Street is something to behold. After getting past all the road construction, we made it to the cobble stone street where Halloween is a big tradition. After all, the city has been around for a very long time. One can only imagine all the famous people who walked along it. Several of them may have been represented - or actually shoes up -  at the skeleton party that extends along several homes. There they were - climbing all over the house fronts, the sidewalk, the fences - above us, in front of us, and behind us. It probably looks much spookier at night. There were horses and dogs, and hands - swords, pirates, ghosts, chains and huge spiders and webs. The brick backdrop made the skeletons stand out even more. It was worth the ride and the walk over to see it. Someone has a sense of humor - it’s something we could all use a little of now. 

Halloween Spooks, Witches and Skeletons

Rather than take our usual route to the National Mall for a morning walk, we decided to go in the other direction. The forecast called for very rainy and dreary skies so we figured we better get going before it all started. It was the perfect overcast, wet day to scamper around the neighborhood in search of all things Halloween. The falling leaves were blowing around on the sidewalks. It seemed like there were more people out and about than is typical for a Sunday morning. All along the way there were ghouls and goblins hanging from trees, more pumpkins than in a patch, friendly scarecrows, and skeletons galore - several with their once furry friends with them. How about a giant spider web? It all probably looks all the more scary when the daylight turns to dusk, but we got the general idea. I have a tiny pumpkin and a few gourds inside the house. It's nice to have a little bit of the fun and colors of the season around. 

Natural History Museum

When the crowds are gone, we visit the museums on our morning walk. There are still large tour groups and school buses filled with students, but as long as there are no lines waiting to get inside, we take the opportunity to check on the updates and changes. So today we thought we'd see the natural history museum. The big dinasaur is gone - I think he is being restored. I can't imagine we missed his presence if he was lurking about. I wanted to see the butterflies, but you have to pay to get in - and we didn't want to spend a lot of time inside anyway. So we ran through the exhibits - the evolution of man, mammals, ocean, volcanos, space, gems and the hope diamond. We only searched level one and two and did not go to the basement. The third floor is for employees and offices. Perhaps because it was a very drizzly day the skylights couldn't work their magic. It seemed rather dark inside. In the end, this place 
was never one of my favorite museums, but it was worth going inside. After all, it's free, it's a great walk, and we can go any time we want.