I am a big BBQ fan. I passionately go to Rockland's BBQ and Grilling Company when I am in Georgetown or Rockville, enjoy a sandwich to go from Urban BBQ from one of its several locations and I am always on the lookout for BBQ when traveling. That said, Alexandria has King Street Blues and it is the king of BBQ in Old Town. I am on my 6th visit and each time I have discovered something more surprising.

One step into The Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria and you know you are sunk deep into a creative space that shares the talents of a variety of local artists. It was once a factory that made torpedos during world war II and has since been retooled (so to speak) to handle a variety of penetrating art forms. I will stop with the puns but the fact is, the Torpedo Factory is a great visit that allows you to see and buy great works of art.

Are you an early bird? Every Saturday morning vendors from all around the region set up shop (or table) at the Alexandria Farmers Market. Although it officially starts at 5AM, some have their wares out even earlier. This last Saturday I arrived at 7AM to find the courtyard full of vendors, the sun working its way up through the trees and a light breeze welcoming me. Laid out across many tables were vegetables of all shapes, sizes and colors, freshly made muffins, flowers, trinkets and antiques waiting to be purchased. In a squared off area were the cooked breads from Bonjour Bakery. They were amazing and I couldn't help but have a cranberry muffin. Yes, it was tasty and the experience of shopping with birds flying overhead and the sun coming up made it even better. Three steps away was a fresh squeezed orange juice vendor where I washed down my muffin in several large gulps.

For those who love dogs and everyone who loves happy hour, the two have collided at Jackson 20, a restaurant within the Monaco hotel on King Street. Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5PM to 8PM dogs can come for a drink of water and a biscuit while their owners chat, drink, socialize and watch a lot of tail wagging. The evening we were there, 9 or so dogs in a wide range of breeds behaved extremely well on the back patio as their owners mingled over champagne and Miller Light.

On a walk down King Street, an inviting storefront beckoned us to come in for a closer look. Of course there are many shops in Old Town with charisma but it was my green thumb that was tugged and inside I went. Knotting Hill Gardens provides “award winning’ landscaping and garden planning services, but inside they had the kind of items that could certainly find their way onto a front step or on to a table. Knotting Hill Gardens is a narrow shop but the shelves are layered with items that could pass for antiques but in actuality are just designed with a sense of times past. Stone figurines, miniature planters, earthen vases, candles, blocks of soap and of course flowering plants in a variety of pottery designs occupy the display areas.

As a bakery, you might go to Yelp in order to find out if Alexandria Cupcake is any good but my sense is that all of the Yelp reviews won’t be as good as mine. Why? Because Alexandria Cupcake is not just about cupcakes, it’s about a partnership in making 4 oz flavor explosions of moist heaven and the efforts of two people to share them with as many cupcake lovers as possible. Since January of 2010, Adnan Hamidi and Kathy Taylor have been churning out hundreds of cupcakes a day with over 16 different flavor combinations. Each time I have visited their walk-up storefront, the display case full of cupcakes sat waiting for what I consider the hardest decision of my day. Yes, fluffy, yes tasty, yes yummy and everything else a cupcake should be, looking over them and deciding is a decision that your mind and your mouth will fight over.