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Old
Town Alexandria is made for walking and gawking, but you need to
watch where you step. Brick sidewalks conform to the bumpy
growths of old tree roots, forming hills and valleys on walkways.
They say the stones used to cobble many of the streets and
alleys arrived as ballast rock that was used to balance loads
aboard early sailing ships. Alley houses are narrow structures
built between two existing buildings and are called 'spite'
houses because they were meant to obstruct travel in the alley,
thus 'spiting' a perceived nuisance. We walked past historic
sites such as the house where Robert E. Lee
grew up and Gadsby’s Tavern where George Washington hung out.
Our visit with Ray was too
short but we had to leave the marina on Friday to make room for
another boat that had made a reservation. We were not ready to
face another weekend on the water so we decided to relax. James
Creek Marina was only a couple of miles up the river.
Welcome
to Washington, land of paranoia. All the way from Florida to
Virginia, as well as the 6,000 miles we covered along the great
loop three years ago, we never needed more than a credit card to
stay at any marina, even this one. At James Creek we had to produce a
credit card, a driver’s license, boat registration, boat
insurance policy, blood type and what size underpants we wear.
Well, the first four anyway. In return, we got a 14-page booklet
of rules and regulations, one of which Tom broke in the first 10
minutes. We were walking back to the boat from the dock
master’s office (through a locking gate of course) and Tom
held the gate open for someone walking behind him. Rule number
19 specifically prohibits holding a gate open for anyone!
Until now we’d
always paid by the foot for a 34-foot boat because
that’s what we have - a 34-foot boat, but not at James Creek. There
they measure you when you arrive. Because our dinghy rested on the swim platform, we were charged
as a 36-foot
boat.
An
employee advised that if there were any wifi signals around we
wouldn’t be able to use them because such signals would be jammed. He was right, we couldn't get it, but we even had trouble with our normal internet
connection - it kept disconnecting - and the satellite TV dish jumped and flickered too. Helicopters rule the skies
in Washington and
signs like ‘surveillance cameras in use’ ‘keep out, no
trespassing’ and ‘persons entering this property are subject
to search and seizure’ are commonplace around the city.
Reminded me of a big ol’ dirty prison.
(click on pictures to enlarge)
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