ROAD TRIP
BY LANI GERING
An Afternoon in Another Old Town Another month and another Road Trip to explore what lies beyond Old Town Alexandria. Since I arrived in Old Town some 45 years ago there have been many changes, but none like what we have seen in the past two years. In that short time the closing of the 100 block of King Street occurred and the beginnings of a pedestrian mall, so to speak, was created. This was not a sudden epiphany, but had been studied for years. The cause and effect of the pandemic hurried things along. Although the end effect of the street closure and additional outdoor space for businesses is yet to be determined, we decided to take a road trip to Winchester, Virginia and visit their Walking Mall. It shows that Winchester encountered some of the same issues that Alexandria faces now in the beginning. In the early 1970's Loudoun Street was the heart of Winchester's shopping district. A few of the downtown businessmen came up with the idea of converting the street into a two block pedestrian walkway. An advisory board was created to oversee the 22 June 2022
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special district. In 1974, the Loudoun Street Walking Mall was born. Like Old Town Alexandria, poor downtown drainage resulted in frequent occurrences of high water along the newly created pedestrian mall. The mall remained in a state of flux until 2013 when the city replaced the downtown's underground water system, which at the time was the
third oldest in the United States. Today, the Loudoun Street Mall features cultural events, concerts, outdoor screenings of classic movies, lamp posts with banners displaying works by local artists, holiday celebrations and much more. There is a Civil War Museum and many historical locations throughout the Mall as well in the blocks surrounding
We went to visit the Mall during the week as we understood that it is pretty crowded on weekends. The first thing I noticed was the four Autopark’s around the Mall which provided abundant parking at a very low cost $1 per hour. Bonus! As I eased my truck into my parking place we enjoyed the two minute stroll to the Mall itself. Since it was lunch time we looked for Mexican (Lani's favorite) and landed at El Centro Mexican Restaurant and found a table on their patio. Our waitress, Susan, was prompt to the table and soon we were enjoying the sunshine as well has our margaritas. The food was excellent! There are places offering every kind of cuisine lining the both sides of the Mall. Lots of outdoor dining space for sure. After lunch we took a short walk to soak up the atmosphere of the Mall. Although it is only two blocks long they are really long blocks compared to those here in Alexandria. The footing is all brick and you encounter a drain every so often which has ROAD TRIP > PAGE 23
Old Town Crier
