Gadsby's Tavern Welcomes Junior Docent Applications

Junior Docents learn the museum tour and provide tours in 18th-century clothing during special events in the spring and summer.

Gadsby's Tavern Museum is now accepting 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade applicants for its Junior Docent Program. Junior Docents learn the museum tour and provide tours in 18th-century clothing during special events in the spring and summer. They offer an important service by engaging children visiting the museum and sharing their interest in history, according to a news release from the Office of Historic Alexandria. Applicants must be available for the training class on Sunday afternoon, May 5.  Due to the popularity of this program, applicants must complete the application to reserve an audition time, where the child can tell about one of his or her favorite events in history. Call 703-746-4739 to receive an application or download the …

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Governor Highlights Old Town in 'Year of the Historic Home'

Gov. Bob McDonnell and first lady Maureen McDonnell have included several Old Town establishments as part of a statewide initiative.

A handful of historic houses in Old Town Alexandria have been included in the Virginia governor’s new list of historic homes across the commonwealth. Gov. Bob McDonnell and first lady Maureen McDonnell have announced that 2013 is “Year of the Historic Home” and with that comes an accompanying interactive map of 74 cultural hot spots across the Old Dominion. The list will reach about 100 sites once the map is complete. In Old Town, Carlyle House, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum as well as nearby Mount Vernon Estate, Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighy House and the Woodlawn Plantation house are some of the highlighted structures. In addition to the interactive features on the new website, the Virginia Time …

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Gadsby's Tavern Museum Ice Well Bricks for Sale

Bicentennial bricks are part of a fundraiser to start new repairs and renovations of the historic ice well, originally built around 1793.

So you’ve heard the one that goes “So you wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge? Alexandria can one-up that - the Gadsby’s Tavern Museum Society wants you to buy an ice well – for real. In the early 1970s, the historic ice well originally built around 1793 outside of Gadsby’s Tavern was stabilized and opened for viewing at the corner of Cameron and N. Royal streets. Bricks from that renovation have now been removed for new repairs and the society, a group of private citizens seeking to maintain the health of the museum, are offering the 1970s bicentennial bricks for purchase. The bricks were made by Alexandria’s now-shuttered Calvert Brick Co. and each brick has a “CALVERT” imprint. They will be labeled and partially covered with felt so that the …

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Burns' Beer Buzz

Patriotic Ales Teach American History with a Quaff

Gadsby’s Colonial Tavern Showcases Yards Brewing Co’s “Ales of the Revolution” in Old Town Alexandria with a Tasty History Course from the Founding Fathers

Yards Brewing Company shared beer’s revolutionary roots last Friday night by introducing Ales of the Revolution to guests at a memorable historic beer dinner in colonial Alexandria, lending a festive glow to a cold January night. Hosted by the renowned eighteenth-century colonial inn - Gadsby's Tavern Museum - the four-course dinner and pre-dinner tasting was resonant with memories of struggling new generations of Americans that beer has soothed and restored. Departing after midnight, I could almost hear the muffled sounds of hoofbeats breaking the silence of Old Town’s empty streets during a sudden flurry of snow that quickly blanketed the moonlit scene of our emerging nation’s premiere house of hospitality where political, business and …

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Free Admission to Three Historic Alexandria Museums

Three historic Alexandria museums are participating in the Smithsonian’s seventh annual Museum Day on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Three Historic Alexandria museums are participating in the Smithsonian’s seventh annual Museum Day on Saturday, Sept. 24. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, Alexandria Archaeology Museum, and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum will be offering free admission to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket.  The Museum Day Ticket is available to download at www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who present the official pass will gain free admission for two people to participating museums and cultural venues. In 2010, Museum Day participants downloaded 227,747 tickets resulting in more than 500,000 museum-goers visiting over 1,300 venues in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 North Royal Street, consists of two…

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City of Alexandria Selects New Town Crier

Congratulations to Benjamin Fiore-Walker.

The City of Alexandria has selected Benjamin Fiore-Walker as its new town crier. Fiore-Walker was one of a dozen candidates who competed in a “cry off” Sept. 7. He auditioned before panelists representing Alexandria tourism, historic resources, special events and the city government, who evaluated the candidates for voice strength and clarity, deportment, verbal and nonverbal communication, and interest in Alexandria.   A resident of Alexandria, Fiore-Walker has experience working with the public, appearing in period costume, volunteering at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum and promoting history as a tour guide. He will make his first official appearance as town crier at the City Council meeting on Sept. 27.

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Frugal Family: Summer Programs for Kids, Dinner with Wine, Free Trolley and More

Your local source for the scoop on family fun on a budget

Here is our weekly round-up of great deals in and around town: HISTORY    SUMMER CAMPS and YOUTH PROGRAMS   GETTING AROUND   DINING OUT    FOOD SPECIALS

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