Surprise and Familiarity in Old Town

I am excited to join my wife in her blogging. Reading Mandy's sharing of her adventures was one of the ways in which I got to know her myself. My apologies to her loyal followers who may have to put up with me on occasion, but I hope that I can make a contribution as we continue our exploits together.

Last Saturday, Mandy and I decided to head into Old Town Alexandria, one of our favorite places, on the rumor that there was a historical celebration going on. When we got there, it turned out that the extent of the event was these two gentlemen hanging around in costume:

However, at least they were hanging out in the lovely yard of what is called the Carlyle house. We learned that John Carlyle was a British merchant and one of the founders of Alexandria in the 1700s. He married one of the daughters of the influential Fairfax family, which must have resulted in quite the Northern Virginia power couple. One of the signs of their wealth was this house, built when there were only a couple of other structures in Alexandria. Mandy and I enjoyed the sunny afternoon, wandering in the gardens around the house and reading about the city's history.

From there, we thought we would walk around the neighborhood a bit before getting on with our Saturday errands. Just a couple of doors down, we stumbled upon a lollipop-windowed little shop named Candi's Candies. We rushed in to check the place out, and soon found ourselves pointing out to each other all of the different little treats and sharing tales from our childhoods. We grabbed some of our favorites off of the overflowing racks and barrels and filled up a bag. We enjoyed our afternoon adventure very much, and we were surprised that despite our many expeditions to Old Town we had never noticed either of these places before.

Barrels of Taffy

Yesterday also marked three months from the day Mandy and I were married, and our little walk took us past the square where I proposed to her. Like our discoveries yesterday, Mandy often surprises me with a facet of her goodness and love that I haven't recognized before despite the years I have known her. Yet, at the same time I feel such a warm familiarity with her, and our friendship and laughter often take me back to my days as a candy muncher, when life was simple and there was fun around every corner.