Wine and Spirits Travel

My entire trip to Virginia had been packed to the brim, but no day proved to be busier – or more interesting – than the final one. The morning started at Society Fair Epicurean Emporium in Alexandria . I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I am with this place. I have never seen anything like it and can’t imagine that I will again. The Eat Good Food Group has managed to put together in one spot a combination of food and drink items like no other, many of which are from their venues. Did you love the bread pudding at Virtue? It’s here. Can’t live without Todd Thrasher’s Tonic from PX? Buy it at Society Fair. Craving the birthday cake served at Restaurant Eve or the coconut cake from Majestic? You’ll find it on the shelf. In addition to supplying the homemade products sold in the restaurants, you will also find a full bakery, cheeses, a selection of sausages from Julian the butcher, a wine bar and a coffee counter. You can take out or stay (I enjoyed a latte and a

The Alexandria Tourism Board had arranged for me to have a private tour of this historic area. Whitney met me at the Visitors Center in the morning for my walking exploration. We started walking by Market Square and continued through the area’s highlights, talking about the history and the founding fathers.  Since it’s also the location of the longest running continuous farmer’s market in the nation, Whitney explained how the area had evolved from a seaport to a functioning town. I was fascinated with the cobblestone street of Sea Captains Row, once inhabited by a large family (20 children – all girls!!) that spread from one house to raising their own families in the others.  I was also surprised to see how tiny the house owned by George and Martha Washington was, though Whitney explained that they sent extra guests there most of the time while they stayed at Mount Vernon. We walked by the headquarters of the Alexandria News Gazette, the longest running daily news

When I received an assignment to write about the George Washington Distillery for Capitol File Magazine , one of the things that excited me the most about it was the chance to head back to the Washington, DC area. I decided it would be fun to combine a good foodie town with the trip and quickly settled on Alexandria .  It was a great choice. Virginia Tourism helped me organize a trip filled with great cocktails, restaurants, and a bit of history.  I also had the bonus of being joined on some of the trip by a friend I had recently met on my press trip to St. Maarten , Julia Coney of All About the Pretty . I arrived at the Sheraton Suites Old Town Alexandria in the early evening for my three night stay there.  I had never been there before, but I immediately knew why it had been chosen as the suite had what I needed and it was located within walking distance of most of the sites and venues I was going to. ` Claire from Alexandria Tourism picked me up for dinner. I had