'Tis the Season

When my parents leave after Thanksgiving break, I need a break from my break. 

It's of course as much my fault as theirs, but we do a LOT. 

We cooked a turkey, played football, saw Lincoln, went Black Friday shopping for 8 straight hours, went to Old Town Alexandria, watched the UVA Tech game (sad, sad, sad), visited the Congressional Cemetary, and hit up Mount Vernon for a day. 

But the good news is that I always have an eager group to accompany me to new places and events I want to check out around the area. 

My original idea was to see the Zoo Lights, a holiday light display at the National Zoo. 

But then we found out about this tree lighting ceremony in Old Town Alexandria that only happens on ONE night (whereas Zoo Lights is every weekend) so we decided we couldn't miss out. 

Old Town is so, so pretty no matter what day, time, or season. 

But it was especially beautiful with lights. (Everything is better with lights if I haven't told you.)

Santa was there (of course) and the mayor. They did a little show first.

And then counted down and lit the tree!

What a colorful bunch we are...

After the tree lighting, we walked over to the waterfront and got drinks at the Chart House, a great restaurant over the water. As we were walking in, we caught fireworks from the National Harbor tree lighting (which we went to 2 years ago) across the river.

A perfect holiday evening!