At the John Warner Maritime Heritage Center at Waterfront Park in Alexandria, Virginia, each visitor is assigned a crew member identity before embarking on a living history tour of Tall Ship Providence, a reproduction of an 18th century warship that was one of the first in the fledgling Continental Navy.
For the duration of the tour, I am Able Seaman sailing on the U.S.S. Providence during the American Revolution. I have many duties, but today I’m at the helm, scanning the horizon for enemy British ships. When necessary, I climb aloft in the rig to manage the ropes and manipulate the sails. It’s a dangerous job, which is why I earn substantially more than the ordinary seamen who serve under me.
At the end of a long day, I will push my way through the malodorous chickens and goats and head below deck to my hammock, which hangs in cramped quarters where the smell isn’t much better. Life isn’t always pleasant here, but financial gain and social status await if I stay the course.
The dockside tour is a bit like being an actor in a movie and just as thrilling. After all, it’s not every day you get to load a gunpowder cartridge and use a linstock to shoot a cannon on a 110-foot vessel that portrayed a pirate ship in two “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
Credit: Visit Alexandria
Credit: Visit Alexandria
Unlike the fictional pirate Jack Sparrow, the Continental Navy didn’t fight a Kraken, but it did fight a monster of a different sort — the British Royal Navy. The largest and most powerful maritime force in the world at the time, it used its military might to capture American merchant ships and sailors to ease some of the debt incurred while defending the 13 Colonies during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). This tyranny was one of many grievances against Britain that led to the American Revolution in 1776.
To experience the feel of the wind in its sails, visitors can book the Tall Ship Providence for a sunset sail on the Potomac. You can learn to haul the lines and set the sails, much as the Continental Navy did nearly 250 years ago.
The ship is currently closed while undergoing repairs until mid-July, but it is just one of many attractions in Alexandria’s Old Town, the nation’s third oldest historic district, celebrated for its art and architecture.
Revel in the bohemian spirit of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, a former munitions factory where visitors not only view art but also observe its creation. This massive facility on the banks of the Potomac once manufactured weapons of war, but now it’s home to more than 165 artists.
Each studio in this 50-year-old artists’ incubator has its own vibe. Stop by Fire on Studio 22 to observe pottery and glass making demonstrations, then peruse the Multiple Exposures Gallery, where photographers leverage their skills to either capture everyday life or create otherworldly images.
Credit: Adedayo Kosoko for Visit Alexandria
Credit: Adedayo Kosoko for Visit Alexandria
Brandi Couvillion has been making jewelry at the art center for four years and calls it a “magical place.”
You might catch her soldering an array of brilliant metals as she creates intricate designs based on historic maps of Alexandria, Washington and New Orleans.
The inspiration behind these pieces was tragedy.
Couvillion was living in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. She was the chief financial officer of a nonprofit historic preservation center at the time, and her work required her to reference archival maps during the rebuilding process.
The beautifully drawn maps made her realize the science of cartography is also an art. She was struck by how the urban landscape had changed over the years, and how those modifications affected the natural landscape.
Her jewelry celebrates cartography and immortalizes a transitory cityscape.
Credit: Kristian Summerer for Visit Alexandria
Credit: Kristian Summerer for Visit Alexandria
“It connects the wearer to our shared history as the pieces weave the poetics of place with the fabric of time,” Couvillion said.
After immersing yourself in Old Town’s art scene, turn your eye to its architecture. Stroll along the cobblestone stretch of Prince Street, known as Captain’s Row, to admire the Federal-style row houses. Flickering gas lamps enhance the historic ambience.
Don’t overlook the Spite House at 523 Queen St. Just 7 feet wide, the bright blue house wedged between two larger dwellings is one of the narrowest in the world. It was reportedly built out of spite in 1830 by adjacent homeowner John Hollensbury, who was tired of horse-drawn carriages rattling through the alley at all hours.
Freedom House Museum on Duke Street appears to be just another charming row house, but during the antebellum era, it was a house of horrors — headquarters for the nation’s largest domestic slave trading operation. Over the years, the property owned by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield held about 8,500 enslaved men, women and children in pens before being sold in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Credit: Tracey Teo
Credit: Tracey Teo
Today, it’s a museum where three floors of exhibits celebrate Black achievement and document slavery with artifacts like a ship manifest from 1833 that lists the names and ages of 83 enslaved people sold by Franklin and Armfield, including Nancy F., 15; Jacob Ransome, 12; Eliza Mason, 3 months.
“Determined: The 400 Year Struggle for Black Equality,” a traveling exhibition from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture currently on view, highlights the accomplishments of Black Virginians, including Clemenceau Givings, a Tuskegee Airman during WWII, and Barbara Johns Powell, a civil rights activist who fought for equality in education during segregation.
The self-guided tour wraps up on the third floor with “Before the Spirits are Swept Away,” an exhibition of paintings featuring African American historical sites.
One of the most unusual Old Town attractions is the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum. Rows of dusty bottles bearing mysterious labels smack of a potions class in a Harry Potter film, but they are from an apothecary founded in 1792 by Quaker pharmacist Edward Stabler. The family business operated in this location from 1805 to 1933. A treasure trove of archival materials includes prescription books, orders and invoices.
It’s interesting to learn how pharmacies had to change their practices during Prohibition. As the only businesses that could legally sell alcohol, they had to navigate mountains of government red tape to fill whiskey-based prescriptions that were routinely prescribed for the flu and other ailments.
Credit: Tracey Teo
Credit: Tracey Teo
A bloodletting device is sure to make modern visitors thankful they live in an era of antibiotics and anesthesia.
Alexandria’s Old Town is a portal to America’s Colonial history and the centuries that followed. Anyone who thinks history is boring will find the past comes to life in entertaining ways in this waterfront historic district.
IF YOU GO
Alexandria, Virginia, is 635 miles northeast of Atlanta via I-85 North. Direct flights from Atlanta are 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Attractions
Tall Ship Providence. Dockside tours $17-$24. Sunset sails $57-$65. Ticket office 1A Prince St. 703-915-1600, www.tallshipprovidence.org
Torpedo Factory Art Center. Free. 105 N. Union St. 703-746-4570, www.torpedofactory.org
Freedom House Museum. $3-$5. 1315 Duke St. 703-746-4702, www.alexandriava.gov/FreedomHouse
Stabler-Leadbetter Apothecary Museum. Self-guided tour $3-$5. Guided tour $8. 105-107 S. Fairfax St. 703-746-3852, www.visitalexandria.com
Accommodations
Hotel Heron. New boutique hotel in the heart of Old Town. $160-$200. 699 Prince St.703-662-1900, www.heronalexandria.com
Archer Hotel. Newly renovated boutique hotel. $199-$217. 1600 King St. 703-894-3434, www.archerhotel.com
Dining
Oak Steakhouse. Contemporary steakhouse also serves seafood. Entrees $28-$79. 901 N. Asaph St. 703-840-3395, www.oaksteakhouserestaurant.com
Josephine. French-inspired brasserie. Entrees $19-$46. 109 S. Asaph St. www.josephineoldtown.com
Tourism information
Visit Alexandria. 221 King St. 703-838-5005, www.visitalexandria.com
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