News

Think about getting comfortable, because there’s a silent reading party happening in Old Town North later this month.

The realm of the imagination is the destination for participants in the latest venture between Old Town Books (130 S. Royal Street) and Hotel AKA Alexandria (625 First Street). From 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 24, you can finally get the peace and quiet needed to move the bookmark along and find out who did the deed in that Agatha Christie murder mystery.


News

The City of Alexandria is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial (1001 S. Washington Street) next month, a monument commemorating a chapter in Alexandria’s history that’s both harrowing and inspiring.

The memorial honors the hundreds of Black Americans who died in Alexandria during the Civil War.


News

Anybody traveling along N. Washington Street might notice that the historic Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden (614 Oronoco Street) looks different.

The historic 18th-century home, celebrating 50 years as a public museum, has a fresh coat of paint as part of a renovation project to freshen up the building.


News

D.C. bar Death & Co. near Mount Vernon Square closed earlier this summer for repairs, but will make a surprise return as a pop-up inside Hotel Heron (699 Prince Street) in Old Town.

The bar is reopening today for a limited run inside what will eventually be Hotel Heron’s own bar, Francis Hall.


News

A famous tailor who fled Afghanistan with his wife and five children recently opened a new shop in Old Town.

Business is slow, but the situation is familiar to Reza Mohammadi. He’s started from scratch many times, and is hoping that what’s worked in the past will work again.


News

Danny Zelsman was making a stencil of Jesus Christ with a crown of mushrooms when ALXnow caught up with him at his tattoo shop in Old Town.

Taped to the wall behind him at his work station at Madison Street Tattoo (1012 Madison Street) were hundreds of other stencils, all expressions that clients wanted to bring from the depths of their souls and put on their backs, forearms, legs — anywhere, really.


News

Here’s a roundup of all the events, live music, and entertainment happening around Alexandria this weekend, Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 4, 2024.

Are you organizing an event? Submit events to ALXnow.


News

Hard Times (1404 King Street) is scheduled to close sometime this year to undergo extensive interior renovations, but a new Special Use Permit said those plans could now include new second-floor outdoor porch seating.

The SUP says the plan is to “add new second floor outdoor porch with seating for 30, located in rear of the existing restaurant.”


News

This weekend the city of Alexandria is celebrating the 250th birthday of the Friendship Fire Company, the first volunteer firefighters in the city, with the annual Friendship Firehouse Festival.

The free festival is on the 100 block of South Alfred Street from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3. It will feature antique fire equipment on display alongside current equipment, as well as hands-on activities, face painting, live music and more.


News

Old Town’s Mount Purrnon Cat Cafe and Wine Bar (109 S. Alfred Street) is taking a dig at neighbor JD Vance after the Trump running mate’s “childless cat ladies” comment.

A 2021 interview in which Vance called Democrats being “childless cat ladies” who “want to make the rest of the country miserable too” resurfaced. Vance also advocated for parents to cast additional votes based on their number of children.


News

Wizards and muggles are invited to a special tour in Old Town on Sunday (July 28).

In recognition of Harry Potter’s birthday, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S. Fairfax Street) is hosting a magical tour and potion-making clinic.


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