I'm looking for a place within an hours drive from DC that has lots of little shops and good food. We like local arts, crafts and food. Amish/Mennonite communities or historic settlements (like German, Czech, etc...)
I want to go somewhere with enough to keep us busy for quite a few hours.
I enjoyed downtown Annapolis and may go back there but any suggestions are appreciated!

You can try old town Alexandria, only about 10-15 minutes away.

I have stayed at the Sheraton Suites in Alexandria and if "old town" is the scattered stores near that hotel, I am not interested.
I'm looking for a high concentration of stores, shops and restaurants like the Georgetown area... which I have vistited so many times I know it backwards and forwards.

I really enjoyed "The Torpedo Factory" in Alexandria. It's an old factory that has been turned into a crafts "mall" and studio arts class center. It's just outside DC, right on the Potomac, a very pretty setting. High quality, high end fine art and pottery, jewelry, textile arts, spread out over 2 or 3 floors
There are plenty of other types of stores (many kind of touristy)and restaurants nearby, as well as a little park right outside. I think that there are boats rides down the Potomac that leave from there, or if not from nearby

TxTravelPro:
The Sheraton Suites is not in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. King St., which runs west from the Potomac River, is where most of the shops are located. You could easily spend a few hours strolling in that part of town.

I've never been to the Sheraton Suites and don't know where it is, but old town Alexandria can certainly be described as "a high concentration of stores, shops and restaurants like the Georgetown area," which you say is what you're looking for.

TxTravel, don't know what part of Old Town Alexandria you were shopping in but it is a concentration of shops.

Thanks, that's great news!
I had always heard Old Town Alex. was great and when I was at the Sheraton I was so totally unimpressed. We walked around but never found anything, in fact it was a little scary walking to the metro stop and the grocery store from the hotel.
I will make that part of our itinerary. The Torpedo Factory sounds like what I am looking for.
Thanks again!

The heart of Old Town Alexandria radiates from the intersection of King St and Washington St. with King running E/W (east is the Potomac River) and Washington St. going N/S (north is DC and south is Mt. Vernon).

The primary focus of shops and galleries is King Street running from the Metro down to the river.

Sheraton Suites are a bit off that path but still very much in Old Town. If you walked from the hotel to the King Street Metro you probably crossed through the city subsidized housing project known as The Burg.
It was the location (original and film site) for Remember the Titans.

I used to live a block from the Sheraton. Not unsafe. Just use your urban sensibilities.

Old Town should give you more than a couple of hours of exploring. Don't expect to find much history beyond US (and there's a bunch of that). There is a Mennonite community in central VA but far as I know it's pretty insulated.

Have a great visit.