Spring in Alexandria: Doggy Happy Hour, Baseball Boat, Home and Garden Tour + More

Get your calendars out and start planning your perfect spring in Alexandria. Spring officially arrives at 6:45 p.m. Friday. Although it’s cold and rainy in Alexandria Friday, the first full day of spring on Saturday promises to be partly sunny with a high in the 50s.

Spring in Alexandria promises all sorts of fun: Celebrate DC’s National Cherry Blossom Festival in Alexandria with a scenic cruise on the water taxi from Old Town to the National Mall, or peek into historic homes on the Alexandria Historic Homes & Gardens Tour for glimpses of flowers blooming in lush gardens. Embark on the baseball boat to Nationals Stadium from Old Town for the ballgame or explore rarely seen spaces at historic sites on Historic Alexandria’s Attics and Alleys Tour.

Here’s a look at what’s coming up around town, courtesy of Visit Alexandria:

• Water Taxi to National Mall: Cherry Blossom Festival Service: March 21-April 12, 2015 Daily. Departing at 11:10 a.m., 1:35 p.m., and 4:30 p.m., Cameron & Union sts., Alexandria, VA 22314 Adults: $28 round-trip, $14 one-way. Children under 12: $16 round-trip, $8 one-way. During Cherry Blossom season, the Potomac Riverboat Company offers a 30-minute direct water taxi between Old Town Alexandria and the National Mall in Washington, DC, every day of the week. The boat docks at Ohio & West Basin Drive SW, just steps from the Tidal Basin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and a Capital Bikeshare station. The water taxi to the National Mall runs through the fall on a varying schedule.

• 16th Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Lee-Fendall House: April 3-5, 2015. Egg hunts begin at Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m., 12:30 & 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30 & 2:30 p.m. Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco St., Alexandria, VA 22314 703-548-1789 $12 kids (10 and under); $5 adults. To celebrate Easter, the Lee-Fendall House Museum’s gardens will be filled with hundreds of colorful, toy-filled Easter eggs, in addition to activities like crafts, snacks and photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny. Open to children ages 10 and under and their families. Tickets available online.

• Baseball Boat to Nationals Park: April 4-September 26, 2015. Times vary upon Nationals schedule. Departs from the Alexandria Marina, 1 Cameron St., Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-684-0580. One-way $20, Round-trip $25 Monday-Thursday; Round-trip $28 Friday-Sunday. The Potomac Riverboat Company offers baseball enthusiasts the chance to avoid the crowds and take a leisurely cruise from Old Town Alexandria to Nationals Park along the scenic Potomac River. Online-ticket purchases include free parking. Boats returning to Alexandria depart 20 minutes after final pitch. Boat operates for 80% of Nationals games – check website for specific available dates.

• Doggy Happy Hour Opening Day: April 7, 2015, 5-8 p.m. Jackson 20 and Hotel Monaco Alexandria, 480 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Free (drinks sold separately). An Old Town Alexandria institution, Doggy Happy Hour at Jackson 20 and the Hotel Monaco Alexandria will kick off this spring on April 7 and continue on Tuesdays through October, offering specials on handcrafted cocktails and beers plus treats and water for canine companions. 15% of proceeds benefit P.A.L. (People. Animals. Love.)

• Dare to Think Heroically: Jeremy Denk with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra: April 11, 2015 at 8 p.m. and April 12, 2015 at 3 p.m. Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center, 4915 E. Campus Lane, Alexandria, VA 22314. 703-548-0885; Youth (18 and under) $5, Student (with ID) $10, Adults $20-$80. World-renowned pianist Jeremy Denk, a MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2014 “Instrumentalist of the Year,” takes the ASO stage in April, performing the Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3. Maestro Kim Allen Kluge also leads the orchestra in classic works by Strauss and Wagner alongside music from Hans Zimmer’s Academy Award-nominated score, Gladiator (2000).

• 82nd Annual Alexandria Historic Homes & Garden Tour: April 18, 2015, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Old Town Alexandria; 703-746-3301. $40 in advance; $45 day of; $25 for single sites. Celebrating the 82nd anniversary of Historic Garden Week in Virginia, this tour features privately owned Old Town homes and gardens plus historic properties like the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, Carlyle House Historic Park and George Washington’s Mount Vernon, offering visitors the rare opportunity to see behind the brick walls into some of the most gorgeous residences in this unique neighborhood. Tickets and information available at the Alexandria Visitors Center (221 King St.).

• Carlyle House Garden Day Herb & Craft Sale: April 18, 2015, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Carlyle House Historic Park, 121 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA 22314. 703-549-2997; Event free; $5 to tour house; free tours with Alexandria Garden Day ticket. Celebrate spring with the Friends of Carlyle House’s Annual Garden Day Herb & Craft Sale, where culinary and decorative herbs and plants from Mount Vernon and Layng & Company will be available for purchase. Listen to performances by area musicians throughout the day, bring your garden questions to our Master Gardeners, and shop for items made by local artisans and crafters. There is a pre-sale of plants only on Friday, April 17 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

• Spring2ACTion: Alexandria’s Biggest Day of Giving: April 22, 2015. Times vary; Alexandria, VA 22314. Spring2ACTion celebrates its fifth year with the goal of engaging 10,000 donors to raise $1,000,000+ to support local charities in 24 hours. More than 30 participating local shops and restaurants are joining Spring2ACTion by donating up to 20% of purchases to any school or charity the customer chooses. To sweeten the deal, the Old Town Boutique District will award $500 to the school or charity that rallies the most customers to one of its member stores. Customers need only mention “Spring2ACTion” when paying.

• Historic Alexandria Attics and Alleys Tours: May 2-30, 2015. Saturdays 9 a.m.-noon; Departs from Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco St., Alexandria, VA 22314 or Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal St., Alexandria, VA 22314. 703-746-4242. $35 (Advanced reservations required). The curious are invited to visit rarely seen spaces at four of Alexandria’s historic sites on this special three-hour walking tour of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden and Carlyle House Historic Park. Tickets reserved online at www.Shop.Alexandria.gov.

• Free Mother’s Day Museum Tours: May 10, 2015; 1-5 p.m. at Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, 105-107 S. Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (Mothers free) and 1-4 p.m. at Friendship Firehouse Museum, 107 S. Alfred St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (Free). In honor of Mother’s Day, moms enjoy free admission to two of Alexandria’s premiere historic sites. At the Friendship Firehouse Museum, mothers will receive a complimentary family photo.

For more spring activities in Alexandria, see www.VisitAlexandriaVA.com/spring

PHOTO: Image from Kimpton Hotels, via YouTube