As if the flavors of Old Town Alexandria weren’t already sweet enough – it’s RESTAURANT WEEK!!

Living next to a university campus offers a plethora of benefits. Young minds bring fresh vitality to the community, mature trees and historic buildings dot the landscape, and countless learning opportunities are right at your fingertips.

If you really want to step back into time and do some shopping at the same time, then Union Station should be your stop. Just three stops from Chancellor's Row at the Brookland/CUA Metro station on the red line, Union Station is a masterpiece of design that has served countless travelers over the years. Before airplanes became popular, it was trains that moved the masses throughout the country and Union Station was built in 1908 to serve as a gateway to the nation's capital. Back in 1908, The station covered more ground than any other building in the U.S. and was the biggest train station in the world.

While Cafe Sureia does serve tea, they really offer a lot more. Just a few blocks from Chancellor's Row, Cafe Sureia is located on the 12th street corridor in Brookland. This little gem of a shop offers free Internet access, lovely desserts and the constant rhythm of jazz that plays at a slightly elevated level.

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.

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.