Old Town Crier February 2023 - Full Issue

ANALEXANDRIAORIGINAL FOROVER37YEARS FEATURING

ON THE ROAD WITH OTC

Longtime Alexandria residents currently wintering in Key Largo, Tina and Braun Jones, enjoy their hometown Old Town Crier on a recent Danube River Boat trip...in front of the Budapest Eye (ferris wheel) in Budapest, Hungary!

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PUBLISHER’S NOTES

BY BOB TAGERT

Alexandria

Happenings Around Town – FEBRUARY 2023

The City of Alexandria, Virginia, the adopted hometown of George Washington, celebrates his birthday each year with events throughout February.  The highlight will be on February 20, 2023, when Alexandria residents and visitors will line the streets of Old Town Alexandria to cheer on the oldest and largest George Washington Birthday parade in the country.

1ST – 15TH

2023 Cherry Challenge Restaurant Contest

Participating Restaurants (see website)

The “Cherry Challenge” is a competition among the finer restaurants in Alexandria.  Each restaurant will develop its own cherry cocktail, appetizer, entrée, and/or dessert in honor of our distinguished native son, of course! The competing restaurants and their entries will be listed on the George Washington Birthday Celebration website and Facebook page, and the winners will be announced on Parade Day.

1ST – 28TH

“Hunt for Washington”

12:00 PM

Locations throughout Alexandria

A fun and challenging game to uncover clues about Alexandria and George Washington. The hunt, which should take about 60-90 minutes to complete, will take individuals and families to places in Old Town Alexandria associated with the General.

5TH, 12TH, 19TH & 26TH

George Washington’s Alexandria Tour

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Christ Church

118 North Washington Street

On every Sunday in February 2023, at 2:00 p.m., you can explore historic Old Town Alexandria as George Washington knew it!  This popular two-hour guided walking tour will visit sites associated with Washington and his closest colleagues, including Christ Church, Light Horse Harry Lee’s house, the Lord Fairfax home, Washington’s townhouse, Gadsby’s Tavern, Duvall Tavern, Wise’s Tavern, the Carlyle House, Market Square, Ramsay House, the Apothecary Shop, and Gentry Row.

11TH

Chocolate with General Washington

2:00 PM  3:00 PM

George Washington Masonic National Memorial Children (and accompanying adults) are invited to spend an hour with General Washington to talk about the events of the revolution, ask questions of our first citizen, and enjoy hot chocolate and delicious comestibles. FREE.

An Intimate Reception with George Washington

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Duvall’s Tavern

303 Cameran Street

The George Washington Legacy Foundation will host a reception with General Washington at Duvall House, in the very room in which he was feted by leading Alexandrians when he returned to Mount Vernon at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.  Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, pastries, libations, and the opportunity to engage in conversation with the General about his life and times. Tickets are $125 and

available here. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now!

12TH

Family Day at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum

2:00 PM  5:00 PM

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum

134 North Royal Street

Did you know George Washington danced at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum? Junior Docents will be stationed throughout the museum with hands-on activities for all ages to learn about 18th-century balls. Activities included in regular admission: $5 per person, free for City residents.

18TH

Friendship Firehouse Museum is Open!

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

107 South Alfred Street

In a town of mostly wooden buildings, where open flames provided heat, light and cooking on a daily basis, fire was a constant danger. The Friendship, Sun, Relief, Hydraulion and other local volunteer fire companies served the Alexandria community faithfully, particularly during enormous blazes in 1827, 1855, 1871, and 1922. Admission is $2 per person and free to Alexandria residents. Younger visitors will receive a free fire hat and a take-away bag of fun activities!

20TH

Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolution

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Old Presbyterian Meeting House

321 South Fairfax Street

Join the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution as they honor the soldiers of the Revolution.  No registration required. FREE.

George Washington Birthday Parade

NEW ROUTE

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Old Town Alexandria

The nation’s largest George Washington Birthday parade marches a one-mile route through the streets of his chosen hometown! For more information, including parking, maps, route, and status, visit www.washingtonbirthday.com, email mailto:gwbirthdayevents@gmail.com. FREE.

Rededication of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial’s Cornerstone

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Join thousands of people from around the country as the George Washington Masonic National Memorial celebrates its 100th anniversary of its cornerstone ceremony. Registration is recommended but not required. To learn more, please visit www.gwmemorial.org/pages/cornerstone.

Here we are in February of 2023 celebrating the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras and President’s Day. It is also the start of Six Nations Rugby – way more important to me than American football. You can check out all of the action in real time at O’Connell’s Irish Restaurant and Bar in Old Town – see their ad in the Dining Out Section. If you have never watched rugby before, no worries, there will be a fan there who will be happy to explain the game to you. Fascinating sport.

Lots of great “stuff” in this month’s issue. Doug Fabbioli writes about life on the land in Exploring VA Wines. In Grapevine, Matt Fitzsimmons explains the art of chocolate and wine pairings. Our Dining Out column features a visit to Via Veneto Italian Restaurant, a hidden gem off of Fort Hunt Road. Alexander Britell writes about a new way to own a vacation home on St. John for less in Caribbean Connection. In Business Profile Lani Gering visits the Freedom House Museum on Duke Street. Tim Wheeler tells us about an innovative Oyster Co-op in southern Maryland in From the Bay while Julie Reardon discusses the absence of a cell tower in a wealthy part of Virginia in To the Blue Ridge. In Gallery Beat Lenny Campello explains why he thinks the Compass Atelier is the best artist school in the DMV. Sarah Becker takes a historical look at immigration and emigration in her popular History column. In High Notes, Ron Powers revisits AC/DC’s “Through the mists of Time”. To enhance your Super Bowl experience this year, Tim Long suggests a bourbon tasting as well as a nice cigar pairing in his Let’s Get Crafty space. Lori Welch Brown laments about being single, dating and finally meeting Mr. XXL in Open Space. Our Personality Profile highlights our cover subject…Cupid. In Take Photos, Leave Footprints, Scott Dicken takes us to Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan.

On a sad note, Alexandria lost the founder of the Birchmere Music Hall, Gary Oelze passed away last month. Gary and his talented friends brought world class music to Alexandria. He will be missed.

As we roll into the mo nth we wish everyone a passionate Valentine’s Day, a patriotic President’s Day and most important of all LAISSEZ LES BOS TEMPS ROULER!!

Photo courtesy Tisara Photography

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES

From a self-taught mathematician who mapped out the nation’s capital to abolitionist sisters who partnered with Frederick Douglass to the first Black athlete to play in the NBA, African American change makers have shaped the history of Alexandria, VA, and the United States.

Bring your little one to Beatley Central Library’s beautiful outdoor Reading Garden for stories, songs and movement. Children ages 0-5 are welcome with an adult. Please dress for the weather. Yoga mats are available to sit on. Stop by the Children’s Desk for a ticket for entry, available on a firstcome, first-served basis beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sign up to receive cancellation notices in the event of inclement weather.

11TH

Story Time for Young Historians

11 a.m. • Admission: Free

THROUGHOUT THE MONTH

We Specialize in One-of-a-Kind

Featured ring is a reproduction of an old family design beautifully done in white and yellow gold!

GOLDWORKSUSA.COM

GOLDWORKSUSA

1400 King Street, Old Town Alexandria, VA 703-683-0333

Martin Luther King, Jr., Poster Exhibition

Admission: Free

Vola Lawson Library at Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street

See the entries from the 2023 Martin Luther King, Jr. Poster Exhibition on view in the Lawson Lobby of City Hall. More than 120 drawings from school students are featured.

11TH

Black History Bus Tour

10 to 11:30 a.m. and 12 to 1:30 p.m.

Admission: $30 per person

Alexandria Black History Museum 902 Wythe Street 703-719-2150 manumissiontours.com

Ride with Manumission Tour Company on a 90-minute guided bus tour to visit various African American historic sites in Alexandria. You will hear stories of both enslaved and free African Americans prior to the Civil War as well as understand the stories behind some of Alexandria’s most well-known African American historic sites.

African Americans at Arlington National Cemetery

11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Admission: Free; registration preferred Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library 717 Queen Street 703-746-1703 alexlibraryva.org

African Americans have been connected to Arlington National Cemetery since its origins as a plantation through the Freedman’s Village to the trailblazers of the Civil Rights Movement. Learn about the connection of African Americans to Arlington National Cemetery.

CHARLES E. BEATLEY, JR. LIBRARY EVENTS

Our Faces in Film Series

Admission: Free

Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library 5005 Duke Street 703-746-1702 alexlibraryva.org

February 3, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.: “Brown Sugar”

February 10, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.: “The Wiz”

February 14, from 6 to 7:45 p.m.: “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

February 17, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.: “Soul”

February 24, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.: “Harriet”

6TH

Storytime in the Reading Garden: Black Authors and Illustrators

11 to 11:30 a.m.

Admission: Free

Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library 5005 Duke Street 703-746-1702 alexlibraryva.org

History is around every corner in Alexandria. Learn about African American history and icons with stories and activities to inspire young, curious minds. Story Time with Young Historians is a monthly program, historically held at the Alexandria Black History Museum. Appropriate for children ages 5 to 8; masks are required.

23RD

Black History Cooking Demonstration

February 23, 2023, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. • Admission: Free

The creator and chef of Black Folk Food will prepare a handful of dishes, share a brief history and demonstrate what makes the cuisine so amazing.

26TH

Black History Live with Culture Queen

February 26, 2023, from 2 to 3 p.m. • Admission: Free Experience original and interactive music, movement and storytelling to help your royal children celebrate the kings and queens of African American History. With a renewed sense of confidence, cultural awareness and curiosity for exploring the world around them, kids will leave proudly exclaiming, “I like the me I see!” Note that this program will be held indoors. Please arrive early as space is limited.

ALEXANDRIA’S HISTORY MUSEUM EVENTS

The Lyceum 201 S. Washington Street 703-746-4994 shop.alexandriava.gov

13TH

Lecture: Exposing the Alexandria Slave Pen

7 p.m. • Admission: Free

Join City of Alexandria Archaeologist Dr. Benjamin Skolnik as he explores the visual history of 1315 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia. Now the Freedom House Museum, the site was once the location where several 19th century dealers trafficked enslaved men, women and children to the Deep South.

16TH

Lecture + Short Film: Fort Reno Park

7 p.m. • Admission: Free

At Fort Reno Park, near Tenleytown, an important chapter in the history of Washington, D.C.’s Black community is barely visible to the modern-day visitor. Fort Reno was a bustling neighborhood in which men, women, and children lived, died, loved, worked, worshipped, and played.

18TH

Concert: Washington Revels Jubilee Voices

2 p.m.

Admission: Free

The Washington Revels Jubilee Voices ensemble is committed to the preservation of African American history and traditions—presenting songs and stories of struggle and perseverance, trials and triumphs, as expressed through a cappella music, drama and dance. Established in 2010, the group now performs regularly throughout the Washington, D.C, area, singing, sharing and learning the stories of the people in those communities.

design and perfect reproductions.

“Your imagination is my Horizon”

Fraud Prevention Tips to Help Protect You and Your Family

Scammers are relentless when it comes to finding new ways to take advantage of people. They may claim to be contacting you on behalf of your bank, a government agency, a shipping/delivery company or any person or business with which you have a relationship.

Their methods and messages can be very convincing. They employ a variety of scams (auto warranty renewal, problems with a Social Security payment, debts owed to the IRS, health insurance renewal, or a relative stranded and needing money for transportation) and often present a sense of urgency to attempt to gain information and/or money from their targets.

The following tips could help you avoid becoming a victim of fraud:

Verify the source

Be certain that the person calling or contacting you is who they claim to be. Scammers can make calls and texts look as if they are coming from your bank or an actual business. Even a text or email that seems to have been sent by a friend may be coming from a phone number or account that has been hacked. Contact the person, bank, or business directly to confirm the legitimacy of the communication you received.

If you did not initiate the communication using what you know is a legitimate telephone number, email address, or website account location, do not give out any personal information including your address, birth date, Social Security or account numbers, or PINs.

Be vigilant

On phone calls you receive:

Don’t answer a call from an unfamiliar number.

If you do answer a call from an unknown number, if prompted, do not enter a response to stop receiving calls. Hang up.

If you do answer a call, ask questions before you answer any questions. Some scammers immediately ask “Can you hear me?” If you answer “yes” to that question, your response may be recorded and fraudulently used to claim that you approved a purchase or gave permission for something.

For texts and emails you receive:

Do not click on a link in a text or email until you are certain that the sender is legitimate. Taking a few minutes to verify the validity of a communication could mean the difference between engaging in or successfully preventing a damaging and expensive experience.

When setting up and accessing accounts:

Carefully choose a password. Avoid the

use of words or phrases that could be easily guessed from information that is accessible from your social media posts, such as your birth date, a child’s name, or a pet’s name.

For your password, use an uncommon phrase that includes a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters, for example: Iliketogive99!Presents. The longer the password, the harder it is to crack.

Enable two-step verification and voice verification, when available, for your accounts.

Protect one-time passwords (OTPs) to prevent others from using them to access your account.

Trust your instincts

If an offer sounds too good to be true, it could very likely be an attempt to defraud you. Do not respond in haste just because you are being pressured to take an immediate action or make a decision.

Before taking action on a request, discuss it with a trusted friend or family member, which could help you to authenticate the legitimacy or deceit of the communication.

Ask for help

If you suspect or know that you have been defrauded, it may be helpful to tell a family member or friend. Victims of fraud have reported that they were fearful or embarrassed to admit they had been scammed. Report the incident to the appropriate authorities. You could be instrumental in helping shut down a fraudulent operation and protecting others from being victimized.

Be aware

The more you know about the types of scams and methods used, the better you can help protect yourself and your family. When you learn about scams that have been exposed, share those stories with your friends and family. It can also be helpful to review guidelines from Wells Fargo concerning how to recognize and avoid scams at wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bankscams. Another informative source is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website Scam Alerts page at consumer.ftc.gov/features/ scam-alerts.

This article was written by/for Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Carl M. Trevisan, Managing Director-Investments and Stephen M. Bearce, First Vice PresidentInvestments in Alexandria, VA at 800-2478602.

©2022 Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. All rights reserved.

In 2020 25.6% of Alexandria’s population was foreign born. Washington advised against the “settling of emigrants in a body” arguing that “by so doing they retain the language, habits & principles (good or bad) which they bring with them.” He preferred that emigrants intermix; “get assimilated to our customs, manners and laws: in a word, soon become one people.” As of 1795, U.S. citizenship required a five year residency.

In 2015 Wallet Hub ranked Virginia 8th overall for Hispanic assimilation. Virginia’s 2020 Hispanic population: 10.2%. Alexandria’s Hispanic population 16.5% of the city’s total.

“[T]he United States has never adopted any measure to encourage or invite emigrants,” Secretary of State John Quincy Adams wrote in 1819. “It has never held out any incitements to induce the subjects of any other sovereign to abandon their own country.”

“They come to a life of independence, to a life of labor—and, if they cannot accommodate themselves to the character, moral, political, and physical of this country, with all its compensating balances of good and evil, they may always…return to the land of their nativity,” Adams continued.

“To one thing they must make up their minds,” Adams concluded. “They must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward

to their posterity [to future generations] rather than backward to their ancestors.”

[Italics added]

The power “to establish a uniform rule of naturalization” rests with Congress [U.S. Constitution: Art. 1, Sec. 8]. Emigrate describes the move relative to the point of departure. Immigrate describes the move relative to the destination.

“They came here—the exile and the stranger; brave but frightened— to find a place where a man could be a man,” President Lyndon B. Johnson [D-TX] said in his 1965 Inaugural Address. “They made a covenant with this land [and] it binds us still.” Today the Department of the Interior’s BLM estimates that “93 million Americans are descended from Homesteaders.” President Lincoln [R-IL] signed the 37th Congress’ Homestead Act in 1862.

“For over four decades the immigration policy of the United States has been twisted and distorted by the harsh injustice of the national origins quota system,” Johnson said.

The 1929 Act was “an overt [numerical] attempt to keep the country’s ethnic ‘composition’ to what it had been.”

The number of yearly immigrants permitted in 1929: 150,000. From 1931post WWII: 100,000.

“Under existing law the quotas for each nation are fixed on the basis of 2% of the population represented in this country by the foreign nations in the census of 1890,” The Washington Post explained in 1929. “On that basis

the countries of northwest Europe are entitled to 85% of the annual immigration.” The top three: England, Germany and the Irish Free State.

Disagreements between U.S. employers who depended on Mexican labor, particularly in agribusiness, prevented Congress from putting numeric limits on Mexican immigration. The Undesirable Aliens Act of 1929 counted on the employment-based Green Card instead.

According to the U.S. Census in 1920 the aggregated total of American inhabitants was 106,021,537 persons; 179,323,175 persons in 1960; 331,449,281 persons in 2020 and an estimated 334,233,854 persons as of January 1, 2023.

In 1929 President Herbert Hoover [R-CA] was dealing not only with immigration but also an economic slump; Prohibition, “legal disobedience,” and political partisanship. “Raising the present barriers against immigration would result immediately in floods of immigrants surging into the United States,” Hoover concluded.

Author James Truslow Adams first described the American dream in 1931, in his book The Epic of America. Though the Crash of 1929 signaled the beginning of the Great Depression, Adams argued there was also a spirit of progress. He coined the phrase then explained “that ‘American dream’ of a better, richer, and happier life for all

our citizens of every rank….”

White heiress and Alexandria developer Virginia Fitzhugh Wheat Thomas’ Depression-era vision of colored Rosemont was built with black homeowners in mind; homes later taken by eminent domain to make way for 1960s segregated public housing. Rental units were popular with the 1960s Democratic Byrd machine. Such units offered Dems opportunity: to selectively reward and or punish a politically dependent population. “By 1970, 75% of Alexandria’s residents lived in apartments,” The Washington Post reported.

President Johnson signed the Immigration Act of 1965 “abolishing the quota system for immigrants” on October 3rd. The Act “established a limit of 170,000 on annual immigration from countries outside the Western hemisphere and put a ceiling of 120,000 on the number who could enter from within the Hemisphere.”

The stated order of preference: “immediate relatives of those who were already U.S. citizens or alien residents; professionals or others with special talents or education, and refugees who had fled a Communist dominated country [like Cuba], or the Middle East.” Skilled or unskilled laborers, of the type who established America’s pre-eminence during the industrial revolution, have been among the last to be accepted.

“My opinion with respect to emigration is, that except of useful mechanics—and some particular descriptions of men—or professions—there is no need of extra encouragement.”

—

President George Washington, 1794.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ...”

THE COMPLICATED HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION IN AMERICA

“This bill says simply that…those wishing to emigrate to America shall be admitted on the basis of their skills and their close relationship to those already here,” Johnson declared. “It is not a revolutionary bill.” In the last 50+ years “Far more relatives of citizens asked to be admitted than the State Department had expected.”

“The accent on reuniting families…has drastically altered the immigration mix,” The Washington Post reported in 1966, “so much so, in fact, that an American-Irish Immigration Committee formed in New York City to protest the difficulty that the Irish were having getting in.”

In 1990, on President George H.W. Bush’s [RTX] watch, Congress again approved broad immigration changes including a permanent Family Unity Plan. Approximately 1.5 million relatives benefited. The downside: by 19951997 the educational level of new immigrants was lower, immigration applications for Supplemental Security Income much higher. The means test relates more to family reunification, than job skills.

In 1998 Alan Reynolds, the Hudson Institute’s Director of Economic Research, argued “U.S. immigration policy serves primarily to increase the number of U.S. residents who lack even a high-school degree.”

“The assimilation of the principles, opinions, and manners of our country-men by the common education…of our youth from every quarter well deserves attention,” President Washington said in 1796. Today ACPS students “come from more than 80 different countries and speak more than 60 languages.”

Alexandria’s 2020 white population is 58.8%, down from 88.3% in 1960. According to the city, as of 2018 “white median household income ($122,401) more than doubled that of Hispanic or Latinx ($60,637) and Black or African American ($58,821) households.” The city dwells on racial divide trades based on averages then ignores the class divides within. By contrast the 2020 Census lists Alexandria’s median household income as $105,450; the per capita income as $68,640 and persons in poverty 9.6%.

Black inflows involved not only the transatlantic slave trade, but also the 1930s Great

Migration from South to North: later blacks for whom education and homeownership were fundamental. In 1924 black residents were 50.88% of the city’s segregated population; 55.98% in 1947; then 21.6% in 2020. Much of Alexandria’s segregated black middle class: a market segment that included doctors and lawyers, barbers and business owners fled!—leaving “concentrations of poverty” i.e. public housing behind. Only 53% of public housing households had income from wages in 2017.

“The Immigration Act of 1965 changed the American narrative,” The Boston Globe concluded in 2008. “It transformed a nation.” So, too, did President Johnson’s 1968 Fair Housing Act, and Virginia’s 1972 Fair Housing law.

In 2020 the total number of Alexandria’s owner occupied housing units was 42.9%, up slightly from 37.6% in 1960. Less than the 64.6% of U.S. owner occupied housing units. Clearly, the city’s description of J.T. Adams American Dream has changed. Emigration itself, neither homesteading nor home ownership is the driver. Except maybe Governor Glenn Youngkin’s [R-VA] newly released Make Virginia Home Plan.

Alexandria became an Inclusion City in 2007. Federal funding flows, but still the city’s FY2024 budget remains unbalanced—an “estimated $17 million funding gap.”

Last month the city began disbursing its $3 million, $500 per month, 24-month, lottery driven, 170 persons only, guaranteed median income program ARISE, a byproduct of the American Rescue Plan Act. ARISE’s cost-benefit measures are…?

“The net impact of immigration is difficult to isolate,” The Brookings Institution says. That said, how long can taxpayers; cities, states, and the federal government continue to underwrite immigration’s associated costs? Include; then continue to support—as President Hoover said in 1929, “the floods of immigrants surging into the United States.” Hoover, a Quaker whose religious Testimonies include Equality has a point.

Per the 2000, 2010 U.S. Census: Alexandria has more people per square mile than any other Virginia jurisdiction. The city’s 2020 count: 10,677 people per square mile, up 14.6% from 2010. As for households: 31.1% spoke other

than English at home.

“Multiculturalism in its militant form…rejects the goals of assimilation and integration,” historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., explained. Moving forward Alexandria’s definition of one people is…? The intermixture of—English and education; knowledge and skills; employment and income; housing and

neighborhoods are…?

“Three-quarters (75%) of Americans say they think the immigration system needs at least ‘major changes,’” Pew Research reports. President Joe Biden [D-DE] announced his Border Security plan on January 5, 2023. If only a bipartisan Congress had the courage to act.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: About the Author: 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. Email: abitofhistory53@gmail.com

Freedom House Museum –A Place for Reflection

I have lived in Alexandria since the spring of 1992 and in that time I have obviously learned much about the deep history that our fair city is steeped in but until a couple of months ago I didn’t truly realize what a major part Alexandria played during the times of slavery. I am sure that the Crier’s History column author, Sarah Becker, has written a column about it sometime in these last 35 years but guess I wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t until I attended a Chamber of Commerce event where Audrey Davis, the Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum, was the guest speaker that I became aware of the Freedom House Museum. It had gone through quite a renovation and was ready for visitors and she was getting the word out.

I finally made a visit to this amazing place on Duke Street the last week of January. It was a real eye-opener to say the least. It was an eerie feeling knowing that I was standing in a place that harbored such horrific events. I loved the Civil War period of my

American History classes while in school and have always been appalled that slavery was even a “thing” but knowing the details of just how much a part Alexandria played has me bugged, however, history is just that…history. We can’t change it. All we can do is go forward and do better and that is what I believe we are trying to do.

I have listed the exhibits on each floor below and I encourage you to take a few extra moments on the 3rd floor in one of the Quiet Reflection spaces. There are nice chairs and sofas with amazing art on the walls in each space. I spent a few minutes there and tears came to my eyes as soon as I sat down.

I wasn’t able to stay as long as I would have liked but it is recommended that you allow at least an hour and a half for your visit. They recommend that, due to the sensitive nature of the content, children be at least 8 years old to visit. There are three levels and each level is accessible by either stairs or elevator and each floor has restrooms. Admission is $5 per

adult, $3 per child (ages 5-12), and FREE for City of Alexandria Residents. Due to high demand and limited capacity, they highly recommend guests reserve tickets in advance and not purchase them at the door. https:// shop.alexandriava.gov/Events.aspx

The Exhibitions

First Floor:

1315 DUKE STREET – The keystone exhibition centers the narrative on the stories of those who were brought from the Chesapeake Bay area, moved through 1315 Duke Street, and forced to slave markets in the deep South. In addition to personal experiences of individuals trafficked through the domestic slave trade, the exhibit includes archaeological artifacts and a model of the complex.

Second Floor:

DETERMINED - The 400-Year Struggle for Black Equality - travelling exhibition from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture that traces four

centuries of Black history in Virginia through stories of extraordinary individuals who struggled for equality and, in the process, profoundly shaped the nature of American society and the meaning of our collective ideals. Determined in Alexandria - companion exhibition about Black Alexandrians that built the foundations of our community while fighting for equality.

Third Floor:

BEFORE THE SPIRITS ARE SWEPT AWAY paintings of African American sites by the late Sherry Z. Sanabria. This is a companion exhibition to another at the Alexandria Black History Museum. Reflection Space with bronze maquette of the Edmonson Sisters by sculptor Erik Blome, a gift to Historic Alexandria from former City Manager Mark Jinks and his wife Eileen Jinks.

Through The Mists Of Time –AC/DC

This month I’d like to discuss the standout track from AC/ DC’s seventeenth studio album Power Up. “Through The Mists Of Time” is an anthem that fills the listener with the sort of expansive rock power that only AC/DC is capable of. Angus and the gang blend the aggressive edge they’re famous for with a touch of tenderness making for a rowdy and inspirational listening experience. The lyrics for “Through The Mists Of Time” were written by lead guitarist Angus Young and are a tribute to the band’s early and wild days. Singer Brian Johnson said he got shivers while recording the song thinking of the band’s former guitarist and co-founder Malcolm Young who died at age 64 in 2017. AC/DC is a band that has experienced every bright and dark corner of the rock and roll lifestyle, and “Through The Mists Of Time” feels like it reflects that experience in a meaningful way.

First, the band warms up the listener’s ears with lightly overdriven guitars that convey the cool yet uplifting feeling of the song. Under the guitars, we hear a single-note bass line filling out the bottom end and creating a subtle tension with the jazz-like drum rhythm. As the first verse is introduced, the airy feel of the intro quickly snaps into gear with a four-onthe-floor drumbeat. Singer Brian Johnson belts out the lines, “See dark shadows / On the walls / See the pictures / Some hang, some fall”. While Johnson delivers the top line, the band glides through the winding progression of the verse and seamlessly transitions into the chorus like a bird taking flight. A deeply satisfying and expansive feeling permeates the chorus. Just before the first downbeat, we hear the line “Through The Mists Of Time”, followed by classic AC/DC backing vocals. A simple power chord guitar arrangement supports the top line while the straightforward drumbeat keeps the listener’s head bobbing and fist pumping. This simplicity is one of my favorite aspects of the genius of AC/DC’s music. Decade after decade they’ve exercised an instinct that knows when to express everything from punk rock simplicity to rock god virtuosity. The pockets of technical skill this band has access to could not be any deeper. But the real value lies in their discernment between when to reach deep and when not to.

After a couple of verse and chorus repetitions the band blasts off into a guitar solo led by the iconic sound of Young’s Gibson SG. Few guitarists have dug out the channels necessary to express themselves with the fluidity and raw power that Angus Young has, and “Through The Mists Of Time” boasts a fiery example of his legendary abilities. The brief eight measures of the solo produce the perfect amount of variation and ensures that the verse/chorus dynamic doesn’t get bland. After refreshing the ears, the solo prepares the listeners to easily enjoy the rest of the song.

For me, “Through The Mists Of Time” easily stands with mega hits by AC/DC like “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back In Black”. If you’d like to listen to it you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and most other places music is streamed or sold. If you’d like to learn more about AC/DC you can find them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

About the Author: Ron Powers is an independent A&R specialist and music industry consultant and is constantly searching for, discovering and writing about new talent.

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.

The Fish Market 703.836.5676 105 King St. fishmarketoldtown.com

La Portas 703.683.6313 1600 Duke St.

The Light Horse 703.549.0533 715 King St. lighthorserestaurant.com

Michael’s Little Italy 703-548-9338

305 S. Washington St.

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.

z

Left , AC/DC posed in a studio in London in Aug. 1979.

Fin Costello/Redferns

THE SPARE SPEAKS

Harry the Spare. William the Heir. The former a young man floating angry, purposeless, and bemused in his gilded cage; the latter distant, walking a straight line, fulfilling endless rote duties to the public while carrying the weight of an ancient monarchy on his shoulders. In writing the book Spare, Harry, Duke of Sussex, has given people all over the world a look at his inner workings of the monarchy, a world shrouded in secrecy despite a rabid, lying paparazzi creating controversy with splashy headlines and stolen pictures. Harry delves into his worship of his mother Diana, his undiagnosed and life-changing trauma at her death, and his complex, troubled relationship with his family. He also reveals the path he trod and the therapy he experienced to find his raison d’être.

Harry sketches himself as a lad traumatized repeatedly by a ravenous paparazzi paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for pictures of royalty. As a young man he re-lives the memory of his mother’s fate at the hands of tabloid journalists over and over, searching for his purpose and goals despite the emptiness he feels from her loss and his highly unusual role within British culture.

He reveals his difficulty in losing his early memories of his mother after she died, and his bout with magical thinking. Until he was 23 he believed on some level that his mother was alive and had disappeared to escape the press, with the intention to come back some day.

Down for Eton from his birth, Harry detested its emphasis on a rigorous education and longed for something more suited to his strengths. During an official visit, Harry’s transformation came in part when he discovered a love for Lesotho and Botswana, where he delights in nature and gets away from the constricting world he inhabits. In founding a charity in Lesotho, he began to make a mark on the world. He also found direction through the military, where he went to Afghanistan and gradually learned to fly a helicopter. In supporting the Invictus Games for disabled veterans, he provided men and women a return to some normalcy. He delivered a project of worth, growing up and creating a place for himself in the world outside of the monarchy as well.

The Duke of Sussex wants to be known for who he has become. His cold upbringing and emotional separation from his family did not help him find purpose or manage his trauma. There is certainly some self-

pity in this memoir, but not enough to stop a reader from moving through it. It slows down at times, but is mostly absorbing because he has a distinct and compelling voice. I think we could all have done with him talking less about his trip to the North Pole and

his “frost nipped todger,” though.

If Harry has any faults, they may come in airing his many grievances against his brother and father for their coldness and for treating him as a less important sideline. I am not sure if these are only faults, though. They make his memoir more honest, absorbing, and relatable.

It is important to remember that we only see his perspective. His relatives are still trapped in the monarchy’s public relations machine, and will provide few to no honest reactions to this memoir. It seems believable, though, that he and his brother grew apart over time because of their different roles and upbringing.

After getting out of the army, Harry lounged around, wearing clothes from discount stores, living on palace lands where he binge watched Friends and did not leave the house often. One day on his friend’s Instagram he saw a picture of Meghan Markle, an actress on the legal TV series Suits, and found her gorgeous and appealing. When they met, he was completely enamored. He was looking for someone to help fill his emptiness and potentially be a wife he could respect, one who could handle royal duties and the ensuing attention.

“ He’s a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Doesn’t

— Lennon/McCartney “Nowhere Man”, 1965

According to Harry, Meghan helped him mature as he grew to love her intelligence, independence, dedication to women’s causes, and lack of pretense. In taking her to Botswana for their first getaway, he offered her his heart, and soon after she offered him hers.

There are multiple themes in Spare, and one is Harry’s contempt for the way Rupert Murdoch makes money through the vicious tabloid press, which descended like jackals upon the biracial Meghan, infusing a healthy dose of racism into their typical coverage of the royals. When she became overwhelmed and suicidal at the constant attention, the paparazzi chasing her and bumping her in their cars, Harry made a momentous choice. His mother had died because she was chased by paparazzi through a tunnel in Paris. He decided that he would never let them hound Meghan to death.

The Duke also despises the complicity of courtiers with the press, and how individual royal communications teams turned members of the royal family against one another. One might secretly collude on a negative story about a royal to help make another look better in comparison. Harry hated being at the mercy of the tabloid press, a press that in his mind killed his mother and continues to keep his family isolated from and suspicious of one another.

When Harry talks about his early pain, and being constantly deluged with paparazzi, I sympathized completely. I can hardly fathom how awful it would be. One must not forget, however, that he has had access to traveling the world, visiting Botswana and other places mostly because of his status. In the book he hobnobs with Elton John and David Furnish. Tyler Perry loans him and Meghan a house after they stepped back from being working royals. His background now allows him to make a lot of money. These days it is good to be the Duke of Sussex.

Most readers not living in someplace like the South Pole know how Meghan and Harry moved to California to escape the constant unwelcome attention. It makes sense that this memoir is Harry’s way of exposing the many lies the press wrote about him along the way, rather than an attempt to live a completely private life. Both Harry and Meghan like attention, but on their terms. Harry loves being on talk shows and is obviously comfortable chatting with anyone from Stephen Colbert to Anderson Cooper. He seems so charismatic,

straightforward, and unpretentious, however, that I have found all his appearances moving and compelling.

He and his wife struck a deal with Netflix and created a series, Harry & Meghan, that not only aired but also made them millions of dollars. He tells his story only after negotiating a $20 million dollar contract to write four books, this being the first. So he now lives in a world where he has to make his way. He no longer is prevented from making a normal living, so who can blame him and Meghan for seizing these opportunities? He was lucky to inherit millions from his mother as well.

Although he is flourishing financially, I cannot envy him. I feel lucky to have had my mother for so long, and I think he would trade all of his money if he could have prevented Diana from dying.

From Harry’s viewpoint, King Charles comes across as a charming but limited man who wants people to think well of him. He depends on the press to reach that goal. William seems an enigma, someone Harry resents for his sense of superiority. The Duke says little about his grandmother, who was reputed to consider him her favorite grandson.

This casual Bildungsroman is a roaring bestseller. The global public finds the Duke’s words delicious, fascinated that they can identify with his dysfunction and struggle to become himself even though he grew up in an awe-inspiring, globally renowned fairytale. They gobble the anecdotes he doles out in multiple interviews on American and British TV.

What possibly fascinates me most about his memoir is that it is a screen for people’s projections. Of course all book reviews are, but this one tells you much about people from their reactions to it. Do they sympathize more with his family? Are they Team Harry and Meghan? Are they journalists who look down their noses at it?

I am not a monarchist and do not follow royalty as a rule. Yet I watched the weddings of Charles and Diana as a young child in 1981. I got up early to watch William and Kate get married in 2011 and Harry and Meghan in 2018. Why? I too grew up reading fairytales, and wanted to experience the celebration and joy those ceremonies offered, even if I knew that the surface probably differed sharply from reality. Harry’s journey to love and personal fulfillment continues to evolve. His story may be biased, part fairytale, and part expose, but I am still here for it. He is nowhere near being a nowhere man anymore.

ELWOOD

BY BRYLEY

THE COMPASS ATELIER: Art Schooling At Its Best

The Compass Atelier has what I consider the best artist schooling in the DMV – better, in fact, than all of the major Universities in our area. That’s a big statement to make, but it comes from me, and thus I am ready to back it up as needed. Notice that I wrote “art schooling.”

I choose my words carefully –what Glen Kessler and the other professionals who teach at the Compass Atelier do is to school people who want to develop and expand their artistic prowess, plus their artistic acumen, in leaps and bounds.

The results are spectacular to say the least. I’ve seen the work of artists who just started painting a few years ago and already deliver immensely intelligent work. One of them is the superbly talented Dora Patin - I think that Patin is a painting prodigy. She has also only been painting for a handful of years, and yet her trompe l’oeil paintings are breathtaking in their ability to fool the eye. Either Patin has painting super powers or owns the most enviable painting

learning skills on a planetary level!

On to the review… Currently and until February 11, 2023, the Compass Atelier has the first of two Master Thesis shows at the galleries of Strathmore Mansion.

Strathmore Mansion is one of the great jewels of the cultural tapestry of the Greater Washington region. - The Mansion’s art galleries are at 10701 Rockville Pike in North Bethesda/ Rockville, right off Rockville Pike and within walking distance of the Metro stop by the same name and with plenty of free parking. Its vibrant director, Lesley Morris manages to organize one great visual show after another, and is herself a terrific asset to the Mansion’s hardworking staff.

11810 PARKLAWN DRIVE ROCKVILLE, MD

(Located In The Artists & Makers Studio Building In The White Flint Business)

GALLERY BEAT > PAGE

Studio 54 by Suzi Balamaci Veronica by Sophie Spencer

The current show is ample evidence to back up my first paragraph – there’s not a single pedestrian painting in the show, and there are some spectacular gems to be found as well.

I really liked Kara Lin’s “Enveloped” – this is the second time that I’ve seen this painting around the DMV in the last six months and it is the second time that it has hypnotized me. Lin writes about her work: “Being authentic to ourselves can be overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time. I take on personas through elaborate costuming to halfhide and half-reveal my authentic self. Clothing, body modifications and makeup are my armor as I explore my inner and outer worlds. Painting is where I allow myself to become vulnerable.”

I was also impressed by Jennifer Lynn Beaudet’s work at the show. This artist has that hard-to-describe ability to capture the human essence of her subjects in paint. That sentence is so easy to write and so immensely difficult to deliver on canvas.

Her human subjects in two dimensions of paint are able to transmit visual clues and nuances that help to decipher and understand something individual about them. This is an exceptional gift that few artists have in such abundance as this one does.

Sophie Spencer’s thematic subject caught my eye; she writes about her work: “This set of work I’ve started to create depicts photos I’ve taken throughout my last five years working at different

night clubs. I use oil paints and bright colors to make portraits of various women I have worked with. I am working on a combination of portraits on the floor and in the dressing rooms. I wanted to start this project because as a place with so much baggage of taboos and stereotypes I think it’s important to have representation by a woman within the scene. I think it is not just important for this subject matter to be shown through the female gaze but from someone who is familiar with the industry and people within the line of work as it receives a lot of misogyny and assumptions from men and women.”

She strikes gold with “Veronica”, a very good painting that captures a snap

in time that’s both weighed with compositional presence, but also with meaning and narrative.

I also liked the excellent landscapes by Andrea van den Heever, who clearly has a lot of fans for her work, as she had loads of red dots even before the show opened! Talking about landscapes, there’s a spectacular sunset painting in the show by Michael Schoppman that showcases the power of warm colors! Also noted the erotic nuances in the work by Suzi Balamaci – well done!

Fourteen artists will exhibit in this first of two one-monthlong exhibitions. This first of two shows include Suzi Balamaci, Jennifer Lynn Beaudet, Anne Brooner, Sheila Hadley, Kara Lin,

Carol in Ireland

Christine Merry, Rob Pearlman, Deborah Pollack, Sameer Sharma, Michael Schoppman, Sophie Spencer, Dianne Stewart, and Andrea van den Heever.

Mr. Kessler: Well Done!

About the Author: F. Lennox Campello’s art news, information, gallery openings, commentary, criticism, happenings, opportunities, and everything associated with the global visual arts scene with a special focus on the Greater Washington, DC area has been a premier source for the art community for over 20 years. Since 2003, his blog has been the 11th highest ranked art blog on the planet with over SIX million visitors.

Photograph by Jane Urquhart

Enveloped by Kara Lin

Ask your florist first ...

ANEMONE - dying love - derived from the Greek for ‘windflower’, mythology relates the anemone sprung from the tears of Aphrodite as she mourned the death of her love, Adonis. In folklore the anemone is believed to bring luck and protection against evil. The flower was said to foretell rain by closing its petals, and fairies were believed to sleep beneath the petals of the wood anemone during the night after they closed at sunset

What Flowers Say About Love

While we realize that this column is normally dedicated to what we all should be doing during the month of February to ensure a beautiful garden during the rest of the year, we are stepping outside the box with a piece about the meaning of many of the flowers that you have growing or plan to grow this season. In the spirit of the season, we all recognize the red rose as the ultimate flower symbol of love. A red rose is the traditional romantic gift given to your love on Valentine’s Day, however, different rose colors can send other messages. Some of which are listed below:

RED - True love

WHITE - I love you not

YELLOW - Jealousy

PINK - Innocent love and happiness

ORANGE - I love you vigorously

PURPLE - I will love you forever

WILD ROSE - Uncontrollable desire

MOSS ROSE - I admire you from afar

For hundreds of years flowers have held hidden meanings, derived from mythology, folklore, religious and historical symbolism. The floral bouquet you send or receive brings a special coded message, depending on the

flowers you choose.

The study of the meaning of flowers is an actual science known as floriography, and it reveals an extra underlying meaning to sending or receiving flowers - subtle and secret messages can be passed through the different blooms.

During the 18th century sending flower messages based on a Turkish secret language of flowers became popular. This was known as sending a ‘Persian Selam’ - a coded bouquet to reveal your feelings of love or attraction. The Victorians became very knowledgeable in flower language and chose their bouquets carefully. Flowers gave them a secret language that enabled them to communicate feelings that the propriety of the times would not allow; there were strict restraints on courtship and any displays of emotion.

Think about the following when ordering your Valentine’s Day, birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day or any other occasion you plan to send flowers to make sure you don’t send the wrong message. Even the way you hand over the bouquet sends a message - flowers held in your right hand mean ‘yes’, whereas flowers held in the left hand mean ‘no’.

BLUEBELL - constancy and everlasting love - believed to call the fairies when rung, and thought to be unlucky to walk through a mass of bluebells, because it was full of spells. It is also considered an unlucky flower to pick or bring into the house. The Latin name for this flower is Endymion who was the lover of the moon Goddess, Selene. The goddess put Endymion into an eternal sleep, so she alone could enjoy his beauty. Bluebells were said by herbalists to help prevent nightmares, and used as a remedy against leprosy, spiderbites and tuberculosis, but the bluebell is poisonous.

CARNATION - betrothal, love and fertility - this flower was believed to be an aphrodisiac, hence its popular use at weddings and because of the association with love it was widely used in wreaths. Gentlemen began to wear carnations as a buttonhole, Oscar Wilde developed the fashion with a dyed green carnation. The various carnation colors can mean different things: white - love; yellow - rejection; pink - I’ll never forget you; red - aching heart;

FORGET-ME-NOTS - true love and remembrance - mythology describes this as the flower chosen by a brave knight as a posy for his sweetheart before going to battle, as he knelt to gather the tiny blue flowers he fell into a river and was swept away, calling to his love to ‘forget me not’.

HONEYSUCKLE - devoted love - said to protect your garden from evil. It is known as the ‘love bind’ - symbolizing a lover’s embrace in its clinging growing habits. The heady fragrance of the flowers was believed to induce dreams of love and passion. If the bloom is brought into the house a wedding is said to follow within the year. The honeysuckle’s berries are poisonous.

LILY OF THE VALLEY - return to happiness - a beautifully scented, but highly poisonous flower. It is believed that Lily of the valley protects your gardens from evil spirits. These fragrant blooms supposedly sprang from Eve’s tears when she was cast out of the Garden of Eden.

MOSS - symbolic of maternal love - soft and comforting used widely by birds in nesting.

NARCISSUS - self-love and vanity - the flower name derives from Greek mythology and the tale of the beautiful Narcissus. He ignored the lovely nymph, Echo, and so was punished by falling in love with his own reflection in a pool. The gods believed Narcissus would die of starvation, so they transformed him into the delicate form of scented narcissi, so he could stay there forever.

PANSY - loving thoughts and attraction - known also as ‘heartsease’, this pretty flower was believed to heal love problems. Anyone wanting to ensure they were loved by their sweethearts would carry a pansy

PRIMROSE - first love - from the Latin ‘primus’ - meaning first, due to their early spring flowering. The primrose is the sacred flower of Freya, the Norse goddess of love and was used in rituals giving honor to her.

While this is just a small sample of the flowers that comprise many an arrangement, I will bet that many of you will consult with your favorite florist, the next time you send a bouquet! Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Why We Celebrate Presidents Day

Presidents Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents Day 2023 occurs on Monday, February 20th. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.

The story of Presidents Day begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance.

At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of the Washington Monument in 1848 were cause for national celebration.

While Washington’s Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday. Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law.

The holiday initially only applied to the District of Columbia, but in 1885 it was expanded to the whole country. At the time, Washington’s Birthday joined four other nationally recognized federal bank holidays—Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving—and was the first to celebrate the life of an individual American. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, signed into law in 1983, was the second.

The shift from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Championed by Senator Robert McClory of Illinois, this law sought to shift the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays.

The proposed change was seen by many as a novel way to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers, and it was believed that ensuring holidays always fell on the same weekday would reduce employee absenteeism. While some argued that shifting holidays from their original dates would cheapen their meaning, the bill also had widespread support from both the private sector and labor unions and was seen as a surefire way to bolster retail sales.

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s Birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln, which fell on February 12. Lincoln’s Birthday had long been a state holiday in places like Illinois, and many supported joining the two days as a way of giving equal recognition to two of America’s most famous statesmen.

Be sure to check out all of the President’s Day celebration activities in Old Town during the month. A partial listing is in the calendar section of this issue.

Source: The History Channel – www.history.com

Did you know?

1. Presidents Day is a federal holiday in the United States, observed on the third Monday of February each year.

2. The holiday was established to honor the nation's first president, George Washington, whose birthday is on February 22nd.

3. Presidents Day is also commonly referred to as Washington's Birthday.

4. In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act, which moved the celebration of Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February to create a long weekend for federal employees.

5. Many states also use the holiday to honor other U.S. presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson.

6. Some states have different names for the holiday, such as Lincoln's Birthday in Illinois and Presidents Day in California.

7. Some states also celebrate the birthdays of specific presidents on different days, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday on April 12th.

8. Presidents Day is not a legal holiday in all states and some states still observe Washington's Birthday on February 22nd.

9. Many businesses and schools are closed on Presidents Day, and it is a popular day for sales and discounts.

10. The White House holds a President's Day reception every year on or near the holiday.

11. The National Park Service holds a wreath-laying ceremony at George Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon on Presidents Day.

12. The U.S. Postal Service does not deliver mail on Presidents Day.

13. Some states also use the holiday to honor veterans, and it is sometimes called Washington-Lincoln Day or Presidents' Day and Veterans Day.

A large bronze sculpture of George Washington by John Quincy Adams Ward, installed on the front steps of Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street in New York City. The statue was unveiled in 1883 to commemorate the first inauguration of George Washington. In 1789, Federal Hall, which served as the capitol building of the United States, stood on the site, and Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of that building, approximately where the statue now stands.

SCOTT DICKEN

The Wonders of Genghis and Gorkhi-Terelj

With such a big, wide world to explore Mongolia, the least densely populated country on earth, doesn’t often appear on the bucket lists of many people. In fact, beyond its capital city, Ulaanbaatar, most folks (myself included until I started visiting quite regularly) would struggle to name any noteworthy sights. Instead, what probably springs to mind are images of Genghis Khan, the Khangan of the Mongol Empire; who from his birth in 1162 until his death in 1227 managed to establish the largest empire the world has ever seen - somewhere around 11 million square miles. On my most recent trip to Mongolia I was therefore pleased to discover that one of Ulaanbaatar’s classic day trip itineraries incorporated the opportunity to visit one of Mongolia’s top tourist destinations, Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, in addition to learning more about Mongolia’s most famous son at the Genghis Khan Statue Complex.

Genghis Khan Statue Complex

Located 50km outside Ulaanbaatar, the Genghis Khan Statue Complex was our first stop of the day. The 132ft tall equestrian statue which is, as we were repeatedly reminded, the largest in the World (as if there’s a long list of gigantic equestrian statues to choose from) came into view from miles away - its giant stainless-steel metallic frame glinting in the sun. Put simply, this isn’t your average ‘man on horse’ statue – seeing as it cost $4.1 million to build and consists of 250 tons of steel I guess it needs to have a certain gravitas.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking; why on earth has the Government of Mongolia sanctioned the construction of a statue that

honors a brutal dictator most commonly identified in the western hemisphere as a man who massacred civilian populations and led a horde of savages that terrorized half the world?

Well, you see, in Mongolia Mr. Khan (better known as Chinggis Khan, which in Mongolian translates as ‘Universal Ruler’) is a hero; a man who established an empire and whose name and image now adorn everything in Mongolia from Vodka (Chinggis Khan Platinum is the best vodka I’ve ever tasted) to the National Square to packets of cigarettes. Of course, all of this becomes rather amusing when you consider that the man himself never permitted the use of his image in portraits, sculptures or currency. I mean, if you didn’t fancy your face on a tiny coin then how would you feel about being the focal point of a 132ft high world record-breaking statue?

Anyhow, I digress. The statue (and the world’s largest leather boot, which is located in the base of the statue) is now a focal point of tourism in

Mongolia and is an absolute must for anyone visiting Ulaanbaatar. Legend has it that its location is the very spot where Chinggis found a golden whip. Today, in addition to the statue itself, the complex is home to a museum which outlines the history of the Mongol Empire, a small café and, as you would expect, a gift shop. If you’re feeling particularly touristy on the day you visit then you can also opt to dress up as a Mongol warrior and sit in a fake yurt (known locally as a ‘ger’) to have embarrassing pictures taken. Make sure you take the lift (or the stairs if you’re feeling energetic) to the head of the horse for great views of Chinggis’ face and the surrounding countryside.

The surrounding complex is somewhat still under construction at the time of writing. However, there are a number of gers where you can stay overnight and a small collection

TAKE PHOTOS, LEAVE FOOTPRINTS BY

of Mongol Warrior statues that are worthy of a photo stop. At the base of the statue you’ll also find some photo opportunities with the resident birds of prey and their handlers. Located 1km up the road you might also spot the statue of Chinggis’ mother, Hoelun; a much less frequented site!

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

The second half of our day took us 30 minutes up the road to GorkhiTerelj National Park. The park is one of Mongolia’s most visited national parks. If you live in the US and watch ‘Amazing Race’ then you might remember that the park featured in series ten when contestants drove soviet-era military jeeps (although given the series aired in 2006 you might not remember it)!

If you’re looking for the opportunity to escape the city traffic, engage in a light spot of wilderness hiking and get back to nature in some stunning surroundings, then Gorkhi-Terelj is definitely the place to do it.

So, what might you want to see and do whilst in the Southern portion of the park (the only part really accessible on a day trip or long-weekend):

Aryaval Monastery & Meditation center: Opened in 2006, the Monastery and Meditation center’s main temple is dedicated to the Kalachakra philosophy, or the ”wheel of time”. Seeing as there are many older and, frankly, more culturally significant monasteries in Mongolia (including in Ulaanbaatar) the real highlight of a visit to Aryaval is actually is prominent position sitting high up above the valley. This provides fantastic views on a clear day and a great photo opportunity. Of course, this also means that there’s a fair old hike up hundreds of steps and across a small suspension bridge to reach it… but it’s well worth the effort!

Turtle Rock

Before I arrived in Gorkhi-Terelj people had kept mentioning Turtle Rock. I’d also noticed that every single itinerary I’d seen to the park included a stop there. I therefore expected something magnificent. Let’s just say that I was a little underwhelmed. In fairness, what could I possibly have expected Turtle Rock to be other than a rock in the shape of a turtle. If rock formations that look like other things really ‘float your boat’ then you might also want to make a detour to check out the Old Man Reading a Book (Praying Lama Rock) – I’ll let you guess what that rock looks like!

Outdoor Pursuits

The main reason to visit the park is the scenery and the myriad of activities on offer in the park! The obvious activity choice (and the

cheapest) is hiking. Unusually, the park doesn’t have any real hiking trails to speak of, but some ‘off-trailing’ is entirely possible. If donning a fetching pair of walking boots isn’t exactly your idea of fun then there are plenty of places to hire a horse and guide; particularly around Turtle Rock and and Aryaval Monastery (or at one of the many tourist ger camps). Other options include ATV tours, archery (available at a number of the ger camps) and rafting.

Camping in a Mongol Ger

If you like to experience the ‘traditional’ way of life when you travel then a great option is to do an overnight stay in a ger camp. Admittedly, the camps are designed for tourists, so it’s not exactly traditional in the strictest sense but it’s still a lot of fun. The camps typically have restaurants and bars attached so that you can drink vodka and fill up on local cuisine before ‘hitting the hay’.

Most camps also have a whole host of activities on offer.

If you’re considering a trip to Mongolia then be sure to check out the takephotosleavefootprints.com website for my travel tips!

About the Author: Scott Dicken is a world traveler and amateur photographer on top of being employed full time at an internationally known company. His love of travel is evident – you can read more articles like this at takephotosleavefootprints.com

Photos by Scott Dicken

Service, Therapy, and Emotional Support Animals: Helping Humans in Evolving Ways

Fostering the Human-Animal Bond - research on the human-animal bond is booming. Scientific data confirm that being with a companion animal helps keep humans healthy and happy. Many species of pets give unconditional love, encourage touch and physical expressions of affection, and bolster their human’s emotional and physical health. Our dynamic relationships with pets even help us learn to love and be loved in return, promoting empathy and friendship with other humans.

In recent years, people have found new ways to encourage caring relationships with animals that foster good health, even for humans who don’t or can’t live with pets. Animals are now widely trained to offer us help in therapeutic or supportive ways. Three of these are as service, therapy, or emotional support animals.

Service Animals

Service animals are defined as dogs under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines (https://www. ada.gov/topics/service-animals/), though miniature horses have been exceptions (https://www.ada.gov/

resources/service-animals-2010requirements/#miniature-horses).

They are trained to perform specific tasks or work for people identified with a physical, psychiatric, sensory, or intellectual disability under the ADA, the Fair Housing Act, and the Air Carrier Access Act.

These animals are chosen because they are gentle, don’t react randomly in various situations, and stay focused on and attentive to their human’s needs. They include guide animals for people with sight loss and hearing or signal animals for humans with hearing loss. Other service animals help people with autism, seizure disorders, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or other psychiatric diagnoses.

Service animals are often trained through an animal service agency or nonprofit organization, though there are no official U.S. licensing requirements. State and local governments may ask for voluntary registration of service animals. Through U.S. federal regulation, they are allowed in all public areas and in all housing, even where other animals aren’t.

The right of service animals to public access includes transport. Flight access for service dogs (the only animals so designated on U.S. carriers) is mandated under the Air Carrier Access Act, including psychiatric service dogs. Airline regulations for service dogs are updated on the U.S. Department of Transportation website (https://www.transportation. gov/individuals/aviation-consumerprotection/service-animals).

Therapy Animals

Animals trained to help in therapy can be any species but are often dogs and sometimes cats. They usually live with their human (often their partner in therapy visits), though some live with other families or with animal support groups. Therapy animals visit schools, residences, and clinical settings with their humans, who are sometimes therapists themselves. They offer other people the warmth and love of animal companionship, while promoting the goals of their treatment plans.

Therapy animals are usually trained by professional organizations (https:// www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/

how-to-train-a-therapy-dog/). They are chosen for their even temperament and love of humans. Besides a gentle and loving nature, therapy animals require extensive training, behavioral assessment, and evaluation by a veterinarian. (Their humans also receive related training.) A therapy animal’s documented annual care may require routine vaccinations, screening for parasites, and other vet care control.

Therapy animals are not federally licensed. There are no uniform U.S. guidelines for their certification, which varies by training organization. Some therapy animals may be identified by wearing a vest, bandana, or other ID, though this is not required.

Unlike service animals, therapy animals do not have the same right of public access under the ADA, including public transport and airline travel. The same rules that apply to pets apply to therapy animals.

Emotional Support Animals

As with therapy animals, emotional support animals can also be any

species. To meet a patient’s disability-related need, an emotional support animal must be identified in a valid letter of diagnosis as being medically necessary for that person. This must be written on official state-licensed letterhead from a physician or mental health professional, with license number, type, and date. Because of widespread fraud, professionals advise proceeding with caution (https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-andanalysis/blogs/stateline/2022/11/04/states-struggle-to-curbfake-emotional-support-animals).

Under ADA, emotional support animals are considered pets, not service animals. Though they may be trained to support a particular human, they are not trained for specific tasks, unlike service animals. They are recognized as necessary for the health and well-being of certain tenants and homeowners under the Fair Housing Act and Rehabilitation Act. Because of this, they must be reasonably accommodated, even in buildings where pets are not allowed.

Since January 2021, U.S. airlines have not been required to allow emotional support animals on board (https:// djangobrand.com/blogs/news/new-dot-rules-for-emotionalsupport-animals). They can fly for a fee as on-board pets or cargo pets on many carriers if they meet flight requirements. Airlines recommend checking with them before booking travel with an emotional support animal.

Helping us, no matter what they’re called, our pets are members of our families and offer emotional support and therapeutic benefits, whether or not they’re granted official titles. With everything they give us (most of the time by happy accident), it’s not surprising how effective animals can be with professional guidance.

About the Author: Steph volunteered as an adoption counselor at King Street Cats in Alexandria for seven years

PETS OF THE MONTH

By Gina Hardter

CADEN

Selected Metro DC Animal Shelters/Rescues

Animal Welfare League of Alexandria alexandriaanimals.org/

Animal Welfare League of Arlington www.awla.org

Fairfax County Animal Shelter

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/animalshelter

Friends of Rabbits and House Rabbit Sanctuary

www.friendsofrabbits.org/ King Street Cats

www.kingstreetcats.org/

Operation Paws for Homes, Inc. ophrescue.org/

Rikki’s Refuge Animal Sanctuary

www.rikkisrefuge.org

With good-natured Caden by your side, it’s never Mardi Growl, but he sure is ready for some fun!  This energetic one-yearold is the life of the party and he loves a good parade, especially if he gets to take the lead, perhaps with his favorite stuffed toy in his mouth.  But Caden’s not seeking beads and king cakes; he’d be happy with a stylish collar and some dog biscuits any day.  Learn more about Caden at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt.

4101 Eisenhower Avenue

Alexandria, VA 703-746-4774

alexandriaanimals.org

Mon-Fri, 1-8 pm Closed Wed Sat & Sun, 12-5 pm

CHANCE

This Valentine’s Day, are you ready to take a chance on love?  4-year-old Chance is used to getting attention for his stunning good looks, but he wants his future best friend to love him for what’s inside: his well-mannered personality, his cleverness and his loyalty to his human companions.  Though he will admit, he’s pretty darn good at snuggling too! Stop by the AWLA to take your chance today.

THEO

Sir Theodore Pawsevelt isn’t hung up on formalities this Presidents’ Day; you can just call him Theo.  At 20 months old, he might be a bit too young to run for office, but he’d be happy to run around the yard, along the waterfront or down the hiking path.  Theo is always focused on the Big Issues, including which treats are the best (all of them) and housing equality (all pets should have homes).  Learn more about Theo and his is his “pawlitical” platform by emailing Adopt@AlexandriaAnimals.org.

Now that we're all working remotely Wouldn't you REALLY rather work from the beach?

NAPLES FL TOPS THE LIST FOR BEST BEACHES IN USA

BEACHFRONT SEASONAL RENTAL AVAILABLE

Naples has again claimed the top spot by Travel and Leisure and several other groups for best beach town in the US. The jewel of SW Florida’s Paradise Coast has sugar sand beaches, turquoise clear waters and every amenity worthy of a world class resort town. Seasonal lease of well furnished 2BR 2BA condo in the very best beachfront location is available this winter (90 day minimum lease term). No ner view from inside and better beach access at any price and most rentals in area start at twice the price. Includes carport parking, heated pool, elevators and privacy; uncrowded beach and, onsite management. Photo is the view from inside!

Call (no texts), email or visit our Facebook page @NaplesOceanfrontCondo. 540-364-9480 • hopespringsfarm@gmail.com

A New Way to Own a Caribbean Vacation Home On St. John

St. John has always been one of the most beloved little islands in the Caribbean. Since the pandemic, it’s become one of the most sought-after destinations in the world, with a growing number of travelers drawn to its stunning natural environment and funloving, beachy vibe.

That also means the island’s real estate market is surging, with a limited number of vacation homes available.

But top investment firm Island Sky is changing that, with its new Residence Club: a way for travelers to own in St. John in a unique way, a special opportunity for the island covered by 7,000 acres of National Parkland.

Island Sky St John is an equity residence club in the heart of St John’s Cruz Bay, where buyers can purchase one-tenth ownership in vacation residences starting at $190,000. The residence club has all of the amenities of a managed resort: with Club hospitality staff attending to every need (and all ownership responsibilities); every residence is fully furnished, with gourmet kitchens and outdoor balconies, along with full access to a spectacular rooftop pool and lounge. Each residence has just 10 owners, with

A rendering of the Island Sky St John residence club.

Each building has its own private rooftop pool.

the benefits of vacation home ownership and the lifestyle of a luxury resort, as Island Sky says.

Owners have equal opportunity to enjoy their Club Residences within their ownership category throughout the year.

“Island Sky is the first and only residence club in St. John,” says Jason Caraway, founder and CEO of Island Sky Investments. “For an owner, this provides the opportunity to enjoy other locations around the world through the Elite Alliance Exchange Program.  Also, as a benefit of the property being fractional ownership, owners enjoy their time and property without the worry of maintenance and the expense of owning the entire property.  Residence members can rest assured the property will be in pristine condition each time they arrive and the staff with be there to attend to all their needs.”

Island Sky St. John is the first in a growing portfolio of projects for the company, starting with an island Caraway fell in love with as a kid.

“I like the small-town feel and carefree attitude,” he tells Caribbean Journal. “The beaches are obviously second to none, but just as important, the people that live in and visit St. John are a big part of what makes it so special. ‘Love City’ has always attracted interesting and adventurous people and it’s a place where I can relate.”

Island Sky has bigger plans to come.

That includes a new Luxury Fractional Real Estate Fund launching later this year, and talks on acquisitions “both stateside and in several Caribbean locations,” Caraway says. For more, visit IslandSkyStJohn.com or contact info@ islandsky.io.

SEE

As featured on HGTV and winner of “Bang For Your Buck” in St. Thomas. This recently renovated villa resides on the edge of a cliff 200 feet above the Atlantic Ocean crashing onto the rocks below. The best location on the island—a private, secure, gated community of luxury villas—the villa offers spectacular views of the Atlantic and various islands including St. John, Jost Van Dyke and Tortola. The main house has 3 bedrooms with a detached cottage with its’ own queen size bed. Large deck, pool and spa. Phone 703 628-9005 • Fax 703 765-5900

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and enjoy every issue of the Old Town Crier at home. Fill out this form, enclose a check for $25 (12 issues) and drop it in the mail to: Old Town Crier • PO Box 320386 • Alexandria, Va. 22320

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Publishers Note: We are happy to partner with Alexander Britell, Founder and Editor in Chief of the Miami, Florida based Caribbean Journal and his staff contributing to the OTC and our Caribbean Connection Section. Check out the popular online magazine/website at caribjournal.com for valuable information on all fabulous travel options and things of interest in the Caribbean.

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CARIBBEAN CONNECTION | FROM PAGE 20

State Partnership Cleans Bay While Maintaining Oyster Beds

Sunlight glinted off the water as Billy Rice stood on the gunwale of Miss Jill, his 24-foot Chesapeake Classic boat. Gripping the wooden handles of his scissors-like oyster tongs, he repeatedly worked them open and shut.

From the murky depths of the Wicomico River came a scraping sound as the teeth in the metal claws of the tongs raked up shells lying on the bottom.

“Yessir! That looks pretty,” exclaimed Kevin Warring as Rice lifted the tongs out of the water and deposited a batch of muddy oysters on the boat. Nine of the bivalves clung together in a clump that Rice said watermen call a “flower.”

Those oysters represent a new wrinkle in the centuries-old business of harvesting the Chesapeake Bay’s once-bountiful shellfish. Rice and Warring are members of an unusual oyster farming cooperative in Charles County, MD. They and the other 10 coop members are raising oysters on 28 acres of leased bottom in the Wicomico, a Potomac River tributary.

There’s nothing out of the ordinary about farming oysters that way. There are nearly 480 oyster farming leases in Maryland, and more than three-fourths of them are for raising bivalves on the bottom. Many are held by watermen looking to supplement what they can forage in the wild from public waters.

But what’s sending ripples across the Bay area is that the co-op is getting paid to plant oysters. In July 2022, Charles County struck a deal with the coop, agreeing to annually pay at least $53,000 for the next eight years to cover its costs for planting fresh batches of hatchery-spawned oysters. Aquaculture operations generally must come up with their own operating capital.

The co-op still gets to harvest and sell the oysters when they’ve grown to marketable size after two or three years. What the county expects to get out of the deal are water-quality credits that those oysters

can earn from the state of Maryland for removing nutrients — nitrogen and phosphorus — from the water as they feed and grow.

It’s a novel arrangement, which advocates hope will inspire other deals in a so-far moribund market for nutrient removal credits that oyster farmers can earn.

“It seemed like not just a win-win, but a winwin-win situation,” said Mark Belton, Charles County’s administrator and a former secretary of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. The nutrient removal credits will help the county meet its regulatory obligations in the Bay cleanup, he said, while the county is helping to sustain a fishing industry that’s an important part of the local culture.

“Plus, it’s a food security issue,” Belton said, because it ensures residents still have access to fresh local seafood.

Members of the co-op, all of them watermen, say the payments reimburse them for the time they spend planting and tending their underwater crops,

then doing the necessary paperwork to earn waterquality credits.

But Warring, the co-op’s managing director, said that money is not really the main driver.

“Many of our members want to see a thriving oyster population and a thriving set of local watermen who can provide fresh food for residents,” he said.

New way to control pollution

The Wicomico River once brimmed with oysters. In 1973, Rice recalled, when he started working on the water fulltime, there were 163 boats in the river on the opening day of oyster season. “Everyone caught their limit,” he said.

Oyster populations have declined precipitously since then throughout much of the Bay mainly because of pollution and diseases, but also overharvesting. While oysters have rebounded some in the last decade or so, the generally low salinity in the Wicomico hasn’t been conducive to natural reproduction that might restore reefs in the river.

Rebuilding the Bay’s oyster population is a priority for the Chesapeake restoration effort because of the bivalves’ ecological benefits as well as their economic value. Oysters filter nutrients and some sediment from the water as they feed, and the reefs formed by their accumulated shells provide habitat and food for a variety of marine organisms and fish.

The reefs also can help reduce shoreline erosion by buffering wave action.

Publishers Note: This column is an excerpt from a piece written by Tim Wheeler who is the Bay Journal’s associate editor and senior writer, based in Maryland. You can read the column in its entirety online at www. bayjournal.com/news and you can reach Tim at 410409-3469 or twheeler@bayjournal.com.

Photo by Dave Harp

Billy Rice tongs oysters from the Wicomico River in Charles County, MD, as Kevin Warring looks on. Rice and Warring are members of an oyster farming co-op that is earning money by providing water quality credits for the county.

When you tell people you don’t have cell service and your internet is too slow to stream, do zoom calls or even watch videos, they’ll look at you like you just admitted that you don’t have running water or electricity. Yet here in much of Fauquier and Western Loudoun Counties, within 45 to 60 miles of the White House, that is the case for much of the population. This is shameful—both Loudoun and Fauquier are wealthy counties. Of Virginia’s 130+ county and city jurisdictions, Loudoun with its 415,000 residents is the 4th most populated and ranks 5th in per capita income. But most of that growth and population is east of Leesburg and unlike the western half, is well served by internet and cell service. Fauquier is more sparsely populated with just over 72,000 residents and ranks 29th in population size but 7th in per capita income.

Long time readers of my column might recognize my description of the abysmal lack of internet and cell service where I live in northwestern Fauquier from a story I wrote about the topic seven or eight years ago. Well here it is, early in 2023 and little has progressed. Instead, local officials have raked in grant and federal money to study the problem of the lack of internet access much of Fauquier County. I’ve done my part; 4 years ago I entered into negotiations with a company that builds and maintains

Smoke Signals & Drumbeats

cell towers and leases space to providers. They broke ground early last year. Completed in July of last year—seven months ago—it sits uselessly as the county debates who gets the choicest equipment locations. I also have a metal temporary broadband tower next to it. I tell people if you squint you can pretend it’s the Eiffel towner, but it’s hideous. This unsightly quick fix was to be paid for by county grant money making it more affordable to those in my area who had no internet service until the tower was operational. This broadband service, when it works, is better than what we had, but it’s not adequate, we still have no cell service and videos buffer. Seriously—they need to use grant

Can you hear me now?

money to study why many of us have no cell service and woefully inadequate internet? Nowhere was this more painfully obvious than during the enforced quarantine of the pandemic. School children were forced to stay home and attend “remote learning classes”; college campuses closed and those students returned home for remote learning, and adults tried to run businesses from home. If you overload weak and/or inadequate service many are not able to get online at all. During the mandatory quarantine I had to get up at 2 am if I wanted to get online and even then sometimes couldn’t. The only bright spot in this is the availability of Elon Musk’s new high speed internet

company Starlink, that’s satellite based. But it now has a wait list and once signed up, you’re kind of on your own for installation. Not ideal for the tech challenged.

Fresh faced city and suburban dwellers who’ve recently arrived thinking they’ll be able to telecommute to their jobs are in for a rude surprise if they neglected to learn the dirty little secret out here. They rarely think to ask because, well, who doesn’t have high speed internet and cell service? Freshly moved in and unpacked, they jump on social media for help with the best internet options, and are not amused when I respond that their wireless options out here are kind of limited to smoke signals and drum beats. Unless you live in one of the three or four larger towns where Comcast offers service, there are no cable-based options like Fios, Cox or even Comcast, for most of us.

You’re stuck with expensive options that throttle you after you reach their limit. And even with a fancy high tech cell signal booster installed, you’re going to need that land line. Ours is currently out and it’s anyone’s guess when it will be fixed. The old landline equipment is obsolete and failing and Verizon, who owns it, pretends it doesn’t exist because land lines are a money loser for them. So excuse me while I sign off and go drive somewhere with better internet, because this was due at the Crier 3 days ago!

From Deale to Annapolis In a Day…

…sort of. This month’s Road Trip started out as a day trip but by the time we reached Annapolis, we decided to stay the night. It was a good decision all the way around. Having more time in Annapolis is always a bonus. About forty years ago, when I still had a motorcycle, I would take day trips to the waterfront towns in Maryland. One of my favorite stops was the Swamp Circle Saloon. A bawdy kind of place and very inexpensive. It is no longer there, but we decided to take the drive to see who remained.

a local place to enjoy some live music without breaking the bank, get happy and happy harbor. Try the crushes, there’s enough variety to keep you coming back for a while!” This truly is a view into the life of folks in Deale. Hard working, fun loving people that know what it is all about. Happy Harbor has their own charter fishing operation and story has it the captain always finds the fish. On our day there, the place was standing room only but we found two seats at the far end of the bar. Our bartender was PEGGY who is fantastic. Clearly she is part of the fabric which is Happy Harbor. The earlier quote was accurate. The price of the drinks alone encourage you to stay. Once you settle in, it is hard to leave… but we did.

Our first stop took us to Deale, Maryland on TRACY’S CREEK AND HAPPY HARBOR RESTAURANT. Happy Harbor has been there alongside the creek as long as I can remember. As one comment read, “Great local place that is no frills, but good food with realistic pricing. If you’re looking for

Our next stop was SKIPPERS PIER - across and a short piece down the other side of the creek. When I first went to Skippers Pier it was owned and operated by Captain John B and his wife Sherry. Back then the main building was smaller and they had a small electric train that ran from the kitchen, through the wall tunnel and into the bar delivering an ordered sandwich on a flat car. Today the train is displayed behind the bar and the tracks are gone. The entire operation is much larger now. There is a year round Tiki Bar on the outside dock on the water that is enclosed with large

Happy Harbor‘s Peggy

garage doors in the cooler months. Said doors open easily onto the water when the days are warmer. The food is great, the people are fun and the prices slightly higher. I ordered a shrimp basket and Lani had wings. Both were very satisfying. For future reference, I have seen some of the largest Blue Crabs ever served at these tables. This place is very popular especially on nice weekends. If the parking lot is full you can park at the marina lot next door. We were getting more citified as we continued on our adventure.

Our final stop before Annapolis was PIRATES COVE in Galesville on the West River. Pirates Cove is a classic waterside restaurant. The outdoor deck is the dock that juts out into the West River and has beautiful boats to occupy the view. When I first discovered Pirates Cove, Joe Williams was the bartender. A magnificent gentleman of some 50-60 years old had been working there since he was a kid. Joe passed away awhile back and is missed. Looking back on it now, these three restaurants seem like a progression. Starting with a laid back, local crowd, moving to the same folks but more new people and finally to the uptown type of place. Same great folks, doing what they like. Moving from the watermen style to the recreational boater.

places in this city.

Our next stop was DICK FRANYO’S BOATYARD BAR AND GRILl. Back in the day, Patton’s Pub occupied this spot. Technically we are in Eastport, across the Spa Creek Bridge from Annapolis, but still a part of the whole. Today Eastport is referred to as the Maritime Republic of Eastport…and that is a story for another time. Boatyard Bar and Grill is a staple in the sailing heritage of Annapolis…racing that is. The saying goes, Annapolis is a drinking town with a sailing problem! Today the Boatyard Bar and Grill is the hangout for the local racing sailors. These are fair weather sailors as well as frostbite sailors and likely they are the same. When we arrived we took two seats at the bar while another couple slid into the two seats next to us. We talked to them and found out they were there on their boat but lived in Old Town Alexandria. I went out in the alcove where we drop off the Old Town Crier and brought one back for our new friends. I was delighted when they told me that they read us all the time. The food at Boatyard is great –we shared the seafood boil on this trek - and certainly the folks you meet are worth getting to know. This put us in a mood to walk to Davis Pub up the street a couple of blocks.

locals and a mix of recreational boater and watermen. This is truly a local pub. Small, crowded and noisy. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. We couldn’t leave Naptown the next day without a cruise around CITY DOCK and breakfast at CHICK & RUTH’S DELLY

on Main Street. You haven’t lived if you haven’t experienced this joint. It is an icon for sure! The lesson here is…if you plan to follow our footsteps, make the room reservation early and count on it being an overnighter!

On to Annapolis! We had secured a reservation at the CALVERT HOUSE – one of the trio of the Historic Inns of Annapolis – earlier in the day so we headed there first. After some confusion on the check-in process, we settled into our beautiful room (only $118 per night) and charted our course to a couple of our favorite

We ended our trek with a “night cap” at DAVIS. Visiting this Pub was like starting this trip all over…real

My new BFF's - Alexandria residents Sharon & Chris - at the Boatyard

That’sAmore!

VIA VENETO ITALIAN RESTAURANT

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching we were in search of a place that is a bit off of the beaten path to write about. We found a perfect cozy spot just off of Fort Hunt Road in the southern end of Alexandria. Via Veneto

Italian is one of the oldest family owned and operated restaurants in the city

topping out at 38 years – they celebrate 39 in September. The restaurant is named after one of the most famous, elegant, and expensive areas in Rome – Via Veneto. Fans of Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita should recognize the name.

Sisters Marisa Fleck and Guiliana Austin, and their daughters, Kathy and Lilli

honcho the entire operation. Marisa and Guilianna are from the village of Marotta (located in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino in Marche) and it is very evident that they carry on the spirit of a place where family gatherings and mealtimes go hand in hand here at Via Veneto.

The restaurant is located

in the Hollin Hall Shopping Center just around the corner from the iconic Village Hardware Store and another favorite eatery of ours, River Bend Bistro. Some folks seem to think that a restaurant’s reputation is lessened when located in a shopping center, when in fact, there are advantages. The major perk is there is tons of free parking. The only decision to be made is how close you want to park to the front entrance.

As with pretty much ALL eateries located in strip malls, there isn’t an opportunity to make the entrance stand out so the exterior of Via Veneto is pretty pedestrian. They have a banner up and lights in the window but that is more for practical purposes than aesthetic. The interior is quite different with a wall of beautiful images of Italy tastefully hung above a candle lit shelf in the entry. The restaurant is very warm and comfortable with about 20 tables and a small service bar. The tables are candle lit and white linen covered adding class and style to the space. The artwork on the walls as well as the color palette add to the soothing feel of the dining room. Upon our arrival we were greeted with a big smile

and welcome from Kathy as she took us to our table and introduced us to our server, Molly. While we always like to think we are special, we noted that is how everyone is greeted here as more guests came in to dine. The staff truly made us feel like family and Molly is an amazing server.

The dishes are authentic Northern Italian and the ingredients are always fresh and all of the pasta is homemade. Their menu has all the right selections of Italian cuisine without overdoing it with too many to choose from. There are four Pesce (fish) choices like Trota Arrosto, Filetto di Soglille, Cozze all a Gilda and Linguini DINING OUT >

Fradiavolo, translated… fresh trout, fresh filet of sole, fresh mussels and fresh jumbo shrimp. There are nine choices of meats and eleven pasta choices. Their complete menu is on their web site for your convenience.

Ms. G started off with a classic vodka gimlet while I opted to go straight to the wine. The wine list

here covers all of the bases at a very reasonable price. We chose a Terrarossa Chianti Classico. It is a great Italian red wine at a very reasonable price and it complemented our meal perfectly. I must add here how competent and helpful Molly was as we asked questions and she provided the right suggestions. Our dining experience started off with a basket of warm bread and

butter delivered to the table shortly after we ordered drinks. Nothing much better than warm bread with butter except maybe the garlic bread that we didn’t realize we were going to be blessed with. You have to be a garlic lover if you have it – yum.

I started off with clams casino –six cherrystone clams adorned with crispy bacon, butter and parsley - and for my entree I chose an old favorite, Scaloppini all Marsala. The slices of tender veal were quite good with the Marsala wine sauce and sautéed mushrooms. The meal also came with a side of pasta in marinara sauce. With the addition of the house salad that is included and the garlic bread this made for a hearty meal that was wonderful.

Ms. G went with her Italian restaurant standards - minestrone soup and lasagna. She says you can tell a lot about an Italian restaurant by the way they prepare these dishes. Both met all of her criteria and the lasagna is a very hefty portion. In fact, we shared the leftovers for lunch the next day.

We rounded out the meal by sharing our favorite Italian dessert – tartufo. While most people lean toward the standard tiramisu, we are always happy to see tartufo on the menu. However, since tartufo is served frozen (vanilla and chocolate ice cream around maraschino cherries wrapped in a dark chocolate shell) it

is sometimes a challenge to eat. Here at Via Veneto, they have solved that problem by serving it already split into 4 sections. It was the perfect ending to a great meal.

Now….back to the pizza. While we didn’t order any, we saw several go out the door while we were there and overheard Kathy taking orders as we left. That makes us believe that it must be pretty good. And…compared to other pizza joints in the area, the price is very reasonable - $15 for a small cheese and $17 for a large with all toppings only $1 more.

If you haven’t experienced Via Veneto yet, we suggest you put it on your to do list. It is a great place for a meal anytime but is definitely a place for a romantic Valentine’s dinner.

FEBRUARY SPECIAL EVENTS

Super Bowl 12th

Valentine’s Day 14th

President’s Day 20th

Fat Tuesday 21st

Round One:

Saturday, February 4th

Wales v Ireland KO 9:15am

England v Scotland KO 11:45am

Sunday, February 5th

Italy v France KO 10:00am

Round Three:

Saturday, February 25th

Italy v Ireland KO 9:15am

Wales v England KO 11:45am

Sunday, February 26th

France v Scotland KO 10:00am

Round Five:

Saturday, March 18th

Scotland v Italy KO 8:30am

France v Wales KO 10:45am

Ireland v England KO 1:00pm

Round Two:

Saturday, February 11th

Ireland v France KO 9:15am

Scotland v Wales KO 11:45am

Sunday, February 12th

England v Italy KO 10:00am

Round Four:

Saturday, March 11th

Italy v Wales KO 9:15am

England v France KO 11:45am

Sunday, March 12th

Scotland v Ireland KO 11:00am

Chocolate Valentine’s Day Is for LOVERS !

Valentine’s Day is observed by many people, in many countries, in a variety of ways. According to a recent poll, chocolate, in any form, is the preferred gift of both recipient and sender when commemorating this holiday. A long time ago someone said “chocolate is the nectar of the Gods.”

The first people to discover the secrets of this nectar were the Aztecs and the Mayans. Mixing cacao seeds with various spices became a favored drink of royalty, and the seeds were often offered to the gods in lieu of human blood.

When the Spanish conquered the natives, they brought the seeds back to Spain in the 1500’s where new recipes were created using the cacao seeds. Nearly a century later, the rest of Europe started experimenting with the seeds and made a variety of different chocolates. However, it remained a royal delectable because sugar and cacao were very expensive.

In the 1800’s things changed when mass production lowered the cost of producing the chocolate. Today, it is readily available in various forms, at affordable prices.

One day while window shopping in Georgetown, I saw a young woman wearing a T shirt that said “Give me some chocolate and nobody will get hurt.” It struck a familiar chord in my mind, because it made me think of how many times I thought that everything would be better if only I had some chocolate! I am not alone. In this country, there are millions of people who feel the same way.

DID YOU KNOW?

In Europe, Valentine’s Day has many different names:

In Wales, the Welsh people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St. Dwynwen’t Day) on January 25th. The day commemorates St. Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers.

In France Valentine’s Day is called Saint Valentin.

In Spain it is known as San Valentin.

In Denmark and Norway, Valentine’s Day is known as Valentinsdag.

In Sweden, it is called Alla hjartans dag (All Hearts Day)

In Finland Valentine’s Day is called Ystavanpaiva (Friend’s Day)

In Slovenia, the day of love is March 12, Saint Gregory’s Day. It is thought to mark the start of spring.

In Romania, February 24 is the traditional day for lovers and is called Dragobete – named after a character from Romanian folklore.

In Turkey Valentine’s Day is Sevgililer Gunu, meaning “Sweethearts’ Day.

In the spirit of the day, and for chocolate lovers all around the world, here are two of my favorite homemade chocolate candy recipes:

CHOCOLATE STICKS

Two squares of bitter chocolate

One cup of sugar

Two eggs

One-half cup of butter (at room temperature)

One-quarter tsp. of salt

One-half tsp. of vanilla

One-half cup of flour

One-half cup of chopped walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts

Melt the chocolate with the butter then add the sugar, stirring well. Separate the two yolks from the two egg whites and add. Then add the salt and beat well. Add the vanilla and flour and fold in the nuts. Bake on a small cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20 the 30 minutes, or until done. When the mixture has cooled, cut into thin rectangular sticks.

CHOCOLATE TURTLES

Two packages of prepared caramels

One-half to one cup of semi-sweet chocolate bits, melted in double boiler

One quarter cup of heavy cream which you will add to the melted chocolate.

One-half to one cup of nuts of your choice.

Put the caramel pieces on a cookie sheet in a preheated 325 degree oven until the pieces start to flatten. Remove from oven immediately and press two nuts directly into each caramel. When it is cool to the touch, dip each caramel/nut piece into the melted chocolate/cream mixture. (I find that using wooden skewers works well.) After each piece has been dipped into the chocolate, put them on waxed paper until thoroughly cooled. They can be stored at room temperature or kept in the refrigerator.

DINING GUIDE

AMERICAN

1799 PRIME STEAK & SEAFOOD

110 S. Pitt Street

571-404-6001

ADA'S ON THE RIVER

3 Pioneer Mill Way

703-638-1400

AUGIE’S MUSSEL HOUSE

1106 King Street 703.721.3970

BLACKWALL HITCH

5 Cameron St. 703-739-6090

BOB & EDITHS

1743 King Street

703-664-0043

CAFE 44

44 Canal Center

571-800-6644

CHADWICKS

203 Strand St. 703-836-4442

CHART HOUSE

One Cameron St. 703-684-5080

CITY KITCHEN

330 South Pickett St. 703-685-9172 fatcitykitchen.com

EVENING STAR CAFÉ

2000 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-549-5051

EXECUTIVE DINER & CAFE

1400 Duke Street 703-299-0894

FIVE GUYS

725 King St. 703-549-7991

FOSTERS GRILLE

2004 Eisenhower Ave. 703-725-1342

GADSBYS TAVERN

138 N. Royal St. 703-548-1288

GRATEFUL KITCHEN

727 N. Henry Street

HARD TIMES CAFE

1404 King St. 703-837-0050

HEN QUARTER

1404 King St. 703-684-6969

HOPS 'N SHINE 3410 Mount Vernon Ave.

703-566-1509

HUMMINGBIRD

220 South Union Street

703-566-1355

JACKS PLACE

222 North Lee St. 703-684-0372

JOE THEISMANNS

1800 Diagonal Rd.

703-739-0777

JUNCTION BAKERY & BISTRO

1508 Mount Vernon Avenue

Alexandria 703-436-0025

KINGS RANSOM

728 King Street

571-319-0794

LAPORTAS 1600 Duke St. 703-683-6313

THE LIGHT HORSE 715 King Street 703-549-0533

LORI'S TABLE 1028 King Street 703-549-5545

LOST DOG CAFE 808 North Henry St. 571-970-6511

MAJESTIC CAFÉ 911 King St. 703-837-9117

MASON SOCIAL 728 Henry Street 703-548-8800 mason-social.com

MURPHYS IRISH PUB 713 King St. 703-548-1717 murphyspub.com

NORTHSIDE 1O 10 East Glebe Rd. 703-888-0032

OAK STEAKHOUSE 901 N. St. Asaph St. 703-840-3395

OCONNELLS RESTAURANT & BAR 112 King St. 703-739-1124 DanielOconnells.com

PORK BARREL BBQ 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. 703-822-5699

THE PEOPLES DRUG 103 N. Alfred Street 571-257-8851

RAMPARTS 1700 Fern St. 703-998-6616 rampartstavern.com

RIVER BEND BISTRO 7966 Fort Hunt Rd. Hollin Hall Shopping Center 703-347-7545 riverbendbistro.com

ROCK IT GRILL 1319 King St. 703-739-2274

RT's RESTAURANT 3804 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-684-6010 rtsrestaurant.com

SHOOTER MCGEES 5239 Duke St. 703-751-9266

SLATERS MARKET 1552 Potomac Greens Dr. 703-548-3807

SMOKING KOW BBQ 3250 Duke Sttreet 703-888-2649

SONOMA CELLAR 207 King St. 703-966-3550

SOUTH BLOCK 106 N. Lee Street 703-465-8423

SOUTHSIDE 815

815 S. Washington St. 703-836-6222

SWEETGREEN 823 King St. 571-319-0192

Please Contact your favorite restaurants for updates on their "Social Distancing" policies.

SWEET FIRE DONNA'S BBQ & HOPS

510 John Carlyle Street 571-312-7960

THE STUDY

116 South Alfred Street 703-838-8000

T.J. STONES

GRILL HOUSE & TAP ROOM

608 Montgomery St. 703-548-1004 tjstones.com

TOASTIQUE GOURMET TOAST & JUICE BAR

1605 King Street 571-312-1909

UNION STREET PUBLIC HOUSE

121 South Union St. 703-548-1785 unionstreetpublichouse.com

VIRTUE GRAIN & FEED

106 South Union St. 571-970-3669

VOLA’S DOCKSIDE GRILL & THE HI-TIDE LOUNGE

101 North Union St. 703-935-8890

THE WAREHOUSE BAR & GRILL

214 King St. 703-683-6868 warehouseoldtown.com

ASIAN

ASIAN BISTRO

809 King St. 703-836-1515

INDOCHEN

1625 King Street (571) 404-6050

KISSO ASIAN BISTRO

300 King Street 703-888-1513

MALAYA

1019 King St. 703-519-3710

MAI THAI

9 King St. 703-548-0600

NASIME

1209 King St. 703-548-1848

SIGNATURE THAI

722 King Street 707-888-2458

THAILAND ROYAL 801 N. Fairfax St. 703 535-6622

TOKYO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE 66 Canal Center Plaza 703-683-8878

CAPHE BANH MI VIETNAMESE 407 Cameron St. 703-549-0800

KAI ZEN TAVERN

1901 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-836-1212

SISTERS THAI

503 Montgomery St. 571-777-8154

CONTINENTAL

CEDAR KNOLL

GW Parkway at Lucia Ln. 703-780-3665

OLD HOUSE COSMOPOLITAN

1024 Cameron Street 703-717-9361

TEMPO 4231 Duke St. 703-370-7900 temporestaurant.com

VILLAGE BRAUHAUS

710 King Street 703-888-1951 villagebrauhaus.com

FRENCH

BASTILLE 606 N. Fayette St. 703-519-3776 bastillerestaurant.com

BISTRO SANCERRE FRENCH 1755 Duke Street

BRABO

1600 King St.

703-894-3440

LE REFUGE

127 N. Washington St. 703-548-4661

FONTAINES CAFFE & CREPERIE 119 S. Royal St. 703-535-8151

LA MADELEINE 500 King St. 703-729-2854

TWO NINETEEN RESTAURANT 219 King St. 703-549-1141

ITALIAN

ALDO'S ITALIAN KITCHEN 2850 Eisenhower Avenue (behind the building) 703-888-2243

ANDY’S PIZZA 107 N Fayette St 571-319-0497

BUGSYS PIZZA RESTAURANT 111 King St. 703-683-0313

FACCIA LUNA 823 S. Washington St. 703-838-5998

FRANK PEPE NAPOLETANA PIZZERIA 3231 Duke Street Alexandria Commons 703-719-2035

HANDOVER BY THE SLICE 728 King Street 571-319-0794

IL PORTO RESTAURANT 121 King St. 703-836-8833

LANDINI BROTHERS 115 King St. 703-836-8404 landinibrothers.com

LENA’S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA & TAP 401 East Braddock Rd. 703-960-1086

MIA'S ITALIAN KITCHEN 100 King Street 703-997-5300

MICHAEL’S ON KING 703 King Street 703-838-9090 Michaelsonking.com

PIECE OUT 2419 Mount Vernon Avenue 703-398-1287

RED ROCKS FIREBRICK PIZZA 904 King St. 703-717-9873

MEDITERRANEAN

BARCA PIER & WINE BAR 2 Pioneer Mill Way 703-638-1100

TAVERNA CRETEKOU 818 King St. 703-548-8688 tavernacretekou.com PITA HOUSE 719 King St. 703-684-9194

DELIAS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL 209 Swamp Fox Rd. 703-329-0006

VASO'S MEDITERRANEAN BISTRO 1118 King Street 703-566-2720

VASO'S KITCHEN 1225 Powhatan Street 703-548-2747

SEAFOOD HANKS OYSTER BAR 818 N St. Asaph 703-739-HANK FISH MARKET-OLD TOWN 105 King St. 703-836-5676 fishmarketoldva.com

THE WHARF 119 King St. 703-836-2834

WHISKEY & OYSTER 301 John Carlyle 703-567-1533

INDIAN

DISHES OF INDIA 1510A Bellview Blvd. 703-660-6085

DIYA 218 North Lee, 2nd Floor 703-706-5338

KISMET MODERN INDIAN 111 North Pitt Street 703-567-4507

NAMASTE 1504 King St. 703-970-0615

MEXICAN LATIN SOUTHWESTERN

CASA TEQUILA (next to Crate & Barrel) 1701 Duke 703-518-5312

CHOP SHOP TACO 1008 Madison Street 571-970-6438

DON TACO TEQUILA BAR 808 King St. 703-988-3144

LOS CUATES RESTAURANT 1116 King Street 703-548-2918

LOS TIOS GRILL 2615 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-299-9290

LOS TOLTECOS 4111 Duke St. 703-823-1167

TAQUERIA POBLANO 2400-B Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-548-TACO (8226)

TEQUILA & TACO 540 John Carlyle Street 703-721-3203

URBANO 116 116 King Street 571-970-5148

A Guide to Chocolate and Wine Paring

go well with a gamay. But you need to get a higher quality white because those tend to be more sugary; good white chocolates have some weight. Gewürztraminer with vanilla infused white chocolate pieces pair well.”

Anne Tucker, senior manager and pairing guru at Fabbioli Cellars, explained what makes the perfect pairing. “When pairing wine and food the art is in the balance. Making sure all flavor components complement one another, not fight each other. It is about knowing what flavors go together along with textures and aromas. It’s a relationship between wine and the perfect harmonious bite.” The biggest problem in matching the two is how to work around chocolate’s natural bitterness. When chocolate is paired with wine tannins, it increases the perception of bitterness in the wine. The more cacao a chocolate has, the more these ingredients will clash. This means pairing chocolate and wine with matching intensities is often the preferred way to go.

While chocolate and wine pairings can be tricky, it can be done. Carl and Donna Henrickson, owners of Wine Loves Chocolate and the Little Washington Winery, are experts in this field. Their approach is to match flavors that are similar to one another. In the wine and food pairing world, this is called “like with like.”

“Winemakers use malolactic fermentation to finesse the aromas and

flavors of wine. Chocolatiers ferment cacao and also might add a ganache (creamy center) to finesse a rich milky component to chocolate.

There are three basic kinds of ganaches that you can make - white, milk and dark chocolate based. Milk and dark chocolate based ganaches add an immense amount of chocolatey flavor and richness which you cannot replicate.

White chocolate is the most versatile. Our chocolatiers came to the conclusion that a truffle that has a creamy ganache center is much more compatible to wine than a plain chocolate bar – like with like.”

According to Leesburg Gourmet owner David Mercado, “There is actually a lot of versatility in parings. It’s when you have the wine first, then the chocolate, then you get that 3rd experience.

It comes down to the wine and chocolate either being complimentary or contrasting. A complementary pairing would be a cardamom and honey-centric chocolate with riesling; sweet with sweet. A contrasting pairing would be a dry red wine like a Bordeaux blend which would go more with something like a saffron or

blackberry chocolate.

For white wines, you may have a chocolate with sea salt & olive oil, so it’s more a smooth culinary tasting vs a confection tasting. The contrast would be a dry chardonnay.

The pairing experience is steering people to explain what they are getting. You can steer people towards definitions but you want people to taste the pairing on their own and get them to explain it. That’s part of wine education.”

Here are some general rules for your next chocolate and wine event:

Match with the right type of chocolate (white, milk, or dark)

White chocolate is made of cocoa butter with sugar. As white chocolate lacks cocoa powder, it technically isn’t even a chocolate. White chocolate’s mellowness and buttery flavor favor pairings with sweeter wine.

While it’s often paired with riesling or late-harvest wines, try some lighter reds. David explains, “For white chocolate, we may go with a white wine or a hazelnut with nuts that will

Recommended pairing: Fabbioli Cellar’s Raspberry Merlot.

Milk chocolate pairs well with lower tannin wines, such as merlot, pinot noir, or barbera.

“In milk chocolate we’d go with a lighter wine as it will be creamier, so we’d go with a pinot. The good pinots give you an experience of strength on the back end, while dark chocolate

Chocolate and wine are delicacies in their own right. While sampling them together is easy, pairing them so their flavors blend harmoniously is more difficult than people realize.

usually smooths it out,” according to David.

Recommended pairing: A Bluestone Vineyard petit verdot

dryer and more mainstream. Match Citrus with Citrus

Many white wines have lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange and passion fruit nuances. Pair them with citrus flavored desserts and truffles. Lemon bars, key lime, passion fruit, chocolate covered orange slices, our limoncello truffles.

But always remember - the most

Recommended pairing: A Little Washington Winery Merlot.

Dark chocolate is the most difficult to pair as it has the most cocoa. The darker the chocolate the more it accentuates wine tannins. Fortified wine is a good choice, but you can also try a cabernet sauvignon or petit verdot.

According to Wine Loves Chocolate, the rule of thumb with this type of pairing is ‘big with big’.

“Big in chocolate means dark, less sugary chocolates, high cacao desserts, and truffles. Red wines likewise come in different levels of big-ness.

The bigger the wine the higher the cacao percentage your chocolate needs to be so that each element stands up and doesn’t overpowered the other.”

Where Is It?

... or a Rogers Ford Farm Winery petit verdot-based Snake Castle port-style.

Match Sweet with Sweet Wine will taste dull if the food is sweeter than the wine.

White chocolate and milk chocolate have a lot more sugar than dark chocolate. A very sweet chocolate can overpower a sweet wine, taking it from a dessert style wine to something

Where Is This Mural?

Be the first person to respond with the correct location and receive a $50 gift certificate to a local dining establishment of our choice. In order to participate, you will have to Like and Follow us on: Facebook @oldtowncrier or Instagram @otcregionalmag

Send a PM with your guess and we will contact the winner each month via PM to arrange for prize delivery.

important rule to any pairing is if you enjoy the two together, you’re doing it right!

About the Author: Matthew Fitzsimmons is a blogger who has visited nearly every winery in Virginia – most of them twice. Follow his progress at winetrailsandwanderlust.com.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MIN LEE for being the first to identify the January Mural – St. Elmos Coffee Shop in Del Ray. We thought this would be a tough one but Min and 10 other readers guessed it within the first week of the issue being on the streets.

When properly paired, wine loves chocolate.

Mural Photos by Lee Moody.

Life on the Land

Growing up in suburbia in the 70s and 80s gave me the chance to enjoy both city and country life. I knew the city of Syracuse pretty well, attending the university, working in an office, playing in a bowling league, and having a bit of an urban lifestyle. On the other hand, my friend’s dad (an accountant in “real” life) decided to plant a vineyard and I was cheap farm labor. On the weekends, I would drive out to the countryside to put some time in on the vineyard. Sometimes I would do pruning and trellis work, sometimes I’d work on the barn, sometimes it was land clean up. I enjoyed learning about the land, the vines, and the work, especially the installation of the trellises and tending the vines. The feeling of nurturing the vines so they would grow to their potential was rewarding, and when I hit that magic point in life where I needed to make a leap towards a career, the life on the farm and in the country had a stronger gravitational pull on me—the road less traveled, if you will.

There are no recruiters out there working the universities to encourage the soon-to-be graduates to come live a life on the land. Gallo would send somebody out to find some potential sales reps, but that was all I ever saw for the wine industry. Introducing young folks to opportunities on the land is the best way to get people to consider the option. We will always need people to be stewards of the land, to farm it, tend it, work it, and rely on it. The more we have of that, the more people will recognize the value of the land for more than just another building site.

I have gotten hooked lately on a TV series (and I’m not the only one) called Yellowstone. Briefly, it’s about a modern-day rancher and his family trying to maintain land and lifestyle in 21st century Montana. Included in the package are storylines about family drama, politics, workplace conflict, land use issues, wildlife conservation, Native American land, and representation issues, all mixed in with horses, cattle, violence, humor, heartstrings, learning, and incredible scenery. I’m not here to endorse a TV show, but I do appreciate the ways they promote the rural lifestyle to those of us who tune in to watch.

There have been a few storylines over the seasons of young bucks coming onto the ranch and learning about what it means to be a cowboy. We, as viewers, get to learn the steps along with these greenhorns. We also get to see the teaching styles that the seasoned cowboys put

to use in the process. This show defines the cowboy in the truest light possible: a lonely life on the land doing a dangerous job with your horse and a rope as your most important tools. You do the job that needs to be done and there is nobody behind you to fix it if you mess it up, and nobody to click “like” if you do a great job. Cowboy up and get the job done.

Now I am not a cowboy, nor do I aspire to be one. I fell off a horse for the last time over 20 years ago. However, I greatly respect the choices they make and the authenticity they continue to earn. Here on our lands, I replace the word cowboy with farmer. We may not have the loneliness of the open prairie, but we have jobs that need to get done, animals and crops to tend, no 40-hour work week or defined weekend, and an endless number of challenges that can mess up our day. But we also get to enjoy the land, make the most of the sunshine, work as a group as well as alone, be challenged, and share our knowledge with the next buckaroo to step into this world. We use science, the trades, computers, communication, organizational skills, business skills, and leadership. Sometimes we all have to “cowboy up” in order to get the job done and get through the day. More than anything, we use our hands, our heads, and our hearts in order to make a living that will sustain us, our families, our lifestyle, and our lands.

Next month I will have filled 6 decades of living in this body and on this earth. I’ve made some choices that may not

the land maintains the endless respect for the land and those that work it. Remember: no farms, no food. No wine, beer, or whiskey either. Be sure to enjoy a locally-made glass of red wine and a nice, rare ribeye when you watch Governor John Dutton (Kevin Costner) leave his government duties behind as he mounts his horse for a morning ride on the ranch. This is quite the life!

have been conventional. My continued goal is to encourage more young people to consider a career and a life more closely connected to the land. My efforts through The New Ag School are best defined as that. George Washington was a land surveyor before he was a farmer, general and political leader. We all can be more than one thing, but keeping ourselves based in

About the Author: Farmer, winemaker, entrepreneur, educator, and leader, Doug Fabbioli has been accelerating the growth and quality of Virginia’s wine industry since 1997. With his wife Colleen, Doug is the owner/operator of Fabbioli Cellars in Leesburg, VA. He is the founder and director of The New Ag School, which focuses on teaching the next generation of farmers and agriculture-related leaders. No wonder they call Doug Fabbioli the Godfather of DC’s Wine Country.

Child of love. Eros. Amoretto. ….Cupid!

The mention of Cupid typically conjures up images of a cherubic infant wielding a bow and arrow, but this wasn’t always the case. Long before the Romans adopted and renamed him—and way before his association with Valentine’s Day—Cupid was known to the Greeks as Eros, the handsome god of love.

Cupid and Greek Mythology

One of the first authors to mention Eros (circa 700 B.C.) was Hesiod, who described him in “Theogony” as one of the primeval cosmogonic deities born of the world egg. But later accounts of the lineage of Eros vary, describing him as the son of Nyx and Erebus; or Aphrodite and Ares; or Iris and Zephyrus; or even Aphrodite and Zeus—who would have been both his father and grandfather.

Armed with a bow and a quiver filled with both golden arrows to arouse desire and leaden arrows to ignite aversion, Eros struck at the hearts of gods and mortals and played with their emotions. In one story from ancient Greek mythology, which was later retold by Roman authors, Cupid (Eros) shot a golden arrow at Apollo, who fell madly in love with the nymph Daphne, but then launched a leaden arrow at Daphne so she would be repulsed by him.

Cupid and Psyche

In another allegory, Cupid’s mother, Venus (Aphrodite), became so jealous of the beautiful mortal Psyche that she told her son to induce Psyche to fall in love with a monster. Instead, Cupid became so enamored with Psyche that he married her—with the condition that she could never see his face. Eventually, Psyche’s curiosity got the better of her and she stole a glance, causing Cupid to flee in anger. After roaming the known world in search of her lover, Psyche was eventually reunited with Cupid and granted the gift of immortality.

In the poetry of the Archaic period, Eros was represented as a studly immortal who was irresistible to both man and gods. But by the Hellenistic

period, he was increasingly portrayed as a playful, mischievous child.

Because of his associations with love, 19th-century Victorians—credited with popularizing Valentine’s Day and giving the holiday its romantic spin— began depicting this cherubic version of Cupid on Valentine’s Day cards in a trend that has persisted until this day.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial—which probably occurred around A.D. 270—others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Publishers Note: Our thanks to our friends at History.com for allowing us to print this material. For more in-depth information about Cupid and Valentine’s Day, be sure to check out the website.

Cupid’s Mom - Concubine of the gods

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is considered the most beautiful of all the gods and is often depicted as a naked or semi-naked woman. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea, near the island of Cythera, and was carried to shore by the winds. She was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmiths, but she had many lovers, including Ares, the god of war, and Adonis, a mortal who was loved by both Aphrodite and Persephone, the goddess of the underworld. Aphrodite was also associated with the planet Venus, which was named after her. She was a popular figure in ancient Greek art and literature and continues to be a popular subject in modern art and popular culture.

A Super Bowl Bourbon Tasting? WHY NOT!

When you think of the Super Bowl, you naturally think of beer. Beer and Super Bowl go together like chips and dip, hotdogs and mustard, or wings and buffalo sauce. But why not bourbon? Why isn’t bourbon an integral part of this great American tradition? Bourbon is a national treasure. Yes, so is beer. But beer comes from the old country. Bourbon is part of our national heritage. It’s part of who we are.

No other U.S. made spirit is so thoroughly regulated. Congress made bourbon purely American. So, why shouldn’t it be part of our Super Bowl tradition?

It should be! It’s time to add a festive activity to the traditional Super Bowl Party. And don’t just put out a couple of bottles of bourbon. Make it fun! Many people have never tasted bourbon, or any whiskey for that matter. So, have a Super Bowl bourbon tasting. I can read your mind right now; people are going to get sloshed. No, not if you do it correctly. Tasting is not the same as drinking. You use small pours and take your time. This will help to reduce the chances of someone getting snockered. It’s not about doing shots.

Below is a five-step whiskey tasting guide from worldwhiskeyday.com. It’s a fun way to make the tasting more enjoyable. I’ve adapted it a little, but the gist is still the same. And regular

Bourbon is the only American spirit regulated by the U.S. government. According to The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, bourbon made for U.S. consumption must be:

• Produced in the U.S. and its Territories (Puerto Rico), as well as the District of Columbia.

• Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.

• Aged in new, charred oak containers.

• Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof.

• Entered into the container for aging at no more than 125-proof

• Bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more.

rocks glasses will work perfectly fine. You’re not a snobby self-proclaimed professional.

Examine the appearance

Admire the color the wood has given the whisky. Each one will be slightly different.

Check out the viscosity

Swirl the glass and look for the streaks of liquid which run down the inside of the glass. These are known as the ‘legs’ and indicate viscosity or ‘mouthfeel’. The thicker the legs, the more voluptuous the mouthfeel.

Shake the glass and watch

Put your hand over the glass and shake the bourbon. Watch how long it takes the resultant bubbles to disappear. The longer it takes, the higher the ABV. Rub your hands together and smell the barley from which the whisky was made.

Now the sniffing

Move your glass towards your nose while taking short, sharp sniffs. Sniffing bourbon is not like sniffing wine. Keeping your mouth open is key. It keeps the high alcohol content from burning your nose. Also, trust your nose. There’s no right or wrong –everything you smell comes from your life experience.

The first taste

Take a good sip of your bourbon, take a moment, then take a second taste. All whiskey drinkers know that the first taste is never the best. In fact, it’s often the worst. That second taste is key. Taste comes from the tongue while flavor comes from your nose, so breathe to aid your oronasal perception. Take in the texture of the bourbon.

Have water and ice available for those who want it. Water does bring out more flavor but should be added sparingly. Just a few drops will do. Discuss the bourbons and get your guests impressions. If you are really daring, throw in a cigar to pair as well. It’ll make for a fun time for all. As for beer, you should be serving local craft beer. See last February’s article, “Super Bowl Is a Perfect Opportunity to Support Your Local Brewery.”

During the tasting, you’ll need to be prepared for the inevitable, someone will state that bourbon must come from Kentucky. This is a common misbelief. Bourbon can be made anywhere in the U.S. I don’t care what your obnoxious cousin says. You know, the one you had to invite because your mother or wife said so. The one who can’t hold a job for more than six months, but he’s an expert on everything. The one who shows up with pumpkin ale. It’s the middle of February, where the hell did he find pumpkin ale? Face facts, it’s been in his refrigerator since September. And he is re-gifting it to you so he can drink your good bourbon and craft beer. And to further thank you for your graciousness, the detestable sod then starts an argument about quantum mechanics during the game with your buddy, who just happens to be a physicist.

But it’s all fine. You were smart. You hid the good bourbon and the Cuban cigars before the party. You’ll break them out when he leaves. Which will most likely be during halftime because he’ll be too drunk to make it through the game. And he has a job interview in the morning.

You know who the MVP of this game is. You are. You did something fun and unique for your guests. They all had a great time, despite the sod. Enjoy your bourbon, your cigar, and the game. You’ve earned it. Cheers!!

About the Author: Timothy Long is an educator, writer, consultant, and experienced restaurant operator. Email: tlong@belmarinnovations.com. Instagram and Twitter: @wvutimmy. Blog: What is that fly doing in my soup? http://whatflyinmysoup.com

BULLEIT BOURBON: This is a great bourbon to start with. It is smooth and delightful. The nose starts with vanilla and caramel. Tasting then brings vanilla on the palate with peppery oak flavor and cinnamon.

WOODFORD RESERVE: It’s an almost perfect bourbon. It is comprised of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malt, and it matures for six years. The nose is creamy with notes of honey and spice. It is thick and full on the palate with notes of espresso beans, winter spices, and vanilla.

FOUR ROSES SMALL BATCH:

This bourbon is very easy on the palate. The flavors are gentle with oak and citrus on the nose. The palate detects caramel, fruit, cherries, and rye, none of which jump out quickly. The mouthfeel is light and creamy.

BLADE & BOW: Time to mix it up a little and add some spice. This is a smooth and wonderful bourbon with peaches, honey, and hay on the nose. But then the tasting brings white pepper, vanilla, oak, and autumn spices to the palate.

Tim’s Whiskey and RecommendationsCigar

Weller Special Reserve Bourbon

I recommend this as the fifth bourbon in your tasting. You’ll be throwing them a curve ball, even though you are watching football. Weller Special reserve is a wheated bourbon. This means that although the bourbon is 51% corn mash as required by law, the main secondary grain is wheat. Most bourbons use rye as their secondary grain. But there is no rule, distillers can use whatever they want. The nose is caramel, vanilla, and honey, all very typical bourbon smells. The palate also has caramel and honey, with hints of spice. This is a soft, easy sipping bourbon with notes of caramel and oak on the finish. Your guest will be delighted and amused.

Padron 1964 Anniversary Cigar

Cigar Aficionado gave this cigar a 93 rating and stated that “it teems with flavor from the first puff.” And man, were they right. This cigar starts with black pepper, cedar, and coffee flavors. It gets creamy as you get further into it. The black pepper remains, then cocoa and coffee notes start to also appear. It ends a bit nutty with the black pepper still there. This cigar will pair nicely with most good bourbons. Cheers!!

Here is a suggested list of bourbons reviewed in my previous articles. I also provided some accompanying notes.

Happy “Hair” Days Are Here Again …

As if the cold, blustery weather of winter isn’t enough to make most of us want to crawl under our covers and not come out until spring, the havoc it wreaks on our hair is, well, hairraising. Static electricity, moisture depletion, and not-so-nice texture can make for very bad hair days.

To combat the winter hair blues, its best, in theory, to start in the fall before the winter blast hits. Developing a strategy of move frequent trims and treatments in the fall will ensure smooth sailing into winter. The best strategy is to whack off those dead ends in the fall so that the hair has a fighting chance by starting off healthy.

Like most of us, that’s all well and good, in theory. So, what to do? First off, it’s never too late to get your hair trimmed. So, book an appointment with your stylist to get your ends trimmed and looking healthy again. That in and of itself will instantly give the hair a boost because dryness starts

at the ends. Other things to consider are avoiding and repairing the dryness that winter brings upon our hair. Most of us know that the dryness outside can cause dryness to our hair, but it’s also the dryness inside that exacerbates the problem. Going from the cold, dry climate of the outside to the warm, dry climate of the inside puts a lot of stress on the hair.

One strategy for keeping hair looking good starts with a hat

Yes, a hat. We all know how keeping our head covered is key to keeping warmth in our bodies; the same is true about maintaining moisture levels within your hair. Wearing a hat to prevent split ends and breakage is tantamount to wearing gloves to keep your hands from becoming dry and chapped.

It’s important to switch our hair routines in the winter

Moisture rich shampoos and

conditioners are a must to keep winter hair from becoming blah. Consider also performing a deep moisture treatment to the hair once a week. Simply smooth on a hair treatment or hair masque and cover with a warm towel. Allow the treatment or masque to work its magic for 15 minutes, then rinse. Doing these weekly treatments will help keep hair healthy, prevent breakage and split ends, and eliminate static electricity.

Another best treatment for the hair in the winter is to avoid heat styling

Yes, just say no to the blow dryer and flat iron. Allowing the hair to dry naturally is the best course of action. However, for many of us, that’s not always practical for fear that our hair would turn to icicles as we rush out the door in the mornings. So, thank goodness for alternatives. A few things to try – leave in conditioners or heat protectant styling products. Instead of using gels and mousses, which do

nothing to replenish moisture in the hair, try hair creams or products made specifically to protect the hair from heat styling. Many of these products come in the form of silicone drops or sprays. Some are creams juiced up with jojoba oil or olive oil. Spread these gems on your hair before you heat style. And, when the opportunity arises, try allowing the hair to dry naturally to give it a break.

Finally, good hair also starts from within, just like good skin, good nails, and good teeth

What we put into our bodies can also affect the health of our hair. Low carb diets are often associated with drier hair. Eating a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, carbs and good fats all contribute to the well-being of your hair. And, let’s not underestimate the importance of drinking plenty of fluids.

Try applying these strategies and say hello to Happy “Hair” Days!

Healthy Habits

Now that the New Year is in full swing and we have all climbed back on the treadmills and weight machines, it’s time to make sure we can keep going. The most difficult part of changing your habits is the change itself. The best way to make a lasting difference in your life is to change things a little bit at a time. Even when you have the workout part down to a science, it’s what you do outside the gym that counts as well. We all know that exercise is not the only answer to solving our weight loss problems. With a well-balanced exercise and nutrition plan you will get much more out of your workout and your everyday life.

It is not your imagination, sitting at your desk all day can really make your behind as wide as the chair that you

sit in. Many people who work in an office building don’t get much of a chance to be active throughout the day. As a result, that nine to five job just gave them an extra 10 to 20 pounds. Here are some ways to whittle that waistline while you’re hard at work.

Reduce those rolls

Replace that ordinary desk chair with a ball. By trading your chair in for an exercise ball you will help your posture and strengthen your core improving your stability and burning calories.

Walk and talk

If you tend to take a lot of calls during the day get headset and walk while you talk. Get a pedometer and track how many extra steps you take in a day. An Extra 500 steps per day burns about 25 calories. Over the course of a whole year that can mean a weight loss of up to two pounds without even changing your diet.

Schedule snack time

An American Dietetic Association report found that 75 percent of workers ate lunch at their desks at least two to three times per week. Instead of trying to multi-

task, minimize mindless eating by making time to step away from your desk for snacks. If you are aware of what you eat you’ll be less likely to nibble all day.

Go Green

Drink green tea! A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who drank tea that was fortified with green tea extracts every day for three months lost 2.4 more pounds than those who drank plain tea. Also antioxidants found in green tea may stimulate the body to burn fat and increase metabolism.

Keep the Candy away

Give your willpower some help and keep that candy in an opaque jar. If you can’t see it you won’t want it. If you have a sweet tooth try hard candies rather than chocolates. Hard candies last longer and have fewer calories.

Make your fitness a group effort

When you go out to lunch with your coworkers walk instead of drive. Better yet get some of them to take up a class with you at the local gym after work. Working out with a partner helps to keep the commitment for you and your friend.

Changing your habits at your desk can help you to burn a few extra calories and save you from consuming a few hundred. So what can you eat that isn’t going to add too many calories and still leave you feeling satisfied until your next meal? A small hundredcalorie snack can stave off hunger but sometimes that exact amount can be hard to eyeball. You could pay more at the grocery store for those pre-measured hundred calorie packs, or you could just make your own.

Here are a few snack ideas that will keep your waistline and your wallet in check

STARBUCKS TALL SKINNY LATTE: Get that caffeine fix you crave along with 10g of protein and about a third of your daily calcium needs.

QUAKER INSTANT OATMEAL (REGULAR STYLE): High in fiber and protein it’s good for breakfast or a snack

YOPLAIT LIGHT YOGURT: Packed with calcium and vitamin D

• BANANA: Quick, easy and filling plus the potassium in bananas will help prevent muscle cramps later on 3 CUPS AIR POPPED POPCORN: Light fluffy and filling go ahead and nibble mindlessly

1 CUP OF BABY CARROTS WITH 2 TBSP HUMMUS: This snack is healthy and energizing which will help you keep going through your six o clock spin class.

1 CUP OF RASPBERRIES WITH 2 TBSP OF PLAIN YOGURT AND 1TSP OF HONEY: This snack mix satisfies your sweet tooth without hurting your diet.

18 FAT FREE ROLD GOLD TINY PRETZEL TWISTS: Kill a carb and salt craving in a single snacking.

Trade some of these snacks for those vending machine packs for a more energizing and satisfying break from your work. To make it easier pack your snacks ahead of time. Make enough for the week and just grab them as you go for work. Things like popcorn and oatmeal can be stashed in a desk drawer for a quick and healthy pick me up if you are feeling hungry between meals. Eating more often will keep your feeling full so you will be less likely to snag a snickers for the drive home. Keep your cravings controlled and your commitment on the top of your list and you will stay on the right track to a healthy lifestyle. Remember that the little changes you make each day will have a lasting impact.

Press On!

I hope everyone had a successful January. It takes some time and discipline getting used to a new habit (I’m talking about exercise), so don’t give up. This month’s exercise is the bench press. It targets the pectoralis majors & minors, anterior deltoids, serratus anterior, and triceps. There are many variations to the bench press. However this one is performed on a flat bench using a free-weight bar. Standard Olympic bars weigh 45lbs without any weight plates on them. If you are trying this exercise for the first time, you now have a reference point when deciding how much resistance to use. It’s also a good idea to have a spotter ready in case you need assistance.

Lie on your back with the hips, shoulder blades & head in contact with the bench. Knees are bent 90 degrees with feet flat on the floor. Grab the bar on the rack with a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. The bar should be directly above eye level. Lift the bar off the rack and position it over your upper

chest (Figure 1).

Slowly lower the bar toward the bottom portion of your chest (Figure 2). You can either touch the bar to your chest or stop a few inches above, but do not bounce it off the chest! Without pausing at the bottom, push the bar up and slightly back toward the rack to finish with the arms straight. The bar should be directly above the upper chest and shoulders. Remember to keep your hips in contact with the bench during

the upward phase. If you find that you need to arch your back to lift the bar, you have too much weight on it!

Try 3-4 sets of 7-12 reps with moderately heavy weight if you want to build some muscle, 2-3 sets of 1525 reps with lighter resistance for endurance, or 4-6 sets of 1-6 reps with a heavy weight for strength gain. I encourage you to find a weight lifting partner or hire a fitness professional to keep you safe and motivated!

About the Author: Unverzagt holds a 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.

Fish Count

Groups of tournament bass anglers gather nearly every weekend and often during the week as well. They launch at safe light and return with their day’s catch in the early afternoon. With two fishermen on the boat and a five fish limit in a field of 50 boats or more, at least 500 fish are brought to the scales alive. They are released alive at the launch site. With several events conducted concurrently, thousands of fish are released in the launch area every week. In VA and MD there are nearly 1500 tournaments a year.

It’s called stockpiling. Tournament release fish pile up at launch sites. More than 70% of the country’s fisheries managers are concerned with this catch and release side effect. Studies aren’t conclusive as to what happens next. Various methodologies are used to track released fish.

Moving fish around and handling stress are major concerns of fisheries managers. Tagging studies monitor rates of dispersal from release points to capture areas. Return is dependent on how far away they were released. Also, higher stress limits return. When displaced more than 20 miles, return is more unlikely.

To address and curtail stockpiling, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Black Bass Advisory Committee is encouraging several Best Management Practices. Reducing the number of fish released at the site can be accomplished with a redistributing plan, to include moving fish by boat or truck

or long chutes to move fish away. Working as a partner with tournament organizers, MD DNR will coordinate with organizations to redistribute some fish when requested. If considered biologically necessary and if the organization offsets expenses and provides volunteers, arrangements for release trucks can be set up.

Creating fishing off-limits areas at release sites gives fish an opportunity to recover and disperse. By using multiple launch sites, fewer fish will be centralized, redistributing fish in other areas of the fishery. By lowering creel limits, fewer fish will be released, reducing the number of stockpiled fish. A “fishable slot” reducing the number of larger fish brought to weigh-in protects this population. Shrinking the field, restricting the distance from the launch site, enables likely return to capture areas. New tournament formats that promote no-possession events eliminate stockpiling altogether.

Anglers aren’t concerned with stockpiling. They should be as they bring the largest fish in the body of water to the weigh-in. These are older fish, more susceptible to stress, resulting in fewer larger fish. But for tournament anglers, it’s stocking they believe will address their fishing needs. MD DNR has been stocking fisheries, including the Potomac, for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of bass are stocked yearly. However, MD stocks fish, 3 inches and smaller. The expense and time it takes to produce bigger bass prohibits stocking of larger mature fish. Producing a sustainable fishery is dependent on the number of juveniles that reach sexual maturity. Small fry are vulnerable to predators

Potomac River Bassing in February

Fish are moving a bit shallower as days get longer and water warms to about 40-45 and higher. Target hard cover near drops as fish are close to winter holes.

Time for ½ ounce Silver Buddy lures: silver when sunny, gold when cloudy, on 10-pound test GAMMA EDGE on casting reels on spinnerbait rods with tip flex for casting and hook-setting backbone. Keep hooks sharp.

Downsize to GAMMA 6-pound test Edge fluorocarbon either as a main line or leader with 10-pound test GAMMA Torque braid on reels with smooth drags.

and other environmental factors. Viability of older age classes is reliant on a release site’s availability of food, water quality, and the relative abundance of predators.

In Virginia in 2013, angler members of the Concerned Bass Anglers of Virginia raised funds and initiated stocking of F-1 bass in many bodies of water. In Maryland, it’s a one-man band, Capt. Scott Sewell. He’s been Conservation Director for MD Bass Nation since 2001. “I didn’t see what MD DNR was doing as having any effect. I wanted to do something in the right areas to make an impact.”

Sewell noted MD stocking efforts were not much more than food for perch, bluegill, crappie, and catfish, and not doing much to enhance the waters. He concluded larger fish needed to be stocked. Fish that would spawn to repopulate specific areas. Since the cost would be high, the biggest bang for their donation bucks would be 12 inch fish. These repopulators would be released in areas with the necessary conditions for survival and spawning. Cover, substrate, and proximity to moving water, were release areas. Sewell says larger fish are also big enough to consume and contain Northern Snakehead fry. But larger fish aren’t cheap, costing $21 each. Sewell proved to be a good fundraiser, presenting his case to businesses and fishing clubs. Marine Trades Association of Baltimore County is the top contributor, showing their dedication to helping the fishery.

Sewell credits MD Freshwater Fisheries Manager, Dr. Joe Love for supporting and providing guidance for this stocking program that has spent over $20,000 since

Drop shot and split shot with Mustad 1/0 Mega Bite hooks along with 3/16-ounce Water Gremlin BullShot weights. Time for 3” avocado stingray grubs on ¼ ounce ball head jigs made with Mustad Ultra Point hooks. Also break out hair jigs with matching chunks. Use slow horizontal presentations. Soak soft plastics and jigs in bait spray.

Flat-sided cranks on 10-pound test EDGE work along warmed surfaces. Shad patterns in clearer water or sunny days, craw otherwise. When water reaches 50, try suspending jerkbaits

2021. Sewell is also thankful the fishing community has supported these stockings with ample volunteer help. This fall 302 fish were personally introduced into the waterways. Sewell says his efforts have produced results. Fishing has improved and tournament winners have

turned neglected fishing spots into perennial hot spots.

About the Author: Capt. Steve Chaconas is a Potomac bass fishing guide & freelance writer. Potomac River reports: nationalbass.com. YouTube channel NationalBassGuide.

Lessons in Love

Holidays can be brutal. For some, just getting through December takes Herculean efforts, and then the Universe rewards you with Cupid bearing down on you, arrow poised to pierce your heart every time you turn the corner at Walgreen’s and Home Depot. Used to be there was at least some breathing room for your Visa, your liver, and your poor, aching heart before you were trapped under a cloud of pink and red carnations. Not so much anymore. Life is just one big opportunity to buy a gift and/or decorate a door.

For readers a little long in the tooth—if you even know what that means, chances are that you are—you’ll recall that I was for many, many years this publication’s perpetual single’s writer, penning the aptly named ‘Single Space’ column. Yep—that’s right. Old Town’s very own Carrie Bradshaw—a young writer with cool friends, a penchant for happy hour and Marlboro Lights on a quest to find love, albeit without the designer shoe collection.

Like Carrie, I was single for a few seasons. There was no ‘Big’ floating back and forth on the scene, but quite a few dates gone wrong moments that made for good writing material. So even if you’re out there trying to make love happen in all the wrong places with all the wrong people, remember than even the bad dates have potential to make good stories.

But, back to my point—Valentine’s Day. There was nothing worse than being at work as those floral deliveries started arriving. For a nanosecond a fleeting thought would render me weak at the knees, “Could it be…,” but then some other young admin would whip over to the front desk, beaming with delight. Then I’d head home to hide out or join some other pals at the bar for a heavyhanded happy hour.

There were a couple of years when I organized Galentine’s events at various venues throughout Old Town. They were fun, but it was like hiding in plain sight. Instead of feeling like a rebel, I felt like the kid who gets picked last for the kickball team. Except even worse, I hadn’t been picked at all. I was in good company, however.

Eventually someone, aka XXL, did put a ring on it, and I was officially taken off the market. But, Valentine’s Day is still a bit of a drag which makes me sad. As a little kid, I loved Valentine’s Day. I couldn’t wait to pick out my ‘theme.’ A week or so before the big day, Mom would take us to G.C. Murphy’s where my brothers and I would stand at the card aisle as we each considered our BIG decision.

Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm? Over played. Scooby-Doo? Too out there. Sesame Street? For babies, maybe! Captain Caveman? Strong contender. Mr. Rogers? No way for obv reasons.

you know, hind sight is 20/20—I’d make a point of being especially kind to myself the whole entire month of February. I’d buy myself flowers and chocolate. If I could swing it, I’d consider buying myself an engagement ring or any piece of bling that signified that I was a HOT BABE because damn it, why the hell not?

Don’t wait for anyone to show you the love or the candy or the roses—show it to yourself. Then blast everyone you know with some simple messages of love and friendship. Won’t you be mine, Valentine?

About the Author: Lori is a local writer, painter and pet lover who loves to share her experiences and expertise with our readers. She has been penning a column for the OTC for over 20 years. Please follow Lori online on Medium for more missives like this.

February 12, 2023

9 AM - 4 PM

Grab your best friend(s) and come celebrate Galentine’s Day over brunch and of course, Mimosas! This is a special day dedicated to celebrating friendship and showering your girlfriends with all the affection! We will have a special menu including some delicious items like Lemon Blueberry Beignets, Benedicts & much more!

For more information, go to visitalexandria.com/events

For the last few years I have dedicated the February column to the Chinese New Year themed installation in the Conservatory at the MGM Grand. I just love the Chinese New Year “stuff” and I really get excited when I go to a Chinese restaurant and they have the place mats that have all of the years and animals on them. You know, the ones that tell you who you are and aren’t compatible with, what your personality is like, etc. According to my reliable source - Chinesenewyear. net – Rabbit is the fourth animal in the Chinese zodiacs.

About said Rabbit…legend has it that Rabbit was proud - and sometimes arrogant - about its speed. He was neighbors with the Ox and always made fun of how slow he was. One day the Jade Emperor said the zodiac order would be decided by the order in which the animals arrived at his party. Rabbit set off at day break but when he got there, there were no other animals in sight. Thinking that he would obviously be first, he went off to the side and napped. However, when he woke up three other animals had already arrived. One of them was the Ox that he had always looked down on.

This year’s display, as in the past, has elements of Chinese gardens, the likes of pagoda’s and koi fish, along with 16,000 flowers, massive Chinese

2023 Year of the Rabbit

lanterns and a glistening pond where the beautiful silk rose koi fish is frolicking. The Money Tree is back as well. As far as the animatronics go… the Rabbit moves his ears and there are wild birds chirping in the trees along with the water fall and koi pond. While not as impressive as the Year of the Tiger – it seriously is over the top cool – this installation is definitely

worth a trip to the MGM.

The installation opened in January and will be up through March 20th and is available to view 24 hours a day.

I always tell people that they don’t have to care about the Casino to visit the Conservatory. There are a wide range of food and drink options that cater to those looking for fine dining and for those who want an affordable meal.

The parking is FREE and it doesn’t cost anything to just go look at something beautiful and do some very interesting people watching! My suggestion is to visit on a Wednesday or Thursday to avoid crowds (unless there is a big concert in the Theater) and avoid Mondays and Tuesdays since some of the stores and restaurants aren’t open on these days.

“Fooduary” - National Harbor’s version of Restaurant Week – runs from the 5th through the 12th this year. You will find prix fixe menus, classes and demonstrations from chefs and bartenders at locations throughout the Harbor. Check out the offerings at two of our very favorites –Bond 45 and Fiorella’s Italian Kitchen! February in the Harbor is pretty mellow but if you want to see what is happening, check out the Harbor Facebook page and the Gaylord National Facebook page as well as their websites to see what other interesting adventures you can get yourself into. The Capital Wheel always has a “Sweetheart” special so be sure to take advantage of the Wheel Love! Promo. For a mere $50 (regularly $62) you receive 2 tickets, 2 beverages from the Flight Deck – cocktails, mocktails, etc. – and 2 souvenir cups. This deal is available on Saturdays and Sundays only at the Flight Deck during operating hours through the 28th.

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