I want to preface this column by saying that I love so many things about Alexandria.

The unique feel and look of the City are second to none. The way history is blended with modern day here is just brilliant, and is just one of the reasons people wherever you go invariably have a very warm feeling about Alexandria.

Anywhere I have ever gone, peoples reaction to the fact that I live here is remarkably the samealways positive and always attached to a fond memory of the City.

That said, there is one thing in the City which has proven a formidable foe to my shoes.

Each time I walk down the streets of Old Town I can almost hear the theme from Jaws.

Like a great white shark, the cracks between the bricks of the sidewalks love to taunt my heels.

Sure, I defy the streets. I wear heels which are the perfect size for the Something so insidious that I never know when it will strike and exactly when my poor shoes will be attacked from below, as if from a great white shark.

It is the reason I try to walk on the street itself anywhere I go in Old Town.

Cindy McCartney is owner of Diva Designer Consignment and Other Delights on Pitt Street in Old Town.