The droplets of melting ice cream slowly ran down the toddler's arm
and onto the seat of his mom's new van, but she didn't seem to notice,
being drawn back in time to her grandmother's kitchen and its wondrous
smells of cookies baking. In fact, this cookie not only looked like
her grandmother's, it tasted just like them too. What a find, she thought
as she drove through the winding, tree-lined roads. Imagine finding
this wonderful old country store right here in the middle of one of
the nation's most populated areas - a place that still focuses on customers,
calling each one by name, and still extends credit to its valued customers:
a place that welcomes new additions to its fold almost daily, and makes
them feel right at home. Well, she thought as she pulled up the long
driveway to the house ... "home" is where we are.
About now, you've got to be asking yourselves, just what kind of story
is this? What does this kid's ice cream and the mom's cookie have to
do with real estate? The answer is simple" This scenario isn't a dream.
It's not a wish. It's life in a lovely part of Fairfax County -- Great
Falls. Not only is Great Falls home to one of the most powerful vistas
on the Potomac River -- Great Falls Historic Park -- but it's also home
to some of the area's largest and most prestigious estates, complete
with stables and horses roaming green pastures, as well as to houses
built for "regular" families -- those of us that have the 3.2 children,
2 pets and mortgage that we fret over monthly. And there are the older
homes, sitting well back from the tree-lined roadways, that harkens
back to the earlier times of Fairfax County before the birth of the
computer age. Truly, Great Falls is an eclectic mixture of people, housing,
lifestyles and incomes, but it's more too. The community of Great Falls
is "home" to several thousand residents that come home to a community
that stands at the forefront of a construction boom of modernity, but
that never loses sight of its past. Throughout the close-knit community,
the old mixes with the new. Across the street from the very same store
mentioned earlier, Thelma's, is a modern shopping center, offering the
latest in everything from environmentally-fresh veggies to "campy" clothing.
Just down Colvin Run is another shopping area boasting high-tech Realtors'
offices, an Irish pub, the Old Brogue, replete with weather-beaten tables
and a fabulous old bar, and features real Irish musicians on the weekends,
and myriad trendy shops. The community is dotted with elegant restaurants
boasting diners from the "A" list, but also has its share of fast-food
eateries and neighborhood cafes that fill to the brim every evening
with young families, older residents and visitors, all comfortably melding
into the community that is Great Falls.
Bridle paths, biking and walking trails share the untouched scenery
throughout Great Falls, often meeting and sharing the pristine views.
The quiet of the community is broken only be the sounds of children
playing or by the gentle whisper of an evening breeze. And trouble is
something this community just doesn't know ... some areas are guarded
by private security firms and while others enjoy the protection of the
award-winning and nationally recognized Fairfax County Police force.
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