Old town definitely gives off small town vibes, with beautiful and historic buildings…read more During this time of year, I love all the holiday lights and decorations In the city. It's filled with small shops and beautiful cafes. I usually try to visit this area at least twice a week to enjoy walking around.

Be careful visiting Old Town Alexandria... you'll fall in love and never want to leave! We recently…read morestayed at Hotel Indigo, on the Old Town waterfront, and spent several days visiting (then revisiting... again and again lol!) all the shops and several restaurants along King and Union streets. The area is such a vibe. Can't even describe it. I truly can't wait to come back.

Rate posted at entrance was clearly $25 max in 24 hr period. No signage indicating anything…read moreotherwise. Online showed the same rate. So when we get to the gate the next morning, quite odd that it's asking for $35 despite only having been parked 18 hrs. Parking attendant refused to lower rate, but did not object to the fact that there was no indication of this rate change.

We visited the Gaylord National Resort's ICE sculptures and parked here. It cost $5 for up to 1.5…read morehour and $15 for more than 2 hours. This garage is a bit pricier than the street parking but they have a garage to maintain and run, and it feels safer to park in a garage than on a street, so I opted to park here. The interior is clean, properly maintained, and brightly lit at night. There are multiple entrances and exits and a few dead ends where you end up having to make a U turn in the middle of the garage, which is a bit odd. The signage is clear and directed me to the elevators and stairwells. You can either pay by foot before getting back to your vehicle or pay at the exit terminal (which might annoy people behind you if there's a line).

$7 flat rate after 1800 hours? That's not terribly excessive…read more I'm a little unclear about why they have someone manning a booth here. It's not like he actually does anything. The payment system here is like most airports - you take your ticket, you stick it in the machine, you stick your cash in the machine (because, yes, they only take cash here... how 1990's is that?!), grab your change, and go. No human contact, whatsoever. It must suck to be shelling out wages to have someone sit there for hours on end. Opportunity for business process re-engineering? I think yes. The garage itself is conveniently located, spacious, and apparently completely clears out after regular working hours are over. It was pretty empty by the time I arrived around 1900, and it was completely dead by the time I left Eamonn's with the girls. Sure beats driving around in circles on obnoxious Old Town one-way streets to hunt for that one metered spot!

Avoid this garage - completely unprofessional and poorly managed…read more I parked my car at 5:30 PM for an event, and there were zero signs posted regarding closing hours. When I returned at 10:19 PM, the gate was locked and I found a group of other frustrated people stranded outside. There is a sign listing a contact person named "Yared" to call for after-hours access, but despite multiple calls from several of us, nobody answered. There was absolutely no way to get our vehicles out. I was forced to take an Uber home and now have to deal with the massive inconvenience of returning in the morning just to retrieve my car. If you're going to lock people out, you need to have the decency to post your hours clearly or actually answer the emergency line you've provided. Truly a terrible experience.

Reviews across this hot spot for shopping and restaurants all have the same complaint- parking…read more Except there are parking garages and parking lots- you have to pay for them....but if you want to avoid the aggravation before having fun, it's easier to just pull into a garage. This one is closer to the river- right off the main drag and we found a spot so easy mid-day Saturday. Easy = 2 rows in and close tot he entrance/exit. You get a ticket and use a pay kiosk before leaving. We aren't locals- and my sister-in-law had been many times and always parks in the paid parking.

The garage is conveniently located at the Alexandria General District Court near King St. and Pitt…read moreSt. This might be a good choice for parking when the area is crowded and/or you don't want to be bothered with checking a meter every two hours. The price is $2.50/hr up to a max of $10.

We were hungry and needed a place to park. They were open and had parking. A chance encounter that…read moreended in amazing service. The atendenat answered questions, suggested a space, helped us park, and escorted us through the doors to where we were going to grab a bite. He recognized on the way in and even guided us out of the space. I am sure if we had a lost cat or dog he would have chased it down for us. I can't say enough about the service.

"Making Shoppers Into Criminals to Make Profits"…read more Have shopped there regularly for 20 years, however, just had a very terrible experience: after patronizing stores in the mall one morning (and I had the receipts to prove it), I walked to a neighboring business adjoining the mall and came back mere minutes later to find my car towed. The impound lot was on the other side of the city, very far away, and I was left stranded, with shopping items in my hands and no way to get home. The selection here is pedestrian. The value is like everywhere else in the U.S., over priced. (The last two sentences are presented to meet Yelp review criteria. And now on with our story.) I returned later in the day to look for signage indicating anyone leaving the mall's premises to frequent adjacent businesses would be towed. I had parked in a large expanse of the mall in which no signs with that warning were visible. And obviously, they have vulture tow truck drivers, sitting, watching. Any buzzard grabbing my vehicle would have seen from the groceries in the car that no one had wandered away to take a tour of D.C. or to board an airplane at Reagan Airport. When you get to the impound lot, they then fleece you, admonishing you that you knowingly left the parking lot in violation of the rules. You didn't encounter any signs? You must have not looked hard enough. There were no signs where you parked? They can't afford to put the signs all over the place. Etc. They rehearsed all of their comebacks. They've heard it all before. Scum, and I will shop in the same stores located on Richmond Highway outside the Beltway from now on. The selection and value offered at Potomac Yard is no greater or less than what is offered at the Richmond Highway location I have just mentioned, and you won't risk being put through such an ordeal. I don't consider it to be a value to get raked over the coals. These are just opportunists, preying on innocent shoppers. And to what extent the shopping center is complicit in this robbery of patrons is anyone's guess.

I feel like I'm here every weekend. Seriously. Frankly, there's really nothing pretty or nice about…read morethis shopping center. But it's a total one-stop, go-everywhere-you-need-to shopping center. And that is why it earns 4 stars. Convenience. It's a great thing. We usually start off at Barnes & Noble or Old Navy or Best Buy or TJ Maxx or some other store we want to browse around in. Sometimes we'll even catch a movie (yeah, you can do that here too). And sometimes we'll eat at one of the restaurants. Then we head over to PetSmart to look at cute animals and purchase goodies for our cat and dog. Then we head into Target for household supplies and some groceries. And then go to Shoppers and get all the rest of our groceries. In short, we literally can spend an entire day at this shopping center. So yeah, that's the kind of convenience you just can't find often.

I've visited the Village at Shirlington 3 times and it's been great each time!!…read more The street is lined w restaurants, coffee shops, novelty shops, etc. Street parking can be a little worrisome metered parking. There are garages nearby. The streets and sidewalks are always clean. The trees are all well manicured, and the area is very pet friendly. I look forward to more visits to this awesome area.

The Village at Shirlington has grown significantly from the days that it was just a row of…read morerestaurants and a movie theater. Pretty much every kind of food you would want is in the Village, and all top notch.

I don't know why it took me so long to get a library card, but the sign up process was super easy!…read moreYou just download the app on your phone, enter personal information, and have to verify your information in person within 30 days of signing up with an ID. In the mean time, you can browse the extensive catalog, which is shared among the nine libraries across Arlington. I was able to pick up the book I wanted to read within 3 business days of signing up! I'm super excited to discover more books through the library.

Wow - what a very pleasant experience! I haven't been to a public library in years and today, I was…read morein and out in five minutes! I got a library card and checked a book out. Everything was super efficient and the staff member I worked with was very helpful. And three weeks for a book is so generous! Can't wait to come back.