OLD TOWNE, ALEXANDRIA Walking through colonial America -2

Elegant

They say that Old Towne's most elegant early

residence is the Carlyle House. This Georgian

mansion was built in 1753 and was owned by one

of Alexandria's founders. Restored today with

period furnishings, including the master bed which I

noticed had pulley curtains, it was the meeting

place for events which led to the Stamp Act of

1765 and the Revolutionary War.

Here, a bit earlier in 1755, British general Edward

Braddock met with five American colonial

governors, to discuss the strategy against the

French. There are slave quarters at the lower level

of this distinguished house.

The Alexandria Slave Pen located at Duke Street

also tells of its former function as a slave auction

house under the business address of ''Franklin and

Armfield.'' This was converted into a prison during

the Civil War, to hold local civilians and erring

soldiers of the Union.

Here, as I mentioned earlier, you will also find

General Lee's boyhood townhome which was leased

by his father, the revolutionary war hero ''Light

Horse'' Harry Lee in 1812. A short breath away is

the Alexandria City Hall which has on its front

gorgeous European-styled fountains facing King

Street.

At Old Towne, one cannot miss Gadsby's Tavern,

now with a museum, but which is today also one of

the few surviving 18th-century taverns in the

United States. Gadsby's regularly hosted

Washington, then the general of the American

Revolutionary Army and later America's first

president. It also hosted and was visited regularly

by Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Adams,

George Mason, including the Marquis de Lafayette

and other American colonial elites and leaders.

Today, not only is the tavern culture revived;

there is also a second-floor ballroom with a

hanging gallery for musicians which served as the

site of inaugural balls. The renowned ballroom was

called the Great Assembly Room, and it is still made

remarkable today by the magnificent scroll

pediments over the doorways and mantels.

It was at Gadsby's Tavern that Washington dined

and danced the night away --a la ballroom

dancing!--with the first American First Lady,

Martha Washington. It is said that, one morning in

1798, from the steps of Gadsby's, Washington was

honored with a pass and review parade by the

Alexandria Independent Infantry Blues.