Silver bells, silver bells, it’s Christmas time in the city…

It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and there is no better place to celebrate the season than my beloved hometown.  Alexandria – and specifically, Old Town – has made it onto “best holiday towns” and “best Christmas towns” lists of such august publications as USA Today and Country Living, because we KNOW how to do this season.  Multiple parades, gorgeous traditional decorations, and Santa waterskiing down the Potomac on Christmas Eve to cap it all off – right?!  There are so many events in Old Town, D.C. and the surrounding countryside that it’s legitimately impossible to do everything, not that we don’t try every year.

The Scottish Walk

This year’s season kicked off with a tree-trimming party with my parents on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but we really got things underway the following weekend at the Scottish Walk.  For the past few years, there have been two parades in the same day in Old Town – the Scottish Walk during the day, and the Holiday Boat Parade of Lights at dusk.  Maybe one of these years we’ll make it to both, but that’s a lot, even for us.  Last year we hit the boat parade; this year, to mix it up, we checked out the Scottish Walk.  We had planned to go with our friends Jimmy and Rachel and their daughter, who is Peanut’s BFF, but Steve wasn’t feeling well.  Not wanting to disappoint the crew, I bundled the kids into their stroller myself, and we set off for the parade minus one adult.

Jimmy, apparently, is a parade connoisseur.   Also he and Nugget liked the same cars.

The parade was a ton of fun.  We saw our Congressman, Miss Virginia, some marching bands, antique cars, and–

Darth Vader!  Nugget shouted, “HEY, IT’S MY BUDDY!” when he saw the Dark Lord walking down the street all decked out in his holiday finery.  Don’t you love the candy cane-striped lightsaber?

It wasn’t just Vader.  The whole gang was there – looking appropriately Scottish in their kilts.  Chewbacca…

Stormtroopers…

Even R2-D2 got in on the kilt action!  I’m guessing he’s carrying spare robot parts in his sporran?

A Snowy Walk in the OT

The following weekend – it snowed!  Before-Christmas snow is a pretty rare occurrence in northern Virginia, so clearly we made the most of it with a walk and some playtime in the park by the river.

The kids were over the moon.  And Mom much appreciated the opportunity to make a list of outgrown winter gear to be replaced – before Christmas.  I think both kids will get another season out of their coats, but Peanut’s hat now perches on top of her head like a pillbox, and Nugget’s mittens are a travesty.  I can tell you that Santa made good use of the early warning.

Being a little taken by surprise – and lacking in the mitten, snowpant and boot department – didn’t stop us from running around and having fun in the snow!

We tacked the walk onto the back end of a Christmas tradition that Steve and I have had since we first moved to Alexandria in 2010 (after five years in the comparatively less holiday-obsessed Arlington).  We used to spend a day wandering the streets of Old Town hand-in-hand and checking out the beautiful Christmas decorations on all of the houses, then have something boozy to drink before heading home.  We skipped the boozy drink part this year, but it was fun to rekindle one of our favorite traditions from the pre-baby days, this time with our little sidekicks.

Snow made it all the more festive.

We started at our favorite place – the fire station!  They had a nod to the season with a little lit sled and reindeer on top of the garage.  So cute.  Smile, boys!

The thing that makes an Old Town Christmas so magical is the history.  People definitely go all out with their decorations, but the whole neighborhood is so historic – it predated the United States of America, after all – that people who live here are committed to maintaining its character.  At the holidays, they do so with lots and lots of decorations, but everything is very understated and traditional.  There’s plenty of fresh greenery and candles in the windows, lots of lovely wreaths, and the occasional strand of twinkling fairy lights.  Taken altogether, the effect is spectacular.

We walked and played in the snow until the sun started to go down, and then headed home by way of King Street, which was lit up like a fairyland.

And stopped to say hi to the big tree on Market Square.

Spectacular!

Christmas in Little Washington

The next day found us bundled into the car, driving out to the mountains for our second parade of the season.  Last year, we attended Christmas in Little Washington, and it was so much fun we knew it had to be a holiday must-do.  We had hoped to squeeze in a hike at Shenandoah National Park before the festivities got underway, but thanks to the snow, Skyline Drive – the main park road and necessary to reach the trail we were planning to explore – was closed.  So no Shenandoah for us.  Instead we slept in (sort of) and had a leisurely breakfast at home before driving out to our favorite mountain town.

Our first order of business was lunch!  We had packed food for the kids, and Steve and I picked up sandwiches from a vendor for ourselves, and enjoyed an al fresco meal in the snow.  Of course, it was a complete circus.  What meal isn’t, these days?

Then we wandered around town looking at the greenery.  The Inn was looking gorgeous, as usual.  Can’t believe that just a few weeks ago, we were actually eating dinner there, thanks to the world’s most generous mother-in-law!

We (and our wet boots and loud children) didn’t go inside this time.

But we did find a magical frozen fountain.

It wasn’t long before the parade began!  We staked out the same spot we’d claimed last year and watched Rappahannock’s finest march by.  Redcoats opened the parade, as usual.  (Steve leaned over to me and whispered, “We’re supposed to boo, right?”)

Checking out the parade route on the map.

There was a tinsel-bedecked tractor…

And another tractor festooned with wreaths and bows…

The sherriff…

Lots of animals (in addition to the Lil Sebastians – which is what I must call all miniature horses, everywhere – there was a posse of riders on regular-sized horseback escorting a tumble-down pile of puppies)…

Nugget’s buddy, Rappahannock 1…

And Santa and the Missus!  I have to admit, I liked their last year’s ride (a vintage green pickup truck) better.  But it’s always a treat to see them.

A Visit to Aladdin the Christmas Camel

Another holiday must-do is a drive down to Mount Vernon to visit with Aladdin, the Christmas Camel.  The short backstory is that George Washington used to procure a camel to entertain his stepchildren, and later his grandchildren, ever year at Christmas.  The estate keeps up that fun tradition and for as long as we have been visiting at the holidays – and this is another tradition that predates children – the camel has been Aladdin.  We saw Aladdin when he was just a baby, for his very first Mount Vernon season, and have come back every year since then (with the exception of our three years in New York, of course).

He’s gotten pretty gigantic!  This year, the estate took the precaution of an extra fence, which I can only imagine is intended to serve as a buffer between Aladdin – who is a very chill guy – and overly inquisitive children.  Not that we know any of those.

After saying hello to our friend Aladdin, we checked out the other fun around the estate.  They had some big cauldrons set up for a cooking demonstration later.

The kids raced around and played tag with a new friend, then we bid Aladdin adieu and wandered off to check out the other creatures on the estate.

Sheep are always a hit.

Walked down to the little beach.  Peanut asked to go swimming.  Ummmmm… NO.

Wandered around the “George Washington: Pioneer Farmer” site for a little bit and then headed back up the dirt road, hoping for a bit more time to spend with Aladdin before we had to go home for lunch.

Unfortunately, someone didn’t want to ride in the double stroller, and he also didn’t want to walk fast (or at all).  He alternated between squatting down by the side of the road and digging in the dirt, and asking for “uppy.”

I finally convinced him to keep up by giving him a “hiking stick.”  Should’ve known from the beginning – if there’s anything the kid loves, it’s hiking.  My nature boy!  He declared that he was “in Shenandoah.”  Oh, yeah – all outdoor spaces are “Shenandoah.”  (And I do mean all outdoor spaces – earlier this week, his nanny took him on the metro to check out a new play space, and he pointed out the trees speeding by in the very suburban neighborhood and informed his [very tolerant] nanny that they were in Shenandoah.  Ha!)

Such a fun morning in one of our favorite places!  We come to Mount Vernon all year round, because we love it so much, but it’s especially magical at Christmastime.  Like all of northern Virginia, really.

We have many more fun activities planned before this Christmas season comes to a close – I’ll have the rest to share with you after Christmas!  Happy holidays to all of my friends, no matter what you celebrate.  And if you’re a Christmas family, like us–

What are your favorite Advent traditions?