Bill and I were in Michigan for our actual 9 Year Anniversary but we wanted to celebrate it officially the following week-end which happened to be July 4th. We decided to stay a night in Old Town Alexandria at the Hotel Monaco, which turned out to be a stellar hotel! We started our day by biking 17 miles from Alexandria to Mount Vernon with a picnic at the half point. When we returned to our hotel, our room wasn't ready yet so we headed to a nearby Irish pub to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. We checked in around 3:30 and decided to catch a quick nap before getting ready for our evening events. When we woke, we went outside on our balcony and watched a wedding that was happening in the courtyard. We took off for dinner about an hour later and ate at The Wharf. We had hoped to see some fireworks and we did but they were far off in the distance so nothing too spectacular from where we were. We decided to head to Las Tapas before heading back to the hotel to listen to some live Spanish music, which turned out to be a great time. The following morning we had breakfast in the adjoining restaurant to the hotel, Jackson 20, and then headed back. It was great to get away even if just for a night - especially to celebrate our anniversary!