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.

This piece was made by Ethan Kerber in 2014. Kerber, who goes by the name Midnight Metal Works…read moreInc., fabricated the piece at TechShop. You will find it in a little duckoff spot in the Crystal City Business Improvement District. It is part of the larger Art Walls collection. Kerber specializes in metal graffiti art. This sculpture is made of welded steel and he used using three-dimensional modeling software to create it. He added a couple of shades of blue to the sculpture to give it some color. Kerber uses a series of abstract/graffiti style letters, symbols, and shapes to form the sculpture. The sculpture does resemble graffiti that you would see on a wall somewhere and the title plaque the title of the sculpture and Kerber's name in graffiti text. There is a little bench in front of the sculpture and you will find metered street parking available on the street in front of the mural. I will admit, this sculpture is not a destination piece. It is worth a quick look if you are in the area. Most viewers of this sculpture will be passerby's or going to eat at one of the fine eateries on the street. With that being said, I recommend making a visit here part of a larger itinerary.

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.

They have totally re-modeled the Crystal City Water Park! Prior to 2023, all this was not there…read more I used to work here for years and ran on the Mt Vernon trail since forever! So when I saw the updates I was surprised, totally blown away, in a good way. Sidenote: I recall Amazon announced they were coming many years prior. There were city council meetings, upset residents, business proposals, lots of conversation and locals were not happy about it. People were concerned the value of property would get forced up and the cost to living there would increase significantly thus making it not affordable for locals. I am not sure how all that settled since the re-development. When the construction began, I was just upset they were destroying the Water Park. Watching building get torn down is weird. Tearing things down and soooo much construction. Sooooo, although I don't live there nor work there any longer, I am pleased with what they did with the Water Park. It seems like they kept the integrity, yet enhanced it to bring it up to speed with a more modern feel and a great place to gather. They have made such a good use of space. There are mini-restautants lining the entire park. It's also equipped with full restaurants, bar, a real DJ and public restrooms. Still a great point to meet for a bite, hang out, relax and be with nature. The new set-up is a whole vibe. They even incorporated the theme of the VRE trains into the landscape. Each food stall is like a mini-train. They did really well with the new look and set-up. Parking still free after 4pm and on weekends. Thank goodness for that. They better keep it that way and not get greedy! It's been that way so keep it that way. So many people use the Mt Vernon Trail and this is a major artery to access it.

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!!!

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

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?

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.

Booked at the very last minute due to a flight cancellation. Jumped on the shuttle that runs every…read more20 minutes through midnight so I either got the last or second to last shuttle. Check in was quick, even with a few clients ahead of me. I was quickly in my room and got upgraded to a very nice suite. Sadly I was not there long due to a rebooked flight early the next morning but the small.amout of time I did sleep was great sleep. Rain style shower head made for a good wake up but would say that you have to reach all the time at through the shower to turn on the water so you do get a little blast of cold water in the process. Shuttle was right on time to run me back to the airport. Hyatt is a great hotel brand and this was no exception. Definitely recommend if staying near the Regan airport.

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.

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 !!!