Old Town Crier- May 2017 Full Issue

Since 1988 • Priceless

May 2017

From the Bay to the Blue Ridge

Road Trip

NORTH TO FREDERICK Hip & Historic in Maryland Business Profile

SILVER PARROT Uniquely Sterling … Silver & Stones Chef Profile

BLUE & WHITE’S ALEX TRUITT Personality Profile

DAWN RICHARDSON A True Beach Babe

Across the Bridge

NATIONAL HARBOR ‘AWAKENS’

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may’17 A Division of Crier Media Group OTC Media LLC PO Box 320386 Alexandria, VA 22320 703. 836. 0132 office@oldtowncrier.com oldtowncrier.com

16 27

Published the first week of every month.

Worth waiting for!

PUBLISHER Bob Tagert

20

MARKETING & ADVERTISING Lani Gering Bob Tagert

A Bit of History................................................................ 8

Financial Focus.................................................................. 6

Open Space.....................................................................46

About the Cover............................................................. 1

First Blush.........................................................................42

Personality Profile.............................................................4

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Electronic Ink 9 Royal Street, SE Leesburg, VA 20175 703. 669. 5502

After Hours.......................................................................14

Fitness................................................................................40

Pets of the Month.........................................................17

Alexandria Events............................................................ 3

From the Bay….............................................................22

Points on Pets.................................................................16

Art & Antiques................................................................13

From the Trainer............................................................41

Publisher’s Notes.............................................................. 2

Behind the Bar................................................................30

Gallery Beat.....................................................................12

Road Trip...........................................................................20

CONTRIBUTORS Genevieve LeFranc Sarah Liu Jeff McCord Julie Reardon Ashley Schultz Chester Simpson Bob Tagert Carl Trevisan Ryan Unverzagt Lori Welch Brown Molly Winans

Business Profile................................................................. 5

Go Fish...............................................................................44

Social Media Message....................................................2

Caribbean Connection...............................................18

High Notes.......................................................................11

Spiritual Renaissance...................................................43

Chef’s Special .................................................................33

In Flanders Fields ..........................................................39

The Last Word.................................................................10

Civil Discourse................................................................... 9

Music Festivals ..............................................................14

The Memorial Day Poppy .........................................38

Dining Guide...................................................................32

National Harbor.............................................................47

To the Blue RIdge..........................................................25

Dining Out.......................................................................28

On the Road with OTC................................................... 1

Urban Garden.................................................................15

Exploring Virginia Wines............................................36

On Motherhood............................................................27

Virginia Wine Trails........................................................37

SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE Ashley Schultz

Chris Anderson Peggie Arvidson Sarah Becker F. Lennox Campello Steve Chaconas Doug Coleman Jimmy Deaton Doug Fabbioli Nicole Flanagan Lani Gering Rita Jacinto Miriam Kramer

© 2017 Crier Media Group, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The Old Town Crier is published monthly and distributed to select Alexandria residents, hotels, restaurants and retail shops. Also distributed in the Annapolis, Fredericksburg, Blue Ridge and Washington, DC areas and St. John, USVI.

on the road with OTC David and Laurie Norcross are long time readers and about the cover The raccoon’s scientific name, Procyon lotor, means “washer dog” although it is a closer relative to the bear. The word raccoon, derived from the Algonquin Indian word “arakun” means “scratches with hands.” Raccoons have a large array of vocalizations. They purr, whistle, growl, hiss, scream and even whinny. Its hands can unlace a shoe, unlatch a cage and deftly retrieve coins as thin as dimes from your shirt pocket. The raccoon has the ability to rotate its hind feet a full 180 degrees to climb down from trees head first. President Coolidge kept a raccoon named Rebecca as a pet!

OldTownCrier

fans of the Old Town Crier, and diligent about taking along an OTC on their travels. This month we are lucky to have photos from both sides of the Atlantic!

Laurie, left, in front of one of our favorite places in Williamsburg — Copper Fox Distillery — taken on the Norcross' first trek to Yorktown, Va.; and the Devon coast in the UK, above.

If you would like to see your picture here, take the OTC with you on your next trip, snap a high resolution photo and send it along with information for the caption to office@oldtowncrier.com. Happy Trails!

May 2017 | 1

LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

PUBLISHER’S NOTES

BOB TAGERT

A

OLD TOWN FARMERS MARKET

pril Showers Bring May Flowers! Even though the cherry blossoms took a beating this year, it appears that the much needed rain we got in the last days of April did, indeed, bring out the spring foliage in full force. Take a drive anywhere and check out the beautiful landscapes.

Speaking of which, this months’ Road Trip took us up to Frederick, Md. and the Frederick Craft Spirits Festival. There are some good brews cooking in our neighboring state. While there we decided to explore the little towns and the countryside.

We discovered the Thurmont Bar & Grill and the beautiful Springfield Manor … what a beautiful drive … check it out.

Doug Coleman’s Civil Discourse column reminds us that the remains of the Civil War are all around us waiting to go off and Sarah Becker’s A Bit of History keeps us steeped in local Alexandria history.

We celebrate Cinco de Mayo by featuring Los Tios in Del Ray in Dining Out and pay tribute to Mother’s Day and Memorial Day with pages dedicated to both. Flanders Fields is one of my favorite poems and holds a special place in my heart. We hope you enjoy both tributes. Lori Welch waxes poetic about some of the trials and tribulations of getting “older” in Open Space. This and much more await inside. Read on.

Here’s hoping you celebrate the month of May in a big way.

Treat yourself to a margarita, give your Mom a hug and pay tribute to our Veterans!

MARKET SQUARE • 301 KING ST SATURDAY 7 A.M. – NOON, YEAR ROUND Free parking in Market Square garage during market hours People who come to Alexandria on Saturday mornings find themselves in a busy plaza where local farmers and artists have been selling their products since 1753. Old Town Alexandria’s Market Square is thought to be one of the nation’s oldest continually operating farmers markets, serving as a primary source of meat, dairy, fish, fruits and vegetables for Alexandrians. George Washington sent his produce from Mount Vernon to be sold here.

Today, the market offers folks a way to reconnect to the past, while participating in an ongoing local and national tradition.

DEL RAY FARMERS MARKET CORNER OF E. OXFORD & MOUNT VERNON AVES SATURDAY 8 A.M. – NOON, YEAR ROUND The Del Ray Market is producer grown, with fresh vegetables and fruits in season. All year round, this market offers meats, eggs, fresh pasta and sauces, Amish cheese, yogurt, bakery goods, eggs, jams and jellies, fancy nuts and bakery goods.

NORTH MONTGOMERY PARK FARMERS MARKET NORTH MONTGOMERY PARK • 901 N. ROYAL ST THURSDAY 3 – 7 P.M., YEAR ROUND, WEATHER PERMITTING The market will feature local growers, bakers, and other area providers of wholesome foods including Twin Springs, Grace's Pastries, Bread & Water, and Relay Foods.

SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGE ASHLEY SCHULTZ

Incredible Facebook Stories We hear these incredible stories all the time because of social media. This month, we are going to highlight a couple that made headlines.

Caught at the Beach

Natalie Blanchard, a woman from Quebec, requested long-term sick leave due to a diagnosis of severe depression. This allowed her to be off work but still receive sick leave benefits every month from her employer. However, Facebook pictures appeared of Natalie frolicking on the beach, enjoying a Chippendale’s show and her birthday party, clearly not looking depressed.

Her employer caught wind of these pictures, assumed she was no longer depressed, and canceled her benefits.

Who’s depressed now? Back to the

2 | May 2017

Chippendale’s show!

Famous in the Czech Republic

A Missouri family had an unexpected surprise when their family Christmas photo ended up somewhere other than their living room. A college friend of the family spotted them in a huge ad at a food store in Prague, Czech Republic. The owner of the store claimed he just found it on the Internet and had no idea it was a real family! So who knows — you might be famous in China!

“Where’s My Pancakes?”

Rescued by a status update.

Rodney Bradford, 19, would never have thought that his affinity for pancakes would become his passport to freedom. On Saturday, October

17 at 11:49 a.m. from his father’s apartment in Harlem, he posted, “Where’s my pancakes.” The next day, Rodney was arrested as a suspect in a robbery. His defense lawyer used the Facebook entry, which was made at the time of the robbery, as his alibi.

This was later checked by the district attorney, who dropped the charges as soon as the Facebook alibi was confirmed. So keep posting those food pix — they could keep you out of the slammer!

how much they had in common, how much they actually looked alike, and finally how they were both conceived from a sperm donor. They did some more research and found out they were both conceived from the same donor, making them half sisters!

Anyone see the movie Delivery Man?

Family Reunion

Ashley Schultz holds a Master’s in Public Relations from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla. You will find her social media pages filled with her three cats: Jesse, Walter, and Hank and of course any viral cat video!

Two college girls met on Facebook and realized they were both going to attend Tulane University. When the first semester of freshman year arrived, they arranged to meet. When they did, they were surprised about

Who knows — maybe one day one of your posts will develop into an incredible story that will be shared with the world!

OldTownCrier

Alexandria MAY TOURS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS

Historic Alexandria Attics and Alleys Tours Saturdays in May 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Admission: $35; advanced reservations required; Departs from Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco St. or Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal St.; 703-746-4242 alexandriava.gov/gadsbystavern The curious are invited to visit rarely seen spaces at four of Alexandria’s historic sites on this special three-hour walking tour of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden and Carlyle House Historic Park. Tickets can be reserved online at www.Shop.

Alexandria.gov.

Spring MERCY STREETinspired Tours, Exhibits, Events Ongoing; Admission: Varies depending on the activity; Various locations throughout Alexandria visitalexandriava.com/mercystreet Fans of the PBS Civil War-era drama Mercy Street are invited to learn about the real sites and stories that inspired the show with spring tours, exhibits and events in historic Alexandria, Virginia, including a new exhibit of costumes from the show plus 12 tours inspired by the series.

From walking tours of the city to in-depth tours of historic sites to special events that focus on Civil War-era cultural customs including fashion, food, and music, fans will uncover the real people behind the characters on the show, the realities of Civil War medicine, the changing roles for women, and the breakthrough experience of enslaved AfricanAmericans claiming their freedom.

MORE SPRING EVENTS & TOURS Alexandria Symphony Orchestra May 20 at 8 p.m.

Admission: $5/youth 18 & under; $10/student with ID; $20-$80/adult Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center, 4915 E. Campus Lane, Alexandria, VA 703-548-0885; www.AlexSym.org The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra will feature two spring concerts this year. Bernstein features the Choral Arts Society of Washington and Artistic Director Scott Tucker weaving an evening of masterworks with the Choral OldTownCrier

Arts Chamber Singers. One of his finest liturgal works, written for “troubled times,” Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass triumphantly marries the chorus and orchestra.

Also on the program: Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Brahms’ Nanie and Variations on a Theme by Haydn. In New World Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap conductor Emil de Cou presents Dvorak’s epic Symphony No. 9 (From the New World). Written as both a tribute to his immigrant roots and his adopted homeland, this American-inspired work borrows from Native American song, African-American spirituals, Scottish melodies and Dvorak’s own Czech folk traditions.

Free Mother’s Day Tours May 14 various times Admission: free for mothers; $5 for all other adults; $3 children ages 5-12 Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, 105 S. Fairfax St. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum 134 N. Royal St. Friendship Firehouse Museum 107 S. Alfred St. www.alexandriava.gov The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (1-5 p.m.), Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (1-5 p.m.) and the Friendship Firehouse Museum (1-4 p.m.) are pleased to offer free tours on Mother’s Day for all visiting mothers!

Mother’s Day Tea at Carlyle House May 14, 2017; seatings at noon and 3 p.m. Admission: $40 Carlyle House Historic Park 121 N. Fairfax St. 703-549-2997 www.carlylehouse.org Treat that special woman in your life to an elegant tea and tour of Carlyle House, the most historic house in Old Town Alexandria and the site of MERCY STREET’s Mansion House Hospital. Relax in the beautiful garden setting of our Magnolia Terrace while enjoying the fun and educational program “Language of the Fan.” Experience personalized table-side service and scrumptious food catered

by Calling Card Events for an unforgettable day. There are two seatings: 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Find more events at visitalexandriava.com/spring.

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May 2017 | 3

PERSONALITY PROFILE

BOB TAGERT

Dawn and her husband Eddie

O

ne of the great things about owning this publication for thirty years is the chance to meet and write about the fascinating people who live in this region. Such is this month’s personality profile…Dawn Richardson. Dawn was born and raised in North Beach and currently lives in Chesapeake Beach – the Twin Beach to North Beach. She is among the 4th generation in her family that has remained at the Beach. Her family still maintains a true beach cottage on the water after all of these years. Lucky girl, lucky town.

motorcycle groups in the early 70’s.

The economy was slow but it was home to her and her friends. Dawn attended Beach Elementary School in nearby Chesapeake Beach, Northern Middle School and graduated from Northern High School in Owings, Maryland. “Everyone knew everyone and we would look out for each other, that is what it was like growing up here. Sometimes I wish it was like that now,” she remembers.

Right out of high school she was hired by an environmental firm in Annapolis and began taking night courses at a local community college.

Dawn Richardson A True Beach Babe

Pete, the family dog

Dawn with friends in Ocean City

4 | May 2017

Before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952, Washingtonians would escape the bustle of the city by taking the train to North Beach and Chesapeake Beach to get out of the summer heat to sit on the beach, play the slot machines and enjoy everything this beachside area offered.

However, when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened up, the Atlantic Ocean became the desired destination and the beaches along the Chesapeake began to suffer the economic loss. The landscape in North Beach changed a bit after that.

Born in 1972, Dawn’s hometown had become a destination for

She advanced with the company earning a promotion to Business Development Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Although she enjoyed her job, the commute was beginning to take its toll and she chose to take a job closer to home, and in 1990 her life began to change.

The revitalization of North Beach had begun in the 1980’s and escalated in the 1990’s. Dawn was happy back home and enjoyed socializing with her many friends. “I sort of spent those days partying and trying to avoid the police,” she tells me, and then I met Eddie.” Ironically, Eddie was a State Trooper Dawn she met in 1990 and

in 1994 they were married. Their first child Jacob, was born in 1998 and daughter Josie in 2000. They bought a house one block from where she grew up. Dawn was a stay at home mom for the next ten years while doing some part time work and some volunteer work for the town and its new Mayor Mark Frazer.

In 2003 Tropical Storm Isabel destroyed many of the waterfront homes and the boardwalk. The storm also destroyed some vacant and decaying buildings that would have taken years to remove by conventional means. The storm accelerated the revitalization of North Beach.

Since then, the waterfront has been rebuilt with multi-story homes, a condominium and one of the best boardwalks and beach on the western side of the Bay. With her children now in school Dawn had time to return to the work force and what better opportunity than to work for the town where she was born and help market its many new amenities to the region. She was offered the position of Marketing Administrator

by Mayor Frazer and the deal was completed in 2011. This certainly was the right person for the right job and the beach bunny was home at last. She has excelled in this position and is an intregal part of the community.

Dawn loves the water and the beach. She spends a good portion of her leisure time near both. She has a core group of girlfriends, some of whom are grade school pals, that PERSONALITY PROFILE > PAGE 24

OldTownCrier

BUSINESS PROFILE

LANI GERING

SILVER PARROT Uniquely Sterling Silver & Stones The Silver Parrot Jewelry Boutique, located in the coveted 100 block of King Street, has been a fixture in Alexandria since it was established in 1977. This unique business came from humble beginnings, with the founder starting out as a street vendor in Washington, D.C. Now forty years later, the Silver Parrot is not only well established, but also well-known as a shopping destination for locals and visitors alike.

for themselves, Holly has kept her position in the corporate world and Pat has taken on the role of proprietor.

They are looking forward to the boost in the economy that the waterfront rehabilitation will bring in the very near future and to the day when they can both spend their time at the store.

Their unique pieces and personalized service are what set the Silver Parrot apart from other boutique jewelry stores. Patrick ensures that the shelves at the Silver Parrot are stocked to satisfy every style and budget. The wide selection of jewelry is handcrafted by over 100 different designers, and comes from a variety of 20 or so countries including Indonesia, Nepal, Mexico, Turkey, China, India, the Native American Nations, and the United States. The variety of gem stone pieces here is very impressive as well.

I am a big fan of turquoise and pieces with a Southwestern flair and this store has a fantastic selection. We will let the photos on this page tell the story.

It is no secret that the Silver Parrot has a loyal following in Old Town.

Perhaps the greatest attributor to this is the shopping experience itself. Patrick and his staff know their customers by name, and make the Silver Parrot a destination for any occasion. I have been a loyal customer of Silver Parrot and have been the lucky recipient of several beautiful pieces from friends who have been regular customers for decades. It is refreshing to be in such an inviting SILVER PARROT environment with a true 113 King Street neighborhood feel. This Old Town Alexandria “mom and pop shop” 703.549.8530 Sales associate Lisa Wilhite puts their customers silverparrot.com modeling a gorgeous gemmed first and continue to bib necklace. contribute to King I had the pleasure of meeting the Street’s charm. current owner of the Silver Parrot, So, whether you are seeking a gift Patrick Dunn. Before buying this for someone special or a special gift jewelry boutique in 2006, Patrick for yourself, the Silver Parrot is ready worked in software development. to help you in your search. Be sure He and his wife, Holly, had always to visit the store, the website, or their planned to be business owners, and Facebook page to learn more! were inspired when they learned that the Silver Parrot was on the Publisher’s note: Special thanks to market. While they found this was the Elizabeth Jones for her research and perfect opportunity to be in business input for this profile.

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 5

FINANCIAL FOCUS

CARL TREVISAN, CFP© & STEPHEN BEARCE

Planning for Incapacity: Four Essential Documents

P

reparing for worstcase scenarios brings peace of mind during the best of times.

Here’s why.

Tom was a healthy 43-yearold approaching the height of his earning power and living the happiest days of his life. He had a great job that fulfilled him, a loving wife, and he was a scratch golfer to boot. Life was good.

One day, as Tom was walking through an airport in Denver, his coworker noticed Tom was weaving as he walked and slurring as he spoke. They were on their way to a business meeting when Tom collapsed and had a massive stroke that no one — including Tom or his doctors

— ever saw coming.

Did you know that nearly 41% of long-term care services provided in the United States go to people under the age of 65?* Everyone needs to plan ahead for such a risk of becoming incapacitated. And if you have a spouse or partner, you need to plan together. We all anticipate mental and physical decline when we’re much older, but anything can happen in the blink of an eye long before we reach old age.

No one wants to think about it, but the smartest of us knows preparation beats denial every time.

Here are four essential documents you should have in place today and that you and

your spouse or partner should review at least annually:

Durable Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney gives the person that you designate the authority to handle your financial affairs.

It’s valid immediately after you sign it and will continue to be effective if you become incapacitated. It can provide some, but not all, of the benefits of a revocable living trust.

it, but the smartes of us knows preparation beats denial every time.

Healthcare Power of Attorney

A healthcare power of attorney designates a trusted relative or friend to make decisions regarding your medical care if you are incapacitated and unable to make such decisions yourself.

Our goal is to make a difference in each member’s life.

Experience the Signature difference We’re here for you and your family through every life stage with accounts for every generation. We invite you to join our family and see how we can make a difference in your financial life.

Join today at bit.ly/signaturefcu-apply-now (use promo code OTC2017), and visit www.signaturefcu.org/products to view all our products. You can also contact us at (800) 336.0284 to speak with a member care team representative.

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No one wants to think about

Living Will

A living will provides direction to your physician regarding your wishes as to whether or not you want to be kept artificially alive with medical treatment if there is no reasonable chance that you will recover.

A Will

In the event of your death, a will provides the security of knowing that you have left behind a plan for the distribution of your assets. It’s also often used to nominate an individual to serve as guardian of surviving minor children.

Talk to your financial advisor about who you need to work with to create or update your four essential documents.

In addition, you can discuss your entire estate planning strategy and learn about ways we can help make sure your assets end up where and with

whom you want them.

Our firm does not provide tax or legal advice. However, we would be happy to work with your chosen legal and tax advisors to create a strategy that’s right for you. 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 President- Investments in Alexandria, VA at 800-2478602. Investments in securities and insurance products are: NOT FDIC-INSURED/NOT BANK-GUARANTEED/MAY LOSE VALUE. Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. © 2016 Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. All rights reserved. 111504020 [99585-v1BDC]

* Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project, 2013

6 | May 2017

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Check us out online at oldtowncrier.com or on Facebook at Old Town Crier Regional Magazine May 2017 | 7

A BIT OF HISTORY

SARAH BECKER©

Andrew Adkins

A

Andrew Adkins in 1967, above, and today.

8 | May 2017

lexandria’s Redevelopment and Housing Authority [ARHA] follows the money. Least cost analysis has replaced

cost beneficial. Lesser payments are negotiated in lieu of property taxes [PILT]. Soft loans include below market interest rates and subsidies, to the extent they are acknowledged, are

non-neutral. Opportunity costs, lost opportunity costs especially are not calculated.

After 50 years, beginning December 2016 ARHA’s Andrew Adkins public housing project starts anew. Crime is problematic, the black middle class has bolted and concentrations of poverty remain. The multi-block parcel has been segregated since 1877.

In 1967 President Lyndon Johnson’s open housing law, a law to prohibit discrimination in the sale and rental of housing, struggled. It died in the U.S. Senate in 1966 then suffered a second Congressional defeat in 1967. In the meantime ARHA, which had obtained funding “for 225 highly disputed public housing units,” completed its 90-unit rental project.

The $1.6 million Andrew Adkins

project, which opened in June 1967, was “believed to be the first colonialstyle public housing project in the nation.” Architects “avoid[ed] the usual of drab, barracks-like row houses.”

Why? City Council thought public housing “a bitter point.”

“The location was…approved…after a series of heated public hearings,” The Washington Post wrote in 1962. “The leading objectors were representatives of the Durant Civic Association, the city’s major Negro organization. They complained that the site includes a number of Negro-owned or Negrooccupied homes which will be leveled.”

“The association [President A. Melvin Miller] particularly objected because of the availability there of vacant land for private Negro housing,” The Post continued. “This is one place open to Negroes for building...”

Enter black Alexandria homeowner Otto L. Tucker. Tucker, an attorney, and his brother Samuel W. dedicated their lives to eliminating racism. Their motivation: racial injustice, massive resistance, and bullying especially Byrd relative and Alexandria resident James M. Thomson, Democratic Floor Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates. Thomson, a Southern Democrat, wanted the lawyers Tucker and related civil rights types disbarred; in 1957 and after.

“The southern attitude toward the Negro provides the bedrock of southern sectionalism,” V.O. Key, Jr. wrote.

“Democratic Congressman Howard W. Smith, of Alexandria, was even more extreme than Virginia Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd.” Smith served as chairman of the House Rules Committee and leader of the “hard-shelled Southern Democrats.”

In January 1964 Otto L. Tucker “challenged the city’s right to condemn land [a house and two lots] he owns for a public housing project, claiming that the site for the project was picked because its inhabitants [20 families] were Negroes.”

ARHA declared lawyer Tucker’s racist assertions “irrelevant and immaterial to the proper issues involved...”

A BIT OF HISTORY > PAGE 24

OldTownCrier

CIVIL DISCOURSE

DOUG COLEMAN

Don’t Hit It with a Hammer

M

any years ago I read the memoirs of a soldier stationed at Fort Worth. He talks about artillery practice and describes the rounds whistling over the Valley of Hunting Creek to land harmlessly in some farmer’s field in Franconia. He could not have known of Samuel and Thomas Pulman, ages 9 and 13, who became the first burials in Sharon Chapel’s graveyard when a shell they found near there went off in August 1861.

When the Yankees abandoned Fort Worth four years later, they left plenty of ordnance behind in the north powder magazine. When Colonel Herbert reclaimed his land, he sensibly incorporated the south magazine (or at least its stones) into his new house (the Yankees tore down the old one and incorporated the materials into the fort). Herbert blocked the stairwell of the north magazine with large chunks of concrete (likely from the 100 pounder emplacement near his new home), sealing the explosive ordnance up forever. Forever ended in the late ‘70s when one of Pulte’s bulldozers broke through the magazine and exposed the shells, mostly 24 pounders and 4.5 inch Schenkls, if I recall correctly. The bomb squad from Fort Belvoir removed most of them without incident. Graybeards with metal detectors got the ones the bomb squad missed. Maybe.

Civil War ordnance continues to kill people. In February of 2008, Sam White of Chesterfield had a bad outcome with a 75 pound naval shell. He was an expert in disarming Civil War ordnance, having disarmed about 1600 over his career - he had another 18 lined up for decommission that afternoon. The blast killed him, left a crater in his driveway and sent shrapnel into his house and others up to a mile away. Although this is speculation on my part, the navy used guncotton (a nitrocellulose explosive about five times more powerful than black powder) as a filler for some of its larger shells. The potassium nitrate in

OldTownCrier

black powder deteriorates over time, such that it will no longer burn or will burn relatively slowly rather than exploding. Guncotton was always relatively unstable, which is why the armies did not use it - if not properly stabilized, it can go off spontaneously.

I also heard a story of a couple near Petersburg who found a couple of 100 pounders and thought they would make great andirons. They made a fire in the fireplace and went for a walk.

When they came back, their house was a mess. I suspect that this story is apocryphal, as no one could possibly be that stupid and live to adulthood.

There are undoubtedly thousands of unexploded shells littering Virginia.

Fortunately we are not like France, where shells left over from the First World War are filled with high explosives instead of black powder.

Hundreds of Frenchmen have died since the war and each year the “iron harvest” keeps producing live ones.

There were several battles within Washington’s suburbs - at Manassas, Chantilly, Vienna, and Fort Stevens.

Around Washington, there were also plenty of forts and batteries whose target practice left duds in farmer’s fields. Those battlefields and farmer’s fields are now subdivisions.

If you do uncover an old cannonball or projectile for a rifled gun, it is good to treat it with respect.

Notwithstanding that it is unlikely to go off, one should always assume the power is still fresh and ready to go bang. Solid shot is obviously not dangerous at all. Canister (lead or iron balls packed in sawdust in a tin can) is similarly harmless. A round ball with a circular copper fuse signifies that you are dealing with either case shot filled with lead balls and a small bursting charge or a shell filled with powder.

Any elongated projectile should be presumed to have a bursting charge in it. If you call the police or bomb squad, you will likely never see your prize again, as their protocol favors carrying off the round to be destroyed with their own explosive charge in a safe place. Personally, I would call someone like Harry Ridgeway, a relic

Spherical Shell

Spherical Case Shot

Rifled Shell

Rifled Case Shot

specialist in Winchester, and ask him to safe it for me. But that’s me — I’m old and don’t have a lot to lose. For an idea of what these projectiles look like, take a look at Mr. Ridgeway’s website, http://www.relicman.com/artillery/ A1%20Relicman%20Sales%20 Artillery1.html.

In the interim, don’t hit it with a hammer …

Sources

Illustration from United States Army Center of Military History - Ballard, Ted, and Billy Arthur, Chancellorsville Staff Ride: Briefing Book. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 2002. OCLC 50210531.

Doug Coleman is an attorney and amateur historian in Alexandria; comments and corrections are welcome at dcoleman@coleman-lawyers.com.

May 2017 | 9

THE LAST WORD

MIRIAM R. KRAMER

The Girl Before, The Girl After

E

very month I hopscotch across diverse genres to find the books I review.

I gravitate towards psychological thrillers, preferably set in the United Kingdom or Ireland with a dark, chilly edge. J.P. Delaney’s The Girl Before fit that bill, so I dove into it recently on a rainy night. Buzzfeed culture writer Scaachi Koul’s One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter also attracted me because I crave sarcastic, funny essays of any kind, particularly if they enrich my perspectives on contemporary pop culture.

In The Girl Before, two

troubled women speak of looking for London lodging after personal trauma.

Emma, the one before, has been robbed in the flat she shares with her boyfriend Simon. Years later, Jane is recovering from bearing a stillborn baby. Both are looking for a fresh start somewhere else to lick their wounds. Edward Monkford, a prize-winning architect, is offering his minimalist London masterpiece for the price of a moderate apartment to a handpicked tenant. Applicants for One Folgate Street must pass a test and an interview to live in an exquisitely calibrated

MYSTERY READING AT ITS BEST

by Virginia author Jeffrey Roswell McCord

CARIBBEAN MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE A dead Marine washed ashore on a Caribbean island leads investigators to otherworldly perpetrators in historic pirate waters and high level abuses in Washington. An intrepid maritime historian working the case for U.S. Naval Intelligence discovers a 60-year record of extraterrestrial activity in the Caribbean basin. History and national security politics meet science fiction in this mystery based on exhaustive factual research and informed conjecture.

CARIBBEAN hISToRY AND ADvENTURE Where did the villain General Santa Anna of Alamo infamy retire? Is time travel possible?

What was it like on the ground in the worst hurricane of the 19th century? Can a band of rogue sailors from Coral Bay, St. John, defeat ruthless corporate mercenaries? These questions and more are answered in Jeffrey Roswell McCord’s new fact-based novel “Santa Anna’s Gold in a Pirate Sea.”

Available from Amazon or as a Kindle download

10 | May 2017

home with pale stone walls, a Buddhist-inspired garden, high ceilings, and iconic modern furnishings. In this house technology works with physical design to create atmosphere and mood with temperature, light, and even water temperature tuned to a tenant’s rhythms.

When chosen, both Emma and her boyfriend in the past and Jane in the present must decide whether to pay a personal price on top of the low rent. In taking the architect’s psychometric test, they must address statements such as “Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life” or “When I’m working on something, I can’t relax until it’s perfect: Agree or Disagree.”

Monkford’s lengthy contract also contains a stringent set of requirements allowing the architect complete control of this experiment in living: no clutter, very few personal objects allowed, an ability to examine monitored and aggregated data collected from occupants, and the time to show the house to budding architects once a month. In return, first Emma and then Jane have the chance to dump their emotional baggage in a cool, womb-like dwelling free of attachments, a detached domain where they can rebuild their lives.

Under Monkford’s control, “domain” does seem the correct way to describe his mental place in physical and cyber space. At different times, both women choose to live within this computercontrolled design of his choosing, where they are carefully, scientifically monitored in a refuge or a cage, depending on the character’s developing point of view.

From this point on The Girl Before unfortunately

disintegrates into a mishmash of narrative and genre clichés, starring underdeveloped characters that undermine this intriguing premise. I wish I could have read a similar novel by cyberpunk author William Gibson, who masterfully writes enigmatic characters enmeshed with accelerating technology and design.

While still possessing scope for thought, this book ends up trying too hard to achieve commercial success and go in too many directions. After Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl or Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, publishers seem to want to replicate that success by slapping similar names on bestsellers-to-be. Ron Howard will direct a film based on this novel. I hope that with careful editing and good actors he will find a way to take the idea and make it a much better movie.

Unlike the characters in The Girl Before, I suspect Scaachi Koul would call herself a woman, not a girl.

She examines her own past and present in One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. Her book is a humorous, brash look at popular culture through a minority millennial lens.

With approaches that range between mordantly funny, vulnerable, angry, and sad, Koul examines racism and sexism in both Canada and India. As a child born to two first-generation immigrants from the Indian state of

Jammu and Kashmir, she quips that her parents moved to “a land of ice and casual racism.” Young, liberal, and motivated to create progress, Koul writes about a Canada she finds less multicultural than it seems to the world.

She also speaks of feeling torn between the restrictive values of her loving parents, in particular her hilarious, existentially depressed dad, and her life as a native English-speaking Canadian born in the suburbs of Calgary, Alberta.

Her quirky, neurotic parents wrap their lives tightly around family, having uprooted themselves from India in the late 1970s. The past recedes from them in romantic memories as relatives pass away so very far away. Koul herself depicts a few highly colored memories of previous trips to India and her own worries for her biracial niece, who will not have even the ties she has. While very different in tone, Koul’s writings about her family reminded me to some extent of Jhumpa Lahiri’s beautifully written tales about the educated Indian immigrant experience in New England.

Initially inspired by David Sedaris, Koul is more free-form and very direct. Her writing is less spare and polished than his earlier works like Me Talk Pretty One Day. She is most powerful when discussing the intersections between feminism, sexism, multiculturalism, and social media. When she speaks of her own experience being roofied, she also talks about being surveilled in bars and at parties by men assessing women as increasingly easy lays in an inebriated setup for rape culture. As she trenchantly notes, “When a guy asks to buy you a drink, THE LAST WORD > PAGE 11

OldTownCrier

HIGH NOTES

O

ne thing we’ve learned over the last thirtyodd years is that Guided By Voices is whatever Robert Pollard says it is. His songs dominate…hell, they monopolize the band’s catalog and he is exactly where the buck stops. This band is his trip, and that’s the way it should be. During GbV’s initial 19862004 run, we saw Bob sack entire lineups in favor of new ones, countless musicians passing through the ranks.

2012 saw the return of the “classic” early 90’s lineup, and they recorded six albums before Bob put it to rest again two years later.

In 2016, Bob again revived the GbV moniker on Please Be Honest, an album that saw him perform all of the instruments himself, proving once and for all that he is Guided By Voices.

However, while he was doing that he formed an all-new GbV that featured a couple of veterans (guitarist Doug Gillard and drummer Kevin March) as well as newcomers Mark Shue (bass) and Bobby Bare Jr on guitar. A new album was inevitable.

Of course it was. With Bob, there’s always gonna be an album. Several every year, in fact. Under a variety of names. In addition to solo and GbV albums, he has vast discographies with bands such as Ricked Wicky, Boston Spaceships, and Circus Devils, as well as dozens of offshoot bands like The Takeovers, ESP Ohio, Teenage Guitar, and Psycho & The Birds, just to name a few. And they are all important pieces of the puzzle. Trust me, being a fan is expensive…but worth it.

August By Cake is Robert Pollard’s 100th album (or so he says – who am I to argue). So it stands to reason that this should be monumental. And monumental it is. Like the White Album, this is a sprawling double set that covers a fair bit of ground, sometimes stumbles, sometimes

THE LAST WORD FROM PAGE 10

suggest he buy you a snack instead and see how that goes over.” Koul also thoughtfully discusses the unfiltered viciousness of people criticizing one another on social media, and what fuels such attacks.

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shines, and is often quite visionary.

Like a Typical GBV Album, but Much Bigger

What is interesting, however, is that, for the first time ever, the songs are split among the entire band. Sure, whenever Tobin Sprout is in the band, his songs make it to GbV albums, but he’s the only one. On this album, everyone contributes at least two songs. It’s a cool move on Bob’s part, especially since theirs are some of the best.

Kicking off with Bob’s majestic “5° On The Inside”, it’s clear this band means business. Pollard’s contributions run the gamut from brilliant pop-rock (“Hiking Skin” and “Cheap Buttons”) to lo-fi drunkenness (“Fever Pitch”) and some dark, weird pastures in between (“Generox Gray”, the proggy “West Coast Company Man”). This is cleverly broken up by the other guys’ songs, and that just further elevates this experience.

Side one features Doug Gillard’s “Goodbye Note” which brings back fond memories of the 90’s, while Mark Shue’s “Absent The Man” makes me think of the mid-80’s indie scene.

Along with the aforementioned album opener, Bob’s “When We All Hold Hands At The End Of The World” is one of the best songs on this slab of wax. Other songs, however, such as “We Liken The Sun” and “Fever Pitch” merely pad out the double album and would probably have otherwise been issued as b-sides.

Side two spotlights Kevin March on the outstanding “Overloaded” (a single if there should be one) and Mark Shue hits paydirt on the shimmering “Sudden Fiction”. Bob shines on “Keep Me Down”, chills out on the side-opener “What Begins On New Year’s Day”, frustrates on the too-short “Hiking Skin”, and confounds on “West Coast Company Man”. Bobby Bare Jr was already a very accomplished solo artist prior to As a Generation X reader who thinks people should be whacked with their selfie sticks, I had difficulty with a raunchy Lena Dunhamesque selfabsorption that occasionally pops in and out of Koul’s writing. Even when she writes about her alcoholic former friend while attempting her own Dry

GUIDED BY

VOICES

AUGUST

BY CAKE

joining GbV and it stands to reason that he’ll save his best material for his main gig. But his two contributions — “High Five Hall Of Famers” and “Upon The Circus Bus” — fit in quite perfectly.

With so many albums always in the works, it can be tough to sort out which songs belong to which albums.

Bob gathers songs from all across his psyche and that sometimes that results in unconventional representations.

Such as the mini rock-opera, “Substitute 11”, which should have January cleanse, it’s unclear whether she, at 26, sees her own normalized tendency towards binge drinking with friends and colleagues as just a fact or a problem as well. She reminds me of what it was like to be in my 20s, still close enough to college for it not to have receded completely in the

CHRIS ANDERSON

gone on a Circus Devils album, but it can still sit beautifully next to songs like “Cheap Buttons”, with its epic refrain — “10 billion Ringo fans can’t be wrong”, and the propulsive sidethree opener, “It’s Food”. “Chew The Sand”, courtesy of Mark Shue is one of the few instrumentals to ever grace a GbV album. And it’s a good one.

Doug Gillard’ offers his delightfully odd “Deflect/Project”, which segues into Bobby Bare Jr’s “Upon The Circus Bus”, closing out the side on a bit of a trip.

Side four is dominated by Bob; the lone exception being Kevin March’s “Sentimental Wars”, a really pretty little song that calls to mind Tobin Sprout’s past contributions. The side kicks off with “Try It Out (it’s nothing)” which would have fit on one of the band’s 80’s albums. Elsewhere, Bob conjures the Isolation Drills-era on “Circus Day Hold Out” and “Amusement Park Is Over”, delivers one of his finer acoustic songs in “Whole Tomatoes”, summons the spirit of Jandek on “Golden Doors”, gets downright odd on ’The Possible Edge”, and then closes out the album on a spark of power-pop glory called “Escape To Phoenix”.

August By Cake is being hailed as a masterpiece and while I’m not sure of that just yet, I will say that it is good.

Really good. There are times when I wish that Bob would save more of his top-shelf material for GbV but the variety of songs he brings keeps it fresh. And the democratic thing was cool, though apparently the next album is already finished and it’s all Bob songs.

When you have 100 albums, it’s important to make ones that stand out, from time to time. For every reason above, and so many more, this is an album that stands out, and probably always will.

Monumental …the club is open … here’s to 100 more! rearview mirror while staying up-todate with pop culture and making the world my own.

Scaachi Koul’s One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter offers a fresh, sarcastic perspective that punched me with humor and pain. I look forward to reading her again.

May 2017 | 11

GALLERY BEAT

LENNY T his month we decided we wanted to let our readers know just who F. Lennox Campello is and what better space to do that in than his column. Lenny has been writing Gallery Beat without fail for the Old Town Crier since 1996. We have been very fortunate to have him among our list of regular contributors for over 20 years.

In 2016 The Washington City Paper called him “one of the most interesting people around Washington, DC.” DC area resident and widely acclaimed artist F. Lennox Campello will be having his first area solo art show in over 8 years this coming June at Rockville’s Artists & Makers Studios’

12 | May 2017

Main Gallery. The often controversial artist has been a DC area resident since 1992, when he was stationed as a Naval Officer in Crystal City. He is considered by many around the region to be one of the best-known capital area artists.

“Washington without Lenny is like a martini without an olive,” once said Jack Rasmussen, the director of American University’s Katzen Art Museum.

The Cuban-born Campello, who is also the author of the sometimes controversial “100 Artists of Washington, DC” book (published in 2011 by Schiffer Press), and who writes a monthly column for the Crier Media newspapers, and publishes also

the highly popular and seminal “DC Art News” blog, is a well-known Mid Atlantic artist, art critic and writer, as well as being often heard on NPR discussing local and international art issues.

“For the last decade or so, most of my work has been exhibited mostly in national and international art fairs,” he notes. “It is great for showing and placing artwork all over the planet and expanding your audiences, but it also makes it hard to ‘accumulate’ enough work to do a solo show,” he concludes.

For this solo show Campello has created several new multimedia pieces, a novel approach that he has been refining over the last decade, where GALLERY BEAT > PAGE 13

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traditional narrative drawing is married with at first sight. This large, spectacular painting embedded electronic components such as swallowed my visual senses and attention, and video, narrative sound and music. hypnotized me as no work of art would do In “Cuban by ancestry but American by the again until I saw Velasquez’s Las Meninas at the Grace of God”, Campello flexes his artistic Prado in Madrid eight years later. For his solo muscles and social commentary skills in a show he returns to that favorite obsession with biographical work that showcases a charcoal dozens of new works, including several novel and conte self-portrait of the artist in the 3D pieces on broken unfired bisque. present, holding a frame where family videos Campello was born in Santiago, Cuba and and digital images are narrated by the artist studied art at the University of Washington documenting his arrival as a child (together School of Art in Seattle, Washington from with his political refugee parents) to the United which he graduated in 1981. While there States. To the left of the piece, Campello has Campello helped to create the Arts NW depicted himself as a small child, running in Student Gallery in Seattle, the area’s first art his grandfather’s confiscated gallery focused on student farm in Cuba. It is a artwork. In the same year ARTISTS AND MAKERS powerful piece that expands that he graduated from STUDIOS 2 the field of narrative artwork Washington, he won the MAIN GALLERY to a new, cutting edge William Whipple National 12276 Wilkins Avenue contemporary dimension.

Art Competition First Prize Rockville, Maryland “It has almost everything for Printmaking, the silver O: 240-437-9573 that I love in it,” he notes. medal at the Ligoa Duncan M: 240-481-5034 “There’s history, art, family, Art Competition in Paris artistsandmakersstudios.com service to the country and the French “Prix de and community, more Peinture de Raymond family.” Campello’s parents Duncan,” also in Paris. migrated to the US in the 1960s as part of the Subsequently commissioned as an officer in US government’s “Freedom Flights” program the US Navy, Campello then lived in Spain, that allowed Cuban political refugee families Scotland, Italy and the Middle East before to leave the island and migrate to the United returning to the US. States.

In addition to numerous galleries, his work In what has become a tradition for Campello has been exhibited at the McManus Museum drawings, the former U.S. Navy officer cleverly in Scotland, the Brusque Museum in Brazil, uses the”cracks” on the background wall of the the San Bernardino County Art Museum in piece to employ the Navy’s legendary Falcon California, the Musee des Duncan in France, Codes as the first encryptor to double encrypt the Frick Museum in Ohio, the Meadows a background message using Celtic ogham as Museum of Art in Shreveport, Louisiana, the the second encryption method. He won’t reveal Hunter Museum in Tennessee, the Sacramento what the message is.

Fine Arts Center in California, The Art League The Washington Post also once described in Alexandria, The Museum of Contemporary Campello as a “Kahlophile since age 17”, in Art in DC, the Rock Springs Art Center in noting the artist’s obsession with iconic Mexican Wyoming, the Museum of Contemporary Art painter Frida Kahlo. As a 19-year-old Campello in Boulder, Colorado, the Popov Museum in visited Mexico City and discovered the works Russia, the Museum of Small Art in Malaysia, of Kahlo. Almost immediately, he developed an the Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the University artistic obsession with Kahlo’s image and began of Oregon, and the Katzen Museum at to create what by now adds up to hundreds of American University. works on that uni-browed subject.

The opening reception will be Friday, June “I remember walking into the museum 2, 2017 from 6 to 9pm, and the exhibition salon where the Two Fridas painting hung,” he runs through June 2. It is free and open to the recalls. “It was love, or more like witchcraft, public.

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The Batman Brooding From the Naked Superheroes series Charcoal on Paper, 20x16 inches ©2015 F. Lennox Campello Represented by Alida Anderson Art Projects, LLC Washington, DC For more information or images of other works from the Naked Superheroes series, email us at info@alidaanderson.com

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May 2017 | 13

music festivals 1' 7 AFTER HOURS Birchmere 703.549.7500 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave. birchmere.com The Blackwall Hitch 571-982-3577 5 Cameron St. theblackwallhitch.com Carlyle Club 411 John Carlyle Dr. 703-549-8957 thecarlyleclub.com Chadwicks 203 S. Strand St. 703.836.4442 Evening Star Cafe 703.549.5051 2000 Mt. Vernon Ave.

14 | May 2017

The Fish Market 703.836.5676 105 King St. fishmarketoldtown.com King Street Blues 703.836.8800 112 N. St. Asaph St. La Portas 703.683.6313 1600 Duke St. Las Tapas 703.836.4000 710-714 King St. lastapas.us The Light Horse 703.549.0533 715 King St. lighthorserestaurant.com

If you like music and the outdoors, these festivals are the best for you, your family and friends to attend. Come for the day or camp the weekend. Support local and international artists performing around our area.

May 4-7 Sleepy Creek Spring Dig 2017 Berkeley Springs, WV sleepycreekpresents.com/ springdig May 12-14 Circa Blue Fest Camping, Bluegrass & BBQ Martinsburg, WV circabluefest.com May 13 Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival kingmanislandbluegrass.com May 18-21 MoogFest Durham, NC moogfest.com May 18-21 Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival Gettysburg, PA gettysburgbluegrass.com May 25-28 DelFest Cumberland, MD delfest.com

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May 25-28 Rooster Walk Axton, VA roosterwalk.com June 2-4 Graves Mountain Festival of Music Syria, VA gravesmountain.com/ events-calendar/festivalof-music/ June 10-17 Mountains of Music Homecoming Abingdon, VA mtnsofmusic.com June 16-19 Firefly Music Festival Dover, DE fireflyfestival.com June 23-25 River & Roots Festival Berryville, VA riverandroots.com July 6-9 DoahFest Luray, VA doahfest.com

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Taverna Cretekou 703.548.8688 818 King St. TJ Stones 703.548.1004 608 Montgomery St. tjstones.com Trattoria da Franco 703-548-9338 305 S. Washington St. Two Nineteen 703.549.1141 219 King St. These establishments offer live entertainment.

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URBAN GARDEN

JIMMY DEATON

Sprouted Garlic & Wrinkly Potatoes

D

o you throw your garlic bulbs out once they start to sprout?

What about your potatoes when they get a little wrinkly?

How about ginger root that sits out on the counter too long?

Well, you could be getting a lot more value out of your produce than you may realize! Many popular edibles can be regenerated from the scraps you’re likely throwing out. Keep reading for a list of veggie scraps you will want to hang on to from here on out.

Pineapple

Yes! You can regrow pineapples with just the tops alone! To start, twist the leaves away from the pineapple.

Use a fresh top and remove a couple of layers of the outermost leaves, cut away any fruit that’s still attached at the base of the leaves. Then, suspend the top in a couple of inches of water.

Using a clear glass will make it easy to see the roots form. Once roots are about 1/4 inch long, which usually happens in a week or two, plant them in a container filled with potting soil and organic fertilizer. Just a heads up: your new pineapple plant will likely be ornamental in nature. Fruit, if produced at all, can take up to two years. But, as bromeliads, pineapples make an amazing (free) houseplant!

Ginger Root

Have you ever bought ginger root and noticed little buds forming? Plant it! You’ll have fresh ginger to harvest soon enough! Ginger is a tropical plant, so keep it indoors in cooler climates. Soak the roots overnight to encourage growth, and then placing the rhizome in sphagnum moss until leaves and roots develop. Then you can transfer it to a container filled with potting soil.

Garlic

If your garlic cloves start to sprout, plant them! Garlic is one of the easiest plants to grow over and over again.

One clove planted in the garden, in either early fall or late winter depending on your area, can multiply

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into a bulb of multiple cloves. It takes about 9 months, however, so you’ll have to have patience.

Celery

Celery follows the same protocol as many others. Once you use the celery stalks, save the end that’s leftover.

Place it root side down in clean water for around a week. Then, transfer the celery to rich, well-draining soil and watch it really start to take off.

to see the onion). Water regularly.

Your onion should push several new stalks up. These stalks are called sets and they will need to be separated and planted out. Each one should produce its own onion!

Green Onions and Scallions

Do you love to toss some green onions on just about everything? Buy them once, and

Lettuce

Buy a fresh head of lettuce, make a salad, and plop the base of the leaves you’re left with in a couple of inches of water. Within a week it will begin to grow! From experience, some lettuce leaves may be smaller and some plants may not grow at all. Don’t be discouraged and experiment with different types of lettuces. Bok Choy can also be regrown in this way.

It’s just one option for getting the most out of the food you buy!

Lemongrass

It’s nothing short of amazing how many plants can regenerate themselves starting out with clean water.

Lemongrass is another one of them!

Place leftover stalks in a few inches of water and wait for roots to develop.

Once they become 3 inches long or more, plant them up.

Red Onions

If you’re planning to regrow your onions from store bought onions, choose bulbs with a good looking root.

Once you cut the root from an onion, most folks suggest setting it aside for a day or two to let the skin dry out a bit. Then, plant the root in a container of potting soil (you shouldn’t be able

So, what have you got to lose? Share with us your successes and failures so we can all learn more about regrowing our own food!

Jimmy, also known as Farmer D, is a native of the DMV and has resided in Del Ray, Alexandria, Va. for 24 years. He and Angie currently share their home with their three cats — Jax, Scooby and Wilson the feral. Questions or comments about Urban Garden or a garden question for Jimmy can be directed to: office@oldtowncrier. com. Write “Urban Garden” in the subject line.

then grow them from the scraps on a windowsill.

Place the root leftover from the green onions in a couple of inches of water. In just a few days you’ll notice roots form, but also the leaves will start to grow. Continue to harvest while in water, or plant in a container of potting soil.

This is just a sampling of the vegetables that you can grow from scrap. When regrowing food from store bought produce it’s really important to choose healthy, organic, disease free plants. Many non-organic edibles are treated with pesticides, as well as growth-inhibiting chemicals.

Fresh from the farmer’s market or a local health store are your best options if you want repeated harvest Also, when using water to stimulate root growth make sure to keep the water clean and fresh. Try to use filtered and chlorine free water as well.

May 2017 | 15

POINTS ON PETS

SARAH LIU

KING STREET CATS ADOPTION CALENDAR MAY 2017

Summer Vacation

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Traveling with Your Pet

King Street Cats is looking for foster homes! You provide the spare room and TLC and we provide food, litter and all vetting. Please email for our Kitten Fostering FAQ at: contact@kingstreetcats.org KING STREET CATS 25 Dove Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Every Saturday & Sunday 1:30 - 4:30 pm PETVALU Bradlee Shopping Center 3652 King Street Alexandria, VA 22302 Saturday, May 6 & Sunday, May 7 Saturday, May 20 & Sunday, May 21 1:00 - 4:00 pm PETCO UNLEASHED 1101 S. Joyce Street Arlington, VA 22202 Saturday, May 6 Saturday, May 20 & Sunday, May 21 1:00 - 4:00 pm PETCO UNLEASHED 1855 Wisconsin Avenue Washington, DC 20007 Saturday, May 27 & Sunday, May 28 12:00 - 3:00 pm THE DOG PARK 705 King Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Saturday, May 13 1:00 - 4:00 pm NATURE NIBBLES 2601 Mt. Vernon Avenue Alexandria, VA 22314 Saturday, May 13 & Saturday May 27 1:00 - 4:00 pm

16 | May 2017

A

pril showers have brought those May flowers, and, with them, vacation season! Adventure awaits, but pet parents have special considerations before packing up and heading out.

Staying or Going?

When deciding whether Fido or Fluffy is joining you on the road, consider the comfort and safety of your pet. When it comes to travel, cats and dogs are different. Cats thrive on stability and relish the comfort of their home and routines. They don’t respond well to stress, get motion sickness easily, and really like their own stuff. By contrast, most dogs love a good adventure. They feel best interacting with their “pack” and adapt well when sharing new experiences.

Planes, Trains, or Automobiles?

By Car

However you travel, your safety and your pet’s take priority. In cars, pets should ride in the back seat for minimal distraction to the driver. Neither cats nor dogs should be allowed to roam free. While crating is safest, many dogs can be trained to sit or lie in the back seat. For uncrated dogs, obedience is critical. Invest in training, and practice commands. Don’t travel with your uncrated dog until he or she recognizes your leadership and can remain calm and seated.

Unlike dogs, most cats don’t respond well to verbal commands. They should always travel in carriers. Choose a goodquality model with proper ventilation and

comfortable padding. Prevent jostling by securing the carrier with seatbelts and additional cushions. Remember: cats get stressed easily. Don’t play loud music, and avoid road rage. Cover the carrier with breathable fabric to minimize stressful sights and bright lights.

Take your dog for leashed walks to stretch the legs and reduce hyperactivity.

Cats will benefit from contact and reassurance from petting or grooming.

Some cats can be trained to walking harnesses, but most will prefer to remain in their carriers with occasional emotional support through soothing interaction. Ask your veterinarian for more tips, including information about sedative medications to reduce stress and motion sickness.

Never leave your pet alone in a car.

By Plane

Not up to driving Fifi to Florida? Most U.S. airlines allow cats and small dogs to accompany their humans in the cabin on domestic flights. Fees typically are $100–$150, with certified service animals traveling free. Destinations outside the continental U.S. mean additional fees

and arrangements. No matter where you travel, contact an airline representative early to eliminate last-minute stress.

Whether cabin carried, checked, or cargo, pet reservations are required. Most airlines limit the number of pet carriers on a single flight — typically 6–8. For cabin passage, big airlines like American, Delta, and Southwest require pets to be at least 8-10 weeks old and fit in a carrier small enough to be stowed under the seat. The pet must have room to stand up and turn around. At security, the pet’s guardian will be asked to hold the animal while the carrier is X-rayed. During flight, pets must be secured at all times and are not permitted on a passenger’s lap. Laying over? Most airports have pet relief areas.

Depending on the airline, larger nonservice dogs may have the option of crated travel as “checked baggage” or transport in a pressurized cargo hold.

Fees generally exceed cabin passage (typically $200–$500 by weight), and availability depends on flight length and ground temperatures. American will not allow pets to travel as checked baggage POINTS ON PETS > PAGE 17

OldTownCrier

By Train

POINTS ON PETS FROM PAGE 16

where forecasted temperatures exceed 85°F or fall below 45°F. United has a dedicated PetSafe program for animals ineligible for incabin travel. PetSafe offers a 24-hour desk, tracks your pet from departure to destination, and even offers frequent-flier miles for shipment. Likewise, Delta Airlines promises to “address the special needs of all warmblooded animals” traveling without owners, but requires a separate booking and cannot guarantee the pet is shipped on the same flight as the passenger.Sounds easy, right? But hold on — ever heard of breed restrictions? Most airlines exercise these for checked and cargo cats and dogs. Neither Delta nor American accept reservations for checked or cargo “snubnosed” cats or dogs, including pugs, bulldogs, Persians, and Himalayans. And they aren’t just being jerks: those cute smooshed-in faces have brachycephalic syndrome, with shorter nasal passages and increased vulnerability to oxygen deprivation and heat stroke. Check with your airline before your travel plans hinge on flying.

Talk with your vet, and consider United’s PetSafe program, which allows checked and cargo passage for brachycephalic pets under special enhanced requirements.

If you’re considering sedation, the American Veterinary Association counsels against tranquilizing pets during flight due to increased risk of heart and respiratory problems. Consult your veterinarian, and give detailed information about your itinerary and your pet’s transportation. Contact the airline directly about any required documentation; many carriers will require additional paperwork about type of medication, dosage, and administration.

Amtrak allows cats and dogs up to 20 pounds on trips up to 7 hours on special petfriendly coach routes nationwide. The fee is only $25.00, but reservations are required and sell out quickly. Pets must be at least 8 weeks old, travel in carriers, and cannot accompany unsupervised minors. Amtrak does not ship pets as checked or cargo baggage. Service animals are not considered pets and can travel in any area passengers are allowed. Call 1-800-USA-RAIL or visit a station for detailed information.

It’s All in the Planning

Whatever your decision, advanced planning will relieve the stress and guilt you face making travel arrangements for your pets. Consult your veterinarian. Discuss and review your itinerary, get copies of necessary paperwork, update vaccinations, and seek objective advice on the pros and cons of pet travel versus petsitting.

Resources

• American Airlines www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/specialassistance/pets.jsp • American Veterinary Medicine Association www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/ Traveling-with-Your-Pet-FAQs.aspx • Amtrak www.amtrak.com/pets • Delta Airlines www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/ traveling-with-us/special-travel-needs/pets/ pet-travel-options.html

Wine, Whiskers & Wags WINE TASTING EVENT

Paradise Springs Winery, Clifton, VA Tickets now on sale at

www.ffcas.org/events $40

PER PERSON ONLINE

$45

AT THE EVENT

SUNDAY JUNE 4th

1:00‒5:00 p.m.

Ticket price includes a raffle ticket, wine tasting, and catered hors d’oeuvres from Trattoria Villagio on the winery’s historic grounds.

Free FFCAS Logo Wine Glass to the First 300 Attendees The event will feature: – Delectable wines – Appetizers and desserts – Silent auction with dozens of desirable items for bid

– Meet-and-greets with shelter pets – Dog agility and behavior demos

Dogs and children are welcome, and we suggest bringing chairs and blankets for your afternoon picnic.

Silent auction items welcome/sponsorships available All proceeds benefit the animals at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

• Southwest Airlines www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/ faqs/pets_faq.html

PETS OF THE MONTH

NEW (A068496) Apollo is a sweet soul who would make the perfect companion for any couch potato. He is a bulldog mix, about 6 years old whose love of people is only rivaled by tennis balls. While Apollo is mellow around people, he's not so fond of other dogs so will need to be an only dog. He has some medical needs (Inflammatory bowel syndrome, respiratory issues and a diseased hind limb). Apollo was transferred to our shelter in July so he's ready to find his new home!

NEW (A069952) Bob the bodacious is a sweet, mellow, visually impaired, 9 year old domestic shorthair who’s full of personality! This handsome tuxedo cat coexisted with a Shih Tzu in his previous home, but does not get along well with other cats.

Because he is partially blind, he will need a patient family that will allow him to adjust to his new home on his own time. Bob is available through a foster home so contact us at 703-746-4774 to arrange a visit!

SUGARSNAP (A070599) Do you wish they all could be California girls? Then say hello to Sugarsnap! Sugarsnap is a California shorthair rabbit, a little over 1 year old. You could travel the world, but nothing comes close to this unforgettable California girl.

She’s undeniable — fine, fresh, fierce — she’s got it unlocked. If you’re looking for a fabulous bunny to share your champagne lifestyle with, come visit Sugarsnap today!

4101 Eisenhower Avenue • Alexandria, VA 703-746-4774alexandriaanimals.org Mon-Fri, 1-8 pm • Closed Wed • Sat & Sun, 12-5 pm OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 17

CARIBBEAN CONNECTION JEFF McCORD

D

own in the islands known as “America’s Paradise,” residents recently observed an important anniversary – one hundred years as part of the United States. On March 31, 1917 the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands following payment to Denmark of $25 million in gold coins.

The anniversary is an opportunity to take stock.

To commemorate the “Transfer Day” centennial, the Prime Minister of Denmark and U.S. Secretary of the Interior visited the islands.

Secretary Ryan Zinke was gracious: “Today is a testament to the Virgin Islanders whose commitment, vision, expertise, and sacrifice built these islands, enriched our shared history and contributed to our national security.” Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen acknowledged the dark history of the slave-based sugar plantation days under Danish rule. He ended hopefully: “We can’t undo the past, but can improve the future.”

Aside from speeches, parades and a day off from school for kids, Virgin Islanders also welcomed the Danmark, a 252 foot fully rigged sailing vessel used to train Danish merchant marine cadets. With her three masts and majestic bowsprit, the Danmark brings to mind the age of sail and Caribbean

adventures. During World War 11, the Danes sailed her to the U.S. for safekeeping and lent her to our Coast Guard to train our cadets for the duration of hostilities. She inspired the U.S. to buy the fully rigged sailing ship Eagle, following the war.

Despite the Virgin Islands’ rich history and international flavor, too few visitors from the continental U.S. look beyond the more obvious vacation attractions. Certainly, our tropic beaches and bays, singular restaurants, uncommon accommodations and duty-free shopping are enticing. Yet, the islands’ colorful West Indian arts and culture, Danish architecture and multiple U.S. national parks and monuments provide ample rewards for hikers, birders, history lovers and art connoisseurs.

These assets have helped propel substantial economic and social growth in the hundred years since the Danes departed. The population today is 105,000, about 40,000 less than Alexandria, VA. The first U.S. census in 1917 numbered only 26,000 inhabitants spread among the three principal islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. Even by the standards of the day, most lived in poverty. Consider the lives of the 959 residents of St. John as described in the 1917 census:

“With the exception of a few estate owners, the natives of the island of St. John live in small houses, in many instances little more than huts, and raise in small patches potatoes, yams, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas and pumpkins. They add to their livelihood by fishing and by wages for occasional labor on neighboring estates.”

Although St. Thomas had one road, St. Johnians had none, relying upon horse and donkey trails. The largest industry was cattle raising and fragrant Bay Rum was the biggest export. But, a devastating hurricane in 1916 had killed many bay trees, stripped the leaves off the survivors and posed a serious threat to Bay Rum makers.

With a population of about 200 in 1917, Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas was the largest town in the Virgin Islands. It depended heavily upon its then faltering maritime industries of coaling, provisioning and repairing ships visiting its excellent harbor. Agriculture had been largely abandoned on St. Thomas and most food had to be imported from Puerto Rico and other islands. St. Croix, the largest and most populace Virgin Island, was in 1917 producing sugar, cotton and, of course, rum. Its future, though, was hampered by lack of a protected, deep water harbor and more

efficient, mechanized competitors.

A century later, tourism is the Caribbean’s biggest industry. And, with the help of the U.S. government and farsighted Virgin Island and continental businessmen and leaders, the USVI has become a pace setter – particularly, in cruise ship visitation.

Each year, about 3 million tourists visit the islands, spending more than a billion dollars.

It’s hardly surprising that the USVI economy does quite well when matched against comparable (in size) Caribbean destinations. With a $36,000 per capita gross domestic product, the USVI tops the list followed by Aruba (with $23,353), the Bahamas ($22,217) and Trinidad and Tobago ($21,323), according to Caribbean Journal magazine. At the bottom are Jamaica ($5,106), Belize ($4,831) and Haiti ($824).

For about 50 years Virgin Islanders have been a self-governing territory, electing their governor and legislature.

They introduce, consider and enact laws – including local taxes and budgets – implemented and overseen by local government agencies and courts. Laws are enforced by Virgin Islands police and other security.

At the federal level, the U.S. CARIBBEAN CONNECTION > PAGE 19

America’s Paradise for One Hundred Years

18 | May 2017

OldTownCrier

CARIBBEAN CONNECTION FROM PAGE 18

Department of the Interior, through its Office of Insular Affairs, coordinates U.S. policy in the islands. Federal grants and programs annually contribute $241 million (20 percent) of USVI revenue, according to the CIA World Factbook. U.S. District Courts, part of the third judicial circuit seated in Philadelphia, are located in St. Croix and St. Thomas. Federal police and regulatory agencies including the EPA, Coast Guard, Homeland Security and National Park Service have important operations in the USVI. The area of the Virgin Islands is about twice the size of the District of Columbia, but with only one fifth the population. Like DC residents, Virgin Islanders elect one nonvoting Member of Congress.

Unlike DC residents, though, Virgin Islanders (like Puerto Rican residents) cannot vote for President.

Despite considerable social and economic progress, Virgin Islanders face challenges similar to many U.S. state and local governments. Government

is the largest employer and chronic $100 million annual budget shortfalls have been covered through borrowing.

The islands are today more heavily indebted (per capita) than neighboring Puerto Rico, according to Forbes magazine.

The USVI delegate to Congress seeks more federal help, a vote in Congress and the right for islanders to vote for President. Others seek assistance from Denmark and a few even ponder independence.

“Denmark is in our past; our future is with the United States,” a third generation

island businessman and artist told me in a discussion about the centennial.

Jeffrey R. McCord is a freelance journalist whose work on international economics and consumer protection has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Gannett newspapers and Truthout. org. He is the author of two fact-based Caribbean novels: “Undocumented Visitors in a Pirate Sea,” and, “Santa Anna’s Gold in a Pirate Sea.” He divides his time between Virginia and St. John, USVI.

Escape

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More than 60 percent of this spectacular Caribbean island is Virgin Island National Park, offering hiking, snorkeling, and unbelievable views.

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May 2017 | 19

ROAD TRIP

North to

FREDERICK MARYLAND &BEYOND

20 | May 2017

BOB TAGERT

For our road trip this month we decided to visit Frederick, Maryland since we were already headed that direction to attend the Frederick Craft Spirit Festival, which was organized by the Maryland Distillers Guild.

Although it was a cool day with intermittent drizzle for the outdoor event, we decided to make the 60-mile drive anyway and it turned out to be a great decision.

The drive to Frederick is pretty straight-forward: George Washington Parkway to the Beltway to I-270 and you are there. Although the road spray was a constant battle there was less traffic than on a nice spring day and the farther north we went the rain began to diminish, as did the traffic.

The festival itself was well run with samplings and the

ability to purchase some very good local whiskeys and rums as well as gin, vodka and a variety of creative products. The event also included six seminars over two sessions that were very informative about the history and recent resurgence of the spirit industry in Maryland. The biggest reason we decided to attend this festival was because our new friends who own Tobacco Barn Distillery in St. Mary’s County were there and I wanted to try some of their products. Look for an article about this distillery in a future issue.

Frederick is the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains heading west. Located where the Catoctin Mountain meets the rolling hills of the Piedmont region, the Frederick area became a crossroads even before European explorers and traders arrived. Native American hunters followed the Monocacy River from the Susquehanna River watershed in Pennsylvania to the Potomac River watershed.

Founded before 1730, Fredrick has survived

revolutions and wars and today is a beautiful revitalized town. The single most dynamic feature that ties the heart of Frederick’s historic district together is Carroll Creek Park.

The park began as a flood control project in the late 1970’s. After the Great Frederick Flood of 1976 left parts of Downtown Frederick under three feet of water, it became clear that something had to be done to remove Frederick from the 100-year flood plain. The creek was rerouted underground in 1993 and has eliminated any future flooding from the streets. To create a canal walkway, a 40-foot wide channel waterway was created that runs 1.3 miles through the heart of town. This beautiful centerpiece has water features, brick pedestrian paths and bridges, and a 350-seat amphitheatre.

Among the historic buildings and tree lined brick-paved sidewalks, visitors will find a bustling downtown.

Frederick’s main streets are Market Street and the perpendicular Patrick Street. These are the prime areas for shopping and dining. East of downtown you can find Everedy Square and Shab Row, downtown Frederick’s largest cluster of specialty shops, eateries and services housed in beautifully restored 19th Century buildings.

After our spirit sipping and walk about and visit to the fantastic Visitors OldTownCrier

Center, we decided to discover the Monocacy River and its three covered bridges. We took Route 15 north out of Frederick and headed to Utica to pick up Old Frederick road. The Utica Mills Covered Bridge was 1.5 miles down the road and to the left. The bridge was built around 1850 and is located on Utica Road over Fishing Creek. The bridge originally spanned the nearby Monocacy River but was washed away during a severe storm in 1889. Local citizens gathered the remains and reconstructed the 101foot long (the longest of the three) Burr arch truss bridge at its present location. In a futile attempt to find the other two covered bridges we found ourselves in the town of Thurmont where we spotted the sign for Thurmont Bar & Grill.

How can you go wrong when the penciled sign on the door says Cash Only and the street parking is 25 cents an hour or 10 cents for 15 minutes. I chose the better value! There were only three people in the bar while we were there — the proprietor Skip, or 411 as he is affectionately called by the locals since he is the “go to guy” for anything that you need to know in the community, and his two lady pals. This was like walking back into the 60s … and we added to that effect. “Come back to the five and dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean!” We had a blast meeting OldTownCrier

these fun people and will make a point to go back. We had already had lunch but are definitely going to go back for the home cooking that is offered here. They have pickled eggs and fried pickles and the fact that the ice cold Bud Light is only $2.75 is a plus as well.

The light rain had pretty much stopped so I thought that we would drive over Catoctin Mountain. This was my only mistake of the trip. The roads are narrow and difficult to follow. After climbing to the top and realizing I was going the wrong way according to my compass, I decided to check phone GPS … no service. I backtracked and found another way back to Route 15. This wasn’t too bad because a few miles up the road was Springfield Manor Winery and Distillery. This place is beautiful. We took our time with a bottle of their Traminette, which was pretty good.

Upon leaving I bought a bottle of their dark rum as I forgot to buy some at the festival.

For our return trip I decided to avoid the interstates and take the road less traveled, so we headed southwest on 15 for Point of Rocks along the Potomac.

From there we just followed the river along Route 28. Each stretch of the road has its own name but they are all Route 28 taking you through the towns of Tuscarora, Dickerson, Beallsville,

and Seneca and eventually brings you to I-270 before the merge with 495.

Even though the destinations were wonderful, the actual driving took us through a Frederick County of lush green pastures with horses grazing on the wet grass. Rolling farmland with folks out doing their mulching in the drizzle clad in rain gear. The drive

along 28 was no less enjoyable.

Not as much farmland but beautiful fields with large houses. The closer you get to I-270 these houses turned into mansions and then small hotels.

The entire trip was only 175 miles (including getting lost) and well worth seeing where we really live. Treat yourself to a trek up north!

May 2017 | 21

FROM THE BAY …

I

t’s a new twist on girls’ night.

First, guys are invited. Next, it doesn’t involve pink cocktails… well, maybe one after dark. On Tuesday evenings at happy hour time in season, a group of Annapolis women, a couple of token guys, and I go stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) out of Annapolis Canoe and Kayak on Spa Creek in Eastport (ackannapolis. com). Last summer, a mixed group of sailors, power boaters, runners, and other active newcomers showed up each time.

MOLLY WINANS

I was the newbie. Maybe practicing yoga helped my balance, but I was surprised to take to paddleboarding immediately. All I had heard about it, besides it being fun, was that it was a good core workout. That, to me, translated into “hard to do.” For those who may be a bit intimidated, know that it’s not that difficult. The boards are sturdier than I would have thought, and our loyal guide, Jaime, gave us solid suggestions for maintaining balance, such as dropping to your knees when wobbled by wake.

As long as your knees are strong, it’s an effective method for regaining balance and taking a breather. Our instructor (a rock musician by night, which added to his cool factor) also taught us to paddle with straight arms and use our core muscles to propel us, while making short, efficient strokes rather than overexerting our arms and backs.

What a way to enjoy Annapolis!

Even on a short paddle, we greet friends who are out on the water sailing dinghies out of Severn Sailing Association, kayaking or canoeing,

breathtaking wildlife—bald eagles, herons, and snowy white egrets—can only be enjoyed with a guide, for a $10 suggested donation to the land trust (acltweb.org).

On the Rhode River, just off the mouth of the West River, you will find more than 15 miles of pristine and kayak-friendly shoreline from which the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center or SERC launches its group paddles with guides who are often volunteer scientists who are knowledgeable about the wildlife.

UP THE CREEK WITH A PADDLE

photo: Al Schreitmueller/SpinSheet

22 | May 2017

buzzing about in inflatables or picnic boats, racing along with our much more competitive SUP counterparts, waving from their boats or docks, all relishing in the relaxing after-work environment on the water. The U.S. Naval Academy band often plays on City Dock on Tuesdays, so we even have a summer evening waterfront soundtrack. Then, if we paddle long or far enough, we may spy a blue heron or see the sun set from the water.

As well as Annapolis Canoe and Kayak, East of Maui of Annapolis offers paddleboarding instruction and rentals (eastofmauiboardshop. com), as does Capital SUP (capitalsup. com), Patuxent Adventure Center in Solomons (paxadventure.com), and many others.

Other popular non-wind-related sailors’ favorite activities are kayaking and canoeing. My personal favorite jaunt is a guided paddle up Parker’s Creek through the American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County. If you’re an experienced paddler, don’t let the words “guided” scare you away. The delightful tour up the winding Parker’s Creek, with the shoreline changing as the water turns from brackish to fresh, into an enchanted forest with

SERC’s excursions are generally oriented more for beginners (serc. si.edu).

Lovers of the Eastern Shore must look into Sultana Projects’ paddling schedule. From finding ospreys on the Chester River to bald eagles on the Sassafras River, the Chestertownbased non-profit, known for its flagship the Schooner Sultana, also has a full season of guided paddling tours on tap (sultanaprojects.org).

Find interesting paddling excursions and events at spinsheet.com. If you know of other noteworthy paddling events on the Chesapeake or Potomac, please drop me a line via molly@ spinsheet.com. I will gladly share them with SpinSheet and Old Town Crier readers.

Publisher’s note: Winans is the Managing Editor of the very popular Annapolis/Eastport, Md.-based SpinSheet sailing magazine and PropTalk power boating magazine.

This column first appeared in SpinSheet May 2012 and has been updated.

OldTownCrier

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Friday, May 5 NO First Free Friday in May

Tuesday May 9 Sea Squirts: Tales From the Tackle Box

Saturday May 6 Solomons Maritime Festival

Thursday May 11 Sea Squirts: Tales From the TackleBox

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 23

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North Beach American Film Festival

PHOTO CREDIT: ANGEL BEIL A BIT OF HISTORY FROM PG 8

Tucker also claimed “that in order to condemn properties there, the city must prove the area is a slum, blighted or deteriorated.”

“I sent to Congress early in 1966 a program for an entirely new way of approaching the problems of the slums,” President Johnson wrote. “This new approach is based on the proposition that a slum is not merely decaying brick and mortar but also a breeding ground of human failure and despair.”

President Johnson knew “how difficult it would be...to change people’s deep-seated sense of individualism in buying and selling their homes.”

Passage of the bill “would demonstrate America’s faith in its Negro citizens…It was a new beginning.” Not so for ARHA’s 1967 Andrew Adkins project. Nor the 2008 Braddock Road Small Area Plan.

As of 2008 the Braddock East planning neighborhood PERSONALITY PROFILE FROM PG 4

have stayed intact over the years, and these crazy ladies are always finding new beaches to explore. Every September they make their annual pilgrimage to Ocean City, Maryland for a long weekend. “We also take 24 | May 2017

consisted of 365 public housing units. Subsequent additions and subtractions have yet to be tallied. Other public and affordable housing developments include Carpenter’s Shelter, The Bradley in part, and, ARHA’s Pendleton Park, Jefferson Village and Ramsey expansion.

In Alexandria, “public housing was first created during the 1930s to provide decent, safe, and sanitary low-cost housing…to predominantly working-class and middleclass households…However, over time, public housing has evolved to house lower-income families.”

Today over 83% of public housing households are extremely low income. The result is isolated communities with high concentrations of poverty and other negative impacts.

“Black poverty and the state of housing are connected,” black Alexandria attorney Edwin C. Brown, Sr. said in 1954.

ARHA’s Braddock land

parcels date from the city’s segregated past. Area placement was consistent with former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 Neighborhood Composition Rule. The long-standing Rule assured conservative Southern Democrats, segregated cities like Alexandria that the new federal presence would not alter the existing racial composition of any given project area.

The Rule concentrated the black population, placing all black housing projects in neighborhoods that were only partially black. Like yesterday, today’s public housing residents are 91.2% black; only 53% of households have income from wages and the mean income is low. Interestingly the public housing settlement with the highest mean income, Andrew Adkins, also has the highest crime rate.

The city’s homicide rate increased 75% in 2016. In summer 2016, for 90 consecutive days, a police “emphasis

family trips to Ocean City and Myrtle Beach, which is my favorite,” she tells me. They make it a true family vacation and sometimes take along Pete, their yellow Labrador retriever. Most of the family trips revolve around the water.

“If we are on a trip and there

is no water around, I get antsy after about 3 days and have to get back home to the beach and the water.”

When I asked her where she got her sparkling, yet slightly mischievous personality, she simply says, “My mother… why not!” Even though she

operation” devoted “2,000 man-hours to Adkins.”

ARHA’s 2012 strategic plan no longer includes dispersal of the Braddock neighborhood’s public housing population.

It claims dispersal is hard, an off-site cost is implied, and only 50+ unit buildings are profitable. The settlements management structures differ; police and social services costs are rarely addressed, still Andrew Adkins residents speak publicly regarding domestic violence, murder and crime.

“Through the school system, the Recreation and Parks Department, the Department of Human Services, Office on Aging, [and] other entities, the City already provides a wide range of social and other services that are available to public housing residents,” the Braddock East Plan explains.

Over 25% of ARHA residents have lived in public housing for 11 years or more.

“The term deconcentration has become central to Federal housing policy,” HUD’s Journal of Policy Development and Research claims. “But what do we actually mean by neighborhood quality and income diversity? Neighborhood characteristics include access, especially to good schools… good adult role models…and low levels of crime and violence.” Yet ARHA said nothing regarding the School Board’s 2017 redistricting plan.

HUD typically “uses 40% poverty as a level above which a neighborhood [or assisted housing project] is clearly a ghetto, slum or underclass area.” Unless ARHA shifts gears, effectively reduces its concentrations of poverty, HUD “may prohibit” new housing projects.

“I believe in the wisdom of the Bible,” President Johnson wrote. “Where there is no vision the people will perish.”

ARHA now advocates mixed income development.

Johnson’s 1968 Fair Housing Act, Virginia’s 1972 Fair Housing law was the Negro’s path to freedom. From Alexandria’s 1981 Annual Report: “The 1970-1980 population figures, by race, show that a geographical shift of the City’s blacks has

taken place, so that the area immediately east of the RF&P Railroad Tracks, traditionally a predominantly black neighborhood, has lost over 1300 black residents in the decade.” A. Melvin Miller was among the black middle class homeowners who fled.

Lawyer Tucker’s 1964 call was correct. Non-fleeing homeowners watched as their Jim Crow neighborhood went the way of concentrated poverty; drugs and crime. As the black-only middle school went the way of Braddock Place and failed ground floor retail.

Today’s draw: the 1984 Braddock Metro Station. Braddock Station, after 33 years, remains an underutilized facility. It will continue thus until such time as Andrew Adkins’ lower income residents are properly off-sited. ARHA’s John Roberts public housing was wholly offsited in 1983.

Alexandria is cash strapped in part because lawmakers repeatedly forgo, “relinquish the advantage of ” the tax bonanza associated with well-developed Metro stations. The 2008 Braddock East Plan references an off-siting Fund. Federal budget cuts, including $6+ billion in HUD funding, are pending.

“City officials acknowledge that the Braddock Station has been something of a stepchild,” The Washington Post reported in 1983.

is outgoing she says, “My friends say that I have the “voice of reason.” Not a bad combination for someone who is responsible for the marketing of her hometown and has to make sure everything is done right and on time!

With all of the summer events coming soon, I am sure that Dawn Richardson will be hard at work. Look for the first ever film festival coming in June…it should be a classic event in the Richardsonstyle…On the beach!

Sarah Becker wrote for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email: abitofhistory53@gmail.com.

OldTownCrier

TO THE BLUE RIDGE

JULIE REARDON

The Middleburg-ing of Marshall

A

lthough its location in Northern Fauquier County is blessed by the same beautiful scenery and bordered by similarly beautiful estates and Blue Ridge views, the unpretentious little town of Marshall existed for years in the shadow of the flashier and better known hamlets of Middleburg and The Plains, both just minutes away.

While Middleburg and The Plains have become tourist destination towns and their zip codes home to some of the most expensive in the state, few outsiders made a point to visit Marshall. Locals and farmers went there to buy feed and seed at the farmer’s co-op, shop for groceries at the IGA, and buy or repair their weed whackers, chain saws and other farm tools at the Stihl store, Piedmont Equipment. Several restaurants served country cooking at reasonable prices.

Just outside town, between Marshall and The Plains, was one of the area’s

OldTownCrier

best kept secrets: the grill at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange. It was a popular gathering place for a hot dog or burger at lunchtime with locals before a fire destroyed it a few years ago.

Change was inevitable, as Marshall is strategically located on State Route 55 between two I-66 exits, only 50 miles west of Washington D.C., and minutes to the county seat of Warrenton via Rt. 17. Additionally, it’s the only town designated as a service district in Northern Fauquier County, so development could only be kept at bay for so long. The exponential growth of Loudoun County to the north and indeed the entire region, will forever change this sleepy little agricultural town. While the beautiful people (and their money) flocked to see, be seen and spend in the chic little hamlets of Middleburg and The Plains, until very recently Marshall stayed pretty much the same, and change came slowly at first. A few townhouses, and the addition of a Food Lion, Tractor Supply,

and McDonalds, all located near the eastern I-66 exit, came first. A few other businesses, including the old IGA grocery, closed. At the outskirts on The Plains side on Rt. 55, a local feed store expanded from its grubby little in-town building to a brand new, fancy complex and branched out into all manner of country and equestrian themed clothing and apparel. It still sold horse, cattle and pet food, but greatly expanded the selection, especially the premium brands. Needless to say, it was an immediate hit. Even their advertising slogan, “I got it at the feed store,” reflects the new residents’ desire to fit in and embrace rural chic.

Next to the feed store, on the corner of 55 and the road to Middleburg, was an eyesore: the ruins of the sale barn, auction ring and holding pens of the Fauquier Livestock Exchange, burned to the ground in a fire a few years ago.

When rebuilding was in question, other livestock markets picked up the slack for its weekly fat cattle sales and

monthly horse sales. But local farmers didn’t want to have to travel to Front Royal or Culpeper to buy and sell livestock, so a brand new facility was rebuilt on site and is open for business.

Adjoining these two new complexes is a new park. Previously, the park was 88 acres of vacant farmland, owned by the late philanthropist Paul Mellon as part of his vast land holdings in Northern Fauquier. Mellon lived on a 4,000-acre estate in nearby Upperville.

He willed the land to the county on his death to become the showcase recreation facility it is today. The Northern Fauquier Park has picnic areas, fishing ponds, pavilions, hiking trails and ball fields.

Still, until very recently Marshall wasn’t exactly a haven of “chichi” little boutique shops and spendy eateries; it remained stubbornly blue collar even as the farms got subdivided into farmettes and fewer people actually BLUE RIDGE > PAGE 26

May 2017 | 25

BLUE RIDGE FROM PG 25

farmed. Marshall was a working mans town. When the fox hunters and equestrians dismounted and handed the reins over to the stable hands, and the nouveau riche wanted to step out, they flocked to Middleburg and The Plains, or sometimes Warrenton. The help went to Marshall.

The now unincorporated town of Marshall was originally called Salem when it was settled in 1797. It was renamed in 1882 in honor of our country’s first Chief Justice, John Marshall, who grew up at Oak Hill Farm just west of town. The town and surrounds have a rich history, much of it intact. It is home to the Fauquier Heritage and Preservation Foundation, and the area’s only surviving one-room schoolhouse, called simply Number 18 School. Originally whites-only, No. 18 became a school for blacks until the 1960s, when it was closed after desegregation. The little clapboard building has been restored and is visited regularly by school groups and history buffs. And the nation’s oldest continuously operating Ford dealership is still open for business on Main St. as it has been since 1915.

More change is coming and new businesses in Marshall are already catering to the new residents who will soon swell in number. All around town, signs announce openings this year and next of several large housing developments. Luxury homes and townhomes are planned by local and

national builders. Already in the past 12 months, trendy eateries and food purveyors catering to today’s health conscious consumers who are willing to pay a premium for local and organic have opened. Warrenton’s Red Truck

Rural Bakery, a local and national award winning bakery, opened a second store on Main Street.

The Whole Ox butcher shop is another new business serving up certified organic meats, as well as the

recently opened Field & Main, the area’s newest farm to table restaurant.

Nearby, Gentle Harvest offers natural food to eat in or take out. An eclectic old building on Main St. got a facelift and was renamed Gone to Ground (a fox hunting term); it houses an art gallery and a pilates and equisates studio (the latter, presumably pilates for the horsey set). Another old Victorian house on Main St. now houses Little Fox Java and Gifts.

Across the street, a local developer has already broken ground for over 100 new luxury homes; as a proffer some land was donated to a local low income housing group and as a new home for a local high end pet sales boutique. The approval of 22 acres of in-town land for this boutique has annoyed some. Operating under the guise of rescue, this local organization is incorporated in the state of Delaware and earns over 7 figures of tax free money annually from selling animals to wealthy area residents and calling the high sale prices “adoption fees”. That the two closest countyrun animal shelters are well managed and rarely have surplus animals indicates that while Marshall didn’t need a shelter, there’s real money to be made here. For now, Joe’s Pizza, the Marshall Diner and a few other hold outs remain with their reasonably priced offerings, but Marshall and the landscape around it are changing quickly.

VIRGINIA GOLD CUP SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1:00 PM

Great Meadow, The Plains 540-347-2612 vagoldcup.com

BEER. BED. BREAKFAST. VISIT THE BREWERY NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK AND STAY THE NIGHT

47 MAIN STREET • SPERRYVILLE, VIRGINIA 540.987.3383 • HOPKINSORDINARY.COM

26 | May 2017

OldTownCrier

On Motherhood All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves.

Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach. T. Berry Brazelton. Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with “Goodnight Moon” and “Where the Wild Things Are,” they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.

What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the wellmeaning relations — what they taught me was that they couldn’t really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One boy is toilet trained at 3, his brother at 2. When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.

I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton’s wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month-old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made.

They have all been enshrined in the Remember-When-Mom-Did Hall of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language — mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, What did you get wrong? (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald’s drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs.

There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I’m not sure what worked and what didn’t, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I’d done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.

That’s what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.

— 2009. Anna Quindlen is a Pulizer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author.

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 27

DINING OUT

LANI GERING

LOS TIOS GRILL 2615 MOUNT VERNON AVE. DEL RAY 703-299-9290 LOSTIOSGRILL.COM

Del Ray’s Los Tios Grill

W

ith Cinco de Mayo celebrated in May, we thought it would be appropriate to feature one of our local Mexican-themed eateries. While Los Tios isn’t a traditional Mexican restaurant, it features some of the most popular TexMex and Salvadorean food in the area.

Los Tios has long been one of our favorite places for good margaritas and some of the freshest corn chips and salsa around. On top of that, the wait staff are some of the best so the service is spot on. We usually sit at the bar since you can be seated and served right away - the place normally has a line out the door for a table during the dinner hour and on weekends. This DINING OUT > PAGE 35

28 | May 2017

OldTownCrier

GRABABITE

Mother’s Day

There’s more to May than just

at River Bend

May 2, 6:30 pm - 5 Course Wine Dinner with Vittorio Fracchia of Sulin Winery in Italy’s Piedmont Region.

Hosted by Downey Selections.

May 5 - Come see us at the Belle View Elementary School’s Taste of Alexandria, at River Farm on the Potomac River.

Sunday, May 14 - Enjoy a Special Menu for Mother’s Day, Brunch or Dinner Try our “Make Your Own” Bloody Mary Bar Monday, May 29 - Memorial Day, We Are Open!

Call for Reservations!

Meet Old Friends or Find New Ones at Murphy’s!

HOME OF IRISH MUSIC & HOSPITALITY SINCE 1978 Featuring Traditional Irish and American Fare Nightly Irish Entertainment – No Cover Catch Your Favorite National & International Sporting Events Irish Luau Summer Kick-Off Party June 4, 3 -7pm WEEKLY SPECIALS Sunday Brunch Starting at $9.95

Monday: Margaritas All You Can Eat Ribs $14.95 Tuesday: Half Price Burgers 4 - 9 pm • Trivia 8:15 pm

Wednesday: 40¢ Wings 4 pm to Close

Thursday: Steak Night $11.95 • 5 - 9 pm PRIVATE PART Y Saturday: Seafood Saturday ROOM

® Free Tastings Every Saturday 2-4 pm 7966 Fort Hunt Road 703-347-7545 • RiverBendBistro.com

713 King Street • Old Town Alexandria 703.548.1717 • murphyspub.com

Fine Seafood, Historic Setting Outdoor Seating • Happy Hour • Private Events 119 King Street • Old Town Alexandria 703.836.2836 • wharfrestaurant.com

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 29

BEHIND THE BAR

ELIAS PETERS IS BEHIND THE BAR AT CEDAR KNOLL RESTAURANT 9030 LUCIA LANE ALEXANDRIA 703-780-3665 CEDARKNOLLVA.COM

ELIAS PETERS How did you get started in the bartending business?

My journey began at Fast Eddies in Springfield. I started as a bar back and moved up to bartending day shifts from time to time. I was hooked from that moment.

What is your biggest bartender pet peeve?

My biggest pet peeve would definitely have to be when people ask for multiple samples or tastes. After the third or fourth one I want to pull my hair out. Just decide already!

30 | May 2017

What is the most clever line anyone has ever used to get you to give them a free drink?

See the answer to my pet peeve: this may be how a few have gotten a “free” drink. Seriously, I haven’t really had anyone give me a clever line or try to snag a free drink from me. My policy is that if you treat me right, you might have a good chance of getting back a little love.

What is the best/worst pickup line you have overheard at the bar?

I overheard a guy at the bar say to one of my female customers, “My

Elias serves up a Cedar Knoll specialty called the Bischon Frisee – in a chilled martini glass, add a little vodka, a little St. Germaine and a touch of grapefruit! He is behind the bar Tuesday through Saturday nights. Happy hour starts at 4!

buddies bet me that I couldn’t start a conversation with the prettiest girl in the bar. How about we buy some drinks with their money?” I rolled my eyes on that one but she accepted the offer and they drank together all night long. Not sure whatever became of those two.

Tell us an interesting encounter you have had with a customer(s).

Every day is an interesting one here at Cedar Knoll. One particular night, though, I did The Worm at a client’s wedding. A little boy was trying and no one got up to teach him. One of the servers asked the bride if I could show

him and sure enough she was dragging me to the dance floor.

If you could sit down and have a drink with anyone in the world, past or present, who would that be?

It would have to be my Grandad Gido. He passed when I was younger and I never really got to truly know him. If he is anything like my father, that’s one hell of a man to have a drink with.

If you would like to see your favorite bartender featured in this space, send contact information to office@ oldtowncrier.com.

OldTownCrier

“The Finest Lebanese Cuisine” –Washington Post, 2001 Family Owned & Operated Come and Enjoy a Cozy Candlelit Dinner Carry-Out Available • Free Delivery Open 7 Days for Lunch & Dinner

719 King St. Old Town Alexandria 703.684.9194 • thepitahouse.com

Now open for BRUNCH Saturdays & Sundays at 10AM 121 South Union Street, Old Town Alexandria 703.548.1785  unionstreetpublichouse.com

G GERANIO RISTORANTE Redefining Italian Cuisine in Old Town Alexandria Dinner Entrees from $14 722 King Street Old Town Alexandria 703.548.0088 www.geranio.net

OldTownCrier

A local favorite since 1978 American comfort foods and over 250 wine & beer from around the world

May is Crab Ravioli Month!

See our website for details

Specials Every Day Saturday & Sunday Brunch Wine Bar and a Sports Pub Private Party Room

RampartsTavern.com 1700 Fern St, Alexandria 703.998.6616 May 2017 | 31

AMERICAN ASHAR RESTAURANT AND BAR 116 South Alfred St. 703-739-6090 BILBO BAGGINS 208 Queen St. 703-683-0300 BLACKWALL HITCH 5 Cameron St. 703-739-6090 BURGER FI 111 N. Pitt St. 703-746-9242 CARLYLE CLUB 411 John Carlyle St. 703-549-8957 CHADWICKS 203 Strand St. 703-836-4442 chadwicksrestaurants.com An Old Town tradition since 1979 and an original Georgetown pub and restaurant since 1967.

CHART HOUSE One Cameron St. 703-684-5080 CITY KITCHEN 330 South Pickett St. 703-685-9172 fatcitykitchen.com USA City inspired menu choices that bring together traditional American and global cuisine with their own personal touch. Casual dress. $30 and under. Lots of free parking. Open 7 days a week with brunch on Sat & Sun 11-3. AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

INDIGO LANDING #1 Marina Dr. Washington Sailing Marina 703-548-0001 JACKS PLACE 222 North Lee St. 703-684-0372 JACKSON 20 480 King St. 703-842-2790 JOE THEISMANNS 1800 Diagonal Rd. 703-739-0777 KING STREET BLUES 112 N. St. Asaph St. 703-836-8800 LAPORTAS 1600 Duke St. 703-683-6313 LIVE OAK 1603 Commonwealth Ave. 571-312-0402 LOST DOG CAFE 808 North Henry St. 571-970-6511 MACKIE’S BAR AND GRILL 907 King St. 703-684-3288 MAGNOLIA’S ON KING 703 King St. 703-838-9090 MAJESTIC CAFÉ 911 King St. 703-837-9117 MASON SOCIAL 728 Henry Street Old Town Alexandria 703-548-8800 mason-social.com

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

THE WAREHOUSE BAR & GRILL 214 King St. 703-683-6868

LA MADELEINE 500 King St. 703-729-2854

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

ASIAN ASIAN BISTRO 809 King St. 703-836-1515

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

REYNOLDS STREET CAFÉ 34 S. Reynolds St. 703-751-0830

MALAYA 1019 King St. 703-519-3710

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 SAMUEL BECKETTS IRISH GASTRO PUB 2800 S. Randolph St. Villages of Shirlington 703-379-0122 SHOOTER MCGEES 5239 Duke St. 703-751-9266

MAI THAI 9 King St. 703-548-0600 NASIME 1209 King St. 703-548-1848 RED MEI 602 King St. 703-837-0094 STREETS MARKET AND CAFE 3108 Mt. Vernon Ave. 571-431-6810

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

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

THE ITALIAN PLACE 621Wythe St. 571-777-8981

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

SOCIETY FAIR 277 S. Washington St. 703-683-3247

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

SONOMA CELLAR 207 King St. 703-966-3550

SANG JUN THAI 300 King Street 571-312-3377

SOUTHSIDE 815 815 S. Washington St. 703-836-6222

KAI ZEN TAVERN 1901 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-836-1212

MOUNT VERNON INN Mount Vernon, Va 703-780-0011

sweetgreen 823 King St. 571-319-0192

THE SUSHI BAR 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue 571-257-3232

EVENING STAR CAFÉ 2000 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-549-5051

MURPHYS IRISH PUB 713 King St. 703-548-1717 murphyspub.com Old-world Irish pub featuring a roaring fireplace, serving a variety of imported, domestic and non-alcoholic beers in a friendly atmosphere. Serving robust American-Irish meals at fair prices. Favorites include fish and chips and Irish stew.

Irish-style entertainment nightly.

T.J. STONES GRILL HOUSE & TAP ROOM 608 Montgomery St. 703-548-1004 tjstones.com American cuisine with libations from around the world. Bar specials Mon-Fri, 4-7 pm. Brunch served Sat & Sun.

CONTINENTAL BRABO

by Robert Weidmaier 1600 King St. 703-894-3440

FIRE FLIES 1501 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-548-7200 FIVE GUYS 725 King St. 703-549-7991 FLAT TOP BURGER 529 East Howell Ave. 571-970-1006

MYRON MIXON PITMASTER BBQ 220 North Lee St. 703-535-3340

FOSTERS GRILLE 2004 Eisenhower Ave. 703-725-1342

NICKELLS AND SCHIFFLER 1028 King St. 703-684-5922

GADSBYS TAVERN 138 N. Royal St. 703-548-1288

NINAS DANDY Potomac Party Cruises Zero Prince St. 703-683-6076 dandydinnerboat.com

HARD TIMES CAFE 1404 King St. 703-837-0050 HEN QUARTER 1404 King St. 703-684-6969 HUNTING CREEK STATION 801 King St. 703-836-5126

32 | May 2017

NORTHSIDE 1O 10 East Glebe Rd. 703-888-0032 OCONNELLS RESTAURANT & BAR 112 King St. 703-739-1124 danieloconnellsrestaurant.com

TRADEMARK 2800 Jamieson Ave. 703-253-8640 UNION STREET PUBLIC HOUSE 121 South Union St. 703-548-1785 unionstreetpublichouse.com Old Town’s favorite neighborhood tap and grill.

Southern style menu, fine steaks, fresh seafood. Sunday brunch, private parties, happy hour.

VERMILLION 1120 King St. 703-684-9669

LA BERGERIE 218 N. Lee St. 703-683-1007 labergerie.com ITALIAN

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

COLUMBIA FIREHOUSE 109 S. St. Asaph St. 703-683-1776

FIN & HOOF 801 N. Saint Asaph St. 703-836-4700

YVES BISTRO 235 Swamp Fox Rd. (in Hoffman Ctr.) 703-329-1010

BRABO TASTING ROOM 1600 King St. 703-894-5252 CEDAR KNOLL INN GW Parkway at Lucia Ln. 703-799-1501 RESTAURANT EVE 110 S. Pitt St. 703-706-0450 TEMPO 4231 Duke St. 703-370-7900 temporestaurant.com Northern Italian, French provincial & American cuisine featuring fresh seafood, meats and pasta served in a contemporary, romantic atmosphere.

FRENCH

VIRTUE GRAIN & FEED 106 South Union St. 571-970-3669

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

VOLA’S DOCKSIDE GRILL & THE HI-TIDE LOUNGE 101 North Union St. 703-935-8890

LE REFUGE 127 N. Washington St. 703-548-4661 FONTAINES CAFFE & CREPERIE 119 S. Royal St. 703-535-8151

GERANIO RISTORANTE 722 King St. 703-548-0088 geranio.net Still Old Towns highest-rated Italian restaurant (Zagat).

Discerning Old Towners flock here for refined cuisine in this comfortable, yet sophisticated restaurant. With entrees from $14, there is no reason not to enjoy a selection from their Wine Spectator award-winning list, while being attended by the friendly staff of seasoned professionals. Reservations recommended and casual attire welcomed.

HANKS PASTA BAR 600 Montgomery Ave. 571-312-4117 IL PORTO RESTAURANT 121 King St. 703-836-8833 LANDINI BROTHERS 115 King St. 703-836-8404 landinibrothers.com Elegant, classical Italian cuisine served in a lovely historical setting. Fresh veal, homemade pastas, and fresh fish are some of the daily choices.

An extensive list of wines and champagnes served in a sophisticated and friendly atmosphere.

LENA’S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA & TAP 401 East Braddock Rd. 703-960-1086 PARADISO 124 King St. 703-683-5330 PINES OF FLORENCE 1300 King St. 703-549-1796

MEDITERRANEAN LA TASCA 607 King St. 703-299-9810 TAVERNA CRETEKOU 818 King St. 703-548-8688 tavernacretekou.com PITA HOUSE 719 King St. 703-684-9194 thepitahouse.com Family owned and operated; carry out available and free delivery.

DELIAS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL 209 Swamp Fox Rd. Alexandria, VA 703-329-0006 SEAFOOD HANKS OYSTER BAR 1026 King St. 703-739-HANK FISH MARKET-OLD TOWN 105 King St. 703-836-5676 fishmarketoldva.com Internationally known and locally owned! We serve shrimps, a few crabs, tall people and lots of nice people, too! Live music and lively food!

ERNIES ORGINIAL CRABHOUSE 1743 King St. 703-836-0046 THE WHARF 119 King St. 703-836-2834 wharfrestaurant.com "Its All About the Seafood," traditional and creative coastal cuisine.

FISH MARKET-CLINTON 7611Old Branch Ave. Clinton, MD 301-599-7900 INDIAN BOMBAY CURRY COMPANY 2607 Mount Vernon Ave. 703-836-6363 DISHES OF INDIA 1510A Bellview Blvd.

703-660-6085 NAMASTE 1504 King St. 703-970-0615 MEXICAN LATIN SOUTHWESTERN DON TACO TEQUILA BAR 808 King St. 703-988-3144 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)

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OldTownCrier

CHEF’S SPECIAL

CHESTER SIMPSON

Blue and White Carry Out

B

lue and White is a community institution. This is good southern comfort food dished out in huge portions, a real working class breakfast and lunch spot. Enjoy standing in line with a diverse clientele, and remember — cash only, no credit cards are accepted. The staff at the Blue and White are very friendly and traded humorous and witty remarks as they prepared food. It’s a tiny place, carry-out/take-out, with no seating.

how to cook by myself with her help. I had to learn on my own to feed myself. I became somewhat creative and now I can cook a lot of things.

I’ve been here for 34 years.

My uncle bought this place in 1972. I came on board in 1976 when I was 15 because he was getting tired and needed help.

He had a heart attack so he had to retire. Then I took over in 1982.

When did you first become interested in cooking and what made you choose a culinary career?

I just enjoyed cooking, when I first started to help my mom when I was a kid. Mom had to go to work at nights, so I had to take over caring for my sister. I kind of learned

Which dish on the menu are you most curious to see how it’s received?

Our menu consists of fried chicken, pork chops, hamburger steak, breakfast sandwiches, home fries, bean soup and collards. The main attraction is the fried chicken.

It’s lightly seasoned and then

Who or what has been your biggest inspiration during your career?

My mom.

fried “just right” resulting in a moist, delicious golden skin coupled with juicy meat — it definitely embodies real southern cooking. You can get it plain or with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Everything is great; just simple and honest food. Tuesday is chicken liver day which usually sells out around 11 a.m.

What do you feel sets your cuisine apart from others in your field?

We’ve got really good prices and the food quality is top notch. This is real down home cooking.

Because everything is fresh all the time and I cook the bean soup from scratch, we usually sell out every day. The chicken comes in fresh every morning and I start cooking at 4:30 a.m. When we sell out of a dish that’s it. Most of the people who come to Blue & White come here again and

Left to right: chef and owner Alex Truitt, and grill chefs Alvin “Country” Johnson, Vilima, and Travis Ward.

again and I know them by name. We’ve survived because the people in Old Town have been loyal.

Kimpton Hotel brand — most recently he’s the executive chef of The Commoner in downtown Pittsburgh.

If any chef in the world (past or present) could prepare a meal for you, who would you want that to be?

Me () or maybe Chef Dennis Marron, who eats here on his days off. He loves the bologna & egg sandwiches.

Chef Dennis Marron has run several kitchens for the

What is your guilty food pleasure?

Shrimp or most any seafood.

Chicken Leg/Thigh Sandwich w/Hot Sauce, Chicken Breast Dinner, Hamburger Steak Dinner, Pork Chop Sandwich w/Hot Sauce and Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich

OldTownCrier

If you would like to see your favorite chef featured here, send contact info to chester@ chestersimpson.com.

photo: ©2017 Chester Simpson

May 2017 | 33

photo: ©2017 Chester Simpson

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OldTownCrier

DINING OUT FROM PG 28

is a good sign that the place is worth the visit since it is a huge restaurant. There are two large dining rooms in addition to the bar that has high top seating as well as bar seating and sidewalk dining that takes up almost half of the block.

We love the décor. The color scheme and the multiple paintings on the walls and the various wall hangings all with a Mexican theme make you feel like you are actually in Mexico and points beyond. One of the best pieces OldTownCrier

of “décor” in the bar area is something that I call the “Tequila Tree”. I believe that it really is a replica of an Agave plant turned in to a tequila holder. Anyway, we think they are cool.

If you are a big fan of the margarita, this is the place for you. Margaritas come in two sizes and are offered both on the rocks and frozen. We named them “Grande” and “Rio Grande” and opt for the “regular” house Marg with whatever tequila they use but

you have your choice of 21 — yes, 21 — brands. You can also have them in a variety of flavors — sangria, gold, grand gold, strawberry, blackberry, matrimonio, mango, and baja! You’ll have to ask what a couple of those entail! They also have a nice selection of Mexican beers and serve a great Mojito. Wine lovers have a couple of choices but if you are a serious wine drinker, you might want to jump on the margarita band wagon.

The menu is extensive and we won’t go in to everything that they offer since you can check it out in its entirety online. You will find your Mexican favorites and some additional Salvadorean specialties the likes of Carne Deshilada. The only drawback to the menu is that they don’t offer anything ala carte. I imagine that if you ask, you can get a combo of your choice that isn’t listed in the combos on the menu and pass on the sides. They are all about customer service.

Drinks and dinner are both started out with a complimentary basket of fresh house made corn chips and salsa fresca. They have a killer Chile con Queso and the house made Guacamole are great additions to the chips.

Worth the splurge for sure.

On this trip we had Tacos Los Tios off of the Platos Tipicos section of the menu and a combo of chicken and beef Fajitas. The Tacos Los Tios is offered with beef or chicken and with soft or hard corn tortillas. I always get the beef because I really like the marinade and go back and forth between the soft and hard tortillas. Accompanying this entrée are Mexican rice, refried beans, lettuce, Pico de Gallo, quacamole and sour cream. If you are a traditional taco fan, this is the order for you. The fajitas come in a bunch of combos on and above just chicken and beef. You have your choice of everything from shrimp to chorizo with bbq ribs in between. We opted for a chicken and beef combo.

Bob was a little disappointed this time since the onions and peppers were a tad overcooked and the beef a bit on the chewy side (this isn’t normally the case) but the flavors were still intact. They are served sizzling on a cast iron platter accompanied by fresh flour tortillas, refried beans, Mexican rice, Pico de Gallo, lettuce, quacamole and sour cream. The portions

are good sized but not so overwhelming that you end up taking half of it home.

We were so full we couldn’t even entertain the thought of dessert but they have a great selection. Traditional choices of fried ice cream, sopaipillas, tres leches, fried bananas with ice cream and flan as well as key lime pie and cheese cake.

Next time we are saving room for the fried ice cream!

In addition to dinner, Los Tios offers lunch specials that are served from 11am to 3pm and Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday. If you are at a table the hours are

3-5pm and if you are at the bar, 4-7pm. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday 11am2pm.

Los Tios is definitely a family restaurant so if you are looking for a more adult atmosphere, go there later in the evening or in the middle of the afternoon. It can get quite loud when the place is packed on a weekend night or on “Movie Night” in Del Ray. In addition to the Del Ray eatery, they have another location on Van Dorn Street and a third in Leesburg, Va. (Dos Tequilas Grill).

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May 2017 | 35

EXPLORING VA WINES

DOUG FABBIOLI

A LIFE

in the

DAY

F

or some reason I find myself caught in the middle of this turbulent storm of productivity.

I know we are making business, creating jobs, collaborating with others, maintaining quality, giving great customer service, teaching techniques and strategies for success, building the skills of the future farmers and putting a little artistry in all that we do, but I don’t think we can keep this up at this pace. When it is all functioning well, I get inspired to take on a bit more. But when things start to tumble a bit, I feel quite challenged to keep the whole stack from crashing to the ground. I know is sounds a little dramatic, but avoiding being overwhelmed is a battle I fight on a regular basis. And keeping my team in balance goes right along with it.

I’ll touch on a few examples just for fun. I have 2 new vineyards 36 | May 2017

going in this season. Each is about 5 acres. Deer fence, row layout, vine delivery, planting schedule, labor needs, weather, post orders, trellis construction and grow tube installation are all in play over the next few weeks. We have our own vineyard in need of attention as well. There are lots of replacement vines still to install, our final pruning is underway hoping our frost fears will not come to fruition as well as challenges from our lower planting which has numerous dead vines waiting for a decision from me. I have a client that relies on us to make wines for them.

As their business rapidly grows, I try to help them in the planning stages.

Commitments are needed now in order to protect the consistency and artistry of the wines that will be consumed years from now. These are important lessons that I have learned

but now need to teach. We try our best to plan our fall production for our needs as well as clients like this.

We even plan a little extra for the future client that did not plan ahead.

I am very pleased I am not building another structure this year, but I have committed to finishing up the projects that are not quite completed. This is quite a challenge as I have numerous items on my work-in-progress list.

When we have set a standard for quality and experience for our customers, you do not want that to miss that mark, ever. Cleanliness, maintenance and landscaping fall into that standard as well as the wine.

Lavender and wisteria are on the planting list for the landscape, so I need to get shopping soon before the season slips away into summer. I need to fix my wisteria mistake from years ago of getting dwarf wisteria

that never even got close to filling the pergola I built for it.

I could tell you about 100 other things on the list of concern, but the point is that as successful as our rural businesses and culture seems to be, we are constantly working to maintain, improve and expand. Finding and developing that level of drive in the next generation is key to sustaining the lands economic viability. We shall continue to push, but learn to hand off the reigns as well.

Enjoy the beauty of our current wisteria as clean up begins tomorrow!

Doug is the proprietor and winemaker of Fabbioli Cellars in Loudoun County and has been penning this column for several years. He has been instrumental in the success of many of the Commonwealth’s vineyards and wineries.

OldTownCrier

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BLUE RIDGE WINE WAY www.blueridgewineway.com The Blue Ridge Wine Way features eight wineries and vineyards in the spectacular mountains of the Northern Virginia region.

BOTETOURT COUNTY WINE TRAIL botetourtwinetrail.com The Wine Trail of Botetourt Country features three wineries in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

EASTERN SHORE WINE TRAIL esvatourism.org The Eastern Shore of Virginia Wine Trail hosts three wineries along the Land Between Two Waters. This area is a unique rural coastal environment. Hundreds of miles of Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay shoreline provide a wealth of recreational opportunities for beach-lovers, fishermen, and boaters in addition to wine lovers.

FAUQUIER COUNTY WINE TRAIL fauquiertourism.com/wineries.html Fauquier County is home to 16 wineries and vineyards — each with its own unique flavors. Enjoy award-winning Virginia wines, wine tastings and tours.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY WINE TRAIL svwga.org The Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail is an association of six vineyards and wineries.

LOUDOUN WINE TRAIL visitloudoun.org Loudouns Wine Trail in Northern Virginia takes you through Virginias hunt country to 23 participating wineries.

CHESAPEAKE BAY WINE TRAIL chesapeakebaywinetrail.com The Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail, in the Chesapeake Bay region, highlights six different wineries.

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GENERALS WINE & HISTORY TRAIL thegeneralswinetrail.com In 2009, 10 wineries banded together to form a new type wine trail experience. The new wine trail experience was to tie our rich wine heritage with our rich historical heritage and thus the Generals Wine & History Trail was born.

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HOLD YOUR ‘FABB’ EVENT AT FABBIOLI CELLARS! WEDDINGS • CORPORATE OUTINGS • GRADUATIONS • CELEBRATIONS

email us at info@fabbioliwines.com 15669 Limestone School Rd • Leesburg, VA 20176 703.771.1197 • fabbioliwines.com

VISITING VIRGINIA WINE COUNTRY It’s always a good idea to call before visiting. Many Virginia wineries are small, family-owned operations and may be closed during the time you are planning to visit. If you are a group of eight or more, call ahead to help the winery prepare for your visit and to make sure they can accept groups. Most of our wineries have grape cluster highway signs within a ten-mile radius pointing the way to the winery. Many of these signs also tell you how many miles to go before reaching the winery.

Source: Virginia Wine Marketing Office

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 37

BY RITA JACINTO

T

he inspiration for this column began at the local shopping mall. Yeah, I know it is a pretty bizarre place to get any kind of inspiration let alone gardening inspiration but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. You see sitting out front of one of the mega stores was a WWII veteran and what looked like his grandson. On the shaky card table were a bunch of red silk poppies and a can for donations.

I always put some money in the can and get a poppy to wear. It’s a habit I picked up from my Dad when I was a little kid. He always bought a poppy and kept it in the visor of his truck. I didn’t know why he did this exactly except that it had something to do with the war. He was a veteran of WWII and since he is no longer around to buy his poppy I do it for him.

THE MEMORIAL DAY That old vet sitting at his table a few weeks before Memorial Day got me wondering about the story of the red poppy. There are many kinds of poppies but the poppy mentioned in John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, was found growing in the fields of Flanders and often refered to as Flanders Poppy is actually Papaver rhoeas more commonly called Corn Poppy. This Mediterranean native is found growing in cultivated fields all over southern Europe.

Its legend reaches back thousands of years. They have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. There is a drawing of a

38 | May 2017

POPPY poppy that was found in the Codex Vindobonensis which was put together for the Byzantine princess Anicia Juliana. The Codex is dated at over a thousand years. Homer mentions poppies in the Iliad, comparing the head of a dying warrior to that of a hanging poppy flower. Many of the ancient Greek and Roman gods are associated with the poppy. The god Morpheus made crowns out of the poppy flowers and gave them to those he wanted to put to sleep. Poppy flowers were used to decorate his temple.

Like all legends there is some fact mixed in with the fiction. Papaver rhoeas does not contain any opium.

Its cousin Papaver somniferum is the opium poppy and is native to parts of Asia. I repeat, for all you poppy pod swipers, the Corn Poppy does not contain any opium, so leave the pretty flowers alone so other people can enjoy them. Now that that is cleared up I’ll tell you what the Corn Poppy does contain and why Morpheus used it to put people to sleep.

Papaver rhoeas contains a substance, cleverly named rhoeadine. It’s

nonpoisonous and has been used as a mild sedative for centuries. The ancient Romans used a concoction of the poppy to ease the pains of love, I guess if you are sleeping you can’t worry about love.

The Greeks have a legend that explains how the poppy came to be called the Corn Poppy. The poppy was created by the God of Sleep, Somnus.

You see Ceres, the Goddess of Grain, was having a hard time falling asleep.

She was exhausted from searching for

her lost daughter; still she couldn’t fall asleep and had no energy to help the corn grow. Somnus cooked up a concoction and got her to take it, soon she was sleeping like a baby. Rested and relaxed Ceres could then turn her attention to the corn that began to grow. Ever since that time the people believed that poppies growing around cornfields ensure a bountiful harvest.

And so was born the Corn Rose, or as we call it today the Corn Poppy.

Those are some of the ancient legends associated with the poppy.

Now you are asking if I am ever going to explain the war connection. This too is an ancient connection going back to Ghengis Khan. It is said that after his annihilation of the enemy the fields were churned up and drenched in blood. Soon they were covered in pure white blooms of the poppy. During the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century the same phenomenon occurred. Churned up blood-drenched fields erupted in poppy flowers.

So buy a poppy, then grow some poppies. They are easy to grow and will self-sow so that each year you will have gorgeous poppies in your garden, or where ever the wind has blown the seed.

Corn Poppy grow about 2 feet tall, although I have seen them get even taller. The flowers are from 2 to 5 inches across and come in a variety of colors. Starting from seed is so easy, all you have to do is scatter the tiny seeds onto some prepared soil and forget them. You can do this in the fall or early spring. Fall scattered seeds tend to grow healthier and produce larger flowers than spring sown seed but either way you can’t go wrong. They like cooler weather, would prefer to be in full sun and they like well drained soil. They look great in mass plantings

or as part of a wildflower meadow and bloom profusely. Poppies make great cut flowers. If you sear the cut end of the stem with a match they will last longer in the vase.

Publishers Note: This article is printed with permission. Portions have been edited in the interest of space. To read Ms. Jacinto’s complete feature and for more information about growing poppies and other botanicals log on to botanical.com OldTownCrier

By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Each year around Memorial Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars members and American Legion Auxiliary volunteers distribute millions of bright red, hand-crafted poppies in exchange for contributions to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans.

The poppy has become a nationally (and internationally) known and recognized symbol of sacrifice and is worn to honor the men and women who served and died for their country in all wars. This Memorial Day, honor veterans, both living and deceased, by remembering their service to our country.

OldTownCrier

May 2017 | 39

FITNESS

NICOLE FLANAGAN

Fit Mom

A

s a personal trainer and mother, I can appreciate being able to have an hour to myself to get in a good workout. This event rarely happens. It seems that by the time I actually have some time to spend on myself there is still a million things to get done. Exercise is always on my list of things to do for the day and I have found that the best way to fit it in is by doing a 15-20 minute workout at least twice a day. Fitting

in a workout can be easier if you make it a part of your daily routine. I know this is easier said than done, but it is possible. Make your workout fun for you and for your kids.

Try doing a workout video in the living room while your kids play. If they are old enough to move around have fun with them, you get your workout in and the kids get worn out too! When babies are too young to move on their own, it’s the best time to strap them in a stroller and go

for a walk. If you are a runner, I highly recommend investing in a jogging stroller — it will make exercising fun and the jogging strollers fold up so you can take them just about everywhere.

Exercising increases your metabolism, increases energy and will help you sleep better (even if you are only getting a few hours at a time). You can complete an entire strength training routine in just under 20 minutes using only your body weight. The best part

about body weight training is that you can do it anywhere!

• Switch legs and repeat 5 times

Total Body Strength Workout

SINGLE LEG OPPOSITE ARM AND LEG REACH

Warm-up: jumping jacks, walk in place for 1 minute

SQUAT JUMP

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.

• Squat down, bending your knees to 90 degrees.

• Now jump up and land softly again in the squat position. Use the strength in your legs and butt to jump up explosively.

• Remember to land as softly as you can with your knees bent; keep your weight back, over your heels.

• Do 3 sets of 8 reps

SINGLE LEG CIRCLES

• Lie back on the mat with your arms by your sides and your palms facing down.

• Begin by pointing with your left foot, as if reaching out with your toes toward the ceiling, and rotate your leg slightly outward.

• Inhale, and trace a circle on the ceiling with your left leg, moving your whole leg, but keeping your hips still.

Don’t lift your left hip off the floor.

• Trace the circle on the ceiling 5 times in a clockwise direction. Repeat in a counter-clockwise direction.

40 | May 2017

• Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, abs engaged, left hand on hip.

• Lift left knee up to 90 degrees in front of you.

Lean forward slightly as you reach right arm in front of you and push left foot behind you.

• Hold for 1 count. Pull both back in. Do 12 reps.

• Switch sides; repeat 3 times.

ECCENTRIC PUSH-UPS

• Start in a plank position.

Shoulders over wrists, back straight, core engaged. You can be on your knees or toes.

• Slowly lower your body to the ground while keeping your core tight and legs straight.

• Return to start position.

The goal is to lower your body slowly; you are only doing the down part of the push-up.

• Do 3 sets of 5-8 reps

NO WEIGHT SHOULDER PRESS

• Extend arms out to sides at shoulder height, elbows bent 90 degrees, palms forward. Raise arms over head, then lower to start.

(30 reps) OldTownCrier

FROM THE TRAINER

❶

❷

T

his month’s featured exercise is the Dead-lift. Now don’t let the name frighten you away. In the sport of power-lifting, the dead-lift is one of three exercises along with the squat and bench press. It is one of the most functional exercises to learn because its technique can be applied to everyday life. You’ve all heard the saying, “Use your legs and not your back.” Well nothing rings more true than with the dead-lift.

To start, place your feet hip-width apart, toes underneath the bar. Bend at your knees and hips (Not your back!) to lower down to establish your grip. As you can see in Figure 1, my grip is outside my legs, my shoulders are over the bar as well with my butt down, back straight, torso upright, chest forward and looking ahead too! Whew, that’s a lot of cues to remember, but all are equally important to help protect your low back from potential injury.

When you begin to actually lift the bar from the floor, use your legs! Keep your low back “locked in” by not letting it round.

The key to doing this is to push your feet through the ground and activate the butt muscles, leaning back slightly to keep the bar close to your body. Your hips should rise at the same rate as the bar. It is very common for the hips to come up first as the bar lags behind. This technique will certainly contribute to any back pain that you may have.

Once the bar is above your knees, continue to keep the bar close to your thighs. Finish the lift by bringing your hips forward, squeezing the gluteal (butt) muscles. You have just completed the concentric or upward phase of the dead-lift!

Now you must carefully lower the bar back down to the floor.

Drop your butt down as you lower the bar to maintain low back posture. This is the eccentric or downward phase.

Perform this exercise in front of a mirror with an empty barbell and a partner to watch your technique. Add some weights once you master the technique. If your hips rise faster than the bar, you probably have too much weight on the bar. The dead-lift will strengthen all the major muscle groups in your body which include the soleus, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abdominals, low back, latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, upper trapezius, forearms and shoulders.

Unverzagt holds a BS in Wellness Management from Black Hills State University. He is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), and a Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDCS) through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS).

OldTownCrier

RYAN UNVERZAGT

❸

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May 2017 | 41

FIRST BLUSH

GENEVIEVE LEFRANC

Think Dirty

S

top and think for a minute; just how many products do you spray, slather, and swipe on from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, without a second thought? If you’re anything like me you have dozens of products scattered atop your dresser, lined up in your bathroom, and overtaking the shower shelf.

And that’s because cosmetics and personal care products are supposed to be fun to collect and experiment with.

Everyone knows the thrill of testing that talked about new shampoo or saving up

for the must-have lipstick of the moment, but how thrilled would you be if you knew most of your tried and true favorites are chock full of harmful chemicals, toxins, and carcinogens? And what’s worse — no one is telling you.

Lead in your lipstick.

Dioxane and formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) in your favorite shampoo.

Parabens (linked to cancer) in your deodorant. Diethyl phthalate in your perfume.

What gives? Although difficult and depressing to accept, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, cosmetic products and their

ingredients do not require FDA approval before they go on the market to be sold to unsuspecting consumers. The FDA actually has no authority to require safety assessments on cosmetics before they are sold for both salon and customer use, making them some of the least-regulated and least-reviewed products on the market. Some numbers say as much as 89 percent of all ingredients in cosmetic products have not been evaluated whatsoever.

And what’s worse, it seems America is behind on the game—the European Union had already banned 1,200 of these harmful chemicals while the United States had only banned 10 as of 2014.

In short — no one is making sure your moisturizer, mascara, shampoo, or even baby products are safe.

Americans are at serious risk of being unknowingly exposed to harmful chemicals.

Scary stuff. Don’t believe me?

Head on over to the FDA’s own website: “FDA’s legal authority over cosmetics is different from other products regulated by the agency.

Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA pre-market approval authority, with the exception of color additives.”

When you think about all the products that go into your Saturday date night or happy hour with the girls, or even the several products you use to simply take a shower, small exposure to these chemicals consistently over time can add up to some harmful outcomes like cancer, immunotoxicity, or developmental and reproductive issues.

So What Can You Do?

Thankfully, a trend has been surfacing where consumers are making themselves more aware of what goes into their products, and demanding

Skinerals Californium Sunless Bronzer Product Description: With Californium Sunless Bronzer, you can maintain your tan while on the go. The foam formula is light as a cloud and dries quickly. No streaks, funky odors or unevenness.

Skinerals Californium Sunless Bronzer is an organic and natural blend of premium natural plant-based oils, essential oil blends, fruit and plant extracts: Organic Aloe Barbadensis DHA (skin colorant) Erythrulose (skin colorant) Organic Indian Gooseberry Organic Acai Berry Glycerin Organic Fig Extract Organic Goji Berry Extract Vitamins A,C,E Green and White Tea Our Take: This self-tanner actually performs like it says.

We used it for a month and

42 | May 2017

followed the instructions to the letter. I think that is the key to making it work. Be sure to order the applicator mitt!

The only thing that we found is that while it doesn’t initially have that funky chemical odor of other tanners we have tried, it does come through for a few minutes when a second application is applied.

that manufacturers be more transparent about their ingredients. But what’s a girl to do when said ingredients make as much sense as hieroglyphics? A “fragrance” labeling alone can contain up to 3,163 different harmful ingredients, and most of us won’t be memorizing those any time soon. Well, naturally, there’s an app for that!

I’ve found the simplest and quickest way to stay on top of what’s really in my products is by taking advantage of some of the wonderfully detailed and informative apps available for your smartphone.

Technology takes all the guesswork out of clean, green beauty shopping. My personal favorite is Think Dirty. This app is the nearly fool proof answer to learning the truth about the potentially toxic and harmful ingredients in your products. Simply type in FIRST BLUSH > PAGE 45

STUFF WE DIG!

Who Should Use It: Skineral’s Organic Californium Sunless Bronzer is designed for all skin types and ideal for bronze healthy skin, without exposing it to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. After each use, your skin will be left smoother, fresher and toned.

Price: $27.99 Available: Wherever Skinerals products are sold and online at skinerals.com

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SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE PEGGY ARVIDSON

9 Lessons from a Life in Hands

I

just hit a milestone in my hand analysis career (13 years!) and it got me thinking about what I’ve learned in that time.

Here are 9 things I’ve learned about business, hands, life and love in the past 13 years.

and compassionate. That’s impossible for me and now that I think about it, an egodriven belief. All that spiritual do-goodery was exhausting.

When I chose to simply slow down and be present, the life I lead became infinitely more enjoyable.

been afraid I go within and ask for some higher wisdom to find the Love. You can’t be afraid and feel love at the same time. So I give myself permission to love my way through to the other side of fear.

If you’re not happy, nothing outside of you is going to make you happy.

Relationships are paramount.

Everything in moderation?

Except moderation. I can see that working for things that aren’t that great for me — like wine or a pint of my favorite ice cream, but when it comes to things I love and have passion for? No way. I am passionate about reading hands. I’m passionate about connecting with others among many things. Why would I want to moderate any of that?

I first had my hands read because I thought it would be a magic button that would miraculously solve all my inner turmoil and handwringing. It didn’t.

Stretching is awesome, jumping off the cliff in an attempt to start from square one sucks.

There’s a whimsical belief that if you leap the net will appear, and while I really like that image it isn’t the way it worked for me. (Here’s the deal, I asked for a divorce, met a totally unstable new boyfriend, took all my cash and bought an overpriced condo instead of paying back a crap-ton of debt and sold the business that was the source of my income — all within the span of 3 months.

So don’t be like me, think some things through before you leap, at least so you can figure out WHERE the net is likely to show up.

Being spiritual isn’t the point, being present is.

I thought a spiritual teacher had to be all kinds of holy (and obviously poor) and always good OldTownCrier

You’ve heard the adage that says you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with? It’s true.

I love being surrounded by brilliant, high caliber people.

I’ve been joyfully surprised to see how easy it is to grow and expand in all phases of life when surrounded by people who, by their very presence, help me grow — spiritually, mentally and financially.

Money is not the enemy.

I have no idea when or why I decided to remove money from my life like a metastasizing cancer, but I’m glad I figured out that it was ME, not money that was the issue. I had one of the most eye-opening opportunities to love money in my life. I’m glad I accepted the challenge, but I wish for you to never be in that position. As a result I’m as passionate about my cultivating my relationship with money as I am about cultivating deep relationships with people, animals and all of nature.

Screw moderation.

The

I’ll take as much of things that bring joy to my life as possible, thank you very much.

Love your body.

No matter what it looks like, no matter if can’t do a headstand or crow pose, or whatever your personal grip is about your body. Celebrate it in all its wonder, listen to it, nourish it, cherish it for every last thing it does today. I can’t do any work in the world without my body and for that reason alone I love the body I have.

Love.

It’s taken me years of introspection, deep conversation, study and more

to realize what LOVE really is.

It is so much bigger than me and so much more than songs and poems and romance (all good stuff though). Whenever I’m in doubt, think I cannot do something, am freaking scared of going another day trying to do this thing called life, I reflect on LOVE. Now that you’ve read through my list, I encourage you to look back at how far you’ve come so you can revel in your growth and victories.

Peggie Arvidson is a mentor who uses ancient and modern tools to help people clear blocks that keep them stuck so they can truly live in prosperity, joy, and peace.

Pragmatic Palmist PEGGIE ARVIDSON

Are you ready to use the wisdom in your hands to manifest the business of your dreams? Would you like to find out once and for all how to get out of your own way and attract love and money, using the gifts of your own DNA? Private readings, group sessions, classes and workshops are NOW available by appointment at:

Phone and Skype appointments are also available!

If you’re afraid, keep going.

As Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Whenever I’ve

9028 D Prince William Street, Manassas, VA • 703-392-9200 • RisingPhoenixHC.com 703-392-9200 • RisingPhoenixHC.com

May 2017 | 43

GO FISH

STEVE CHACONAS

Lower Ramp Fees for Fisherman

T

ournament boat launching fees have been reduced at Leesylvania State Park.

An “extra” $2 fee has been levied on tournament boaters in Virginia for 10 years; however, on March 13 it was dropped.

No one is really sure why the fee was levied in the first place. Local longtime tournament anglers initially claimed there was an agreement with Leesylvania State Park to improve tournament facilities with weigh in tubs, plumbing and electricity. While many recall this arrangement, none were able to provide any specifics that the $2 fee was earmarked for these improvements.

Authority for the fee only charged to tournament boaters, in addition to parking and launch fees, was given by Virginia Administrative Code 4VAC5-36-50.

Tournament fees were deposited into the General Fund along with revenue from parking and launch fees. The boat launch fee for fishing tournaments was part of a registration fee based on the number of boats registered and was nonrefundable regardless of the number that actually participated. The additional fee was applied only to weekend events.

According to Leesylvania Park Manager Karen Lambey, the fees enabled park managers to control the number of boats using the ramp site. Leesylvania only allows 100 tournament boats, which could be met through a single tournament or multiple tournaments of lesser size, to launch. This provides available parking space for other boaters. By charging $2 per boat as part of a registration fee, park staff had a better idea on how many were going to GO FISH > PAGE 45

POTOMAC RIVER BASSING Spawning bass at the beginning of the month and summer pattern at the end! This is a great time to get on the water.

Early, lipless crankbaits like Lucky Craft LVR D-7 in red patterns with cloudy skies and water or chrome and bait fish patterns the rest of the time.

Also Mann’s Baby 1-Minus in firetiger and red patterns work well. Use both of these on GAMMA 14

MAY

44 | May 2017

pound test Edge fluorocarbon line.

Shaky head or Texas rigged Mizmo Quiver Stix worms will work. Use a 3/0 Mustad Mega Bite hook and 14-pound Edge. Also Texas rig Mizmo tubes. A 1/8-ounce weight is fine, but 3/16 is better in thicker grass or deeper water. A spray of Jack’s Juice Bait Spray will get fish to hold on longer.

Topwater action is heating up for post spawn fish.

Use Lucky Craft suspending Pointer 100 jerkbaits on 14-pound GAMMA Copoly. Buzzbaits on 50-pound GAMMA Torque braid. Walking baits like a Lucky Craft Gunfish in black will also work, braid here too.

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FIRST BLUSH FROM PG 42

the name or scan the barcode of 68,000 North American and European products and Think Dirty rates them on a “dirty scale” from one (cleanest) to ten (dirtiest).

You can be an educated, empowered consumer and receive straightforward, easy-to-understand information as well as several options for cleaner alternatives, all from your phone.

When I first heard about Think Dirty, I straightaway typed in the products I had been using for almost a decade. You know, that staple face scrub that never fails you, or your tried and true mascara you’ve never been able to beat. I was shocked and honestly upset to see that the face wash I had stood by since my preteen acne days was a whopping 10 on the toxicity scale. Despite its crisp white bottle and wholesome-ingredient, all-natural marketing angle, I was indignant that I had been duped by great packaging and smoke and mirrors.

But I am optimistic that we won’t have to choose between our favorite products and our health. With the rising popularity of this app (it’s already been downloaded more than 70,000 times!) and similar ones, like The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep, there is real hope that the go-to brands we’ve come to love will be held accountable and their manufacturers will actually change their

formulas to substantially reduce or eliminate harmful ingredients. In the meantime, the current market offers a plethora of clean products from which to choose.

Products & Brands

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that couldn’t be more true in the case of safe cosmetics and care products. Even as little as a decade ago it would’ve been nearly impossible to find all the products you love and use regularly in a safe, organic, toxic-free line, let alone a variety of lines and brands to choose from. Using only certified organic ingredients and/or a mix of natural and organic ingredients can be limiting, so most brands don’t go that far, and a lot of the standard, big names aren’t as all-natural as they claim to be. And honestly, it’s more about what these organic lines aren’t using that matters here: absolutely no unnecessary chemicals, parabens, fillers, preservatives, or additives.

But ask and you shall receive! We beauty lovers and product-hoarders have spoken, and with our demands we have noticed a surge in just how many great lines and brands there are these days offering safe, harm-free cosmetics.

Even big name brands are starting to roll out safer products one by one.

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the Art of Jewelry

EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF HANDMADE JEWELRY

GO FISH FROM PG 44

actually show up to use the boat launch and made it possible for others to conduct their events. Lambey says. “I was not able to find anyone in DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) who is aware of any promises made regarding fees. Everything I was able to find out indicated that they were not made with the intent of facility upgrades, but rather as a means of ensuring compliance with tournaments that grossly overestimated their attendance size in order to prevent other tournaments from being held on the same day due to capacity restrictions.” Each tournament that is held at Leesylvania (or any other VA State Park) is required to submit a Special Use Permit ($25) with the list of dates, times, and number of boats attending.

Former Park Manager, Ken Benson recognized the increasing use of the park for tournaments and worked with organizers over 10 years ago to set up electricity for powering pumps and scales. He also allowed tournament directors to use space in the facility to set up polygraphs to test winners.

There were considerable plans to construct a more permanent site with tanks and plumbing; however, this effort was lost in the State’s planning and design process.

There were 61 tournaments last year launching out of Leesylvania State Park. Toss in the participants using the launch in advance of their events to practice, tournaments accounted for over half of the annual ramp fees collected.

Not to mention that rain or shine, warm or cold weather, anglers hit the water, providing nearly year round business for the park.

Several tournament anglers informed VDGIF biologist John Odenkirk they were being charged an elevated launch fee, of which he was unaware. He thought it appeared unfair and asked for clarification and justification. Lambey replied in good time that, after extensive back and forth discussion with Richmond, the

Experience

surcharge associated with tournaments has been removed because it was no longer necessary for managing tournaments. The determination was that the Special Use Permit process duplicated the same effort.

Lambey encourages Park participation. She has welcomed many local and national charity events, including the upcoming 22nd Annual St Jude Children’s Hospital Tournament.

Allowing in excess of 100 boats is something she would consider, weighing seasonal factors and weekday verses weekend activities.

Having heard about Maryland Department of Natural Resources intentions to offer fish care waivers to possible tournament regulation restrictions, Lambey suggested she is open to discussing improvements for fish care especially where tournament organizations contribute to the financing and construction of improvements. The process might be drawn out as Leesylvania’s Master plan, at this point, does not include weigh in stations. But she says it’s not out of the question. Once the park is on board, it can move up the line to the State level.

Tournament organizers should probably get together to determine what equipment, space and location would be preferred.

Funding, maintenance, and storage should also be considered. At that point a meeting with Lambey should be set up to present their case with top–of-the-line fish care in mind.

In light of trends across the country, publicprivate collaborations are likely the best way to achieve the goal for any project. Combining cooperation with better fish care is a win-win for anglers and administrators alike.

Capt. Steve Chaconas is a Potomac bass fishing guide and contributing writer for BoatU.S. (BoatUS.com) Potomac River reports: nationalbass.com. Book trips/purchase gift certificates: info@NationalBass.com.

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May 2017 | 45

OPEN SPACE

LORI WELCH BROWN

You’re Kidding Me, Right?

I

am the youngest of four, and the only girl. I’ve been the ‘baby’ of the family my entire life. To cement this fact and for reasons unbeknownst to me, pretty much everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve been referred to as the ‘kid.’ Somehow, this title seemed more like a commentary on my work abilities vs. my youthful complexion. Of course, I

46 | May 2017

joined the workforce in the late 80’s when most of the ‘compliments’ I received would now be handled between the HR department and Goldstein, Dickson & Rosenblatt and would likely land me a rather healthy settlement. That being said, I’ve spent most of my adult life crawling and scratching my way up from the kiddie table. I couldn’t wait to

claim my rightful seat at the grown up table which seemed so much more fun and glamorous. I mean who wants to be served Kool Aid in a Dixie cup? I wanted to be across the room with the swirling dark colored liquids in real glassware with stems. I wanted to order off the adult menu — no more chicken tenders for me! I wanted to be recognized as a full-fledged, grown up adult — whatever that meant. Of course, when you’re around ten (and a girl), it meant getting your first bra.

After that, it became shaving my legs. Next came driver’s license, then car, and then car payments! I was really an adult — an adult with a payment book — albeit with parents who were still saddled with the payment book to my orthodontist. Hard to be an adult when your parents are still lording the ‘where’s your retainer?’ thing over your head. Kissing and rounding bases is in there somewhere too, but that’s for a different publication.

In the blink of an eye, adulthood swoops in with an abundance of opportunities to hone your grown up skills vis a vis understanding insurance deductibles, diversifying 401-k accounts, disputing traffic violations, escalating Comcast complaints, and, of course, one of the all time favorites, scheduling your first colonoscopy. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more fun, I find myself at the age of 50 confronted with joint replacement surgery.

What?! How’d I get into that club so quickly? Clearly, I am an overachiever of the

most high. Let’s face it, joint replacement is the ‘platinum’ (aka octogenarian) card of adulthood.

Whoa — I’m not worthy and/or ready! Look at me — I’m still a kid for God’s sake!! I can’t even return library books on time or be held responsible for taking the trash out. Feels like just last week that I missed curfew and forgot to turn in my term paper on poet Percy Shelley. I won’t even mention my distaste of algebraic equations and broccoli.

Staring down the face of titanium body parts, remind me again why I was in such a hurry to wear a bra and shave my legs because that pretty much feels like when the wheels fell off the wagon.

What I wouldn’t give to transport myself back in time to that pudgy little girl with the peach fuzz legs and hips that rotated properly. Okay — maybe it was more little baby chimp fur legs, but whatev’.

You get my point. I was carefree and had absolutely no clue how much razor blade replacements cost, let alone hip replacements. The answer is a lot. I was also—thanks to mom and dad — blissfully unaware of the high cost of healthcare and dog food. Of course, no one was eating organic, let alone feeding their dog grain-free foods. While adulthood has its occasional perks such as easy access to alcohol and AmEx reward

points, for the most part, adulting sucks. Why are we always in such a hurry to grow up?

Or — why are we always in such a hurry to be someplace else — someplace we are not? Why is it so bleeping difficult to enjoy the space (and bodies) that we are in — in this moment? I guess if we came out of the womb as the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle or Mother Teresa, we’d have a better shot at this thing called ‘acceptance’ and ‘gratitude.’

For those of us ordinary beings whose emotional compass frequently gets stuck somewhere between gossip and grudges, that leap seems like it’s meant for the Phi Beta Kappa crowd, but I’m trying.

Maybe that’s the next sure sign of adulthood.

In the meantime, can someone send me a coloring book, stat? And not one of those fancy adult ones.

I’m talking Tom & Jerry or Aristocats. I want my mommy and a binky.

Happy Mother’s Day — lest you forget — you are what makes the world go around.

We would be no one (literally) without you. Mine’s been gone for 11 years now and I miss her like it was yesterday.

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NATIONAL HARBOR

S

pring is finally here and the Harbor is getting back into FUN mode! While the winter months include the holiday celebrations, there really isn’t much action around this place otherwise.

I, for one, am happy when Miller Farms starts back up at the Farmers Market! It is one of the few in the area that you don’t have to get up with the birds to attend. Opening at 10:00 am and running until 5:30 pm on both Saturday and Sunday is a BONUS! We are happy to see that some of our favorite activities are back in full swing. The Plaza will be bustling during the week with CardioHIT, Kick boxing, Zumba and Yoga. All of these one hour sessions are FREE and are sponsored by No Excuse Workout located here in the Harbor.

Also back are the Movies on the Potomac with “Date Night” themed movies on Thursdays and “Family” themed screenings on Sundays. The

LANI GERING

Sunset Concert Series featuring some of our favorite Military groups from the Army and Navy are back on Saturdays. These are also FREE events.

Remember that you might want to bring a portable chair or blanket to sit on for these events. No coolers are allowed but there are several eateries and food and drink options for you to grab something from.

Summer Friday’s is also back this year. It was introduced last season when the Friday night concert series was cancelled. This is an excellent way to start out your weekend whether you want to bring the family to play some corn hole or if you just want to hang out and enjoy some Bobby McKey’s piano and a fun DJ! Getting here is easy and there is plenty of parking. Remember that if you are coming from the Alexandria side of the Potomac that the Water Taxi is a very fun option!

See a complete calendar below.

National Harbor Awakens!

NATIONAL HARBOR CALENDAR MAY FREE FITNESS CLASSES On the Plaza May through October Participate in a free fitness classes on the Plaza brought to you by No Excuse Workout. All classes run 7- 8 pm except Saturday morning yoga which runs 1011 am.

Sundays, Family Night Style! Please note that movies begin at 6 pm on Sundays and 7 pm on Thursdays and will be shown once, so end times may vary with each movie. Double Features start at 4 pm. The schedule of movies follows: Mondays CardioHIT Tuesdays Kickboxing Wednesdays Zumba Saturdays Yoga Please refer to National Harbor’s Facebook page for any weather related cancellations.

MOVIES ON THE POTOMAC May through September Nothing says summer like an evening under the stars and there’s no better way to enjoy the season than a date night at National Harbor. Join us on the Plaza every Thursday night, Date Night Style and

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Date Night Screenings 4th Star Trek Beyond 11th Mother’s Day 18th La La Land 25th Fantastic Beasts and

Where to Find Them Family Night Screenings 7th DOUBLE FEATURE:

Finding Nemo & Finding Dory 14th Storks 21st The Secret Life of Pets 28th The Jungle Book (2016)

SUMMER FRIDAYS ARE BACK! May 5 through September 29 4 pm - 8 pm Start your weekend right with Summer Fridays at National Harbor! Play Corn hole, Connect Four, Giant Jenga, hula hoop, hopscotch, and more with family and friends. Enjoy performances by Bobby McKey’s, giveaways, and listen to the DJ spin your favorite summer jams. And of course, joining us means you get front row seats to the best sunset view in the DMV. Get your cameras ready and your flip flops on!

SUNSET CONCERT SERIES Saturdays May 6 through September 23 7 pm World-class performances by bands from the nation’s Armed Forces at National Harbor will stir the hearts and souls of civilians and military personnel alike, while their tuneful stylings in a variety of genres please music lovers of all ages. Don’t miss these FREE shows on the Plaza stage.

6th Navy Cruisers 13th Navy Commodores 20th Army Downrange

or be cancelled due to weather. Updates will be made via social media, so make sure to follow the Harbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.

FARMERS MARKET RETURNS American Way Saturdays and Sundays May through October 10 am - 5 pm Miller Farms Farmer’s Market returns to National Harbor with its wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, beautiful flowers and plants, and much more. Located on American Way by the fountain. Miller Farms is a 267-acre farm in Clinton, Md. that has been family owned and operated since 1840.

Memorial Day Weekend Friday, 26; Saturday, 27; Monday, 29 Air Force Celtic Aire Performs Please note that times/dates may change

May 2017 | 47

HIGH ROLLER PACKAGE Gaylord National Resort’s New Monumental Offering Experience the HOTTEST new attraction of MGM National Harbor, while staying in the heart of the harbor. The High Roller Package includes luxury accommodations and private car service to MGM National Harbor featuring world-class entertainment, luxury table games and more than 3,300 slot machines.

Package Starting From: $259* Book online at GaylordNational.com or Call 301-965-4000

Located in National Harbor, Maryland, minutes from Old Town Alexandria and D.C. *Price excludes taxes and fees. Additional restrictions apply see website for details.

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4/27/17 8:40 AM

Potomac RiveRboat comPany

NATIONAL HARBOR DINING GUIDE

SightSeeing – Private CharterS – Water taxiS

alexandria – national harbor Water taxi

washington by wateR monuments cRuise

National Harbor is a waterfront destination across from Alexandria. Round-trip and One-way service provided.

Enjoy our nation’s monuments and historic landmarks on a narrated cruise between Old Town Alexandria and Georgetown Washington D.C.

george WaShington’S mount veRnon by wateR cRuise

Water taxi to the national Mall

Arrive by boat and spend the afternoon exploring the 45-acre estate, grounds, Museum and Education Center.

Arrive in style at the National Mall to view the Roosevelt Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and more!

For additional information, visit our ticket booth located in the Alexandria City Marina, behind the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

703.684.0580 48 | May 2017

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AC LOUNGE 156 Waterfront Street 301-749-2299 BOND 45 149 Waterfront Street 301-839-1445 BROTHER JIMMY’S BBQ 177 Fleet Street 301-909-8860 CADILLAC RANCH 186 Fleet Street 301-839-1100 CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL 158 National Plaza 301-749-2016 CRAB CAKE CAFE 140 National Plaza 240-766-2063 ELEVATION BURGER 108 Waterfront Street 301-749-4014 FIORELLA PIZZERIA E CAFFE 152 National Plaza 301-839-1811 GRACES MANDARIN 188 Waterfront Street 301-839-3788

GRANITE CITY FOOD & BREWERY 200 American Way 240-493-3900 IRISH WHISPER 177 Fleet Street 301-909-8859 McCORMICK & SCHMICK 145 National Plaza 301-567-6224 McLOONES PIER HOUSE 141 National Harbor Plaza 301-839-0815 NANDO’S PERI-PERI 191 American Way 301-567-8900 NATIONAL PAST TIME SPORTS BAR & GRILLE Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com OLD HICKORY STEAKHOUSE Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com PIENZA ITALIAN MARKET Gaylord Resort 301-965-4000 gaylordnational.com

POTBELLY SANDWICH WORKS 146 National Plaza 301-686-1160 PUBLIC HOUSE 199 Fleet Street 240-493-6120 REDSTONE AMERICAN GRILL 155 National Plaza 301-839-3330 ROSA MEXICANA 135 Waterfront Street 301-567-1005 SAUCIETY AMERICAN GRILL 171 Waterfront Street 240-766-3640 SUCCOTASH 168 Waterfront Street 301-567-8900 THAI PAVILLION 151 American Way 301-749-2022 WALRUS OYSTER & ALE HOUSE 152 Waterfront Street 301-567-6100

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Happy Hour Tuesday through Friday 4:00pm to 6:30pm

Lunch Thursday and Friday 11:00am to 2:00pm

Dinner Tuesday though Sunday 5:00pm to 9:00pm

Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11:00am to 2:00pm

With seasonal menu changes, a waterfront patio, and a fireplace in each room, Cedar Knoll is the perfect setting for a romantic evening, a gathering of family and friends, or special events small and large.

Ask us about our private event space! Walk-ins Welcome, Reservations Recommended 703.780.3665 reservations@cedarknollva.com 9030 Lucia Lane Alexandria, VA 22308 cedarknollva.com