Stabler-Leadbeater apothecary museum, Alexandria, VA

​A good museum can affect the curious traveler differently. It can inspire, educate and keep the tired travelers warm and dry on rainy days. Unfortunately, even the best museums can intimidate you with its immense size, endless crowds, not very cheap tickets,and, as a consequence, empty wallets. That's why many smart travelers avoid the fancy halls of the largest museums. Be it some writer's home turned into a carefully preserved exhibition hall, a private art collection or just a beautiful building, dedicated to a specific theme, any of these can be a much more efficient place to spend your time and money.

One of the small museums of the USA is a modest yellow building on forested Fairfax Street, downtown Alexandria, Virginia. This is a small but magical Stabler-Leadbeater apothecary museum. Upon entering the tiny museum you feel as if you went back in time and got transferred to a family pharmacy, which lasted for several generations and then suddenly closed during the Great Depression of the 1940s. This pharmacy was meticulously restored and ready for prying eyes - you can see the original wooden shelving, vintage signs and an assortment of glass jars and beakers, which were not affected by time.

Local volunteers are ready to take you on a short but informative tour, amuse the visitors with the tales of "medicine" of the colonial era, such as bloodletting. It was believed that this unpleasant procedure was able to cure a vast number of diseases, and it was by George Washington himself, who was one of the regulars in this eighteenth century pharmacy. According to the legend, another well-known pharmacy client,Robert Lee, was sitting there and talking with a friend, when a messenger came to announce that the Civil War had started.

In addition to these stories, the pharmacy atmosphere itself is enough to transfer the tourists to another era, especially if you visit the second floor of the warehouse. It is full of wooden boxes and cabinets with hand-painted labels, like "Dragon's Breath" and «Fumigating Pastiles». Apparently, there is much more in common between the medicine of the colonial era and Harry Potter's potions that one could imagine.

Although Washington's famous estate in Mount Vernon usually gets the lion's share of attention from the tourists, Stabler-Leadbeater apothecary museum is the best place to explore Alexandria of the colonial era.

Gallery: Stabler-Leadbeater apothecary museum, Alexandria, VA