Between haunted hubs, fall foliage, Victorian architecture and ghoulish storefronts, Old Town Alexandria knows how to curate a Halloween hot spot.

That’s why we spent Monday afternoon venturing to the quaint downtown area to get a stronger taste of the Halloween season than Foggy Bottom provides. With its small-town atmosphere and allegedly haunted past, Old Town seemed like the best nearby locale to spend a few hours in an atmosphere reminiscent of Salem, Massachusetts — with both regions being steeped in history and spookiness. 

Our journey started — as most do — at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro, taking the blue line to King St-Old Town in our most autumnal attire of pleated skirts and tan jackets. After the 20-minute ride, we exited the station and walked down King Street, with brown fallen leaves crinkling under our feet.

The further we traveled, the more picturesque the scene became, with Halloween decor covering the houses and vintage lampposts scattered throughout. We both noted that we felt worlds away from the city and closer to the cinematic landscape of a town like Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow. 

The lines of historical rowhouses and storefronts, many with spider web-clad windows and pumpkin-lined porches, were under the cover of semi-green, semi-yellow trees and dappled with late-afternoon sunlight. The streets were fairly quiet, with red-and-brown trolleys passing by the shop windows displaying “Happy Halloween” banners and witch figurines. 

As we walked down King Street, we popped into Chatree’s Gallery. The store had rooms filled with antiques, from intricate mirrors to angel figurines lining the walls. After exiting the charming spot, Penny Post, a stationery store on a street corner, caught our eye, so we headed over to admire the endless pen offerings and colored note pads they sold.

In hunt of some of the more speculated haunted sites, we made our way to Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, a place with alleged ghost tales from over a century ago. The tavern was made up of two connected red-brick buildings on the corner of Cameron and Royal streets, one being the home of a functioning restaurant, which serves dishes like “George Washington’s Favorite” — a meal of duck, corn pudding and potatoes.

The tavern is also the setting for several ghost stories online, one of them detailing the tale of “The Female Stranger,” a tale about a couple who arrived at the tavern to stay for the night while the wife was very sick. As the legend goes, the husband brought her into room number eight, refused to reveal his name and left an unsettling air of suspicion. The wife soon died from a severe ailment, while he vanished leaving his debts behind, and her spirit is said to continue haunting the tavern.

We walked into the first tavern, which opened in 1785 and became a museum in 1976, and were met by a small gift shop with booklets and historical-looking figurines lining the shelves. After paying $5 each for admission, we made our way to the dining rooms, with a few tables set with realistic-looking fake food. Menus recreated from the tavern’s early days in the 1780s were scattered across tables for viewing — a dinner with “beer, cyder or one Gill of good Spirits” cost 50 cents, which equates to $10 today.

As we made our way up the narrow and steep staircases, we walked into the assembly room with sunlight pouring through the large windows with red curtains and a square piano made in 1806, according to the signage. 

At the top of the last set of stairs were dormer sleeping rooms where guests could stay the night, and we could only wonder if the ghost once rested there. Another staircase led to the second building, the 1792 city tavern and hotel, where visitors had access only to an east bedchamber and the ballroom.

We could not find room number eight on our self-guided tour, leading us to wonder if the story was true or not. After we made our way back to the gift shop to inquire about the tavern’s haunted tales we had read online before the visit, an employee told us that they believed the ghost tale was simply a marketing ploy, but one of her colleagues said they often felt a chill in the air when closing up shop each night. 

In search of another haunted site, we walked down the street to the allegedly haunted Carlyle House, an 18th-century museum and house that was unfortunately closed, though we were able to briefly wander around the grounds. Trees with leaves turning to red and orange hues reached over the red brick walkway, leading to a backyard space and garden with a gazebo, reminiscent of the landmark that sat in the middle of Stars Hollow.

Ghost tales say the site is haunted by wandering spirits, including original owner and Old Town Alexandria founder John Carlyle’s second wife, Sybil West, who burned Carlyle’s deceased first wife’s possessions out of anger. Visitors said they have seen a screaming woman in the garden. Luckily, we did not walk too far behind the house to hear any screeches. The house itself is the only stone, 18th-century Georgian house in Alexandria, setting it apart from its brick neighbors.

We passed by House of Tarot Cards and walked in to see if we could get a deck read, but decided against it because of our tight college-student budgets. As we descended the staircase and exited the building, we saw spooky signs across the street at O’Connell’s Irish Restaurant and Bar with skeletons, ghosts and spiders hanging from the sign and a vampire peering out the window — which was enough of the paranormal for us.

As we neared the end of our journey, we debated between stopping for an autumnal coffee at one of the many cafes that offered outdoor seating — including Misha’s Coffee — or grabbing ice cream at one of the many shops lining King Street. Enamored by the vintage, red-and-green building housing The Creamery, we decided to grab a couple cones. Opting for peanut butter fudge and coffee Oreo, we sat at a glass table on the brick street to indulge and were quite satisfied with our decision to soak in the final weeks of ice cream-appropriate weather. 

We continued to walk down the street to catch a glance of the Potomac River and felt more of a breeze as we approached it. We stood, watching the water, for a little while, enjoying the serenity of the scene to wrap up a lovely afternoon. 

We decided our journey had come to an end — as one of us had a class to get to — and made our way back to the Metro station, though Old Town Books caught our eye as we traversed toward the station. We quickly perused through the large collection, taking notes on what our future reads would be, though neither of us made any purchases.

As we took the blue line home, we were transported back to our day-to-day routines at GW — but with the happy memories of a sunny, Halloweeny afternoon spent in the movie-like splendor of Old Town.