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December 201 8 October 201 8
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OLD VALLEY PIKE... ....IN “THE” VALLEY Personality Profile
RICK WASMUND
Virginia’s Original Copper Fox
Road Trip
Business Profile
AN END OF SUMMER TRIP ALONG THE WEST RIVER Anne Arundel County, MD
Personality Profile
WENDY RIEGER
News Anchor, Emmy Award Winner &
Personality
Profile
Renaissance Man
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Points On Pets
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EXECUTIVE DINER
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Not Your Typical Diner Experience Across the River
THE HARBOR HEATS UP FOR THE
HOLIDAYS
Road Trip
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Old Town Alexandria
Business Pro
SOCIETY FAIR
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Dining Out
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Across the Riv
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NATIONAL HARBOR Christmas on the Potomac & More!
Setting the Standard In Old Town Since 1979
january’19 A Division of Crier Media Group OTC Media LLC PO Box 320386 Alexandria, VA 22320 703. 836. 0132 office@oldtowncrier.com oldtowncrier.com Published the first week of every month. Worth waiting for! PUBLISHER Bob Tagert
16
MARKETING & ADVERTISING Lani Gering Bob Tagert SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE Ashley Schultz DESIGN & PRODUCTION Electronic Ink 9 Royal Street, SE Leesburg, VA 20175 703. 669. 5502 CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Liu Melinda Myers Ron Powers Kim Putens Julie Reardon Ashley Schultz Bob Tagert Carl Trevisan Ryan Unverzagt Lori Welch Brown Molly Winans
Peggie Arvidson Marty Basher Nancy Bauer Sarah Becker F. Lennox Campello Steve Chaconas Doug Fabbioli Nicole Flanagan Lani Gering Miriam Kramer Genevieve LeFranc
© 2018 Crier Media Group, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The Old Town Crier is published monthly and distributed to select Alexandria residents, hotels, restaurants and retail shops. Also distributed in the Annapolis, Fredericksburg, Blue Ridge and Washington, DC areas and St. John, USVI.
From the Bay to the
From the
Bay to the
38
A Bit of History............................................................. 16
Financial Focus.................................................................. 8
Open Space.....................................................................46
A Few Reasons to Consider Downsizing............29
First Blush.........................................................................43
Personality Profile............................................................ 4
After Hours.......................................................................11
Fitness................................................................................41
Pets of the Month.........................................................19
Alexandria Events............................................................ 3
From the Bay….............................................................22
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra 18-19 Season....11
From the Trainer............................................................42
Arts & Antiques..............................................................13
Gallery Beat.....................................................................12
Behind the Bar................................................................32
Go Fish...............................................................................45
Business Profile................................................................. 6
Grapevine.........................................................................38
Caribbean Connection...............................................20
High Notes.......................................................................10
Dining Guide...................................................................34
Let's Eat.............................................................................36
The Last Word.................................................................... 9
Dining Out.......................................................................30
National Harbor.............................................................47
To the Blue Ridge..........................................................28
Exploring Virginia Wines............................................39
On the Road with OTC................................................... 1
Urban Garden.................................................................14
Points on Pets.................................................................18 Publisher’s Notes.............................................................. 2 Road Trip...........................................................................24 Social Media Message....................................................2 Spiritual Renaissance...................................................44
From the Bay to the Blue Ridge
Since 1988 • Priceless
Since 1988
24
Blue Ridge
Since 1988 • Priceless
Blue Ridge
January 2019
• Priceless
March 2018
Since 1988
• Priceless
January 2018
From the
Bay to the
Celebrating 30 years!
Blue Ridge
April 2018
Road Trip
"BREWS, BOOZE & BACCHUS"
of Southern MD The Breweries, Distilleries & Wineries Personality Profile
TO SURGEON "FROM CIRCUS CLOWN Kahanovitz
AND BACK"
Dr. Neil
Gallery Beat
“THE QUILTS OF GEE'S BEND SYNDROME”
SPRINGTIME
An Art Critics Condundrum
Road Trip
RECAP 2017 What a ride!
Profile
FRANCES KILLPATRICK friend. Author, journalist,
WARMING UP IN WINE COUNTRY
Some Loudoun County
ty Profi
MAURICE
favorites.
oldtowncrier.com
From the Bay
Southern Hospitality Personality
National Harbor
GRACE EXECUTIVE SERVICES July 2018
Dining Out
BASTILLE BRASSERIE
In the Light
Chic French Fare &
Since 1988
& BAR
International Wines
From the
Since 1988
RIVER
Celebrates 10
Years!
Take a Ride With Francene
Profile
Blissfully Being & Dancing
ACROSS THE
Business Profi le
&B
At Its Best
CHOU CHOU SCANTLIN
May 2018
TEMPO
Upscale Northern RESTAURANT Italian & French Cuisine
From the Bay to the Blue Ridge
Since 1988 • Priceless
Road Trip
GREENFIELD INN B
Since 1988 • Priceless
VA
Father, Philanthropist & CEO Business Profile
BRETON King Of Comfort...One Shoes! Dining Out
Teppanyaki
to the Blue Ridge
Road Trip
MR. JON PETERSON le
They Matter Big Time
STEAKHOUSE TOKYO JAPANESE anyone?
Grapevvine
COMES TO CULPEPER,
Personali
Open Space
“LITTLE FLAKES EVERYWHERE” Dining Out
Personality
Bay to the
• Priceless
Blue Ridge
From the
Bay to the
Blue Ridge
• Priceless
June 2018
August 2018
Road Trip
HOTEL THE BOARDWALK PLAZA On the Beach A Victorian Adventure Rehoboth, DE
le Business Profi
Road Trip
THE BITTERSWEET GARDEN &
HISTORIC OCCOQUAN
Fine Statuary, Antiques Accessories for the Garden The Plains, VA
An Oasis & Little Known Gem in VA Business Profile
Dining Out
VILLAGE HARDWARE
LA TRATTORIA
La Dolce Vita on Washington Old Town Alexandria
Quality Products & Personalized Service Since 1979
Street
Five Generations of Strothers Business Profile
Fact vs Fiction
Dining Out
Special Feature
THE CHESAPEAKE” “THE JEWEL OFBeach, Maryland
Happy Mother’s Day!
North
Personality
From the Bay to the
Profile
Since 1988 • Priceless
FATHERS OUR “FOUR”local Dads! An insight to
Ridge
Business
Since 1988 • Priceless
November 2018
CRAB CAKE CAFE
Dining Out
the World
SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY
in The World Is Stonewall’s Arm? Dining Out
& MASON'S
FAMOUS LOBSTER Crustacean Cuisine ROLLS Since 1988 •Harbor In National Priceless
and Around
Across the
THE HARBOR IS
& M/Y OCEAN PEARL
Grapevine
AL FRESCO DINING Old Town!
• Priceless
Circumnavigating
THREE DAYS IN
Wine, War, And Where
Lulu
Our Favorites In Since 1988
MARTINA JONES
Happy Birthday USA and Alexandria!
Profile
DIFFERENCE” “EXPERIENCESageTHESalon & Spa September 2018
SKYLARK DRONE
THE HARBOUR GRILLE Up In the RESEARCH Air with Dr. Tulinda The New Kid on the Water In Woodbridge! Deegan Larsen Personality Blue Ridge Profile CAPTAIN
Road Trip
A TRIBUTE TO MOM
From the Bay to the Blue
Road Trip
A Bit of History VALLEY VIEW FARM "THEY'RE BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE"Celebrating Delaplane, VA
Urban Garden
THE MEMORIAL DAY POPPY
River
From the Bay
HEATING UP! From the Bay
to the Blue
to the Blue Ridge
Ridge
December 2018
October 2018
Road Trip
OLD VALLEY PIKE... ....IN “THE” VALLEY Personality Profile
RICK WASMUND
Virginia’s Original Copper Fox
Road Trip
Business Profile
AN END OF SUMMER TRIP ALONG THE WEST RIVER Anne Arundel County, MD
Personality Profile
WENDY RIEGER
News Anchor, Emmy Award Winner &
MYSTIQUE
Road Trip ...with a purpose!
TAKE A TREK TO SOME Personality
One of A Kind
Points On Pets
Renaissance Man
An Old Town Icon
Dining Out
Dining Out AUGIE'S MUSSEL HOUSE OLDTwistHOUSE COSMOPOLITAN Traditional Belgian Cuisine With a Modern Authentic German Cuisine
GRILL
in Old Town
Grapevine
THE WINE COUNTRY
OF VIRGINIA
Unique and Evolving
Fine Jewelry Inspired by Passion Dining Out
VA WINERIES
Profile
HOWARD ROGERS
Maritime Artist and
Business Profi SUPPORT ANIMAL le SERVICE ANIMAL OR EMOTIONAL There Is a Big Difference RANDOM HARVEST HOME FURNISHINGS
EXECUTIVE DINER
Celebrate
VIRGINIA WINE
Month
!
Not Your Typical Diner Experience Across the River
THE HARBOR HEATS UP FOR THE
HOLIDAYS
Road Trip
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Old Town Alexandria
Business Profi le
SOCIETY FAIR
Gourmet Emporium, Wine Bar & Cafe
Dining Out
TEQUILA & TACO
Feliz Navidad With a
Twist
Grapevine
HANDCRAFTED WINES FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Across the River
NATIONAL HARBOR Christmas on the Potomac & More!
about the cover The Year At a Glance - OTC 2018
on the road with OTC Long time Old Town Crier friend and reader, Jean Felix and her husband Tim Sullivan boarded their Viking Cruise down the Danube in Budapest and ended with a visit with the dachshunds at the Passau Dachshund Museum in Passau, Germany. They were proud to pose with these famous pooches who were featured in our very own Washington Post this past year. If you would like to see your picture here, take the OTC on your next adventure, snap a high resolution photo and send it along with information for the caption to office@oldtowncrier.com. Happy Trails!
Old Town Crier
January 2019 | 1
PUBLISHER’S NOTES
BOB TAGERT
As we begin our 32nd year of bring you the Old Town Crier Regional Magazine we have many things to be thankful for over the years. Most significantly our advertisers and the great people who have worked with us, for without either, we would have failed. We also owe a great amount of debt to those of you who read us and make us one of the most widely read publications in the region. It is our readers who our advertisers want to reach so……we appreciate you for picking us up each month. As in years past, our Road Trip column this month is a recap of our treks in 2018. Amazing to reflect on the miles we have traveled. As you think of places to visit in the new year, please keep our winery friends in your minds and hearts as they have just come through the rainiest year on record making it one of the worst years in history. Show them some love and buy some wine for those chilly winter nights. This past month we picked up a new advertiser and made a new friend…Casey Jones of Fair Winds Brewery in Lorton Virginia. A very interesting guy that you can read about in the Personality Profile column. Welcome aboard Casey! In Business Profile meet Lisa Katic, “Chief Wine Taster” at Wine Gallery 108. Check out the Grateful Kitchen Company for a change of pace and experience in Dining Out. On how to be happy, read the “one-page cliff notes” version in Molly Winan’s column in the From the Bay section. As I write this on December 23rd the sun is bright, there was a full moon last night and the sky was clear, and temps will hit 50 degrees today. This is a wonderful change from the miserable rain we have had in the last few months and, I hope, a sign of things to come in 2019…we need a break. Here is wishing that everyone has a fabulous New Year and that you embark on all sorts of new adventures as we begin another trip around the sun!
Happy New Year!
SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGE
ASHLEY SCHULTZ
Staying Productive in 2019
S
ometimes our phones can be quite a distraction to being productive, but here are some apps for 2019 that will keep you on track!
Forest: This is an app that stops you from using apps on your phone, ironic I know! Let’s say you want to work for a solid hour without picking up your phone to check your texts. Set a timer on Forest and a tree will start to sprout across your screen. Leave the app before the time is up, and your tree will die. And who wants to kill a tree? Stick to your time goals and you will earn virtual coins, which—this is the best part— are spent on having actual trees planted in real life. 2 | January 2019
Taskful: Taskful has been rated as one of the best productivity apps for Android and ranks high among Mac productivity apps for simple, intuitive design. Unlike some apps, Taskful offers a todo list feature that’s more representative of real life, with tasks that are completed with a series of checkmarks as opposed to a choice between just “not done” and “done”. It’s a simple, straightforward tool, if you’re looking for a well-designed version of your traditional to-do list that’s not bogged down with extra features, this is a top choice.
Slack: I have used Slack recently for a project and it
was a life-saver. If you’re doing a lot of task management and delegation within a team, Slack is a best-in-class tool for team collaboration. Slack provides a platform for you to communicate with team members—this includes private chats and group channels, file sharing, tagging and mentions, and loads of integrations with work apps in order to sync up your work activities. You can use this tool to break out of endless email threads and enjoy a more transparent, easy-tofollow flow of communication and resources between you and your collaborators.
Mindfulness: Are you feeling a little high strung? Anxious? Someone who needs a reminder to breathe and relax every now and then?
Mindfulness can help you do just that. Individuals use the app to meditate, relax, and be more present in their daily lives. There are over 200 timed and guided meditation sessions with statistics that help you keep track of your journey. Mindfulness also has an integration with Apple’s Health App so you can continue to keep track of all of your personal health goals in one place. The app is free, and the guided meditations range in time from three to thirty minutes.
Kiwake: We are all guilty of oversleeping now and then. Some of us simply aren’t morning people, hitting snooze over and over again and ending up being late for work or other important events. That’s where Kiwake
comes into play. This inexpensive app ($2.99) gets you out of bed with a complete wake-up process that has three main categories: body, brain, and motivation. The app has you take a picture of an object far away from bed prior to going to sleep so you can prove that you got out of bed in the morning. You can also play a mini-game to wake up your brain while laying in bed. And lastly, you can review your tasks for the day to get motivated and up to speed on what needs to be accomplished. Kiwake does not have a snooze button, so there is no way around getting up for the day. It’s safe to say you’ll have time to make breakfast every morning after downloading this app. Take on the New Year by downloading some of these apps and reaching your productivity goals!
Alexandria JANUARY TOURS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS
ATHENAUM EVENTS 201 Prince Street 703-548-0035
January 3rd, 7 – 9 pm • Hidden History of Alexandria This groundbreaking history uncovers a long-forgotten period in the 19th century when Alexandria left the commonwealth of Virginia and became incorporated into the fledgling District of Columbia. It was an experiment that failed after half a century of neglect and a growing animosity between North and South. However, it was a fascinating time when cannons were dragged onto city streets for political rallies, candidates plied their voters with liquor and devastating fires ravaged the city. Please join us for this exhilarating talk!
JANUARY 6TH A Special Anniversary 4 – 6 pm George Washington’s Mount Vernon 3200 Mount Vernon Highway 703-780-2000 Join George and Martha Washington for an exclusive celebration of their wedding anniversary on Twelfth Night. This special evening tour of the Mansion includes a rare visit to the third floor and greeting the Washington’s in the New Room. After your tour, enjoy a reception with cake, music, and champagne at the Interpretive Center and take your picture with the couple.
JANUARY 11TH ASO Presents: Bach, Brandenburgers & Brews 7:30 – 10:30 pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 228 S. Pitt Street 703-548-0885 Alexsym.org Members of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director James Ross, present this special evening of Brandenburg Concertos in the intimate setting of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Hear the ASO’s rendition of concertos No. 2, 4 and 5 with principals from the ASO featured as soloists. Stay after
for a reception in Norton Hall to mingle with the musicians and enjoy delectable German food and beer. Food generously provided by Port City Brewery, the German Gourmet and Pork Barrel BBQ. Dress is casual; the event is informal and all ages are welcome. Tickets: $40 adult, $5 youth.
Elizabeth Casquieiro
January 6th: 2 – 4 pm • Artist Talk: Elizabeth Casqueiro – Re:Vision Exhibition January 13th: 4 – 6 pm • Opening Reception for FAX Ayres/Photography Exhibition
JANUARY 18TH – 27TH Alexandria Restaurant Week AlexandriaRestaurantWeek.com 703-838-5005 Neighborhoods throughout Alexandria, Virginia, including Old Town, Del Ray, Carlyle and Eisenhower, and the West End participate in this semiannual event that spans two weekends. Alexandria Restaurant Week was launched in 2009 by Visit Alexandria and has since been a favorite among patrons and restaurateurs, occurring biannually in the winter and summer. $35 three-course dinner for one OR $35 dinner for two; select locations offering lunch from $15 or $22 per person lunch and brunch menus
LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS OLD TOWN FARMERS MARKET MARKET SQUARE • 301 KING ST SATURDAY 7 A.M. – NOON, YEAR ROUND Free parking in Market Square garage during market hours People who come to Alexandria on Saturday mornings find themselves in a busy plaza where local farmers and artists have been selling their products since 1753. Old Town Alexandria’s Market Square is thought to be one of the nation’s oldest continually operating farmers markets, serving as a primary source of meat, dairy, fish, fruits and vegetables for Alexandrians. George Washington sent his produce from Mount Vernon to be sold here. Today, the market offers folks a way to reconnect to the past, while participating in an ongoing local and national tradition.
DEL RAY FARMERS MARKET CORNER OF E. OXFORD & MOUNT VERNON AVES SATURDAY 8 A.M. – NOON, YEAR ROUND The Del Ray Market is producer grown, with fresh vegetables and fruits in season. All year round, this market offers meats, eggs, fresh pasta and sauces, Amish cheese, yogurt, bakery goods, eggs, jams and jellies, fancy nuts and bakery goods.
NORTH MONTGOMERY PARK FARMERS MARKET NORTH MONTGOMERY PARK • 901 N. ROYAL ST THURSDAY 3 – 7 P.M., YEAR ROUND, WEATHER PERMITTING Johann Sebastian Bach
Old Town Crier
The market will feature local growers, bakers, and other area providers of wholesome foods including Twin Springs, Grace's Pastries, Bread & Water, and Relay Foods.
January 2019 | 3
PERSONALITY PROFILE
BOB TAGERT
O
ne of the great things about the Old Town Crier over the past 31 years is the fascinating people we meet and then get to write about. Casey Jones is no exception. We ran into Casey sitting at the bar at Cedar Knoll Restaurant. We struck up an easy conversation and I told him about the Crier and he handed me his business card. Casey Jones is the CEO and founder of Fair Winds Brewing Company in Lorton, Virginia. I have been sailing for 30 years and am accustomed to the phrase “Fair Winds and Following Seas”. Curiosity got to me and I asked him if he was a sailor to which he replied, “Yes, and I used to teach sailing at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT.” The next phrase was, “Can I buy you a drink,” and the conversation took off. Casey Jones grew up in north Philadelphia and upon graduation from high school enrolled in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He graduated in 1991 from the Academy and shipped out to Panama City, Florida where he worked in counter drugs. From there he was transferred to Coos Bay, Oregon. His job in the Coast Guard was a ship driver, or a black shoe…terms that I had never heard. “I went from white sandy beaches and spring break to lumber jacks and fishing trawlers,” he says. After Oregon, Jones returned to Washington, D.C. to serve at headquarters. From there he worked on his graduate degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and then back to the Academy to teach. While attending the Academy, Jones also took up the game of rugby, which I also played. “It was a great 4 | January 2019
Casey Jones SAILOR TURNED BEER MAN time,” he says. “After I left the Academy, I continued to play rugby with different clubs and then when I went back to teach, I coached the school’s
rugby team.” His rugby career began as a scrum-half which is like the quarterback of the team, and after grad school he moved to Number 8. That
is what I call full circle folks. “Coaching was fun,” he says, playing is one thing but with coaching you really have to learn the game…like you
think you know a subject and then you find out you missed a lot.” Jones started sailing when he was stationed in Panama City and continued where ever he went. “I sailed mainly small boats and got into racing a little. When he returned to the Academy as an instructor, he began teaching the cadets to sail on a fleet of 44-foot Yawls. “These boats were big enough and had enough sail area that we could teach all of the tricks of the trade.” He tells me, “At the end of the course we would take a two-week sail through New England waters.” The idea of a brewery came to Jones during his cadet days at the Academy and he decided to write a business plan for a brew pub called Square Rigger Brew Pub. “In the early nineties the idea of brew pubs was popping up, Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam were some of the first, and I decided that some day I was going to start a brew pub.” When Jones left the Academy, he became a strategy consultant. “I had an academic understanding of business, but I had been in the military, so I really didn’t “understand business”, so I thought the best way to learn was to go into consulting and touch a variety of different parts of the business world. I did that for awhile and then moved to this area to run a couple of companies for a business called Corporate Executive Board that eventually got acquired by Gardner. After that I worked for Mike Milken and ran one of his businesses and I helped put a digital platform on top of it, so he could sell it.” It was about this time that Jones wondered what the next chapter in his life was. He realized that craft beer
PERSONALITY PROFILE | FROM PAGE 4
was booming at that time. “The industry was growing 15, 20, 30 percent a year and I looked at Fairfax County and realized that it didn’t have a local beer. It had brew pubs but no production brewery. “So, I thought, this is a no brainer, you’ve got a well-heeled clientele with disposable income, so why not build a business,” he said, “so I got out my old business plan, dusted it off and made a few adjustments.” He did change the plan from a brew pub to a production facility. “In the early 90’s brew pubs were unique because there were not many craft beers, but today there are many craft beers, so a brew pub is not as attractive,” he explains. “The production brewery is what I wanted to do, I want to sell beer to people where ever they can see me, whatever bar, whatever restaurant, whatever supermarket they buy beer. You know, he says, 80% of beer sold in Virginia is sold in cans and bottles.” Fair Winds Brewery does serve their own products
on site in their 2,000 square foot Tap Room which helps generate additional revenue. Fair Winds has three beers that they produce all year long that are called their annuals and are in every market, Howling Gale IPA, Siren’s Lure and Quayside Kolsch. As you can see, nautical terminology is used when possible. The Tap Room has at least 13 beers on tap at all times and cans available. Fair Winds cans are also available at your favorite supermarket as well as on tap at Nationals Park. As Jones tells me, the original name of the beer was going to be Top Sail Beer after his sailing days on the Eagle, the only square rigger owned by the U.S. Military. However, there was a brewery in Oregon named Full Sail Brewery and they objected to everybody that has sail, beer or brewery in their name, and within an hour of registering his trademark Jones got a call from Oregon saying, “we are going to fight you on this!” “I am not going to waste money fighting a trademark dispute,” Jones says, so I said the old sailor’s departure…I wish you
Casey and Fair Winds Head Brewer, Charlie Buettner. fair winds and following seas and named the brewery Fair Winds.” Clearly in the three and a half years since Fair
Winds opened, they have made headway and are on tap at many restaurants in Alexandria. I asked Jones what the future held, and he immediately answered, “we
want to be one of the biggest producers in the Del-Marva region.” With Casey Jones at the helm of this brewery, I think the chances are very good he will achieve that goal.
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January 2019 | 5
BUSINESS PROFILE
LANI GERING
Lisa Katic and Wine Gallery 108
W
e had the pleasure of meeting the “Chief Wine Taster” from Wine Gallery 108 located here in Old Town Alexandria at a wine tasting event at Society Fair last month. We were on the hunt for some subject material for the January Business Profile and she just fell right into place. Wine Gallery 108 is a rebranding of the former Altura Wine and Gourmet that was in this space and the subject matter of a previous profile in the OTC. Katic purchased the business in 6 | January 2019
mid-2018 after deciding to “follow her dream”. She has definitely put her mark on the shop. She is not only the Chief Wine Taster, she’s an accomplished artist as well. This shop has a very distinct personality and is a lot bigger inside than one would think. “I take wine seriously but I don’t take myself too seriously,” Lisa says with a grin. You get a feel for what is inside by what is in the front window. Pay close attention to the sign in the display in the exterior photo that is accompanying this column. Wine Gallery 108 is a
The Chief Wine Taster with a few of her favorites!
boutique market in Old Town Alexandria offering fine wines, craft beer, artisanal foods, local art and handcrafted gifts. The items that she has chosen to accompany and compliment the wine she sells are very unique. It is worth the stop even if you aren’t on the hunt for vino. The art that was on display when I did the interview included many of Katic’s originals as well as the work of other local artists. The whole theme blends together seamlessly. This is a very interactive place with Friday night
Happy Hour from 5-7 pm and Saturday Tastings from 2-5 pm. They also host seasonal events during the year. Your best bet to make sure you don’t miss anything is to sign up for their mailing list on the website. Katic is also very excited about the Wine Club experience they now offer Palate 108. Once a month, Lisa uses her 20+ years of industry experience to curate fine, exclusive wines for wine members to explore. Palate 108 combines the wine club components you’ve come to know - two spectacular
Old TOwn Shoe & luggage Repair • Serving Alexandria for over 17 years • Shoe & Luggage Repair • New Luggage
BUSINESS PROFILE | FROM PAGE 6
wines each month - with the communal experience of an educational pick-up party each month to meet other members and learn about the selections. They currently offering two wine club levels: Pioneer Level This level is perfect for the classic wine lover. For $40 a month, get two great wines. They do a mix of themed, new world and old world and more to please a variety of palates. Their first month’s Pioneer level featured Donkey & Goat’s Gadabout, a small Old Town Crier
batch white blend made at a biodynamic vineyard, and The Poggio Anima Montepulciano 2015, a classic Montepulciano from a single vineyard in Chieti. Artisanal Level This level pairs gourmet food with exclusive wine picks, perfect for trying new treats or for the “host with the most” looking for new ideas for their monthly get-together. Their first month’s theme was Italian, featuring a red and white wine from the same region in Italy as our gourmet marinara sauce in their gourmet food section.
WINE GALLERY 108 108 NORTH PATRICK ST, OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA WINEGALLERY108.COM 703-549-9463
824 King Street Old Town Alexandria, Virginia 703.299.0655 Mon-Fri 7:30 am-7 pm • Sat 9 am-5 pm January 2019 | 7
FINANCIAL FOCUS
CARL TREVISAN, CFP© & STEPHEN BEARCE
DEBT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
B
alancing debt repayment with investing goals takes some strategy and planning. Some consider investing as a first line of defense while paying down debt as a second.
The debt dilemma The process for eliminating debt is anything but an easyto-solve financial equation. Many people wonder if they should pay off their debt as quickly as possible or invest their money, letting debt payments run their course. The answer depends on whom you ask. Theories about balancing investing with debt vary widely. Some financial experts say freedom from debt is the most important goal. Others say it’s more about the math: Your money should go toward investing if your investments earn a higher rate of return than your debts cost you. Still others focus on the emotional aspect: How comfortable are you with a 8 | January 2019
certain level of debt?
Neither one nor the other Better yet, perhaps, is a balanced approach to wealth management. If you’re like most people, you’ll need to manage finances for both present and future needs. That means paying off some debt today while simultaneously investing with an eye on the future. Although your decisions should take into account your own needs and circumstances, consider the following guidelines for handling debt in light of investing goals: Save for a rainy day. Before paying down debt (beyond required payments) or settling on an investment strategy, make it your first priority to put funds aside for an emergency reserve. We recommend six months or more of living expenses; an absolute minimum is three months’ worth. These funds should be in traditional
savings or very short-term, highly liquid, low-volatility investments. Put your future first. As a general rule, your long-term investment plan should take priority over applying extra amounts toward debt. Be careful as well not to let “lifestyle creep,” a tendency toward more expensive tastes and luxury consumption, impede your investment outlook. By contributing to a longterm investment plan as early as possible, you may set yourself up for a brighter future. If paying down debt is also a priority, you’ll want to examine your personal budget to decide how much to direct each month toward investing and how much toward debt repayment. Just remember, there are no magic numbers. In general, the best advice is to make sure your investment strategy fits your financial expectations for the future. Prioritize your debts. With
an emergency fund in place and your investment strategy up and running, putting any extra money toward your debts is also a smart way to go. But how do you decide which debts to pay down first? One approach is to start with the smallest debts first to eliminate at least some of your debt burden and interest payments in a timely manner. It also makes sense to pay off high-interest debts like private student loans and credit card debt more quickly. Federal student loans and mortgages might be lower priorities, because their rates are often lower and their terms are longer. Vehicle loans might fall somewhere in the middle. Tax considerations might also come into play.
feeling.You’ll enjoy a growing sense of financial freedom as you stay on course and get your debt under control. As it shrinks over time, you may find you have more funds available for enjoying the present and focusing on the future.
It’s personal. As you divide and conquer debt, don’t forget to consider the emotional side of your strategy. If paying off a certain debt will help you feel more secure, you might want to go with your gut
Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.
This article was written by/ for Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Carl M. Trevisan, Managing DirectorInvestments and Stephen M. Bearce, First Vice PresidentInvestments in Alexandria, VA at 800-247-8602. Investments in securities and insurance products are: NOT FDIC-INSURED/NOT BANKGUARANTEED/MAY LOSE VALUE
THE LAST WORD
MIRIAM R. KRAMER
I
n the captivating, superbly told authorized biography Steve Jobs, released weeks after Jobs’ death from pancreatic cancer in 2011, Walter Isaacson concisely delineates the rise of his mercurial, narcissistic subject, the global visionary who changed the world in part by exalting gorgeously simple technological design that any customer could use and understand. Steve Jobs’ daughter, Lisa BrennanJobs, recently released Small Fry, a poignant memoir about life with her father. The latter, which illuminates her fragmented and difficult experiences of him as a family man, has rightfully been cited on multiple year-end media lists as a top non-fiction book of 2018. When Apple CEO and guru Steve Jobs died in October 2011, he left a world profoundly altered by his presence. His ideas and unique leadership in creating tech products and companies that included Apple, the home computer, and the first generations of iPhones had changed the very way in which millions around the world live our lives, consume entertainment, and obtain information on a daily basis. Steve Jobs and Small Fry convey converging perspectives on a legendary man: one of a tech icon and dictatorial corporate leader, and the other a human view of a deeply flawed, rude, and shy man much less comfortable with filial responsibilities and relationships than his role vis-à-vis the consumers and colleagues who adored him. Walter Isaacson paints Old Town Crier
VISIONARY, GURU, FATHER the portrait of a charismatic man whose drive, focus, and intensity paired with his unique talents as a technological seer empowered him to harness and direct the best tech talent in Silicon Valley, effectively bridging the gap between tech and user experience within closed, self-sufficient computer systems. Inherently creative and uniquely positioned at the nexus between art and science, Jobs gained a reputation as a grade-A jerk who screamed and cried out of frustration when working to establish grade-A technological teams that could implement his visions. A tantrum thrower, the highly sensitive Jobs’ empathy was primarily for himself. Alternately a charmer, abuser, and control freak, he knew just
how to lob an emotional handgrenade and upon which friend or colleague it would make the most impact. Isaacson’s detail-packed account follows him from his humble beginnings in a garage with original Apple co-creator Steve Wozniak to the heights of his experiences as CEO of Apple in 2011, arguably then the most influential company in the world. As a West Coast hippie who did not believe in East Coast traditional hierarchies or regular bathing, Jobs was a seeker and occasional health nut who looked to Eastern philosophy and his appreciation of aesthetics to complement his views of technology. He left a trail of odor and inspired IT designers behind him.
Walter Isaacson focuses more on Steve Jobs’ history, personality, and philosophies of leadership and design than on the wonky nuts and bolts of his technological developments, such as the ones he made at NeXT after he left Apple and before he came back to recreate the Mac and devise the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Perhaps he thought it would bog down the lay reader, although Jobs’ development at companies such as NeXT and Pixar are highly relevant to his later accomplishments. In Isaacson’s concise and compelling biography, we see Jobs as an all-or-nothing thinker, a genius who inhabited a “reality distortion field” that compelled him to force reality to conform to his ideas rather
than the opposite. He knew when it was important for an invention to conform to existing standards or make the world adopt new ones. Considering himself at the nexus of science and the arts, he considered beautifully and simply designed technology as important as the products’ external sleekness and appearance. Isaacson also notes that Jobs spent little time focused on his family members, including his wife, Laurene Powell, and his four children. Their loss was the world’s gain, but in many cases, it was a very profound loss. In the recently published Small Fry, Lisa Brennan-Jobs offers a worm’seye vision of Jobs as a man: the father who loomed just out of sight, distanced from her by his fame and aloofness while fundamentally occupying her emotions and imagination Brennan-Jobs was Steve Jobs’ first child, born in 1978 out of wedlock to Jobs and his former high-school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan, an artist. When she was a child, Steve Jobs refused to claim her as his daughter for the first six years of her life, although he insisted on helping to name her when she was born. During that period she and her mother, who lacked a higher education and supported them by cleaning houses and waitressing, were often on welfare. Looking for cheaper accommodations, they moved thirteen times in Lisa’s early childhood. After Lisa turned two, the THE LAST WORD > PAGE 15
January 2019 | 9
HIGH NOTES
RON POWERS
D
ecember 4th, 2017. It’s a seemingly meaningless date. It’s a regular work day, a Monday and it’s not a holiday. It was the 338th day of the calendar year, it was the 49th Monday of 2017 and it’s within the window of the Sagittarius. None of the things I just mentioned are important, yet December 4th, 2017, is a very important date. It’s important because it was on that day, at 6:28pm, the Thomas Fire, the massive wildfire which attacked Ventura County and Santa Barbara in California, was first reported. This fire, fueled by the raging Santa Ana Winds, burned over 280 thousand acres, destroyed at least 1,060 structures and caused over 2.2 billion in damages making it California’s eighth most destructive fire in history. This fire took over 1,000 firefighters and 39 days to reach 100% containment after the rains finally ended the last few flames. Thousands were displaced out of their homes and the citizens of Ojai were damaged the most as Ojai was the heart of the fire. While tragedy and devastation are horrific events, they are also events that bring out the better qualities of humanity. This is when volunteers emerge, and people show kindness, care and assistance to their fellow man. A time when firefighters, many who are volunteers themselves, put their lives on the line to assist their fellow man. A time when many brave and caring 10 | January 2019
REVIEW Pauline Frechette The Sacred Mountains of Ojai citizens step forward to help freighters and those who have lost their homes. While a fire is horrifying, the heroism it engenders is something to be admired, something to be proud of. And that’s what happened in Ojai. Hundreds and hundreds of volunteers arrived to show their aid and support. There were food and donation drives and people were taken care of. There were volunteers who stayed behind in the evacuation zones to
feed anybody left in the area including those who decided to defend their homes. While this was a tragedy, there was something inspiring and uplifting about seeing everybody come together to help one another. I, along with many Californians and US citizens, tracked the Thomas Fire, but months later, I eventually forgot about it. At least, until I came across a beautiful new classical song. I was looking for new music and I found that
Pauline Frechette, a Billboard Charting singer, composer and lyricist I had reviewed before, had released a new classical song. The song is full of emotion. There’s beauty and sorrow, fear and elation and a blend of notes and design which tell a story. You can hear her passion as she plays the piano and I knew this was telling some tragic yet triumphant story. Well, that story brought me back to the Thomas Fires. Pauline was living in Ojai at
the time of the fires and had to evacuate, but she made the decision her home would come out unscathed. You can even see the photo which is on the cover of this release which is a real shot of the mountains burning near her home. While some may call it a change of the winds, or a stroke of luck, I call it Pauline’s pure determination that caused the fire to change course and miss her home. This song, The Sacred Mountains of Ojai, tells the story of the fire and her and the communities’ brave fight against it. It’s beautiful, empowering and elegant. I encourage you to download or stream and listen to it and then tell others to do the same. The inspiration and beauty of the piece is much needed to soothe those who have suffered losses in fires or other natural tragedies You can learn more about Pauline Frechette at www. PaulineFrechette.com and watch her music video, which includes paintings by local Ojai artists who memorialized the tragic events, at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=02iBUdIM3Cc Publishers Note: In light of the fires that ravaged the state of California in 2018, the author felt that this review would be an appropriate reminder of what the fires in 2017 inspired in it's people. It is hard to believe something this beautiful could be the result of something so tragic.
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Upcoming Concerts MOZART’S PRAGUE SYMPHONY
RACHMANIONOFF’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3
Saturday, February 9th at 8:00 p.m. Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall
James Ross, Music Director; Marianna Prjevalskaya, pianist REZNICEK: Overture to Donna Diana SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 1 “Spring”
Sunday, February 10th at 3:00 p.m. George Washington Masonic Memorial James Ross, Music Director PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1 “Classical” J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 STRAVINSKY: Concerto in E-flat major “Dumbarton Oaks” MOZART: Symphony No. 38 “Prague”
RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 Saturday, April 6th at 8:00 p.m. Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall Sunday, April 7th at 3:00 p.m. George Washington Masonic MemoriaL
Tickets: $20-$80 for adults. Student tickets $10 (with ID). Youth tickets $5 (age 18 & under). Military, senior and group discounts available. Purchase online at www.alexsym.org or call 703-5480885. Free parking provided by the ASO at both venues. The Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center is accessible by Metro bus lines 7A, 7B, 7F, 7Y, 25A, 25C and 25E, as well as DASH bus line AT6. The George Washington Masonic Memorial is accessible by the Blue and Yellow metro line (King Street station), numerous Metro, Dash and Richmond Highway Express bus lines, and the King Street Trolley in Old Town, Alexandria.
For soloists’ biographies, please visit: http://www. alexsym.org/about/musicians/
AFTER HOURS Birchmere 703.549.7500 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave. birchmere.com The Blackwall Hitch 571-982-3577 5 Cameron St. theblackwallhitch.com Carlyle Club 411 John Carlyle Dr. 703-549-8957 thecarlyleclub.com Chadwicks 203 S. Strand St. 703.836.4442 Evening Star Cafe 703.549.5051 2000 Mt. Vernon Ave.
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The Fish Market 703.836.5676 105 King St. fishmarketoldtown.com La Portas 703.683.6313 1600 Duke St. Las Tapas 703.836.4000 710-714 King St. lastapas.us The Light Horse 703.549.0533 715 King St. lighthorserestaurant.com Murphys Irish Pub 703.548.1717 713 King St. murphyspub.com
O’Connell’s 703.739.1124 112 King St. Rock It Grill 703.739.2274 1319 King St. Shooter McGees 703.751.9266 5239 Duke St. shootermcgees.com Southside 815 703.836.6222 815 S. Washington St. St. Elmos 703.739.9268 2300 Mt. Vernon Ave. Taverna Cretekou 703.548.8688 818 King St.
TJ Stones 703.548.1004 608 Montgomery St. tjstones.com LaTrattoria 703-548-9338 305 S. Washington St. Two Nineteen 703.549.1141 219 King St. These establishments offer live entertainment. Call to confirm show times, dates and cover charges. Check our advertisers’ websites
January 2019 | 11
GALLERY BEAT
F. LENNOX CAMPELLO
CRADLE, 2018 Oil on Canvas 60 x 70 in. (152.4 x 177.8 cm.)
“The Big Dance”
ART BASEL MIAMI & BEYOND
A
s I’ve done for the last decade and a half, I spent the first week of December in Miami at the art world’s “big dance” or the Art Basel Miami week of art fairs – about 26 of them by my count – and just as I did last year, since I was confined to working at the fair that Alida Anderson Art Projects has done for the last seven years (Context Art Miami), I asked Texas ubercollector Ardis Bartle, who is a major art collector and also a VIP at all the fairs, to report her observations of the key things that her trained eye caught during her visits to multiple art fairs. But before I hand it off to Ardis, a couple of quick observations on the fair that I was working my buns off to place art by multiple artists in as many collections as possible (Context Art Miami). Context Art Miami: At Gallery Henoch, I loved Eric Zener’s Cradle - one can feel the power of this dive, and 12 | January 2019
the spectacular blue sculptures of Max punches the solar Leiva. plexus of the mind as And now Ardis much as the diver’s Bartle… punch of the water Observations, surface. By the way, this gallery was full of Trends, and a talented artists. Fresh Approach At Art Spoke, Overall impression Scott Scheidly steals of the week: The the booth with his galleries that brought portrait work - I’ve fresh new work, not admired his work for older blue-chip work, a long time now... and and experienced he really delivered collectors open to some brilliant new expanding their paintings to this fair collections, as well as - with really good art museums seeing price points. Note: William Villalongo, Embodied, 2018 the new possibilities As it has been the Laser cut felt with archival pigment print (Edition: 50) was refreshing. Also, case for the last 20” x 17 3/8” artists like Kusama couple of years, the and Murakami, Trumpinator is all were not as visible over the fair, the talented universe. as artists like Christo and subject of many artists... but I’m a little prejudiced in this Rosenquist - all of whom are no one does DJT better than suggestion, but a great fit for seeing a new round of respect. this gallery would be the DC Scheidly. The print market was extremely area artist known as Campello! Scheidly also has a portrait strong with collectors at Art Cough… cough… of the Galician mass murderer Miami, Context, Untitled, Ink Another gallery which and suffocater of the Cuban and Art Basel vying for prints was full of terrific artists was people once known as Fidel Ten Contemporary, but I from artists from Robert Longo Castro, who also makes an was particularly taken by the to Mary Corse. Finally, NADA appearance in Scheidly’s
fulfilled its promise by bringing in new experimental art. NADA Miami – Eva Sussman gave multiple talks with her team on the atomization of 89 seconds at Alcazar, the Sussman video that stole the show at Whitney Biennial in 2004. Her team has atomized the video into 2.304 pieces. Each “atom” is irrevocably tied to a blockchain, and thereby creating a new art work: 89 seconds Atomized. This writer went to the website at Snark. Art and purchased one atom for $120 at snark.art/drop. Eva showed the audience that each atom is one of 2.304 pieces of the video, unique and with the 9 minutes of sound. At any time, one owner of an atom can request the other atoms to participate, and create a new work. The concept of group ownership of a living experiment in art was one of the exciting (and affordable) news at NADA. INK MIAMI – Mixographia GALLERY BEAT > PAGE 13
ART&ANTIQUES
GALLERY BEAT | FROM PAGE 12
showed Analia Saban “Three Stripe Hand Towel with Hole and Unsewn Label.” She is best known for dissecting the works themselves and known for using laser cutters, silicone molds and acrylic and erosive techniques. Graphic Studio showed William Villalongo’s Embodied, laser cut felt with archival pigment print. Since most of his work is usually with black velour paper, the felt provides a renaissance work to the piece. PULSE MIAMI – Perez Museum purchased work from galleries at Pulse. Included in their purchasing was Michael Waugh from his exhibition Trust in Me. Michael Waugh uses dense text for these beautiful drawings composed entirely out of tiny handwritten words copied by the artists over months of meticulous labor. The result is an elegant filigree of written lines which finalizes into images. The artist explained that his technique has the basis in micrography. His images are demanding and require considering more, not less. ART BASEL - Galleries provided some interesting artists such as Joyce Scott and her award-winning bead works at Peter Blum Gallery, Mary Corse’s new line of prints (not released yet) at Pace Prints, as well as Christo and Jean Claude which had their own “Pink Islands” exhibition at the Perez. ART MIAMI – After the HBO documentary, The Price of Everything, it was good to see
ANTIQUES
Anderson Campello admiring the work of artist Matthew Langley. Larry Poons at Yares Gallery. Lewis Wexler’s Sol Lewitt sculpture was a beauty, and attracted a lot of attention. Joyce Pensato had some stunning work at Waltman Ortega. The Video at Pontone Gallery by Lee Leenam, portrays how he moves through both classical and contemporary art history, and gathered a significant amount of traffic at the booth. UNTITLED - When the doors opened for VIPs on Tuesday, the collectors ran to Cirrus Gallery/Cirrus Editions booth to purchase one of the 80 Matt Bass prints. This writer was informed that the edition sold out in the first hour. Remarkable Daniel Zeller at Pierogi, again focused on the hand drawing skill of the artist.
chairs were a crowd pleaser and reminded many of Kusama chairs in the 1960s. Fendi’s resin water sculptures by Sabine Marcelis were fascinating. Adding to the new private museums, Atchugarry Art Center provided a gorgeous show for Jose Pedro Costigliolo and Wilfredo Lam. This private museum is well worth a visit and is added to Rubell, Margulies and Cruz Collection. Art Basel Miami week of art fairs returns in 2019, as usual, during the first week of December – Mark your calendars now!
DESIGN MIAMI - The KAWS chairs (yes, all three of them) were sold out within minutes of the opening of the VIP party. At $75,000 the
Celebrate the new year with something special just for you! Come and see our one-of-a-kind and limited-edition styles by Kay Chapman Designs, Lee Andersen, and many others. It’s the perfect time to use your “Celebrate Coupon” at Imagine Artwear. Come in and see wonderful winter outfits, warm outerwear and lots of new arrivals.
Celebrate 15% off any one purchase Issey Shirt in Silk Shantung by Kay Chapman Designs
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In-store items only, excludes sale merchandise.
Torpedo Factory Art Center 105 N. Union Street
Spurgeon-Lewis Antiques 112 N. Columbus Street
Principle Gallery 208 King Street
BW Art, Antiques & Collectibles 108 N. Fayette Street
Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery 105 N. Union Street
Imperfections Antiques 1210 King Street
St. George Gallery 105 N. Alfred Street
The Antique Guild 113 N. Fairfax Street
The Art League 105 Union Street
Silverman Galleries 110 N. St. Asaph Street
Local Colour Old Town 218 N. Lee Street
Red Barn Mercantile 1117 King Street
Icon Galleria 101 N. Union Street
Washington Square Antiques 425 S. Washington Street
B&B Art Gallery 215 King Street
Susquehanna Antique Co. 608 Cameron Street
Gallery West 1213 King Street
Old Town Antiques 222 S. Washington Street
Enamelist’s Gallery 105 N. Union Street
Verdigris Vintage 1215 King Street
Printmakers, Inc. 105 N. Union Street
Cavalier Antiques 400 Prince Street
Kelly’s Art & Frame 510 N. Washington Street
Sumpter Priddy III 323 S. Washington Street
Oerth Gallery 420 S. Washington Street
Henry Street Antiques 115 S. Henry Street
Jeffrey Winter Fine Arts 110A S. Columbus Street
Curzon Hill Antiques 108 S. Columbus Street
Johnston Matthew 105 N. Union Street
The Hour 1015 King Street
Huddy Studio 105 N. Union Street
A Galerie 315 Cameron Street
Mezzanine Multiples 105 N. Union Street
Random Harvest 810 King Street
Silverman Galleries 110 N. St. Asaph Street
Acme Mid-Century + Modern 128 S. Royal Street
Cochran David 105 N. Union Street
Van Bommel Antiek Hous 1007 King Street
Betty Grisham Studio 105 N. Union Street
Lloyd’s Row 119 S. Henry Street
Imagine Artwear 112 King Street
Version 1
Celebrate 2019
GALLERIES
Version 2
Recently found vintage 1997 stone lithographs! Mermaid – The Deep (Version 1) Limited Edition of 10 signed and numbered stone lithographs on 11x14 inches paper. Circa 1997 Mermaid – The Deep (Version 2) Limited Edition of 10 signed and numbered stone lithographs on 14x5 inches paper. Circa 1997
Expires January 31, 2019
Get a vintage Mermaid stone litho by well-known DMV area artist
Come see our entire line of amazing American-made clothing, jewelry and crafts.
F. Lennox Campello! 1124 King Street | Alexandria, Virginia 22314 (703) 548-1461 | www.imagineartwear.com Mon – Sat 10 am – 7 pm
•
Sold loose and ready for framing! Each signed and numbered print from this tiny unique edition of 10 prints is $100, packing and shipping included. Email info@alidaanderson.com to order – once this edition is sold out, it is gone forever!
Sunday 11 am – 5 pm
January 2019 | 13
MELINDA MYERS
URBAN GARDEN
Plants for Every Room of Your Home
G
ardeners know the benefits of digging in the soil. It elevates a person’s mood, improves mental and physical well-being and the outcome is always good – added beauty or tasty nutritional food. But many of us are stuck indoors for the winter, have a lack of space to garden outdoors or just can’t get enough of this healthful activity. Adding greenery indoors expands our gardening opportunities and provides the many benefits of living with and tending plants. Let’s start with the kitchen. Boost the flavor and nutrition of winter meals by growing leafy greens and herbs in a sunny window or under a cabinet with the help of a Growbar LED light fixture. Start plants from seeds or purchase transplants to grow indoors. Place your indoor kitchen garden in a brightly
14 | January 2019
lit location, free of cold drafts and with easy access to harvest and use. Then enlist the whole family and even your guests into harvesting greens for their salad and herbs to season their meals. This is sure to turn family and friend gatherings into unique and memorable experiences. Include plants in your home or work office. Greenery helps reduce stress even when working at your desk or tackling homework at the end of a long day. Set a few plants on or near your desk or other workspace. And don’t let a lack of light stop you from growing a bit of green stress relief. Stylish energy efficient full spectrum plant lights, like the Felt Pendant Grow Light (modsprout.com), fit any décor, direct light where it is needed and promote healthy plant growth. Take advantage of your bathroom’s high humidity.
Grow ferns, orchids, bromeliads and other humidity-loving plants in this space. Consider these and other low light plants like cast iron, pothos and philodendron if natural light is limited. Imagine stepping out of the shower into a mini tropical zone. What a nice way to ease into your day. Get a good night’s sleep with a bit of homegrown aromatherapy in the bedroom. Grow lavender, rosemary, chamomile and other soothing herbs in your bedroom in front of a sunny window, on a shelf or other naturally or artificially lit, bright location. Just be sure to give the plants a pet to release their fragrance into the air before crawling into bed for a long restful sleep. Bring the garden to your living room. Create your own miniature tropical, moss or desert garden in a terrarium that serves as a
focal point in any living space or centerpiece on the dining room table. Use an open terrarium for succulents and other plants that need airflow, lower humidity and space to grow. Enlist closed systems for moss and tropical plants that benefit from the high humidity and condensation that provides continual watering. Select systems like the Botanica Biodome that minimize maintenance and provide easy access for tending mini eco-systems. Now’s a great time to consider rethinking your home décor to include greenery in every space. You and your family will enjoy improved air quality, elevated moods, a reduction in stress and the many other benefits plants provide. Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books and host of The Great Courses’ How to Grow Anything DVD series. Her website, www. MelindaMyers.com, offers gardening tips and videos.
THE LAST WORD | FROM PAGE 9
district attorney of San Mateo County, California, sued Steve Jobs for current and back payments of child support. Jobs swore in a deposition that he was sterile, but the DNA test available then proved that he was the father with a 94.4% certainty. He was required to supply back payments of $6000 and a then-current rate of $385 dollars a month child support, along with health insurance until Lisa was eighteen. Jobs’ lawyers pushed for her mother to sign the agreement by December 8, 1980, four days before Apple went public, enriching Jobs to a net worth of over hundred million dollars. Lisa Brennan-Jobs went by Lisa Brennan at that point, with her father denying his paternity once more in a 1983 article in Time magazine as he occasionally responded to her mother’s pleas for money by sending her the occasional $500 check or buying her a used car. Throughout her childhood and early adolescence, Lisa lived a peripatetic existence with a fragile, often depressed mother whom she tried to protect. She clung to the idea that she had a famous father,
Old Town Crier
even if she rarely saw him, secretly craving stability and sometimes despising the idea of hippies, with their itinerant lifestyles and lack of regular jobs. Her insecure mother would say “’[Steve] loves you…. He just doesn’t know he loves you….If he saw you, really saw you and understood what he was missing, how he wasn’t showing up for you, it would kill him.” When Jobs experienced losses at work, he finally remembered that Lisa and her mother existed, wearing his dirty, hole-filled jeans and occasionally showing up to roller-skate or spend some time with her. When she was in fourth grade, she began to spend one uncomfortable but cherished night a week at her father’s large estate outside Palo Alto, filled with many dark, empty rooms and a few that looked inhabited by a hermit. Lisa, the adult writer, struggles to stitch together swatches of her history with this enigmatic paternal figure. Jobs could be so contradictory— cruel, narcissistic, and inconsistent in his affections or responsibilities; or intermittently caring under a brusque, shy exterior. One
time he told her mother that her teeth were ugly. He also swore at and insulted Lisa’s childhood friend during a meal at a restaurant, causing her to cry. He would affectionately call his young daughter “small fry” and take her roller skating, advising her against college and telling her that university destroyed the creative spirit. He would also speak to her inappropriately about actresses he found beautiful, watching classic films with her on their evenings together. As she says, “I would be truly loved by him only if I was tall, blonde, and large-breasted, I would gather later. I had a fantastic notion that it might happen, despite the evidence.” At age fourteen, as her mother became increasingly erratic, wavering between depressive despair and hurling verbal abuse at a daughter she actually adored, Lisa finally went to live with her father at his invitation for the first time. In finally going to live with him, his new wife, Laurene Powell, and eventually her new siblings, Lisa still found herself on the outside looking in, moving schools yet again and planning for future beyond high school with little guidance other than a desire to go to
Harvard and leave California behind. One telling detail: at age fourteen, Lisa writes in her journal “When I tell him events, they come alive. When I don’t tell him, they don’t exist.” As a repeating echo of her unstable childhood, she felt consistently insecure within her father’s new family. From her viewpoint, no one there asked her questions about herself or seemed interested in her. She acted as a perpetual babysitter for her younger brother, whom she loved, and eventually her first sister, but never felt valued or taken into account. Lisa spent her adolescent life trying to develop some stability and identity with parents unable to fully support her. Bouncing from place to place and school to school, she finally was able to claim her independence as a newlyminted adult, even when her father punished her for refusing to play by his specific rules by not paying for some of her semesters at Harvard. With the help of family friends, she was able to remove herself from his controlling sphere of influence and live with their subsequent lack of contact for years. One of the most moving moments in this memoir is
the beginning of the book, which is also the end of Lisa’s relationship with Steve Jobs. Lisa repeatedly visited him once a month when he was dying of cancer. In a subconscious attempt to keep him with her, she stole small objects from the room, from the bathroom, from anyplace nearby. It is plain that despite his inadequacy and selfcenteredness she loved her dad, and appreciated his final awkward gestures towards reconciliation. In Small Fry, Lisa Brennan-Jobs poignantly but unsentimentally brings an emotional context to the temperamental tech titan, adding a different facet to Isaacson’s portrait. I admire her spare, luminous writing and empathize with her natural desire for emotional connection while simultaneously feeling renewed awe at Steve Jobs’ achievements. As I sit here typing on my MacBook Pro with my iPhone at hand for reference, I fully realize that his achievements have colored the public’s minds while making the entire digitized world of ideas, images, and information available at our fingertips. Her loss, fortunately and unfortunately, was our gain.
January 2019 | 15
A BIT OF HISTORY
SARAH BECKER ©2018
Photo: Lauren Fleming, 2017
“W
e shall never have equal rights until we take them,” attorney Belva Lockwood said, “nor respect until we command it.” Lockwood, the first female attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court was the Equal Rights Party’s second Presidential nominee, in 1884 and 1888. This month the Virginia legislature again considers ratification of the 1923, more accurately the 1972, Equal Rights Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment, Section 1: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Practically speaking, the decision belongs to the House of Delegates. “The law relating to married women makes the family a barony, a monarchy, a despotism, of which the husband is the baron, king or despot, and the wife the dependent, serf or slave,” The Washington Post wrote in 1896. “The English common law in all its harshness and inflexibility, brought by our forefathers across the sea to this country, had been but little modified by statute...By the common law the identity of the wife in relation to her civil status was almost entirely swallowed up in the personality of her husband… In but few of the States have the disabilities of women been 16 | January 2019
OF THE
entirely removed.” Enter Quaker suffragist and attorney Alice Paul, founder of the 1916 National Women’s Party. With the Party’s help the 19th Amendment, the women’s suffrage amendment was ratified in 1920; upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922. Slow going Virginia, home of the founding fathers’ Bill of Rights, did not ratify the 19th Amendment until 1952. “To get the ‘male’ in effect out of the Constitution cost the women of the country 52 years of pauseless campaign [1868-1920],” Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association recounted. Attorney Margaret Brent, of Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, first petitioned for the right to vote in 1648. Brent’s Virginia land patent included Alexandria’s Founder’s Park and Jones Point. Alexandria’s conservative Democrats cum Reagan-ites dropped the
“memorial to Margaret Brent from the Jones Point plan in 1985.” Ronald Reagan, a conservative California Republican, was the first U.S. President (19811989) to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. In so doing, he reversed 40 years of Republican Party tradition. “As leaders in public affairs, American women not only worked to secure their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity but also were principal advocates in the abolitionist, temperance, mental health reform, industrial labor and social
reform movements, as well as the modern civil rights movement,” President Reagan proclaimed on February 26, 1982. “As volunteers, women have provided invaluable service and leadership in American charitable, philanthropic, and cultural endeavors. And, as mothers and homemakers, they remain instrumental in preserving the cornerstone of our Nation’s strength—the family.” A report entitled The Legal Status of the Homemaker in Virginia concluded “the state’s cavalier mentality is very much geared to the protection of women, but it has long regarded the notion of their equality an insult,” The Washington Post reported in 1977. “[The Report] characterized the legal status of Virginia homemakers as unpredictable.” Alice Paul (1885-1977) was an unrelenting female force. She first introduced the Equal Rights Amendment in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1923, on the 75th anniversary
of the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention. The amendment then read: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” Her text was simple, the mission nearly impossible. Many, including manufacturers, favored the ERA’s passage. “If we must talk equality, let’s talk equality of leisure, so that girls in industry may have time to be human,” Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) said. Rankin was the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives—in 1917. Paul’s Equal Rights Amendment was reintroduced in Congress annually. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964; Congress passed the ERA on March 22, 1972, and Women’s Equality Day, as per the 19th Amendment became law in 1973. In 1977 twenty-three Virginia Unions, ranging from the Teamsters to the Bicycle Messengers, “pushed” for State ratification of the ERA. James M. Thomson (D-Alexandria)—Delegate, House Majority Leader, Chairman of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, segregationist and Byrd brother-in-law— owned Virginia’s failure. “On the Saturday before the [1977] election 3,000 ERA supporters staged a rally in Alexandria urging Thomson’s defeat,” The Washington Post explained. A BIT OF HISTORY > PAGE 17
A BIT OF HISTORY | FROM PAGE 16
“Comedienne Lily Tomlin spoke at the rally, saying she had come from California ‘to help defeat the strongest anti-ERA candidate in probably the whole country.’” Thomson’s Committee kept the ERA “bottled up,” from 1972 to 1977 and after. The Equal Rights Amendment has thus far failed because supporters have secured only 37 of the required 38 state votes needed to ratify. Of the 37 states Nevada ratified the ERA in 2017, Illinois in May 2018. The so-called deadline was June 30, 1982. Although the Virginia legislature “let the Equal Rights Amendment go down to defeat,” it did “approve a series of bills that would give wives and widows a greater share of property accumulated during marriage,” The Washington Post noted in 1982. State Senator Wiley Mitchell (R-Alexandria) successfully sponsored “a bill that would divide ownership of a married couple’s joint bank account down the middle.” “[T]he most powerful opponents of ERA have been men ‘from the most conservative, unchanging small-town and rural portions of their states,’” The Washington Post concluded. With few exceptions, the dozen “dirty” state legislators listed by the then National Women’s Political Caucus came from just such Districts. Virginia House speaker A.L. Philpott (D-Henry) and State Senator Virgil Goode (D-Rocky Mount) were among the nationally named. Goode switched to the opposition in 1980, after five years of cosponsoring the ERA. Most state versions of the equal rights amendment, approximately 20, were adopted amid the turmoil of the 1970s, between 1971 and 1978. Virginia’s state constitution, revised effective July 1, 1971, includes such a declaration. Article 1, Section 11: “The right to be free from any governmental discrimination upon the basis of religious conviction, race, color, sex, or national origin shall not be abridged, except that the mere separation of the sexes shall not be considered discrimination.” Private sector discrimination Old Town Crier
is not mentioned. In 2017 the Trump administration “moved to expand the rights of employers to deny women insurance coverage for contraception and issued sweeping guidance on religious freedom.” Wrote Elizabeth Cady Stanton, author of The Woman’s Bible in 1895: “From the inauguration of the movement for woman’s emancipation the Bible has been used to hold her in the ‘divinely ordained sphere.’” “The great decisions of Government cannot be dictated by the concerns of religious factions,” conservative Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) said in 1981. “It was true in the days of [James] Madison and it is just as true today.” A Memorial and Remonstrance…by His Excellency James Madison was published in 1786. See also George Mason’s, Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, Section 16. “The ERA has bipartisan support in Virginia, but it’s still a hard sell for some conservatives,” Richmond attorney Patricia Wallace said. In September the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors decided not to include ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in its state legislative agenda. “The thing that’s the most shocking to me about this whole conversation is we’re having this conversation in 2018,” Board Chairman Phyllis Randall (DAt Large) said. Action is needed. The AAUW ranks Virginia 29th in gender equality. A Virginia woman earns only 79% of what a man earns. “It is my opinion that the lapse of the ERA’s original and extended ratification periods has not disempowered the General Assembly from passing a ratifying resolution,” Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring wrote on May 11, 2018. “Given Congress’s substantial power over the amending process, I cannot conclude that Congress would be powerless to extend or remove the ERA’s ratification deadline and recognize as valid a State’s intervening act of ratification. Indeed, legislation currently pending in Congress seeks to exercise that very power.” “I see no reason not to codify equality, especially
since the lack of codification has been used in the past to justify unequal treatment,” 28 year-old millennial Hannah Risley said. “Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape objectified women. You know the words: ‘I just start kissing them. Grab ‘em by the pussy. You can do anything.’” Anne Schlafly Cori, daughter of Reagan ally Phyllis Schlafly and Chairman of the Eagle Forum, remains opposed. The Eagle Forum was established in 1972. “Although the Virginia General Assembly has never ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, the Senate of Virginia has passed a ratifying resolution at least five times, most recently in 2016,” Attorney General Herring continued. “Similar measures have been introduced in the House of Delegates, but have not been considered.” Ironically, it may be James Madison, father of the Bill of Rights, who has the last say. In 1789 the first Congress passed a Constitutional amendment regarding Congressional pay. The Amendment, now the 27th Amendment, was not ratified until 1992. Legal acceptance of the Madison Amendment—more than 202 years later—has led many Equal Rights proponents to argue the ERA’s viability. Let’s ratify the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment! VAratifyERA.org toured the State in November and the women’s message is compelling. Forty-seven years is a long wait. The United States has yet to ratify the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the CEDAW treaty. Ratification of the ERA, of CEDAW “would continue America’s proud bipartisan tradition of promoting and protecting human rights by extending those rights to cover women and girls specifically,” the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women wrote in 2016. Of the United Nations 193 member states only six countries have declined to ratify the CEDAW treaty: Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Padau, Tonga and the United States. The U.S. cultural explanation is? Whatever the alleged rationale, Virginia’s General Assembly has no
NOT ONE MORE G EN ER ATION
Photo: Lauren Fleming, 2017
SIGN THE PETITION
tinyurl.com/VAratifyERA excuse. Only the seeming immutability of former Delegate James M. Thomson’s outdated dispute. Sarah Becker started writing for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with
Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, SLAM’s saving grace Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email: abitofhistory53@ gmail.com
January 2019 | 17
POINTS ON PETS
SARAH LIU
stop eating are at serious risk of developing hepatic lipodosis, which causes a life threatening imbalance of liver function. Obese dogs suffer exercise and heat intolerance and respiratory compromise with problems breathing. Don’t just put Fluff on a diet. Go to the vet, and make a plan. Your veterinarian will determine an ideal target weight and have recommendations for quality foods. Once the plan is set, be strict about frequency and measurements. An extra ¼ cut of kibble seems negligible to a 150 pound
R’S A E Y NEW TIONS U RESOL OUR FOR Y
PET
Eat Healthy and Lose Weight. Weight loss and better eating habits top the list of most human New Year’s resolution lists. And our pets are fat too. Statistics show 60% of cats and 56% of dogs in the United States are overweight or obese. Like humans, excess weight in pets negatively impacts overall health and can drastically reduce life expectancy. Obesity in cats and dogs increases the risk of cancer, osteoarthritis, urinary and kidney issues, diabetes, skin problems and reduced immune system function. Obese cats that
ADOPTION CALENDAR
human, but, over time, can make a difference for a nine pound cat. Don’t leave dry food out for free-feeding, as boredom eaters will graze all day, and reconsider those extra treats. Consider switching from dry food to a good quality high-protein wet food, which increases hydration and generally contains fewer preservatives than kibble.
Schedule a Check-up. Even if your pet is not overweight, start 2019 on a healthy note by scheduling a veterinary checkup. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, all pets should receive a physical examination every year. Regular visits enable trained professionals to document vital signs and prevent or control conditions before they
OTC Pet Product Endorsement
become critical. Common chronic issues like diabetes, arthritis and obesity can be managed better when detected early. Keeping up to date with dental hygiene, vaccinations, and flea and parasite treatments can help keep pets safe, comfortable, and prevent expensive remedies down the road.
If your pet doesn’t have a microchip yet, go get one. Microchipping is an easy and affordable procedure that can be done quickly at your vet’s office via injection. Unlike a traditional collar, microchips last for 25 or more years, will not slip off or get lost, and give your pet the best chance of returning home if he or she gets lost. If your pet is already chipped, make sure you have completed the registry information, and update that information regularly as your contact information changes. If you are unsure whether your chip is registered, ask your vet or rescue shelter for the registration information and contact the registry online. If you are unsure whether your pet is chipped, most veterinarians and rescue shelters have scanning equipment available and the expertise to help you update the registry. Update your pet’s collar and ID tag. Microchipping is great, but your pet should still wear a traditional collar with up-to-date contact information. This includes indoor cats that are especially hard to reunite with owners absent collar or microchip identification. Include your pet’s name, your cell phone number, and the city where you reside. If your pet is microchipped, include a second tag with the chip company name and phone number. It’s also a good idea to include your pet’s proof of rabies vaccination tag, which is required by law in some
www.kingstreetcats.org emai: contact@kingstreetcats.org
Are you or someone you know free during weekday mornings? King Street Cats is looking for weekday morning caregivers and vet taxis to transport our cats to the vet. Please email: contact@kingstreetcats.org for details.
PETVALU Bradlee Shopping Center, 3652 King St, Alexandria, VA 22302 Every Sat/Sun from 1pm-4pm
King Street Cats is looking for foster homes! You provide the spare room and TLC and we can provide food, litter and all vetting. Please email: contact@kingstreetcats.org for details.
18 | January 2019
Tramp says: “For an older kitty I am lucky that I haven’t had major dental issues, however, I loved the way these treats tasted. It was very easy to “brush my teeth” each morning and hopefully by doing so I have prevented any future problems.”
Update Identifications.
KING STREET CATS 25 Dove Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 Every Saturday and Sunday from 1.30pm-4.30pm
FOR DETAILS AND MORE INFO
We normally don’t endorse any products of any kind but these ProDen PlaqueOff® Dental treats for cats and dogs were pretty impressive. We tested them on our 12 year old tuxedo kitty, Tramp, and gave the pooch treats to friends who have a cool pooch, Darby, who has breath and plaque problems. Both of these products professed to provide an easy complement to ordinary oral hygiene. The kitty treats are formulated with an algae that is clinically proven to help support normal oral hygiene and are highly palatable, fuss-free treats for felines that are supposed to eliminate bad breath and fight plaque. They are grain-free, gluten-free, soy-free - contain 100% natural and sustainably harvested sea kelp, harvested along the North Atlantic coast. They are available in 60g suitable for any type of cat. MSRP $9.99
The pooch versions are supposedly the only bones on the market containing PlaqueOff™, a powder which helps promote superior dental health with a 100% natural and environmentally sustainable kelp ingredient. They are also grain-free, gluten-free, soy-free and made in the USA with natural ingredients. They are marketed as very easy to blend and digestible and suitable for dogs all sizes (from 10 pounds and up). They are available in four flavors: meat-free Vegetable Fusion, Chicken & Pumpkin, Turkey & Cranberry, and Natural Bacon. MSRP $17.99
POINTS ON PETS > PAGE 19
PETCO UNLEASHED 1101 S Joyce St, Arlington, VA 22202 Every first Sat & third Sat from 1pm-4pm PETCO UNLEASHED 1855 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC 20007 Every fourth Sat/Sun from 12pm-3pm THE DOG PARK 705 King Street, Alexandria, VA22314 Every second Saturday from 1pm-4pm
Darby’s human told us: “I just wanted to let you know that Darby just finished the last of the Plaque-Off that you kindly gave to us over Thanksgiving. She’s only a mid-size breed (about 35 lb) so we’ve been dividing each one into two (they have a handy line scored down the middle making them easier to snap into two pieces). First things first, she loves them. She sits by the cupboard where we keep them at the same time every night until I (always at her service) duly oblige. The second piece of good news is that they’ve definitely had a positive health impact. While the plaque is still visible I definitely think that it’s on the retreat. Her breath is the biggest change - noticeable improvement on that front! Summary: we’re very likely going to continue buying them.”
POINTS ON PETS | FROM PAGE 18
states, and provides another way to identify your pet in case he gets lost.
Quality Time and Enrichment. Our pets love us and their lives revolve around ours. Start 2019 by reinvigorating your relationship with quality time to show your pet you care. Make a list of the things you love about your pet and her favorite things to do. Then do them. Not only will the time together enhance her quality of life, it’s good for you too. Studies show the health benefits of hanging with your pet include deceased blood pressure and cholesterol, increased opportunities for exercise, and improvements in mental health.
Grooming is a great way to spend quiet one-on-one time. Apart from the advantages of an attractive, healthy looking companion, brushing is a great opportunity to stay in frequent touch with your pets overall health. Fur, skin, and tone give vital clues to your pet’s physical and mental condition. Is she relaxed and happy or tense and sensitive? Are there any lumps, bumps, scabs or mats that might be causing pain or warrant a medical examination? Do you see any flea dirt or flaking that might indicate parasites or allergies? Exercise and play are also super enrichment opportunities. Outdoor walks provide a multitude of physical and mental benefits for you and your dog. New environments provide
training opportunities, build confidence and trust to increase ownership bonds, and enhance socialization skills as your dog makes friends and learns boundaries. Where cats are concerned, toys and cat trees or scratching posts encourage healthy nondestructive exercise, relieve boredom, and can help with excessive nighttime activity or vocalization. For households with multiple cats, group play can encourage or increase social bonds and reduce territorial stresses.
Start an Emergency Fund.
animals are surrendered or euthanized each year because owners simply cannot afford medical care. Even if you have pet insurance, it might not cover an emergency procedure. If you don’t have pet insurance, be mindful that basic diagnostics can cost a thousand or more dollars. If you’re not doing it already, start 2019 by creating a dedicated pet emergency fund. Set aside a small amount monthly, and save it for that rainy day. The sacrifice of one fancy coffee per week could make a big difference in your pet’s life. He’s worth it!
your pet has given you and pay it forward by improving the life of a rescue animal. Whether a tax deductible donation to your local shelter, volunteering time to clean or counsel potential adopters, or fostering rescue pets in your own home, your resources and time make big differences in the lives of homeless animals. Make 2019 the Year of the Pet - for your own beloved companion and the future of rescue animals anxious for a second chance. SarahLiu is a longtime volunteer at King Street Cats. She lives and works in Alexandria, VA and faithfully serves her feline soulmate, Chloe Huggins.
Give Back.
Tragically, a high percentage of companion
Finally, consider the joy
PETS OF THE MONTH
Resources PETOBESITYPREVENTION.ORG VCAHOSPITALS.COM PETMD.COM HUMANESOCIETY.ORG CDC.GOV KINGSTREETCATS.ORG
POINTS ON PETS | FROM PAGE 19
Start Out the New Year
By Adopting a Furry Friend!
ANNIE
Senior, Spayed Female, Black and White Basenji
PANTHER
Adult, Neutered Male, Brown Tabby
PANCAKE AND TOAST
Adult, Females, Brown and Black Short Hair Rabbits
Pancake and Toast are the perfect combination of sweet, affectionate bunnies! They are best friends, so they’re looking for a family who they can hop along with and cuddle up next to every day. They enjoy snoozing in their cardboard hideouts and playing with their toys, so there’s always something to do with these two! Photo courtesy of Alison Lane Photography Adoption profile: https://alexandriaanimals.org/animal-profile/?id=33139 Panther is a tabby bundle of love. Panther is quiet and well behaved – a true gentleman. He loves attention and will play with you as long as you want. Panther is gentle but other cats and small children stress him, so a calm environment where Panther is the only nonhuman in the home will suit him best. In that situation this little guy will flourish and bring nothing but joy and happiness to his human companions. Photo courtesy of Alison Lane Photography Adoption profile: https://alexandriaanimals.org/animal-profile/?id=29208
Meet former King Street Cats Alumnus
Peppercorn She now resides in the office of The Old Town Crier and it has been rumored that she is quite helpful with the paperwork.
Hi, I’m Annie. If I look familiar it’s because you may have seen drawings of my Basenji breed inside the pyramids of Egypt! I don’t need a pyramid, just a cozy home where I can lounge like Cleopatra. But unlike Cleopatra, I am totally low-maintenance. No need to cover me in gold and jewels; just a treat or two is all I desire! I’m crate-trained and housetrained, so I’m perfect for a person or couple who shares my philosophy on life – There is always time to nap. Always. Photo courtesy of Alison Lane Photography Adoption profile: https://alexandriaanimals.org/animal-profile/?id=32333 Adoption information: https://alexandriaanimals.org/adoption-information/
4101 Eisenhower Avenue • Alexandria, VA 703-746-4774 • alexandriaanimals.org Mon-Fri, 1-8 pm • Closed Wed • Sat & Sun, 12-5 pm Old Town Crier
January 2019 | 19
CARIBBEAN CONNECTION JEFF MCCORD
Caribbean Rum Helped Win the
•• First Wild West ••
W
ith the holidays and autumn behind us and winter upon us, some Virginians may have thoughts of hot rum toddies sipped before roaring fires as cold winds sweep past storm glass windows. Beyond such soothing imagery, though, rum played a very real role in Colonial America’s ruthless expansion beyond the Appalachians. For now, let’s stick with pleasantries. Historic Mount Vernon’s web site offers an appealing rum toddy recipe supposedly inspired by Martha Washington. To make a bowl serving sixto-ten people, you need the following: 3 oz. White Rum, 3 oz. Dark Rum; 3 oz. Orange Curacao; 4 oz. simple syrup; 4 oz. lemon juice; 4 oz. fresh orange juice; 3 lemons quartered; 1 orange quartered; 1/2 Tsp. grated nutmeg; 3 cinnamon sticks (broken); 6 cloves; 12 oz. boiling water Our love affair with rum began in the mid-1600s on the British island of Barbados where slave dependant sugar planters learned that molasses — that heavy, sweet syrupy waste residue of sugar refining — could be fermented and, with the addition of water, 20 | January 2019
produce an intoxicating drink. In the islands, the liquor was first known as “kill-devil.” Barbadan rum, of the thick, dark variety also known as “blackstrap” became wildly popular in Britain and her North American colonies. To meet demand, production quickly spread from Barbados to Jamaica and other sugar producing Caribbean islands. Since 1760, the Virgin Island of St Croix has produced “Cruzan Rums.” St. Croix became known for its lighter, white and dark rums blended from thicker, more aged rums. They’re ideal for mixing in rum punches and hot toddies. As a young man, George Washington personally witnessed rum distillation during his sole trip abroad. In 1751, at age 19, he traveled to Barbados with older brother Lawrence. They thought the warm climate and clear sea air would help Lawrence’s battle against tuberculosis. It didn’t and Lawrence died in 1752. George then moved into Lawrence’s estate Mount Vernon to help his widow manage its lands and enterprises. He also became active in Lawrence’s most promising venture — the formation and management of the Ohio Company of Virginia, which aimed to
develop a healthy trade with Indians living beyond the mountains and secure Virginia’s land claims before French Canadians moved in. In return for valuable beaver skins, furs and land, Indians would receive cheap British manufactured goods, such as cloth, beads, firearms and rum. The Potomac River (and a system of portages) provided a good highway for early traders’ canoe traffic, enabling them to approach a key pass through the Alleghenies west of what is now Cumberland, MD. But, to receive the imported trade goods from Britain and transport them up the Potomac required a deep water port and warehouses. In the 1730s, a warehouse storing tobacco for export had been built at the confluence of Hunting Creek and the Potomac. The Ohio Company, encouraged by the Washingtons, Lees and other local landowning investors, chose that location for construction of new docks and warehouses. Young George Washington was one of the first surveyors of that land that would become Alexandria. Docks, storehouses, an inn and even a rum distillery (producing cheap “Alexandria Rum”
from imported West Indian molasses) were all constructed in the mid 1700s along the shore line. In the 1980s, archaeologists working the site now known as Harborside found extensive remains of that development. Beyond his surveying, Washington played a fascinating role during the 1750s in establishing Ohio Company forts (log stockades) and storehouses along the route West from Alexandria to Winchester and Cumberland, as well as the first attempt to establish a British presence at what’s now Pittsburgh. In the process, 21-year-old Washington and the band of Virginia frontiersmen he led unwittingly sparked what became the French and Indian War. Through it all, Indians had developed quite a taste for rum. In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin, then representing the province of Pennsylvania in an effort to secure peace and trade in the West, described 1753 negotiations with Indians held in the frontier town of Carlisle, PA: “[Knowing it would make the Indians disorderly], we strictly forbade selling any liquor to them; and, when they complained, we told them that
if they would continue sober during the [negotiations], we would give them plenty of rum when business was over. They promised . . . [and] because they could get no liquor, the treaty was conducted very orderly, and concluded to mutual satisfaction. They then claimed and received the rum; this was in the afternoon; they were near one hundred men, women, and children [camped outside town] . . . In the evening, hearing a great noise among them, [we] walked out to see what was the matter. They had made a great bonfire in the middle of [camp]; they were all drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting . . . running after and beating one another with firebrands accompanied by their horrid yellings; there was no appeasing the tumult and we retired to our lodging. At midnight a number of them came thundering at our door, demanding more rum, of which we took no notice.” Aware they had “misbehaved,” the next day Franklin said the Indians’ “orator” excused themselves by explaining: “The Great Spirit, who made all things, made everything for some use . . . and for that use it should always be put. Now, when He made rum, He said, ‘Let this be for the Indians to get drunk with,’ and it must be so.” Sadly, Franklin concluded that “rum may be the appointed means” CARIBBEAN CONNECTION > PAGE 21
CARIBBEAN CONNECTION FROM PAGE 20
in “Providence’s design” to displace these Indians with European cultivators. More to the point, John Heckewelder, a Moravian missionary in the region who lived among the Indians in the 1750s, described in his own book the use of rum: “The general prevalence of drunkenness among the Indians is owing to unprincipled white traders who persuade them to become intoxicated that they may cheat them more easily and obtain their lands or pelts for a mere trifle.” Secular authorities found it all distasteful, while averting their eyes. Virginia Governor Dinwiddie, an important investor in the trade-dependent Ohio Company, disingenuously called such Indian traders “a set of abandoned wretches” in a 1753 letter to the Pennsylvania Governor. Later, in 1755, British General Braddock, whose mission was to subdue the French and their Indian allies in the region, called Indian traders “Banditti,” although he used them as scouts and followed
k
their trails. Ultimately, the traders, rum and Anglo-American military muscle did fulfill what Franklin called Providence’s plan. The trans-Appalachian frontier was opened for settlement at the expense of the unfortunate Indians who were moved further West beyond the Mississippi River. Some Indians were even sent to the Caribbean as slaves. As we enjoy our rum drinks, we may not wish to consider that dreadful West Indian slave plantations produced the elixir that, in turn, helped create the Native American diaspora.
Jeffrey R. McCord is a freelance journalist whose work on international economics and consumer protection has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Gannett newspapers and Truthout.org, among other publications. For more than 20 years, he’s called Northern Virginia home. Jeff is the author of two fact-based Caribbean novels: “Undocumented Visitors in a Pirate Sea,” which was a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest; and, “Santa Anna’s Gold in a Pirate Sea,” a finalist in the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book contest.
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FROM THE BAY …
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down to about 100 feet at times, and you had to clear three or four inches of snow off the deck after every race. I was smiling the whole time.”
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Wear what frostbite racers wear when it’s freezing, and you will be a warm, happy sailor in spring. Of course, a Gortex dry suit would be sweltering in 50 or 60 degrees and would limit maneuverability, but the other layers frostbite dinghy racers wear bode well in many sailing situations. Gortex socks and strap-on hats. A balaclava, which is a closefitting hood covering the head, face, and neck, made out of light, hightech fabric. Wicking base layers and fleece mid-layers. Neoprene hiking pants/shorts, socks, or dinghy boots. (Haldeman recommends wearing dinghy boots a size larger than your shoe size so as not to cut off circulation while wearing thick socks.)
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ccording to the NOAA website’s Thomas Point Light Station, the air temperature is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The Bay, 42.6 degrees. It’s blowing 12 knots out of the northwest and gusting up to 14 knots. The sky is clear and expected to remain so. Would you like to go sailing right now on a one-man, 14-foot sailboat? Two dozen Laser sailors from Annapolis say “yes.” The most obvious first two questions would be, “Why?” and, “Are you crazy?” We tend to ask those questions of anyone at the extremes of a sport. This is not professional sailing here. We’re talking about recreational, Sunday afternoon sailing. Whether we—meaning the nondinghy-frostbite-racing majority—are racing sailors or cruisers, who prefer “reasonable” weather, we shouldn’t just dismiss these hardcore frostbite sailors as crazy. They have something to teach us. There have been best-selling books on how to be happy; here’s the free, one-page cliff notes version for sailors. Do things you love, and you will make friends who share your passion. “I frostbite because the fleet is so gung-ho about it,” says Dorian Haldeman, Severn SA’s former Laser 22 | January 2019
Photos by Will Keyworth, courtesy of SpinSheet fleet captain and regular competitor. Charlie Pugh says, “We love to sail. We love to race. I think most of us agree that a day racing Lasers on the water will beat a day in the office no matter how bad the weather gets.” “The camaraderie is amazing,” says Ashley Love. “Of course, there is a lot of camaraderie,” adds Bob Tan. Funny how many times these one-man dinghy racers mention camaraderie. What drives these sailors from a racing perspective are the power and learning experience of relying on their own skills and wits to steer, trim, and navigate their own boats effectively around a race course. That the friends will be there on the docks and race course is the underlying force that propels them to the sailing club in the cold. Do something that takes you out of your comfort zone, and you may be surprised by how much fun it is. Gavin O’Hare says, “We feel
tougher than the average bear when we suit up and brave the elements— classic adrenaline junkie culture.” As a first-year frostbiter, Love agrees, “Everyone’s out there toughing it, and I love being a part of the stories that get told when everyone’s sharing their ‘This day was so cold’ stories. Weather shouldn’t get in the way of doing something you love.” An on-and-off frostbite racer for 20 years, Peter Young admits that not only does he not like sailing in the cold, but that he’s also not an “adept” Laser sailor. He does it because he doesn’t have the luxury to travel to southern winter regattas as many of his competitors do, yet he wants to stay on his game and be competitive come summer championship season. He relates his most memorable frostbite racing experience: “One afternoon three years ago, it was snowing quite hard on the water. The snowflakes were huge, visibility was
Most of the sailors interviewed prefer ski gloves, thermal garden gloves (found at True Value Hardware for less than $10), or Altas Lobster Gloves (worn by lobstermen) to sailing gloves. The recycling award goes to O’Hare, who dons wool socks, covered with plastic grocery bags inside neoprene booties. Don’t be afraid to just be your cool self. Hal Whitacre says, “I love winter sailing. The harbor is free of boats, and it feels so cool to be out sailing when most folks are in watching football. The thought of capsizing keeps me paying attention. Almost sliding off the ice-covered deck keeps you on your toes, too. I did that about three times last week, laughing the whole time! ...I sailed a few times in Chicago in their Laser frostbite series. You think it’s cold here...” Winans is the editor of the popular sailing magazine SpinSheet and power boat magazine, PropTalk based in Eastport, Maryland. This article first appeared in the November 2012 SpinSheet.
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ALL YEAR ROUND! January 2019 | 23
JUNE
~ 2018 Travels ~ WHAT A YEAR!
~
Photo by Lani Gering
24 | January 2019
ROAD TRIP
BOB TAGERT
MARCH
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n January of each year we recap our “road trip” adventures from the previous year. In February of last year, we visited the beautiful Greenfield Inn in Rappahannock County. Normally we think of going to the mountains in the fall to check out the fall foliage, but there are some advantages to visiting the mountains in the winter. Although the green pastures and farm land have taken on a dormant brown color and the leaves have fallen, the farms are active, and horses and cattle can be observed in the fields feeding on the fresh hay bales. Life in the country doesn’t stop but it does slow down a bit. This is the time to take advantage of fewer tourists when you visit the wineries and shops in the country. The Inn is a grand southern Georgian-style 1760’s mansion surrounded by gently rolling hills. Its two-pillared entrance provides the gateway to breathtaking views in a relaxing, comfortable setting of understated elegance. Sitting areas and garden spaces invite you to unwind. Centrally located in Rappahannock County, guests enjoy easy access to wineries, breweries and distilleries; antique shops, boutiques, spa; hiking trails in the Shenandoah National Park; Civil War attractions, theater and more. The Greenfield Inn was a private family dwelling to well-established families who were related to past presidents George Washington, James Madison and Zachary Taylor.
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The home was said to have been headquarters for both the North and South during the Civil War. The windows still have the original glass panes. The Inn is on the doorstep of the town of Washington and about 5 miles from Sperryville where you can find dining options ranging from a hamburger to some of the best dining establishments in the state-The Inn At Little Washington comes to mind. Last March we took a trip to southern Maryland and the Patuxent Naval Air Station Museum as well as a few other locations in southern Maryland. On this day the Museum was closed to the public due to the semi-annual meeting of the Maryland Distillers Guild. The Museum has a great collection of air craft from over the years. We had been to the Museum before and wrote an article pertaining to its history. This time we were there to see our distillery friends. In addition to the distilleries, there are several wineries and breweries that have popped up over the last 7 years that have had a significant impact on southern Maryland. March is a good time to visit as that is Maryland Wine Month and an excellent time to take advantage of special tastings and events.
Across the Patuxent River from Patuxent Naval Air Station is Solomons island. I have written about Solomons often over the years. During the summer months this is a go to place for northern Virginians, but it is also nice to visit in the winter. Even though the summer crowds are missing, the restaurants, shops and museums are open. In addition to the popular summer eats like crab cakes, oysters (winter is better for oysters) and spiced shrimp, you can also find offerings of winter specials. Last April our road trip took us to Culpeper Virginia, one of America’s Main Street Small Towns. The part of Culpeper that I visit is the historic district of Davis and Main Street. The original plan of the town called for ten blocks, which form the core of Culpeper’s downtown area today. A young George Washington, who at age 27, was a protégé of the 6th Lord of Fairfax, surveyed the original town. During the Civil War it was a crossroads for several armies marching through central Virginia, with both Union and Confederate forces occupying the town by turn. In the heart of the downtown, the childhood home of Confederate General A.P. Hill stands at the corner of Main and Davis streets. Culpeper began to grow
dramatically in the 1980’s, becoming a “bedroom community” of the more densely populated Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. suburbs. In 2011 East Davis Street was named as a 2011 America’s Great Place by the American Planning Association. The secret to the success of the downtown area is the diversity of the shops and restaurants. In a short two block stretch you can find anything from bees making honey and freshly baked goods to seriously sweet treats and wine to elegant and casual dining. In May, while spring was trying to push winter into distant memory, we decided it was time to head to the beach and the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The hotel and Victoria’s Restaurant are privately owned, operated and managed by the Zerby family and located on a piece of property that was once occupied by the Shirl Ann Motel, which had been in the Zerby family since the late 1950’s. The Zerby-Meade family had a dream to build a Victorian-style property that provided its guests with the service and atmosphere of a bygone era coupled with modern-day amenities. Think of the Grand Hotel in the movie Somewhere in Time. Although the hotel is located right on the beach, great care is taken to ensure the proper experience. The hotel
is decorated throughout in period furniture, furnishings and feel. The hallways have plush carpets appointed with button and tufted chairs and beautiful antiques. For a certain amount of serenity, the fourth floor is reserved for adults only and is accessible only for those with the key card for rooms on that level. We recommend spending the extra dollars for this treat. The Boardwalk Plaza Hotel is located right off Rehoboth Avenue and on the boardwalk. When we were there last May the temperature hit 78 degrees and the boardwalk was crowded. Another nice touch by the town…parking meters had not yet been activated. For our June road trip, we visited the “Jewel of the Chesapeake Bay” …North Beach, Maryland. The iconic Chesapeake Bay Bridge was first opened in1952 allowing vehicular traffic access to the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean. Before that bridge, folks from Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia would take their weekend retreats from the summer heat to the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. One of the most popular venues was North Beach in Calvert County. North Beach epitomizes the expression “land of pleasant living.” The sevenblock waterfront has a fishing pier and a half-mile-long boardwalk. The boardwalk forms a bulkhead to the Bay at the southern end and flares out into a sandy beach at the north end. Two years ago, the town ROAD TRIP > PAGE 26
January 2019 | 25
JULY ROAD TRIP FROM PAGE 25
initiated a reclamation project to replace beach sand. The boardwalk has numerous benches for casual strollers to rest and watch the boats sail on the Bay. The town encompasses a wildlife refuge in its tidal marshland where native species make their home and seasonal migrant birds find a welcome place to rest. For our July road trip, we went a short way south on I-95 to the quaint little town of Occoquan. We had lost sight of Occoquan over the years even though in 1997 we were writing about this beautiful town on a semi-regular basis. A lot of the businesses that were there then are now long gone, however a few remain like the Virginia Grille and the Occoquan Inn which is now Madigan’s Waterfront. The town had some major improvements done a few years back and the biggest improvement is the completion of the River Walk Promenade along the Occoquan River. This wide promenade is a nice shady respite on hot summer days. The restaurants that front the River Walk have delightful seating for outdoor dining or a cool libation. Moving up stream you will come to River Mill Park. From here you can see the man-made waterfall on the opposite bank and farther up the river the rock formations create white water rapids. If you like to shop, Occoquan has an abundance of antique and home décor stores, galleries and art studios, apparel shops, jewelry and specialty shops. If spending some time outdoors is your cup of tea, you can rent kayaks riverside or Rivershore Charters can provide you with Occoquan River charters that will take you out on the water. For our August road trip, we headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains and
historic Valley View Farm. Recently added to the peach orchard, apple orchard, blackberry and blueberry patches, the Strother family has planted grape vines. These new vines are the first plantings for one of Virginia’s newest wineries. Valley View Farm is considered one of the most spectacular landscapes in the northern Piedmont of Virginia. “We are thrilled to provide a complete destination experience for customers who appreciate locally produced products, who we refer to as, Locavores. To be able to make this site available to Locavores to enjoy fine wine, Virginia cider, pick-yourown fruits, and organically grown vegetables is nothing short of being a way to create the perfect local farm-fresh experience,” said Philip Carter Strother, owner of Philip Carter Winery. The farm is a 500-acre tract of land that is rich in history and, with one exception, has been in the same family for nearly three centuries. Located in the Crooked Run Valley in northern Faquier County, the farm was patented in 1731 by James Ball of Lancaster County, a first cousin of Mary Washington, the mother of George Washington. The little red barn on the farm houses the tasting room as well as the Locavore Farm Market. In September we decided to head east and visit some of our favorite destinations that we had not visited in years. The road took us to the West River that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. Things have changed somewhat from back in our earlier days. There is a lot more traffic out that way as a lot more people have moved to this beautiful part of Maryland. Back then you could buy the house a round at Swamp Circle Saloon for $20. You got three plays on the juke box for a quarter on the selection of 45 rpm records and they had a real dart board. Swamp Circle is closed now waiting to be
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transformed into a Mexican place. We stopped at the Inn at Pirates Cove in Galesville to reminisce about those days long ago. The restaurant sits right along the West River where boats can tie up and enjoy the dining as well as the Dock Bar. Next to Pirates Cove is Thursdays, a restaurant located out on a pier. Years ago, this was called Steamboat Landing and is also a destination for boats as well as those who come by automobile. Near the West River in Deale you can find Skippers Pier. Under new ownership now, this is a local favorite and a great destination. The food is excellent, and the steamed crabs are some of the biggest we have seen. In October our road trip took us back to the Blue Ridge for Virginia Wine Month. It is our habit to write about the Virginia Wine country every October and we have been doing it for 29 years. This year the Virginia wine industry has been hit hard by bad weather. It began in the spring with the rainiest year on record and lasted throughout the year. As bad luck would have it, most of these rains came on the weekends drastically reducing the tourism to the wineries. Upwards to 85 percent of the wine sold is sold at the wineries, not in stores and restaurants. The decline in sales is creating a major problem for some of our wineries, and some may not make it through 2019. To make the problems worse, at harvest time the wine region was hit with the remnants of
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26 | January 2019
AUGUST
Hurricane Florence which caused catastrophic inland flooding and hit right at harvest time. Because of all the rain some wineries lost their entire crop and others were severely impacted. Some grapes were harvested but 2018 will go down as one of the worse years for Virginia grape growers and wineries. Now is a good time to visit your favorite Virginia winery and show your support. Those wineries who have accumulated a good inventory from previous years should be ok, but others may not make it to 2020. For our November road trip, we headed west to the Shenandoah Valley and Old Valley Pike. Making this trip in November is the perfect time of year as the leaves are beginning to change color and the cool days make for crystal clear skies. Even though fall is the best time for this road trip, it is still enjoyable at any other time of the year. Old Valley Pike is Route 11 running from Strasburg south to Harrisonburg. Our favorite section is from Strasburg to Mount Jackson. There are several small towns to explore and many fine establishments to dine and spend the night. Most of the traffic travelling north and south will be on Interstate 81 which runs parallel to Route 11 leaving little traffic to compete with. One of the great things about this road trip is that you don’t
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have to retrace your steps. Taking I-66 and Route 55 from northern Virginia to Strasburg is an easy and fast trip, depending on traffic. Coming back is the scenic drive on the Edinburg Turnpike, over the mountain into Luray, over the next mountains into Sperryville and Rappahannock County. As is every December, we stayed home to explore our wonderful city of Alexandria. There is much happening in our town as the waterfront continues to be developed and new businesses come to town. The arrival of the tall ship Providence is eagerly anticipated this spring as Alexandria’s sailing ambassador. Where ever your destination takes you, make it a memorable road trip.
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January 2019 | 27
TO THE BLUE RIDGE
JULIE REARDON
And They’re Off. . .
C
olonial Downs Thoroughbred Race Track is reopening in stages later this year in New Kent County. Since colonial times, Virginia has always been known as horse country. Over the years, some world famous race horses were foaled at some of the best nurseries in the racing business right here in Virginia, including Secretariat. However, the state lacked its own venue for live Thoroughbred racing on the flat, even though it hosted the two biggest steeplechase meets in the country - the Virginia Gold Cup in the spring and the International Gold Cup in the fall at Great Meadow in
The Plains. That changed in 1997 when Colonial Downs first opened in New Kent and racing finally returned to the
Commonwealth. Colonial Downs proved popular with Virginia horsemen, as well as those from nearby states for its state of the art dirt and turf tracks and modern facility. With off track wagering eventually being held at 10 locations statewide, purses were increased and money was put back into breeding and training farms. These farms, and the attendant jobs, had been steadily abandoning Virginia for greener pastures where purse incentives awarded breeders money for winners born in that state. An acrimonious disagreement between the wagering parlors - the Virginia Horsemen and Jacobs Entertainment, the owner of Colonial Downs eventually caused the track to close in 2013. The horsemen, united under the umbrella group Virginia
Equine Alliance, nevertheless, worked on rebuilding the off track wagering network and sought a venue that could
host live Thoroughbred racing in the state. Since the track closed, they held a handful of Virginia-bred and Virginiasired races in Maryland and at Great Meadow. Part of what had kept the track dark the past five years was the difficulty of offering a critical mass of racing days with competitive purses in an environment in which every nearby state— except Virginia—had purses enhanced with revenues from other forms of gaming. But the persistent horsemen struck pay dirt in April of 2018. Revolutionary Racing and Peninsula Pacific bought Colonial Downs from Jacobs Entertainment for a sum reportedly in excess of $20,000,000. Gov. Ralph Northam also signed into law a bill that will permit Revolutionary to deploy “historical horse racing” machines, which provide players a slot machine-like experience while using the results of previously run races to generate winning numbers. The machines are expected to fatten the company’s revenue by nine figures and pump millions of dollars into racing purses. “This moment would not be possible without the proactive leadership shown by the General Assembly and Gov. Ralph Northam,” added Larry Lucas, chairman of Revolutionary, in a statement. “A vibrant and successful Colonial Downs is critical to ensuring that horse racing can thrive and grow in the Commonwealth. Horse racing can be traced to the earliest years of the Colony of Virginia. And every Virginian takes great pride in this being the birthplace of Secretariat, the most famous horse to ever take the track. Now, with this purchase we are well on our way to bringing back this historic industry.” On Dec. 13th, the Colonial Downs Group announced that
its licensing from the Virginia Racing Commission had been granted to return live racing to the Commonwealth along with approval to open a 600-unit historic horse racing (HHR) operation in New Kent County. “Rosie’s”, the electronic race game facility at Colonial Downs anticipates opening in midApril, while the race track at Colonial Downs, in conjunction with the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA), plans 15 days of live racing. The live racing meets will start August 8th and run through September 7th. The stabling area, undergoing renovations and improvements at the moment, is slated to open July 25th. The Colonial Downs Group is making a $300 million investment in the Commonwealth of Virginia and hopes to create 800 new jobs by the end of 2019. This effort will generate $25 million annually in state tax revenues, $17 million annually in local tax revenues and $25 million annually to Virginia’s horse industry. The project is not receiving any tax credits or government incentives. “This is an exciting step for everyone impassioned by the rebirth of live racing in Virginia and for our team delivering on our promise to revitalize horse racing in the Commonwealth,” said Colonial Downs Group senior vice-president and general manager John Marshall. “We are already making significant progress preparing Colonial Downs to evolve into one of the country’s premier race meets.” “It has been a long four years waiting for this day,” added VEA president Debbie Easter. “Our owners, breeders, trainers, veterinarians and everyone else associated with horse racing in Virginia have much anticipated the return of live racing at Colonial Downs and the resurgence in our industry that we know will come with it.”
...Let The Races Begin! 28 | January 2019
SPECIAL
I
n case you haven’t noticed, there is a real emphasis lately on the value of acquiring experiences instead of things. The point is to have the money to be able to travel or attend events, go back to school or play more sports. None of these things can be accomplished if your only focus in life is the acquisition of more and more stuff. With that in mind, if you want to embrace a lifestyle that has you looking to experiences, rather than things, for your fulfillment, a big step in that direction is to consider downsizing your living space. Before you move forward, think about your decision Do your homework and really evaluate your lifestyle before just jumping into selling off the family home. It might seem idyllic to live all together in a smaller space but somewhere in the middle of a February snow storm, will you regret your decision? Consider the size of your family: if you’re not done having kids, you might not want to be so quick to sell the three bedroom home in favor of a smaller condo unit. True downsizing means getting rid of years of stuff. Furniture, piles and piles of kid’s art and school work, holiday decorations that have been in the attic for years and all kinds of stuff that many years of living have acquired. Big houses have bigger storage places. Make sure that you are ready to part with the stuff or otherwise your “downsizing” is really just “re-distributing”. Condos and apartments don’t have much storage so if you’re not prepared to part with your stuff, are you willing to pay for separate storage units and have your “stuff ” across town in a different location?
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MARTY BASHER
A FEW REASONS TO CONSIDER DOWNSIZING IN 2019
That’s an expense that goes some way to defeating the purpose of downsizing. You may also find that moving to an apartment, condo or some kind of independent living facility will also change your daily routine. Rambling around a big old house that has provided comfort and security for many years is not the same as now living in a small space with just the necessities. These type of living quarters are based around a lot happening away from your “place”. Are you ready or willing to change your life that much? The alternative is to be stuck in tight quarters wondering why you ever moved. Now for the reasons why downsizing might be the right choice for you
Saving money— Generally, downsizing brings up ideas of cost savings. Savings on insurance, utilities, maintenance, taxes, and then of course the cost of the home itself. The once ubiquitous “American dream” of home ownership is dampened a little because what once was
the goal to “pay off the house” and be assured a place to live for free is no longer possible thanks to heavy real estate tax burdens. You need to look at the numbers as renting, even with modest annual increases, might be better than simply downsizing to a smaller home. Ultimately, the real benefit of downsizing is spending less of your income on a mortgage, home maintenance and property taxes. With those savings realized, you now have additional funds for life experiences, whether that’s travel, good cuisine locally at restaurants, wine events, investing in your hobbies and sports and so on. Downsizing might even allow you to fully pay off your mortgage, which is a big dent in the monthly budget and the funds from which can be reallocated to a retirement plan, debt reduction or other goals. Another financial aspect is that many people, in a bid to get the biggest house they can afford, have all their money tied up into the property and have no cash for emergencies. This puts a huge strain on their
financial resources and places them in a precarious position the minute there is a problem in their lives, like a job lost, or a health scare.
Saving effort— A larger property is more work: keeping the inside of the house clean and tidy and keeping the yard looking nice and maintained. The bigger the space, the more work there is to maintain it (or costs, if you choose to hire people to help with that). That can be stressful and physically taxing for many. Plus, if travelling is one of your downsizing goals, having a place like a condo, where you can just turn the key and leave without worrying about maintenance, is valuable! Investing the difference to improve your future— By downsizing your existing living space, you could take the difference and invest it in a vacation property. Alternatively, you could invest it in a business, your kid’s education, or the market, allowing you to live off interest, rather than spending your capital.
Simplifying your life— With less ‘stuff ’ comes less hassle. Yes, you’ll have to get rid of some things when you downsize but you’ll be surprised how much you don’t miss them! Fewer things break down that need replacing or repairing, you have less to organize and keep tabs on and you can simply enjoy your life, rather than being controlled by the need to acquire more stuff, and the debt that often comes with that mentality. When you downsize your home, there simply isn’t anywhere to put more stuff and so you are forced into a mentality of doing less shopping and acquiring fewer things. The interesting part is that, before long, you realize that you don’t miss all the stuff and you are enjoying the lifestyle that not spending all your hard earned money on things provides.
Help the environment— A smaller home means a smaller carbon footprint. It really is a one-to-one ratio for this equation! You can even go so far as to take measures to live off the grid, saving on heating and water, using up less resources and energy. Downsizing is as much about the need or want for a lifestyle change as it is about financial savings. Both aspects need to be considered in full before making any big plans. Marty Basher is the home organization expert for Modular Closets - a high-quality and easy-to-design closet system you can order online, assemble and install yourself, in no time at all. For more information visit modularclosets.com.
January 2019 | 29
DINING OUT
Photos: Sarah Marcella
THE GASTRONOMES
GRATEFUL KITCHEN COMPANY Here’s To Y our Health!
W
ell…..I’m going to have to confess that neither of us has frequented many eateries that cater totally to healthy cuisine. This is obvious if you ever see us in person. This year, however, one of us has decided to “try” to take a healthier approach to what we eat. I am, however, a fan of all of the parts of healthy eats – kale, avocado, tahini, granola, leafy greens, etc. – so I have an advantage there. My problem is that I don’t seek out these foods on a regular basis. Grateful Kitchen is a mecca of healthy food and drink options. Grateful is the brainchild of Kimberly Sickmen of Zweet Sport Hot Yoga fame, Stephen Hardy and Ashley Ott. Sickman – who launched her now popular Grateful Juice brand a couple of years ago – told me that she had always wanted to add a healthy food and fitness component to her 30 | January 2019
Kimberly and Stephen business and was fortunate to come upon the space on Henry and Madison last year. It is the perfect size for both the eatery and Zweet Sport
Total Fitness and compliments the Yoga location just up the block. Hardy is the resident Chef while Ott takes on the managerial duties and puts
together their popular housemade Chai tea. Kimberly told me that a passion for organic and healthy food is what brought the three of them
together in the first place. They all three subscribe to the same types of food created at the restaurant in their homes. Guess one could say “they practice what they preach”. We all know that food trends are still leaning toward “organic and locally sourced” and Grateful Kitchen certainly does its part. It is one of the few DMV locations that are totally organic. Everything they make is made on the premises including the juices. In fact, they are the only local outlet that will custom make juice for you while you wait. The menu is pretty simple and straight forward with four Smoothies that can be made into bowls by adding granola, coconut and bananas (I am going to try this next time) and a host of other healthy stuff you can order to jack up the health factor; five Breakfast offerings ranging DINING OUT > PAGE 31
Berry Smoothie DINING OUT FROM PAGE 30
dine out!
from an egg sandwich to Chai pudding; three Snacks including the popular Egg ‘N Hot Sauce and six Savory offerings that include their other popular item, the Forbidden Black Rice Bowl. Also in this section are the Avocado Toast, two sandwich and three salad offerings. There is a Kids Menu - that also says “Adults Welcome” - that features Ants On a Log, Cheesy Eggs ‘N Toast and a Peanut Butter, Honey and Banana sandwich. To be honest all three of these sound really good to me. Also on the menu are Vigilante coffee, tea, their version of hot chocolate and a latte. Pricing is very
Grateful Juice reasonable and the portions are “just right”. Portion control is an important component of healthy eating and they subscribe to it. This restaurant is small with a main counter that seats 4 or 5 and a window space that seats about the same. It isn’t really designed for sit-down dining. It feels like more of a “hanging out in the kitchen” at someone’s home kind of experience. It is a very welcoming place to say the least. They are, however, applying for a permit for sidewalk seating this spring. Another fun thing about this place is the walk-up window! I’m going to use that option next time since I think it’s cool.
Forbidden Black Rice Bowl I love smoothies and berries so I picked the Berry version that included mixed berries, banana, almond milk, yoghurt, Chia seed, ground flax and vegan protein powder. It was delicious and I immediately began to feel healthier as I sipped it ! I decided to let Kimberly and Stephen pick something for me to take home and try. They chose their two most popular savory items – Egg ‘N Hot Sauce and the Forbidden Black Rice Bowl. I sampled them both later that evening and was really impressed. Both dishes are anchored by seasoned steamed kale and involve a soft boiled egg so you have to be into both of those items. The seasonings
on the rice bowl (salsa macha, cilantro and shallot) made for a very tasty treat. The 717 Hot Sauce on the Egg ‘N Hot Sauce has a bit of a kick and I really liked it a lot but it isn’t for someone who is spice sensitive. I am looking forward to going back and trying the Avocado Toast, the sandwich and the salads. As you embark on your New Year’s Resolution to lose
weight, eat healthy and get in shape…….Grateful Kitchen and Zweet Sport Total Fitness are a one stop shop on the corner of Henry and Madison here in Old Town. Grateful Kitchen is open for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
Hours of Operation: M-W-Th-F: 7 am – 3 pm Closed Tuesdays Sa & Su: 8 am -3 pm
GRATEFUL KITCHEN COMPANY 727 NORTH HENRY STREET OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA 571-867-9121 GRATEFULKITCHENCO.COM
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BEHIND THE BAR
~ TARA ~ HOPKINS How did you get started in the bartending business? I was a server at the time and the day bartender needed some of her shifts picked up, so I volunteered. I had to beg management to give me a chance, and they did. A few months later one of the night bartenders came to work drunk, he was fired, and I took all his night shifts!
What is your biggest bartender pet peeve? Oh boy, that is a tough one! My biggest pet peeve would be when a customer yells at me to “turn the game on” and it is already on but has gone to commercial.
What is the cleverest line anyone has ever used to get you to give them a free drink? Ha! I already paid my tab “T”, can you hook me up with a shot?
What is the best/worst pickup line you have overheard at the bar? Can I be your Uber tonight?!
Tell us about an interesting encounter you have had with a customer(s). I am from Maryland and I take pride in my obsession with picking crabs. I always make it a priority to invite my dearest customers to join me at my favorite crab house. I pick them all up, load them in my truck and off we go for a field trip to eat some crabs and drink some beer! FISH MARKET RESTAURANT ANCHOR BAR 105 KING STREET OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA 703-836-5676 FISHMARKETVA.COM
If you could sit down and have a drink with anyone in the world, past or present, who would that be? Judge Judy, hehehehehe! I just love that woman, straight to the point and gives it to you straight! Just like me. Tara is behind the bar Monday through Friday 11:30am-4:00 pm. If you would like to see your favorite mixologist featured here, send contact information to office@oldtowncrier.com.
Tara serves up the Copper Schooner – 32 ounces of Habanero Moonshine, Owens Craft Ginger Beer & Lime! 32 | January 2019
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AMERICAN AUGIE’S MUSSEL HOUSE 1106 King Street 703.721.3970 MOHO KITCHEN & COCTAILS 116 South Alfred St. 703-739-6090 BILBO BAGGINS 208 Queen St. 703-683-0300 BLACKWALL HITCH 5 Cameron St. 703-739-6090 CAFE 44 44 Canal Center 571-800-6644 CARLYLE CLUB 411 John Carlyle St. 703-549-8957 CHADWICKS 203 Strand St. 703-836-4442 chadwicksrestaurants.com An Old Town tradition since 1979 and an original Georgetown pub and restaurant since 1967. CHARLIE'S ON THE AVENUE Mount Vernon Avenue 703-851-3270 CHART HOUSE One Cameron St. 703-684-5080 CITY KITCHEN 330 South Pickett St. 703-685-9172 fatcitykitchen.com USA City inspired menu choices that bring together traditional American and global cuisine with their own personal touch. Casual dress. $30 and under. Lots of free parking. Open 7 days a week with brunch on Sat & Sun 11-3. AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa COLUMBIA FIREHOUSE 109 S. St. Asaph St. 703-683-1776 EVENING STAR CAFÉ 2000 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-549-5051 EXECUTIVE DINER & CAFE 1400 Duke Street 703-299-0894 FIN & HOOF 801 N. Saint Asaph St. 703-836-4700 FIVE GUYS 725 King St. 703-549-7991 FLAT TOP BURGER 529 East Howell Ave. 571-970-1006
HUMMINGBIRD 220 South Union Street 703-566-1355
RESERVE 2216 2216 Mount Vernon Avenue 703-549-2889
THE WAREHOUSE BAR & GRILL 214 King St. 703-683-6868
JACKS PLACE 222 North Lee St. 703-684-0372
REYNOLDS STREET CAFÉ 34 S. Reynolds St. 703-751-0830
ASIAN ASIAN BISTRO 809 King St. 703-836-1515
JACKSON 20 480 King St. 703-842-2790 JOE THEISMANNS 1800 Diagonal Rd. 703-739-0777 JUNCTION BAKERY & BISTRO 1508 Mount Vernon Avenue Alexandria 703-436-0025 LAPORTAS 1600 Duke St. 703-683-6313
LORI'S TABLE 1028 King Street 703-549-5545
SHOOTER MCGEES 5239 Duke St. 703-751-9266
34 | January 2019
MAI THAI 9 King St. 703-548-0600 NASIME 1209 King St. 703-548-1848 STREETS MARKET AND CAFE 3108 Mt. Vernon Ave. 571-431-6810 THAILAND ROYAL 801 N. Fairfax St. 703 535-6622
THE ITALIAN PLACE 621Wythe St. 571-777-8981 HANKS PASTA BAR 600 Montgomery Ave. 571-312-4117 IL PORTO RESTAURANT 121 King St. 703-836-8833 LA TRATTORIA 305 S. Washington St. 703-548-9338
CAPHE BANH MI VIETNAMESE 407 Cameron St. 703-549-0800
SNACK BAR 2419 Mt. Vernon Avenue 703-566-1283
KAI ZEN TAVERN 1901 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-836-1212
MAGNOLIA’S ON KING 703 King St. 703-838-9090
SOCIETY FAIR 277 S. Washington St. 703-683-3247
THE SUSHI BAR 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue 571-257-3232
LENA’S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA & TAP 401 East Braddock Rd. 703-960-1086
MAJESTIC CAFÉ 911 King St. 703-837-9117
SONOMA CELLAR 207 King St. 703-966-3550
MASON SOCIAL 728 Henry Street Old Town Alexandria 703-548-8800 mason-social.com
SOUTH BLOCK 106 N. Lee Street 703-465-8423
LOST DOG CAFE 808 North Henry St. 571-970-6511 MACKIE’S BAR AND GRILL 907 King St. 703-684-3288
MOUNT VERNON INN Mount Vernon, Va 703-780-0011 MURPHYS IRISH PUB 713 King St. 703-548-1717 murphyspub.com Old-world Irish pub featuring a roaring fireplace, serving a variety of imported, domestic and non-alcoholic beers in a friendly atmosphere. Serving robust American-Irish meals at fair prices. Favorites include fish and chips and Irish stew. Irish-style entertainment nightly. MYRON MIXON PITMASTER BBQ 220 North Lee St. 703-535-3340 NECTAR COFFEE & WINE BISTRO 106 Hume Avenue 571-431-6150
OCONNELLS RESTAURANT & BAR 112 King St. 703-739-1124 danieloconnellsrestaurant.com
HEN QUARTER 1404 King St. 703-684-6969
MALAYA 1019 King St. 703-519-3710
FACCIA LUNA 823 S. Washington St. 703-838-5998
LANDINI BROTHERS 115 King St. 703-836-8404 landinibrothers.com Elegant, classical Italian cuisine served in a lovely historical setting. Fresh veal, homemade pastas, and fresh fish are some of the daily choices. An extensive list of wines and champagnes served in a sophisticated and friendly atmosphere.
GADSBYS TAVERN 138 N. Royal St. 703-548-1288
HARD TIMES CAFE 1404 King St. 703-837-0050
RT's RESTAURANT 3804 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-684-6010 rtsrestaurant.com
LIVE OAK 1603 Commonwealth Ave. 571-312-0402
NORTHSIDE 1O 10 East Glebe Rd. 703-888-0032
GRATEFUL KITCHEN 727 N. Henry Street
ROCK IT GRILL 1319 King St. 703-739-2274
SAMUEL BECKETTS IRISH GASTRO PUB 2800 S. Randolph St. Villages of Shirlington 703-379-0122
FOSTERS GRILLE 2004 Eisenhower Ave. 703-725-1342
GLORY DAYS GRILL 3141 Duke Street 703-567-157
RIVER BEND BISTRO 7966 Fort Hunt Rd. Hollin Hall Shopping Center 703-347-7545 riverbendbistro.com
ITALIAN BUGSYS PIZZA RESTAURANT 111 King St. 703-683-0313 bugsyspizza.com
PORK BARREL BBQ 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. 703-822-5699
SMOKING KOW BBQ 3250 Duke Sttreet 703-888-2649
SOUTHSIDE 815 815 S. Washington St. 703-836-6222 SWEETGREEN 823 King St. 571-319-0192 SWEET FIRE DONNA'S BB@ & HOPS 510 John Carlyle Street 571-312-7960 T.J. STONES GRILL HOUSE & TAP ROOM 608 Montgomery St. 703-548-1004 tjstones.com American cuisine with libations from around the world. Bar specials MonFri, 4-7 pm. Brunch served Sat & Sun. TRADEMARK 2800 Jamieson Ave. 703-253-8640 UNION STREET PUBLIC HOUSE 121 South Union St. 703-548-1785 unionstreetpublichouse.com Old Town’s favorite neighborhood tap and grill. Southern style menu, fine steaks, fresh seafood. Sunday brunch, private parties, happy hour. VERMILLION 1120 King St. 703-684-9669
THE PEOPLES DRUG 103 N. Alfred Street
VIRTUE GRAIN & FEED 106 South Union St. 571-970-3669
RAMPARTS 1700 Fern St. 703-998-6616 rampartstavern.com
VOLA’S DOCKSIDE GRILL & THE HI-TIDE LOUNGE 101 North Union St. 703-935-8890
TOKYO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE 66 Canal Center Plaza 703-683-8878
CONTINENTAL BRABO by Robert Weidmaier 1600 King St. 703-894-3440 BRABO TASTING ROOM 1600 King St. 703-894-5252 CEDAR KNOLL GW Parkway at Lucia Ln. 703-780-3665 Situated on an idyllic hill, with sweeping views of the Potomac, the historic atmosphere features French and American Cuisine. OLD HOUSE COSMOPOLITAN 1024 Cameron Street 703-717-9361
MIA'S ITALIAN KITCHEN 100 King Street 703-997-5300 PARADISO 124 King St. 703-683-5330 PINES OF FLORENCE 1300 King St. 703-549-1796 RED ROCKS FIREBRICK PIZZA 904 King St. 703-717-9873 MEDITERRANEAN LA TASCA 607 King St. 703-299-9810 TAVERNA CRETEKOU 818 King St. 703-548-8688 tavernacretekou.com
TEMPO 4231 Duke St. 703-370-7900 temporestaurant.com Northern Italian, French provincial & American cuisine featuring fresh seafood, meats and pasta served in a contemporary, romantic atmosphere.
PITA HOUSE 719 King St. 703-684-9194 thepitahouse.com
FRENCH BASTILLE 606 N. Fayette St. 703-519-3776 bastillerestaurant.com
VASO'S MEDITERRANEAN BISTRO 1118 King Street 703-566-2720
LE REFUGE 127 N. Washington St. 703-548-4661 FONTAINES CAFFE & CREPERIE 119 S. Royal St. 703-535-8151
DELIAS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL 209 Swamp Fox Rd. Alexandria, VA 703-329-0006
VASO'S KITCHEN 1225 Powhatan Street 703-548-2747 SEAFOOD HANKS OYSTER BAR 1026 King St. 703-739-HANK
TWO NINETEEN RESTAURANT 219 King St. 703-549-1141
FISH MARKET-OLD TOWN 105 King St. 703-836-5676 fishmarketoldva.com Internationally known and locally owned! We serve shrimps, a few crabs, tall people and lots of nice people, too! Live music and lively food!
YVES BISTRO 235 Swamp Fox Rd. (in Hoffman Ctr.) 703-329-1010
ERNIES ORGINIAL CRABHOUSE 1743 King St. 703-836-0046
LA MADELEINE 500 King St. 703-729-2854
t.j. stone’s grill house and tap room
celebrating american cuisine with libations from around the world
January Gumbo Month!
Friday Night Party 80’s, 90’s & Todays Pop Hits Live DJ –Megawatt DJ Every Friday Night
wood burning fireplace! private event room over 300 beer & wine
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121 South Union Street, Old Town Alexandria 703.548.1785 unionstreetpublichouse.com
608 Montgomery St Alexandria 703.548.1004
THE WHARF 119 King St. 703-836-2834
DIYA 218 North Lee, 2nd Floor 703-706-5338
FISH MARKET-CLINTON 7611Old Branch Ave. Clinton, MD 301-599-7900
NAMASTE 1504 King St. 703-970-0615
INDIAN BOMBAY CURRY COMPANY 2607 Mount Vernon Ave. 703-836-6363 DISHES OF INDIA 1510A Bellview Blvd. 703-660-6085
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LOS TIOS GRILL 2615 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-299-9290 LOS TOLTECOS 4111 Duke St. 703-823-1167
MEXICAN LATIN SOUTHWESTERN DON TACO TEQUILA BAR 808 King St. 703-988-3144
TAQUERIA POBLANO 2400-B Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-548-TACO (8226)
LOS CUATES RESTAURANT 1116 King Street 703-548-2918
TEQUILA & TACO 540 John Carlyle Street 703-721-3203
January 2019 | 35
LET’S EAT
CHARLES OPPMAN
Cassoulet
N
ow that we’re in the cold weather months it is good time for a hearty country dish. Why not make a classic bean dish—cassoulet? Cassoulet is a rib-stickin’, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware casserole dish. I made cassoulet the other day with northern beans. I made it in an ultra-heavy cast iron Dutch oven I found at a Salvation Army for like $5. I cooked it on the stove top, but could have baked it, which I considered doing because I was thinking about whipping up a batch of corn bread as well, the perfect quick bread for this dish. I vary the meat when I make cassoulet, but this time I used smoked sausage, bratwurst, pork spare ribs, thick-cut bacon and some pieces of pork butt and a ham bone I had in the freezer. I was also able to use the last of my home-grown thyme and rosemary. Serves: 6
36 | January 2019
Ingredients 1 pound bratwurst, cut into 3” pieces 1 pound pork butt or shoulder, cut into 1” cubs 1 pound of smoked sausage, cut into 3” pieces (ham hocks can replace smoked sausage)
Directions In a large skillet sauté the bacon to render the out fat. Then brown the pork pieces, sausages and duck breast over medium heat.
1 whole onion, diced
In a large slow cooker or heavy Dutch oven place soaked and drained beans, duck, sausage, bacon, onion, fresh herbs, bay leaf, parsley, onion, celery and garlic. Add enough stock to cover the ingredients. Tie together thyme and rosemary, to be retrieved later.
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
Bring to boil then turn down to simmer with lid on.
3 sprigs fresh thyme
Add stock as the beans absorb it to keep the dish from drying out. Cassoulet should have plenty of liquid when it’s done. Keep covered and cook until beans are tender, about 2 hours in a Dutch oven. In a slow cooker maybe longer depending on the temperature setting.
4 slices bacon, cut into 1” pieces 1 pound duck breast halves (optional)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 cup coarsely chopped curly parsley 1 pound dry navy or northern beans, soaked for 3 hours 3 bay leaves, large 1 cup celery, diced (optional) 1 (or more) quart chicken broth, canned is fine. (Please do not use bouillon cubes.)
Serve with cornbread of a good baguette. Condiments should Dijon mustard and hot sauce. A good wine to have with this dish would be a gewürztraminer or Riesling or a semi-dry white. Even a slightly chilled pinot noir would work.
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GRAPEVINE
Hillsborough Vineyard Photo: Rick Collier
W
e threw a little holiday dinner party in December, and I was ready. I’d carefully planned pairings of Virginia wines with multiple courses of cheese and charcuterie, shrimp salad with fresh dill, grilled rib roast and a Lexington Bourbon Cake from Red Truck Bakery in Warrenton. The guests, all Virginians who were unfamiliar with local wine, would be blown away. When the subject of wine came up, as it always does in our house, and I said I write about Virginia wine, one of the guests said, “I really prefer big, bold California reds.” It 38 | January 2019
NANCY BAUER
Virginia Wine Resolutions You’ll Actually Want to Keep Five Challenges for 2019 wasn’t the first time I’d heard that, and I knew it was less a statement of preference than a line in the sand: Good luck, she was saying. There’s nothing wrong with big, bold California reds; I love them, too. Twenty some years ago, when the incredible, affordable 1994 Napa and Sonoma vintages started hitting grocery store shelves, I was in heaven. It was hard to find a bad bottle. Just bring a bottle of ’94 Cab Sauv to a party and you were an instant expert in good wine. Why drink anything else? But the wine world doesn’t begin and end with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly after falling for the
’94 Cabs, I met a man, and we dated from one Northern Virginia winery to the next. The tasting rooms were often tiny – remember Piedmont and Deer Meadow? – and usually not crowded. We tasted the Virginia reds, and compared them to the West Coast blockbusters, and we were underwhelmed - the Virginia Cabs were usually thinner and lighter, and just different. Fortunately, we didn’t stop there. We kept chatting with the winemakers and learning from the patient folks pouring the wine. They taught us about the growing conditions in Virginia, how they differed from California
and elsewhere, and how to adjust our expectations – and our palates – accordingly. Don’t compare Virginia to California, they encouraged us. Be patient. Open your mind. Meanwhile, the vineyard landscape in Virginia was changing. Growers learned that Cabernet Franc was often a better choice for our climate and soils than Cab Sauv, and by 2017 the one-time mostplanted red in the state had fallen to fourth, while Cab Franc moved into the lead, followed by Merlot. A varietal used primarily as a blending grape in France, Petit Verdot, had jumped to third place among the reds.
The shift in whites was just as dramatic: though Chardonnay still holds first place among all grapes in Virginia, it has declined by nearly 20% over the years, and Riesling, once the number four white grape, is barely a vineyard dot today. What’s happening with all that land? Say hello to Petit Manseng, Pinot Grigio, Traminette, and Albarino. Virginia is now one of the most diverse grape-growing regions in the country, with more than 65 varieties from around the world. The South African signature grape Pinotage shows up in central GRAPEVINE > PAGE 40
EXPLORING VA WINES
DOUG FABBIOLI
LET’S
A
club is generally a group of people that have a specific goal that they can come together over. One such group is the Community Supported Agriculture or CSA - this is a great way to support the local farmers directly by committing to a farming organization that has products on a weekly basis for the consumers. It gives the farmers a customer base and
cash to do their work while guaranteeing the members of the CSA a product every week that they can work into a healthy and locally based meal plan. The winery version of a CSA is the Wine Club. The exact models may vary, but the general idea is that customers are periodically sold wine that they may pick up or get shipped to them. They get access to pre-release
wines, library wines, special events and other benefits. The California wineries love the wine club models as they may get an out of town visitor once but can sell them wine for years to come if the benefits make sense to the customer. The east coast wineries love to get the out of towners as well but the shipping aspect can be challenging for smaller wineries. At our winery, many of
real people. earth friendly. fabulous wines. HOLD YOUR ‘FABB’ EVENT AT FABBIOLI CELLARS! WEDDINGS • CORPORATE OUTINGS • GRADUATIONS • CELEBRATIONS
email us at info@fabbioliwines.com 15669 Limestone School Rd • Leesburg, VA 20176 703.771.1197 • fabbioliwines.com Old Town Crier
CLUBB GO IN TH ING E COUNT RY! our club
members live locally. They enjoy coming out periodically to enjoy the tasting and countryside experience and often bring their friends to share the experience. The wineries understand that this level of commitment can be the base of the company’s sales giving them stability in expected sales and a guide for production. I enjoy talking with our club members in order to understand what makes them continue to stay with us or what they might like that we don’t offer. Integrating the club member’s thoughts with the business decisions makes them more likely to stay with your winery and share good words of the operation with others. Other farm based businesses are looking for
ways to reward regular customers so they keep purchasing and
spreading the good word. As many know, trying to keep our farms viable and our lands green is not easy. Keeping the balance of rural open space with the pressure from developers to put more houses in the countryside is a constant challenge. Everyone loves a farm but not many folks have been taught to be a farmer. This year, please consider joining a CSA, a wine club, visiting more farms, supporting land preservation programs and education programs focusing on agriculture and the trades. Our lands need our support so we all have it for generations to come. Thanks so much for being a part of the club! January 2019 | 39
GRAPEVINE FROM PAGE 38
Virginia, Italian Nebbiolo thrives at Breaux Vineyards in northern Virginia, and CrossKeys Vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley makes a port-style wine from their estate-grown Portuguese grape Touriga. Are you a fan of the GSM blends from Cotes du Rhone? Maggie Malick Wine Caves in Purcellville grows them all: Garnacha (Grenache), Syrah, and Mourvedre. Nearby, Hillsborough Vineyards grows another French grape, Fer Servadou, for a light red wine they call Bloodstone. If you’ve really got your heart set on a big, bold California Cab, you can find something similar in a few sunny, dryer corners
of Virginia, but you’ll have more luck looking for it in California - fully half of Napa vineyards are planted with the grape. By comparison, the largest varietal planting in Virginia – Chardonnay – makes up only 15% of total vineyard acreage. If you’re looking for a broader range of experience, you’re in the right place. And because new years are a time of renewal and growth, we’ve put together a little challenge for you: Commit to Virginia wine for a year. Get to know the varieties and the people and the memorable backroads. Count the wineries you visit and the grapes you taste. Take photos, and keep notes - the longer you explore, the more those look-backs
will mean to you. Here’s a checklist we’ve put together to guide your explorations, but if time or money are limited, feel free to create your own. There are plenty of free online resources to help with your planning, including our website, VirginiaWineInMyPocket. com (also a free app in iTunes and Google Play). Nancy Bauer (Nancy@ VAWineInMyPocket.com) writes about Virginia Wine Country travel on the Virginia Wine in My Pocket website and smartphone app, and is the author of the Virginia Wine Country Travel Journal, available at Amazon.com.
OPEN YEAR ROUND THURSDAY-SATURDAY & MONDAY from 11-5
Challenge #1: Visit at least one winery in each of Virginia’s ten regions. How-to Tip: Click the “Regions” filter on our site to see a list or map of all wineries in each region: vawineinmypocket.com/wineries.
Challenge #2: Taste 10 new grapes. Use the Virginia Grape Checklist to check off the wines you’ve tasted already, and then pick 10 more you want to try this year. Note that you really can’t be a purist about this, because most wines include more than one grape. The idea is to have fun, talk to the tasting room team (and winemaker if you’re lucky), and learn a little. How-to Tip: The Virginia Grape Checklist is in my book, Virginia Wine Country Travel Journal, but if you don’t have that, just email me at the address below and I’ll send the list to you.
SUNDAY from 12-5
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Photo: Rick Collier
Challenge #3: Try at least one high-end Virginia wine tasting experience. Many wineries have been around long enough to have compiled deep “libraries” of their wines from years past, and they offer tastings in special settings with extra attention and sometimes even little nibbles. Be a VIP and live it up! How-to Tip: Many wineries offer these, but a few of the best VIP, Cellar, or Vertical Tastings are at Barboursville Vineyards, Breaux Vineyards, Chateau O’Brien, Gray Ghost Winery, and Linden Vineyards.
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Your Guide to Virginia Wine Country Winery Maps Check-off lists Virginia’s top wines & wineries Dog-friendly wineries Family-friendly wineries + much more! Available now at these select wineries: Pearmund Cellars, Barrel Oak and Philip Carter Virginia Wine Country Travel Journal Available on Amazon.com
40 | January 2019
Challenge #4: Do a barrel tasting. Nothing makes you feel like an insider more than sipping wine before it’s gone into the bottle. Lots of wineries do this now, usually as part of a specialty tour or tasting - check their websites.
Challenge #5: Join a Wine Club. Or two. Joining is usually free, and three or four times a year you’ll get two or three bottles at a nice discount either in the mail, or at a winery pick-up party. Free tastings and discounted event tickets are usually part of the package, as well. Wine clubs are a great way to get to know a winery better and become part of the family, and there are often extra, unpromoted perks like Wine Club Exclusives, when the winemaker makes only a few hundred bottles of this or that from small plantings.
FITNESS
I
love a new year. It almost seems like we can start all over, finally become that wonderful, productive, healthy, happy person we’ve always wanted to be. The trouble is, the enthusiasm to make changes, especially with exercise and diet, tends to fade once we realize we can’t change everything overnight. If you want to make lasting changes, there are three things you can do to make your resolutions work all year long: Adjust your attitude, change your lifestyle and come up with a plan for success. If you have the wrong attitude about fitness, you’re already setting yourself up for failure. Most people look at exercise as: • Punishment for bad eating
NICOLE FLANAGAN
Starting the New Year off Right
• An obligation • Painful • Time consuming • Impossible to sustain over a long period of time • Boring If any of these sound familiar, how long do you think you’ll stick with your program? Nobody wants to do something painful, boring or obligatory. Before you throw yourself into weight loss, get yourself a more positive attitude about exercise and figure out a new way to look at fitness. Try a different perspective and look at exercise as: • A break from a stressful workday • A way to boost energy and mood • The only time you’ll have to yourself all day • A chance to get totally physical and let your mind rest • A chance to reward your body for working so hard • A way to improve your quality of life immediately One of the resolutions on every one’s list is weight loss. Remember that losing weight and maintaining that weight loss is a lifetime prospect. You will never stop working to maintain your fitness and weight. So, before you start that same old diet or exercise program, ask yourself this question: Can I sustain this diet for the long term? Is this Old Town Crier
exercise program something I can do every day? Once you recognize the gravity of permanently losing weight, you’ll need to change your lifestyle to accommodate this goal. Figure out your bad habits. Keep a food/activity journal for an entire week. Do it without judgment or shame—you’re simply trying to figure out what you’re doing every day that may be hurting your weight loss goals. Then work towards replacing those bad habits, one at a time, with different habits. Experts know that you can’t break bad habits without forming new ones. If you take away your daily Egg McMuffin and don’t replace it with something else you’ll drift right back into the old McDonald’s habit. This may sound simplistic, and it is. Giving up something yummy for something healthy isn’t easy. You have to change your environment to make it impossible to have or even want that Egg McMuffin. Get started with these ideas. Decide what you’ll eat instead of fast food. Stock up on breakfast foods you like, keep meal replacement bars in the car or try healthy fruit shakes or
smoothies. Eat before you get in the car so you won’t be starving and, therefore, tempted to hit the drive thru. Change your driving route to work so you don’t even pass by McDonald’s. Don’t carry cash in the car (even if you DO have the urge to indulge, you won’t be able to), write down your weight loss goal and tape it to your steering wheel or your glove compartment so, when you’re reaching for your wallet, you’re immediately reminded your goals. Your best chance at making your resolutions last is to make a plan for success. A few simple steps taken ahead of time can save you time and energy. Once you have figured out how to change your bad eating habits by replacing them with good ones, you’ve learned to create an environment that doesn’t allow those bad habits to exist. Now, you need to make a plan for what you really want. Write down specific goals you have (not just ‘I want to lose weight.’). List everything, for example: How much weight you want to lose. Make sure the amount of weight you want to lose is reasonable for your height and frame. Next,
set a target date to reach your goals. Make sure you’ve given yourself a reasonable amount of time to reach that goal (a safe bet would be to lose a pound a week). Also write down the reasons why you want to lose weight (you are getting married or want to look good in a bathing suit for summer). Think about how you will feel once you reach your goals. Trying to set small goals throughout your program is a good way to keep yourself motivated. Plan ahead to figure out how you’ll maintain your Haircuts $15
weight loss once you reach your goal (remember, it’s a lifetime thing-even when you reach your goal-you can’t quit!). Now that you have your goals set, it is time to set up a fitness program! To set up a good routine, you’ll need to know the basics of a complete program. Your program need to involve cardio, strength training and stretching. Easing your way into a new workout will ensure that you do not get overwhelmed and that you can stay committed. If you are already a member of a gym, try signing up for a single personal training session and have a trainer show you how to use some of the cardio and weight machines. If hiring a personal trainer is not in your budget, grab your best friend and get them to commit to two days a week with you. When you have someone else who is depending on you to be there it gives you a bit more motivation to get up and get to the gym. If you feel that working out on your own is not going to work, try signing up for a class. Group classes are a great way to stay motivated and, believe it or not, they can be fun! The important thing to remember is that losing weight and staying fit requires that you change your lifestyle. You have to change the way you think about exercise and eating; change the way you schedule your day and how you prioritize your tasks. It’s easy to lose a few pounds, but it’s hard to keep them off for good. Being prepared for what’s ahead is your first step in the right direction. Good luck in the New Year!
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FROM THE TRAINER RYAN UNVERZAGT
Out With the Old....In With the New! 2018
has come and gone. Take a moment to reflect back on this past year. Did you accomplish the things
that you said you wanted to do? Did you actually stick to those New Year’s resolutions you had made for yourself? More than likely, the answer is
probably not. Why? It might be because you set unrealistic goals, especially when the focus is on exercise. Losing weight and getting
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in shape is at the top of the New Year’s resolution list. The first step in successful goal setting is to write it down. This seems too obvious, but post your goals where you can see them every day: on the fridge, front door, bathroom mirror, framed on your work desk, or even set them as a screen-saver on the computer. The more often you see your goals, the better your chances of taking action. The second step of goalsetting is to be specific. “Lose weight” is a good goal, but how much? A conservative approach is to figure losing one pound a week. Too many times we get caught up on the end result and forget that we can control what we do to get there. The little things we do along the way are referred to as process goals. The end result is called the outcome goal. My point here is that we have greater control over process goals than we do on outcome goals. Focus on smaller achievements such as going to the health club twice a week, eating a healthy breakfast in the morning, or working on correct exercise technique. This will help build your confidence levels. More times than not, the outcome goal will take care of itself. The third step of goalsetting is to create a timeframe. There needs to be a sense of urgency for anything
to happen. Try to gather some social support from family, friends, and co-workers. They need to know what your goals are so they can help you stay on track. The final step of successful goal-setting is to identify why your goal(s) are important to you. If your goals have no meaning, what’s the point of working hard to achieve them? To attach meaning to your goal, ask yourself, “How will this make me feel?” This is the ultimate way to keep motivated. After reading this article, hopefully you can finally stick to those resolutions for the New Year. Remember to write them down to read every day, be specific, create a time-frame, and identify why they are important to you. These are just a few things to consider while establishing your New Year’s resolutions. Unverzagt holds Bachelor of Science degree in Wellness Management from Black Hills State University. He is a certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association and a Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography.
FIRST BLUSH
KIM PUTENS
Cures for the
T
he holidays are over and the winter blues have set in. You looked fabulous getting through the holiday parties, the trips
to see Santa, and the latenight shopping adventures, but the hectic schedule and craziness have left you feeling blah. So, here’s how to survive
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the winter blues and look good doing it. Take care of your skin. When your skin looks great, your makeup looks even better. During these cold, drab winter months, it’s easy for our skin to start looking dull and lifeless. A couple of ideas to jumpstart the appearance of your skin – apply a mask, experience a deep exfoliation, and apply a richer moisturizer. Try a mask that has rejuvenating properties. Masks that rejuvenate the skin work to exfoliate off dead skin and bring back its natural glow. These masks specifically get the blood flowing to the surface so that the skin looks youthful and glowing. A deep exfoliation will get rid of the layers of dull dry skin that have accumulated as a natural winter blanket on the skin. Most over the counter physical exfoliants – the granular ones – will do the trick. Chemical exfoliants with glycolic acid are also very effective. Finally, make sure to apply a richer moisturizer than usual. These winter months are incredibly dry and impact the skin’s natural moisture levels. Using a proper moisturizer is important in providing relief and in diminishing the look of dry, aging skin. Take care of your hair. For
many of us, our mood and how we approach the day is dependent upon the way our hair looks. Frizzy hair, split ends, and lifeless locks are consequences of the dry winter months. Frizzy locks are very common. There are many ways to help the hairs lay flat. Try a deep conditioning mask once a week or once a month, depending upon how frizzy the hair. Apply to the hair, wrap in a towel, and allow the hair to marinate in the conditioner. Rinse and let air dry to give your hair a break from the heat of a blow dryer. On a daily basis, use leave in conditioners and defrizzing styling products on the hair before heat styling. To combat split ends, get your coif trimmed frequently. Lifeless locks can be revived with a change in routine. Try a clarifying shampoo once a week to combat build up caused by using lots of hair products such as hair sprays, styling aids, and heavy conditioners. Take care of your nails. With all the worries over flu season and winter colds, we tend to wash our hands more often in the winter months. This causes our hands to become dry and our nails brittle. Give your hands a treatment to keep them looking youthful and your nails healthy. Once a week, apply an extra deep
moisturizer to your hands and wrap them in socks overnight. The next morning, your hands will feel smooth and be less dry and cracked. It will also help to improve the look of your nails as the moisturizer penetrates to make them less brittle and prone to breakage. For added protection and help, apply a cuticle moisturizer over the entire nail bed and cuticle area. Finally, keep nails trim and deal with breakage immediately by filing with an emery board to prevent further breakage. Take care of your feet. Feet constrained in high heels and fancy shoes during the holiday season are in need of a respite. Nurture your tootsies with foot soaks, foot scrubs and foot moisturizers. Once a week, give your feet the soak they deserve. Look for foot soaks with moisturizing ingredients and soak them often. After the soak and while your feet are softer, use a foot file to scrub off the dead skin. Finally, apply a deep moisturizer to keep the feet feeling soft and smooth. As with your hands, try applying a deeply moisturizing foot cream and stuff your feet into socks overnight. The heat of the socks reacts with the moisturizer to make them softer and more hydrated the next day. Trying doing this once a week or as needed. January 2019 | 43
SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE PEGGIE ARVIDSON
What do you Want for 2019 and How Can you Get It?
L
et’s be real – a clean slate, a blank screen or a brand-new calendar are both exciting and nervewracking. At least for me they are. I am seized with stage-fright before launching into something new. “What if I mess up?” “What if pick the wrong thing – to focus on? To write about? To aim for?” It’s not just me, right? I mean you feel it too. The PRESSURE to start the new year EXACTLY right so that everything that comes down the pike is sunshine and roses with a side of bacon. Except…if you’ve been on the planet for more than a minute you know that the world doesn’t really work like that. We make plans and they blow up in our faces. Sometimes things are better than we thought and others, not so much. The good news is that if you’ve been on the planet just a bit longer than a minute you know that you get a do-over. In fact, you can have a doover every single day of your life if you want. Isn’t that nice? I am Queen Do-Over but in the process of all my do-overs I’ve figured out a few things that help me set the direction for what comes next. Like I mentioned, things rarely go exactly as planned, but when I put some energy up front on the planning, things often turn out. Want to do some planning for 2019? Here are 6 ideas to get you started: • Vision Board. This is FUN and eerily effective. How? Get some paper or poster board (as big or small as you want), some old magazines or even some pictures off the 44 | January 2019
web, some glue sticks and get going. Bonus points for inviting your friends to come over, have some food and bevvies and make theirs with you. • Get a new planner. Personally, I’m a fan of the Bullet Journal (you can learn all about it online with a simple search for the term), but the business of planning has gotten BIG. There are planners for dreamers, moms, frugal thrifty shoppers, entrepreneurs and everything in between. Many have coaching pages to help you set your intentions and goals for the coming year, along with tools to recap each week, month and quarter as you go along. • Head to nature. No matter the weather, Mother Nature has answers waiting for you. Whether you are facing big changes or are contemplating subtle shifts as the year opens up – give yourself an unlimited amount of time being in nature. The ocean and the mountains are nice, but so is your backyard or the park-like setting in the courtyard of your work campus. Do yourself a favor and leave your phone somewhere else when you head out and see what wisdom comes your way when you’re willing to be present. • Get a reading. Skip
the fortune tellers and find yourself a psychic, medium, tarot pro, palmist, astrologer, numerologist (or whatever else shakes your tree) and get a reading. Invest some time and have a cocreative session with a pro who can help you see yourself in a new light. Do your homework, find a legit reader and have a blast. Bonus points for hiring someone to come over and do readings for you and your friends. • Join a gym, find a nutritionist or get yourself a food and exercise tracker. It’s a cliché, sure, but if you’re not happy with how
you’re feeling, some of it may be that you’re not getting enough movement and good food into your system. Find someone who is a pro and can help you set some realistic goals and help you get a new rhythm for your body and soul. (No more promising yourself that you’re going to lose 50 pounds by your cousin’s wedding in March, okay?) • Interview yourself or have a good friend interview you and then you return the favor for them. This is where you get to channel your inner Barbara Walters and tackle the tough questions you
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want answered about your life. Ask and answer your questions with curiosity and compassion, but don’t be afraid to go for the tough ones: Is this where I thought I’d be at this age? What else would I do if I didn’t have to [fill in the blank]? Of all the things I think I want to change what is the most important? Which is the one thing that if it changes everything else will be easier? How can I do that? You don’t have to do all this of course, but these 6 ideas are a great place to start planning for a fabulous 2019. Let me know what you choose, okay? Send an email to my attention to office@oldtowncrier.com.
GO FISH
B
iologists agree habitat is key to bass growth and reproduction. Since tidal fisheries go through drastic changes, there are many considerations impacting spawning success and habitat, and not many studies. That changed when Virginia biologists, after persistent angler requests, stocked the Chickahominy River in the early 2000s. Subsequent evaluation of the data resulted in a 2017 published study that is being examined by fisheries managers across the country. Until this stocking, it was deemed that putting stocked fish in established populations was inefficient. When they did try stocking, only short-term gains were achieved, eroding after stocking. Two things were true, bass will reproduce well given a chance to be effective and stocking bass is expensive. Variable recruitment is expected season to season and stocking isn’t a wise use of funding. But catastrophic events like massive fish kills or a major event impairing a population, stocking might be viable. After all, as VDGIF Biologist John Odenkirk says, his agency has two objectives: conservation of aquatic resources and to make fishing better and if they thought stocking worked they would do it. The Chickahominy stocking is one of the most effective stocking efforts ever to take place. This unusual situation resulted in a change in VDGIF policy. In the early 2000s there were 4 consecutive year class failures, attributed to drought or floods leaving SAVs destroyed due to scouring or salinity. Habitat was marginalized. Recruitment, successful spawning, was almost non-existent. Odenkirk says they began to figure this out as anglers brought it to
STEVE CHACONAS
Bass stocking, a fish story?
their attention. After those year class losses, natural recruitment returned, mainly small fish. Frustrated anglers wanted stocking and raised money. While the first year stocking wasn’t very productive 2 years later fish began to grow and populations increased. Odenkirk, Aaron Bunch and Bob Greenlee concluded you could take a good year class and make it better or take a poor year class and make it decent, IF you can stock enough fish. This methodology looks promising at Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake. Stocked Florida strain (F1) bass are providing a boost, as they get bigger faster, but don’t really insert a genetic component. The biologists are seeing that F1 stocking might be worthwhile to create potential trophy bass. If deciding to implement similar stockings, VDGIF would use a revolving schedule to get bigger fish every 3 years or so. If Smith
stocking works, they might implement for other lakes like Anna. Records show the Potomac River was stocked by as early as 1990 when Maryland hatcheries released 1250 juveniles to Piscataway Creek. MD biologist Joe Love says spawning Potomac adults caught during March are released to 1/4-acre hatchery ponds. After spawning, adults are released back into the Potomac. Juveniles are fed and when they reach about 2 inches they can be released to the river. Some juveniles are raised to 4-6 inches and released into the river. Since the Potomac has had a sustainable population with dependable spawning habitat, this stocking has only taken place around 10 times over the years. However, in the last 3 years, MD DNR has stocked the river each year to address years when natural spawning
in the river might not have been as good because of environmental factors and nest failure. Stocking encouraged the growth of local populations, such as ones in Mallows Bay or Piscataway Creek. Fish stocking has grown from a few thousand a year to nearly 250,000 in 2018. Love says generally stocking does contribute to stronger age classes and could account for between 10 - 20% of the population. However, sources of natural mortality may level off the influence after 2 - 3 years, so stocking may work in some areas, and not in others, simply because of differences in the source of adult mortality. It has also supported some fisheries, like the Potomac River, when environmental conditions have contributed to greater levels of nest failure. The program has been successful in other ways too. Anglers have helped in stocking, connecting them to the fishery in a different way, helping to build trust between the agency and the people it represents. One such effort has
been conducted by Bass Nation Conservation Director Scott Sewell, who has raised money to purchase fish and organized volunteers to them into MD tidal waters. Stocking programs have promoted and improved some fisheries and Love hopes stocking has encouraged people to fish. B.A.S.S. Conservation Director Gene Gilliland sums it up saying, stocking a river is not that much different from a lake or reservoir. Acres of suitable habitat are what count. Stocking may have some value in helping recovery from catastrophes (flood, drought, pollution/ fish kill) but the benefits are not always long lived. At some point there needs to be a positive ROI...measuring the cost is easy but measuring the benefit is very hard. Author Capt. Steve Chaconas is Potomac bass fishing guide & contributing writer for BoatU.S. (BoatUS.com) Potomac River reports: nationalbass.com. Book trips/purchase gift certificates: info@NationalBass.com.
Potomac River Bassing in January Target hard cover near drops. Steep out of the current areas are best. Use ½ ounce Silver Buddy lures on 10 pound test GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line. A faster Quantum Smoke casting reel allows for better hooksets and to retrieve to make another cast. Work the baits shallow to deep… about 3 down to 10 feet. Short burps activate the bait and fish will eat on the drop. Use a medium action Quantum casting rod. Use Mizmo tubes with insert heads, Mann’s 3” avocado Stingray grubs on ¼ ounce ball head jigs, and shaky head Mann’s HardNose super finesse worms tied to 15 pound Gamma torque braid with 8 pound test Edge leaders on Quantum Smoke spinning gear. Work slowly along the bottom. Garlic Jack’s Juice Bait Spray encourages fish to hold on longer. Try 1/8 ounce Punisher Hair Jigs with the same line as the soft plastics. These soak up Jack’s Juice. Shake and sit, pausing to allow the hair to open up and move.
Old Town Crier
January 2019 | 45
OPEN SPACE
LORI WELCH BROWN
Not That
Do This
I
t occurs to me as I begin to break in another sparkling new day planner that there are a lot of things I tend to do throughout the year that don’t support the ME I want to be. I guess the first thing I need to get clear on is whom I want to be. First and foremost, I want to be well. Without wellness, I have nothing. After that, I want to feel joyful and fulfilled while living a purposeful life. I want to leave the world a little better than I found it. Very Oprah’ish of me, I know. Of course, all of this spawns the idea of resolutions which, as a recovering resolution addict, I struggle with on January 1. A NY’s resolution list made by me may or may not have looked something like this… urrgh, I mean a list written by a friend of mine: 1. Lose 10 lbs by February 1st. 2. Eradicate sugar from my life. 3. No alcohol for 30 days. 4. Work out 3-5 times a week. 5. Write a novel by June 30. 6. Be happy! 7. Embrace a spiritual life. 8. Find your life’s purpose and LIVE it! 9. Determine your philanthropic passion and commit at least 4 hours a month to supporting it. 10. Nurture and grow all the relationships in your life! 46 | January 2019
For starters, who the BLEEP can be happy with a NY resolution list that looks like this?! Not me. Hi, I’m Lori, and I’m a resolution junkie which basically sets me up to be a goal-setting flunky by Valentine’s Day. I cruise calendar aisles looking for the perfect planner. I’ll drive 20 miles to Barnes & Noble or Michael’s to see if they have different/better ones— you know, ones with tabs and stickers. I get panicky if I don’t have one in every room of my house, and I am grumpy if I don’t get at least three for Christmas. Don’t these people know me?! If I attend a white elephant gift exchange that doesn’t include a planner, I consider it a party fail. And, if one does get unwrapped, don’t even think about leaving with it because I will turn into a diabolical gift stealer to get my hands on it. I get a planner’s rush as I mark in events and am giddy when I get to break out a highlighter. I sniff planners. That’s my rock bottom. Thank you for the safe space to share. This year I want to do things differently as the self-imposed pressures of the past haven’t worked out so well for me. My ten pounds still hangs adoringly onto my midsection.
My work outs have morphed into 3-5 times a month my March. Not only do I NOT have any novels under my belt, I have no titles or ideas for one. As I write this, I’m crashing off a sugar hangover, and my spiritual life is comprised of a few “thank you, sweet Jesus” moments when I exhibit the Ghandilike willpower not to open a second bottle of wine on a week night. So, this year I am going to white knuckle my way through January without a road map aka list of resolutions. Instead, I am going to embrace 2019 by: 1. Abandoning my lofty expectations of myself and others. 2. Focusing on my SELF— the self that needs gentle nurturing vs. diets and circuit training. 3. Carving out time for the things that bring me joy vs. going through life checking boxes. 4. Putting MYSELF first vs. self-imposed deadlines and frivolous tasks. 5. And….NOT stressing over relationships. This is a big one for me— more challenging than walking past the calendar aisle. This seems to have been a big theme for me in 2017 which
culminated into a minimeltdown leading up to the holidays. I try to be everything to everyone, and truthfully, I expect things in return. Not big things, but expectations nonetheless that often leave me feeling disappointed, resentful and on really bad days, angry. I blame some of this on social media—which has been the subject of a few of my columns this year. ‘Liking’ a status update does not a relationship make. It’s gotten to the point that receiving a text from someone is the equivalent of a Hallmark card. Which leads me to the next item on my non-resolution list: 6. Writing more letters vs. texting/instant messaging. I still treasure the letters my grandmother wrote me. Nothing says love like a handwritten card or note. I think of her sitting down at her little telephone (black rotary dial w/a party line, btw) table in the evenings and handwriting those letters. The funny thing is that she didn’t live that far away and I typically saw her a couple of times a month so I’m not sure what motivated her to write them. To my knowledge, I’m the only recipient of her little missives and they were mostly filled with niceties and accounts of her daily comings and goings. Maybe she was lonesome and they helped her pass the time. Whatever her reason, those letters let me know that she was thinking of
me. They kept us connected in ways that Facebook and texts can’t hold a candle to. I can’t explain why it’s different— probably the same way writing in a paper calendar brings me much more joy than adding an event to my iCalendar. Forty years later, those letters are tucked away among some of my most prized possessions. So, as you embark on your new year, I leave you with these words of wisdom (not handwritten, but written with love): • Do eat the cookies; don’t feel guilty about enjoying life’s pleasures; • Do pick up the phone and call someone you love; don’t miss the opportunity to tell someone you love them; • Do take care of yourself; don’t wait until it’s too late to appreciate your health; • Do make happiness a choice; don’t hold others responsible for it; • Do accept yourself as you are today, don’t let anyone else determine how you feel about you; • Do set positive intentions each day, don’t set unrealistic resolutions; and • Do buy the planner, don’t fill it with anything except things that bring you joy! Wishing you a healthy and joy-filled New Year! Namaste.
NATIONAL HARBOR
A
s I write this column it is once again RAINING and is forecast to keep it up for another 36 hours. I cannot express how depressing the weather has been for me for the last two months and the fact that it rained primarily on the weekends really added insult to injury! Some of my saving grace has been being able to head over to The Belvedere Lounge at the Gaylord and take in the nightly holiday happenings in the Atrium, checking out the Harbor tree lightings above the Plaza and the holiday themed light show on the Capital Wheel from the party room balcony of my condo and the fireworks that have been happening every Saturday up to Christmas regardless of the rain. What am I going to do now? The holidays are over
Old Town Crier
LANI GERING
and the lights are gone and no more fireworks through the pouring rain. I am definitely not a candidate for MAGfest at the Gaylord but I guess there isn’t really any reason I can’t still seek solace at The Belvedere and the people watching while it’s going on – there are definitely some characters that attend this gathering. Check them out via the link in the calendar listing in this section. I wrote about it in depth last January. Restaurant Week starts at the end of the month so that is something to look forward to. Will give me a chance to check out some places I don’t usually frequent and save some cash at the same time. It follows on the heels of Restaurant Week in Old Town Alexandria so you all might want to check out the great food across the river. There is always the option
of making a commitment to sticking closer to home and taking in the quiet that January brings to the Harbor and….maybe putting my Christmas decorations away before the end of the month. It is, however, a good time of the year to take a spin on the Wheel on a crisp clear day – hoping we will have several of those – without having to stand in line as well as take a stroll around the campus. It’s a good opportunity to check out new construction and see what changes are happening along the waterfront. Also a good opportunity to head up the hill to the MGM for another form of fabulous people watching and to spend some of that Christmas money you got in your stocking. I have targeted a portion of my take and I am actually pretty lucky at the video poker - it’s about the
only thing I can afford besides the slots. I have to admit that I haven’t been to any of the performances in the Theater in the MGM so I guess that might be something to check out as well. Looks like Motor City Live will be performing “A Motown Tribute” several times during the month and I love that music so…..just might be a good option. On a high note, I am looking forward to the New Year and all of the possibilities it offers. Nothing like having a new slate – sort of – to work with. And even more importantly, I am in hopes that the damned weather will straighten out and if there has to be moisture it will be in the form of nice fluffy snowflakes! Happy New Year to everyone and thanks so much for reading this publication. We celebrate 31 years this month!
January 2019 | 47
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NATIONAL HARBOR DINING GUIDE AC LOUNGE 156 Waterfront Street 301-749-2299 BOND 45 149 Waterfront Street 301-839-1445 BRASS TAP 164 Fleet Street 301-965-9116 BROTHER JIMMY’S BBQ 177 Fleet Street 301-909-8860 CADILLAC RANCH 186 Fleet Street 301-839-1100 CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL 158 National Plaza 301-749-2016 CRAB CAKE CAFE 140 National Plaza 240-766-2063 ELEVATION BURGER 108 Waterfront Street 301-749-4014 FIORELLA PIZZERIA E CAFFE 152 National Plaza 301-839-1811 GRACES MANDARIN 188 Waterfront Street 301-839-3788
GRANITE CITY FOOD & BREWERY 200 American Way 240-493-3900 IRISH WHISPER 177 Fleet Street 301-909-8859 MASON'S FAMOUS LOBSTER ROLLS 156 National Plaza 410-298-7850 McCORMICK & SCHMICK 145 National Plaza 301-567-6224 McLOONES PIER HOUSE 141 National Harbor Plaza 301-839-0815 MEZEH MEDITERRANEAN 144 National Plaza 301-753-7961 NANDO’S PERI-PERI 191 American Way 301-567-8900 NATIONAL PAST TIME SPORTS BAR & GRILLE Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com OLD HICKORY STEAKHOUSE Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com
48 | January 2019
PIENZA ITALIAN MARKET Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com POTBELLY SANDWICH WORKS 146 National Plaza 301-686-1160 PUBLIC HOUSE 199 Fleet Street 240-493-6120 REDSTONE AMERICAN GRILL 155 National Plaza 301-839-3330 ROSA MEXICANA 135 Waterfront Street 301-567-1005 SAUCIETY AMERICAN GRILL 171 Waterfront Street 240-766-3640 SUCCOTASH 168 Waterfront Street 301-567-8900 THAI PAVILLION 151 American Way 301-749-2022 WALRUS OYSTER & ALE HOUSE 152 Waterfront Street 301-567-6100
National Harbor Calendar of Events - January 2019
12/20/18 2:56 PM
JANUARY 3RD THROUGH 6TH MAGfest 2019
Short for Music and Gaming Festival, MAGfest is a four day-long event dedicated to the appreciation of video game music, gaming of all types and the gaming community. This event runs 24 hours a day and offers consoles, arcades, tabletop, LAN, live video game cover bands, chiptunes, vendors, guest speakers and much more. For details and badge purchase log on to super.magfest.org
JANUARY 26TH THROUGH FEB 1ST
Restaurant Week Waterfront District & the MGM Grand Resort Twelve of the Harbors dining establishments and three of the MGM establishments will be participating this year. Offering everything from $20 lunches to $38 dinners, this is a great opportunity to try out a new eatery. Also available during Restaurant Week are a 20% discount on Capital Wheel tickets when you mention Restaurant Week and free cover charge at Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar when you present a copy of a same day receipt from any participating restaurant. For details and participating restaurants visit NationalHarbor.com/RestaurantWeek
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