You will find this mural at the top of the escalator at the Crystal City Metro Station. It greets…read moreyou as soon as you come up from the subway. It is the work of Lisa Marie Thalhammer, A feminist activist and member of the LGBTQ community, who is known for using rainbow colors in her murals. Thalhammer was commissioned by National Landing Business Improvement District as part of Metro's Art in Transit Program. It was painted in 2021 and is intended to promote positivity, calm the nervous system and inspire a sense of joy and wonderment for viewers. Thalhammer designed the mural to exude "a pleasing, meditative energy that embraces commuters in a hug of color." She went on to say that, "my murals turn overlooked spaces into portals of positivity." It is a rainbow painting with colorful vertical sections. The colors are very vivid and bright the mural is in excellent shape. It spans 115 feet long and 20 feet high. Thalhammer used spray enamel on concrete wall. In all, she uses 23 colors in the mural. They blend so well that I did not even think they were that many colors used. I really like this mural and have passed it many times, It does exude positivity and I can never be in a bad mood looking at it. It surley adds a lot of beauty to an otherwise dull Metro station. As nice as this piece is, it is not a destination piece. Most viewers will either be passengers going through the Crystal City Metro Subway Station or passerby's. With that being said, I recommend making a visit here part of a larger itinerary. For those still wishing to check this wonderful mural out, there is metered street parking and commercial garages within a reasonable walking distance.

This is a piece by Larry Kirkland who made it in 2020. It was inspired by the artist's collection…read moreof historic celestial maps by Royal Astronomer John Flamsteed. It is located in a very nice plaza area located in a neutral ground space between The Clark Apartments (S Clark Street) and The Sur Apartments (S Ball Street). There is metered street parking available of the streets that the piece is sandwiched by. The site is popular among people from the surrounding apartments walking their dogs. The piece consists of 5 Blue in the Night granite slabs engraved with images from Kirkland's maps. The slabs vary in size from about 7 to 3 feet tall. Many people find it comparable to another of Kirkland's pieces titled Wonder Wander. In addition to the blocks, you will find a semi-circle bench around the slabs that are engraved with elements from land and sea to connect us to the natural world on earth. It is a nice installation that is well organized and very clean. I do find the engravings to be very busy though. It may be because I am just not a star gazer. I really wonder what a person that is into astronomy thinks about it? The engravings are very detailed and probably took a bit of time to complete. Kirkland was very meticulous ion making this piece. Anyway, as with most sculptures that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. So, you may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

A lovely little local library branch! Conveniently located in Virginia Highlands Park, there is a…read morefree parking lot right outside. Also, this library is right by a fenced in playground and a sprayground that is super fun in the summer. A one stop shop! There is a kids section here with some toys for the kids to play and plenty of books. Also, they have crayons and paper available and several kid size tables and even a tiny couch- very cute. There is one designated kids computer as well with headphones! Ms. Karen does the children's programming and hosts a great story time on Thursday mornings from 10:30-11. If you have a little one you should check it out! Stories and songs for kids. Best for the preschool and under crowd. The librarians here are all kind and very helpful. Stop by the front desk for a stamp on your kid's hand! Don't forget about summer reading too. There is a bathroom located in the lobby as well as a vending machine. Highly recommend you check out the Aurora Hills Library if you are in town!

This library closed in March 2020 and never reopened. As of January 2021, there's still been no…read morepublic discussion of reopening it in the future, and the county library system hasn't responded to any of the people in the the local community about when or whether it might reopen someday. The only emails we've received from the county library director have been about her favorite Christmas songs and her pet political causes, so she doesn't seem to know or care that people in the community want access to books. The hours for this closed location should be removed because anyone showing up and expecting to use a library will be disappointed. It's just an abandoned building where the county keeps a large container to drop off glass for recycling. (Arlington discontinued curbside recycling pickup of glass in April 2019, so the abandoned library is being used as one of the dropoff sites. Recyclable glass of any color can be dropped off 24/7 in the dumpster-sized bin.)

Still a mess in my opinion. They have added more than a dozen kiosk shops that sell fast food,…read morecoffee, drinks or trinkets. However the water fountain and park part of the "water park" are still closed.

For almost ten years, I worked in Crystal Park. Many weekends, you would see photographers snapping…read morephotos of quinceaneras with their big and bright dresses. Now this park is more hipster with multiple food vendors like Call Your Mother Deli and a coffee shop. There's seating, events, and even an elevated bar. Street parking is nearby.

Came here for a birthday party in a ballroom…read more Parking: 0-1 hours $12 1-3 hours $12 3-5 hours $20 5-24 hours $35 There was no parking. I called the front desk twice and was told to park in the restricted area (top floor of the garage) Bathrooms were okay Ballroom was comfortable Hotel is directly off of the main road

Stay award from this hotel!! After I checked out I got an alert from my credit card for suspicious…read morecharges. Upon contacting the hotel, they accused me of breaking the tv, which I had never even turned on. I immediately drove back to the hotel and demanded to see the tv. They said it was no longer in the room. I asked where it was then they took me to a maintenance room where they rolled in a tv. i could see no damage to the tv. When I asked to turn it on to see if there was damage to the screen, they did not. Rather a man named Javier showed me a foto of a tv screen that was blacked out in the corner. I continued to say that I had never turned any tv on in my room. And who knows where that foto come from? They told me they would "take care of it." Yet the charges are no longer pending on my credit card, they are posted. Stay away from these criminals at this outdated hotel!!!

This is a public another art exhibit created by Phillip Smith III. It was installed in…read moreMetropolitan Park in 2015 and is an optical illusion of sorts. It is one of two pieces of art in the park by Smith and is located on one of the three sections of the park. The art exhibits are on opposite sides of the park. It is made of Corten steel and is pretty solid. Depending on the angle you look at it, it appears to go from a vertical line to a full circle and vice versa. I like this one better to than the other exhibit, Arc line Arc. Even though they are somewhat similar. As I mentioned, the exhibit is in Metropolitan Park, which is a small park with a few benches that face the exhibit. The area appears clean and well maintained. There is a lot of construction going on in the area so it gets kind of loud at times, not to mention it is in the somewhat busy part of town. There is metered street parking available on nearby streets if you drive here. The exhibit is definitely worth a brief stop if you are in the area. It is astounding and it you see this one, you might as well check out its cousin on the opposite side of the park. You probably won't spend too much time there though as the intrigue of looking at the exhibit wears off fast.

Ordinarily Residence Inns would start out as a default 3 stars in my book. But I am downgrading on…read moretwo bases. Checked in here on a Thursday afternoon for a one day stay which included a banquet at the hotel. Two of the three elevators were out of service, and took 15 minutes to get from lobby to my room. Then from my room to dinner took 10 minutes, then checking out took 10 minutes for the elevator. Food service needs improvement. I ordered a vegetarian entrée. and there was not a single protein-containing item on my plate. Breakfast was abysmal. The only "fruit" available was a bowl of bananas Breakfast pastries were all cellophane wrapped of who knows what vintage. Also the hotel seemed to be teeming with kids, who were noisly occupying the hallways until close to midnight. I am a sound sleeper, but this disturbed the rest of some of my colleagues at the meeting I was in town to attend.

Fast, friendly service. Very clean environment. Free…read morebreakfast. Free bottles of water at check in. Microwave, toaster, dishes, utensils in room. Separate floor for pet owners. Easy street parking--cost me 45 cents from Friday night to Monday morning. Need I say more?

Good experience at the Hyatt Regency. I was there for a conference and stayed in the hotel for 5…read morenights. The room was clean and no complaints about the pillows and sheets. The room was spacious and had a good view on the 18th floor. The elevators need some servicing. There were alarm bells ringing like I was in Vegas winning at the casino. It would happen a lot during the conference. There was an DCA complimentary airport shuttle to and from the airport. That was convenient. Overall, it was a decent stay.

I recently stayed at this hotel for a business trip and unfortunately had a disappointing…read moreexperience with customer service. Upon check-in, Jessica at the front desk appeared visibly unfriendly and was frowning throughout the interaction. There was no warm welcome, and she did not go over any of the hotel amenities, or available discounts and perks that I know I was entitled to during my stay. As someone traveling for work, that information is important and would have been helpful. I also dined at the hotel restaurant LobbiBar and ordered the French Dip. It arrived filled with what look old, and overly burnt meat. It was completely inedible. I've attached a photo for reference. It was extremely disappointing, especially after a long day of travel. I made my server aware and was brought out another sandwich which I ended up taking to go as my colleagues were now nearly done with their meals. The unfortunate part is that the hotel room itself was actually very nice, clean, spacious, and comfortable. Housekeeping clearly does a great job, which makes the lack of front desk hospitality and poor food quality even more disappointing. I hope management addresses the customer service at the front desk and the restaurant quality, as this property has potential but needs improvement in guest experience.

As we were walking around Old Town Alexandria, we were intrigued by this huge piece of art that had…read morea cloud of mist around it... Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact), is located in Alexandria's Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street) and was placed there in late March 2024. The new temporary installation by artist/architect duo Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang (StudioKCA) is the sixth in the Site See: New Views in Old Town annual public art series and will be on display from March through November 2024. To find it, head towards the foot of King Street on the shore of the Potomac River, and you will see this monument that teaches us about an interstellar collision that took place not too far away and not too, too long ago between an asteroid and our planet. The installation explores the impact of an asteroid that hit the earth 35 million years ago near what is now Alexandria. Interstellar Influencer uses metal, water, and light to create a 1:2000 scale representation of the asteroid and the 85-kilometer-wide, 1.5-kilometer-deep crater it left behind that helped to shape the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed and the flow of water through its rivers and tributaries in the process. Just a beauty !!!