Caught short on your Christmas shopping? Just drive across the bridge to Alexandria’s Old Town, and your problems are soon solved in one short block.First stop is the left-hand corner of Prince and Union streets, for the year-round Christmas Attic, which has delighted Alexandrians for 37 years. Former awestruck kids are now bringing their awestruck kids.
Have a welcoming drink of hot cider, as the shop’s little train buzzes overhead. The display of trimmings and toys is dazzling, but there is also a panoply of imaginative, non-seasonal gifts. Prices range between $2 and over $1,500 throughout the store, from stocking stuffers to Major Gifts.
The tiny mouse family shown above, clustered around a miniature Christmas-laden table, is only five inches long, and is almost a museum piece for its intricate handiwork, with a price to match. It costs a tidy $495. But shimmering, clear, lava-type Christmas candles are only $18.95, and for dog lovers, there are finely detailed small statues of over 40 different breeds, for just $10.95.
The store’s luxurious Christmas items include a tree loaded with California designer Mark Roberts’ sumptuously dressed Santas and elves. At its base is a marvelous two-foot-high, bejeweled Santa, clad in velvet and ermine, astride a white-furred polar bear, to thrill some lucky recipient; it has a tag of $400.
Upstairs, among carolers, partridges, pear trees and lords a-leaping, replicas of the Nutcracker face his Mouse King enemy, and you will find an adorable Clara, the heroine of the holiday story, complete with ruffled petticoats, for $5.95.
Half a block to the right, on Union Street, and you’re offered mulled cider at Old Town Coffee, Tea and Spice, (703) 683-0856. In addition to fancy imported cookies and candies, and what seems to be every type of coffee ever roasted, the shop has an array of well-priced gift items anyone would crave.
Amid the scented candles, tea sets, cozies, colorful kettles and tablecloths, a ceramic rolling pin, striped like a peppermint stick, caught my eye—great for rolling out chilled pastry, and guaranteed to give you a chuckle. Frank Poland, who has had the shop for 15 of its 28 years, has chosen his items well.
Upstairs, in the same building, Andrew Macdonald offers his masterful photographs. A framing shop attached to his AHM Gallery can customize them for your giftee.
Macdonald opens his newest show, “The Fresh Potomac,” featuring photographs of the upper reaches of the Potomac River, this Thursday, with a reception from 5-10 p.m.
The show runs through February 12. Twenty percent of all sales will be donated to the environmental organization Potomac Riverkeeper.
