Alexandria Stinks (Arlington, Mount Vernon, Fairfax: city hall, hotel, construction)

[Elizabethan1558]

Thank you Denton and FairfaxGuy.Your kind words mean alot.Yes,i have contimplated on the right thing to do for my situation.And the only solution is for me to move back home to the south.Then i will truely be at peace.

Thank you both agian

[Elizabethan1558]

As Dorothy famously quoted,"There's no place like home,there's no place like home."
I'm finding that to be more true now then ever.The sweet memories of my grandparent's farm rings in my ears,the field's of free,flowing flowers,sitting on the front porch sipping cold ice tea,resting after a lovely sunday dinner,watching the sun set with the horses running wildly in the far off field's.

It's evident i am very home sick.Home sick for North Carolina.It took me moving away from there,to really make me appreciate what i had all along.I miss my family,my old freind's,the fall season in the Cherokee mountians is soo beautiful it will take your breath away.Small shop's owned by people you have known your whole life,you walk in,they call your name.Just the small little things i remember,and miss soo dearly.(sighs)

[Denton56]

I hope you get to go back home soon. I completely understand loving all of those things!

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by Elizabethan1558

As Dorothy famously quoted,"There's no place like home,there's no place like home."
I'm finding that to be more true now then ever.The sweet memories of my grandparent's farm rings in my ears,the field's of free,flowing flowers,sitting on the front porch sipping cold ice tea,resting after a lovely sunday dinner,watching the sun set with the horses running wildly in the far off field's.

It's evident i am very home sick.Home sick for North Carolina.It took me moving away from there,to really make me appreciate what i had all along.I miss my family,my old freind's,the fall season in the Cherokee mountians is soo beautiful it will take your breath away.Small shop's owned by people you have known your whole life,you walk in,they call your name.Just the small little things i remember,and miss soo dearly.(sighs)

Wow. I hope that you can get back too. Time has a way of slipping by up here. Even back home, people can move, but worse, die.

In my old neighborhood, there are only a couple of people left. The houses look the same on the outside, but the people inside are strangers. The time that you spend with family is so precious too. There's nothing worth that here unless it's just simple necessity because you can't find work any where else. If you can go home, don't wait too long.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I can't believe that DASH would schedule all of those buses a half hour apart.

I don't want to discourage anyone from taking the bus. During business hours, it may be a good option. Myself, and apparently many of the locals don't use it. One thing to be aware of, is that the trolley stops at 8 p.m., and the last DASH bus on the schedule stops at 8:36. The walk back is dark, and while I'm sure that taxis must run at night, I never see one when I want it. The best option is to have a friend drive you to the station.

During non-rush hour, the Metro is extremely slow. I always feel like I'm waiting 20-25 minutes up on that darn platform. Then you may have to transfer, such as at Rosslyn, and wait another 20-25 minutes.

I used to be a big fan of the Metro and took it everywhere. You might want to learn from my experience and realize how much faster driving is during non rush hour and just get used to doing that. For example, going to points in DC from NOVA during non rush hour on the train, or going against rush hour can typically take an hour to an hour and a half, which does not include getting to the Metro itself. I have to transfer at Rosslyn to get into Alexandria, so it's always slow.

Getting home at night by car is so nice. It's already parked, so you just hop in it and zoom home. I can get home from deep in DC in 30 minutes. There's always something convoluted about exiting Alexandria, but getting home from there doesn't take too much longer.

[geniegrl]

I feel compelled to jump in here, FairfaxGuy ---

The last trolley of the night is 10:10 pm, every night. DASH runs past 10 pm every weeknight -- with the last bus after 11 pm on some routes. The main anachronism is that, on Sundays, most DASH routes are through by 7 pm. There are also several Metrobus lines that run into Old Town -- including the 10A/10B that runs from Braddock Road. Generally speaking, when taking the bus from Old Town, it is faster to go to Braddock Road. As far as the bus service available in Old Town, it will depend on where one lives, but I generally have to wait no more than 5-10 minutes during commute times for a bus because there are multiple routes available.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by geniegrl

I feel compelled to jump in here, FairfaxGuy ---

The last trolley of the night is 10:10 pm, every night. DASH runs past 10 pm every weeknight -- with the last bus after 11 pm on some routes. The main anachronism is that, on Sundays, most DASH routes are through by 7 pm. There are also several Metrobus lines that run into Old Town -- including the 10A/10B that runs from Braddock Road. Generally speaking, when taking the bus from Old Town, it is faster to go to Braddock Road. As far as the bus service available in Old Town, it will depend on where one lives, but I generally have to wait no more than 5-10 minutes during commute times for a bus because there are multiple routes available.

Are you sure? My information was based on the links provided in a previous post. The DASH was based on King Street. If it's true, thanks for correcting me. It's just not what I saw. When I have time, I'll look again.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by FairfaxGuy73

The walk back is dark, and while I'm sure that taxis must run at night, I never see one when I want it.

Pick up the phone and call for a cab is not an option?

[geniegrl]

Here's the trolley information: King Street Trolley | T&ES | City of Alexandria, VA. It ends at 10 pm but because there is not a run at 10 pm exactly the last run is at 10:10 pm -- kind of confusing, but I did take the 10:10 pm run once.

With DASH (http://www.dashbus.com/routes/), the AT 2, 3, 3-4, 4, 5, 7, and 8 routes go into Old Town. The 3 and 7 stop pretty early but the others have later runs. Evening frequency after the commute period could be much improved (hourly on some of the routes) but it's not too bad when you consider that you can take more than one route to get to the middle of Old Town (i.e., Market Square area).

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Pick up the phone and call for a cab is not an option?

I found a better option. Hang out in Arlington or DC where a Metro station is an easy walk.