Since 1988 • Priceless
From the Bay to the Blue Ridge
September 2020
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Setting the Standard In Old Town Since 1979
september’20 A Division of Crier Media Group OTC Media LLC PO Box 320386 Alexandria, VA 22320 571-257-5437 office@oldtowncrier.com oldtowncrier.com Published the first week of every month. Worth waiting for! PUBLISHER Bob Tagert MARKETING & ADVERTISING Lani Gering Bob Tagert Meg Mullery SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE Ashley Schultz
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36
A Bit of History................................................................ 9
Fitness................................................................................39
Open Space.....................................................................43
DESIGN & PRODUCTION Electronic Ink 9 Royal Street, SE Leesburg, VA 20175 703. 669. 5502
After Hours.......................................................................13
From the Bay...................................................................24
Pets of the Month.........................................................21
Alexandria Events............................................................ 3
From the Trainer............................................................40
Points on Pets.................................................................20
Arts & Antiques..............................................................15
Gallery Beat.....................................................................14
Publisher’s Notes.............................................................. 2
CONTRIBUTORS Meg Mullery Melinda Myers Ron Powers Kim Putens Julie Reardon Ashley Schultz Jaime Stephens Bob Tagert Carl Trevisan Ryan Unverzagt Lori Welch Brown Molly Winans
Business Profile................................................................. 4
Go Fish...............................................................................42
Road Trip...........................................................................26
Caribbean Connection...............................................22
Grapevine.........................................................................36
Social Media Message................................................... 2
Dining Guide...................................................................35
High Notes.......................................................................12
Take Photos, Leave Footprints.................................18
Dining Out.......................................................................32
Labor Day Special Feature............................................ 6
The Last Word.................................................................11
Exploring Virginia Wines............................................37
Let’s Eat..............................................................................34
To the Blue Ridge..........................................................29
Financial Focus.................................................................. 8
National Harbor.............................................................44
To the Blue Ridge: Country Livin’............................29
First Blush.........................................................................41
On the Road with OTC................................................... 1
Urban Garden.................................................................16
Sarah Becker F. Lennox Campello Steve Chaconas Scott Dicken Doug Fabbioli Matt Fitzsimmons Nicole Flanagan Lani Gering Miriam Kramer Genevieve LeFranc Sarah Liu Cindy McGovern
© 2020 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 The “Usual Suspects” were at it again just before the Corona virus hullabaloo came into place. Long time Old Town Crier readers and Alexandria residents, Marty Yeager, Michele Cumberland, Cathy & “Brad” Bradford and Lynne and Jack Rhoades were able to spend a week in Playa del Carmen in Old Mexico before the travel ban was put into place. They tell us that they enjoyed a variety of delicious foods and beautiful beaches on top of having some great weather – all of which made for a very relaxing pre-Covid adventure. We love that they always take along the OTC on their treks .From left to right: Jack and Lynne Rhoades, Brad and Cathy Bradford, Michele Cumberland and Marty Yeager.
about the cover The early morning light is captured by Ceilie Jones Holmes at her home on Glebe Bay just off of the Severn River in Anne Arundel County, MD. What a beautiful view to wake up to.
Old Town Crier
With the travel restrictions in force due to the pandemic we haven't had any current submissions from our readers with their OTC's in hand while they are "On the Road". Until things get better, we would like you to send a photo of you and yours (including your furry family members) checking out the publication in the comfort of your own home/patio/pool or man cave or doing something fun and submitting it for publication. We can always create some fun captions! If you would like to see your photo in this space, take a high resolution shot and email it with a description for the caption to office@oldtowncrier.com.
September 2020 | 1
PUBLISHER’S NOTES
BOB TAGERT
Will we ever get a break from this heat? September, hopefully will begin more fall like weather. Can’t wait to get out on the water without feeling like I’m being parboiled. Fall sailing is the best. I would like to welcome our friends and former clients, John and Holli Todhunter, as new residents in Old Town. John and Holli recently sold their Virginia winery – Three Fox in Delaplane, VA - and are back in the urban swing of things. Welcome Guys! With the beating we are taking with recent hurricanes, it reminds me to mention Hurricane Bob’s Hot Sauce. Developed by local resident and friend, Bob Yakely, this is a fantastic sauce that comes in various categories of HOT. Look for his ad in this issue. Let’s preview a few of the columns in this month’s issue: Points on Pets, Jamie Stephens gives us some insight on the considerations to make if you want to adopt a feathered friend. To the Blue Ridge, Julie Reardon brings us up to date on “Racing through the Corona Pandemic” and how to watch the rescheduled Kentucky Derby. Exploring Virginia Wines, Doug Fabbioli takes us through the steps of blending wines. From the Trainer, Ryan Unverzagt gives us a perspective on Bodyweight Training. Gallery Beat, Lenny Campello reminisces about the “Art Video Age”. A Bit of History, Sarah Becker relates the success of the COVIDera as seen through the eyes of Ben Franklin. The Last Word, Miriam Kramer takes us on a wild ride through the legacy of Agatha Christie. Open Space, Lori Welsh Brown gets a chance to scream and let it all out. Can’t say I blame her. We are living in a very stressful time. On that note, how many of you lived through the 60’s and 70’s and the riots and demonstrations on the Vietnam War and the murder of Martin Luther King? How many of you watched 14th Street in D.C. burn? I was here for that. The Kent State Massacre in Ohio? Have things changed or gotten worse? In the meantime, stay cool, keep wearing that mask and washing those hands, and let’s pray that this last quarter of the year is full of good things!
A friendly reminder, early voting in Virginia begins on SEPTEMBER 19th. The polling place for Old Town Alexandria residents is across from City Hall on the North Royal Street side. Check with the VA Department of Elections (elections.virginia.gov) to find your early polling location. Get out and VOTE!
SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGE
The Publisher with longtime friend and owner of Ingleside Vineyards & Winery, Doug Flemer, in the Courtyard.
ASHLEY ROSSON
When Live Concerts go Silent
A
s I was driving home the other day listening to my Spotify news stream, the topic of live concerts and the pandemic came up in discussion. With most concerts cancelled until further notice, musicians are having to get creative, by streaming performances to stay connected with fans, and in some cases, bring in a little extra cash. Back in the day, I am saying 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, concerts were mainly to promote an artist’s new album. Most artist’s made most of their money by selling said albums, but then in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we had programs such a Napster and Torrent, that allowed illegal 2 | September 2020
downloads of albums. This eventually led to artists having to tour more and make the concerts their main sources of income. So now that this form of profit is no longer viable while the pandemic rages on, what is an artist to do? Live stream from their homes, either for free and sell merchandise, or charge for the viewing. However, a number of industry veterans say that this isn’t a viable long term replacement for in-person performances. Streaming would not be anywhere near as lucrative for big name performers such as Elton John, Garth Brooks, or the Jonas Brothers, who sell out venues
with thousands of seats where tickets can average a couple hundred dollars apiece. Dave Brooks, Billboard’s senior director of touring and live, says, “I don’t think streaming will replace concerts, I think streaming performances will become a category of what artists offer their fans.” That can mean bigger name performers could charge, in addition to their live concert, for exclusive online access instead of VIP encounters. Brooks also believes that only a select few performers, mainly small indie acts, would be able to make the move to streaming exclusively and be successful. Fans could perhaps pay a monthly fee for
unlimited access to the streams or buy passes to individual shows. While I listened to the podcast, one of my favorite bands came on air, Dropkick Murphy’s. They are a well know band, yet not in the realm of let’s say, Elton John. They were discussing how they live streamed their concerts for St. Patrick’s Day for free. They were able to make in profit, with just a few streaming concerts selling merchandise, over half of what they would make normally in a six-month tour. The reason being, you don’t spend any money on a tour bus, hotel rooms, gas, food, and venues that you
would normally spend on completing a tour. I personally believe streaming could be a lot more lucrative in the long run for the big name artists and not just the small indie artists. Granted, nothing can replace the feeling of being in that dark music venue - the smell, the lights, and the energy - but while we can’t necessarily do that, there will always be people, especially in quarantine, that need to listen to some new jams. I know I would shell out some cash to experience the closest thing I could get to a live concert without putting my health or others at risk. Old Town Crier
Alexandria EVENTS & INFORMATION
COVID-19 UPDATE
With the current situation with the COVID-19 virus all schedules events have been cancelled. We will post as we get information, in the meantime we encourage you to connect with the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association at:
VisitAlexandriaVA.com Blog.VisitAlexandriaVA.com Facebook.com/VisitAlexandriaVA Twitter.com/AlexandriaVA Instagram.com/VisitAlexVA Hashtags: #visitALX Ramsey House Visitors Center at the corner of King and Fairfax is now open.
18th Annual Alexandria Old Town Art Festival
SEPT. 19TH
Sept.12th & 13th 10 am - 5 pm Admission: FREE*
Photo courtesy of Packards Virginia
4th Annual Orphans Car Show 10 am – 1 pm The Lyceum, Alexandria History Museum 201 South Washington Street • Old Town Alexandria Packards Virginia and the Lyceum sponsor this FREE event bringing together many cars that are no longer manufactured – hence the term “orphan”. Such “orphans” include cars made by Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hudson, Packard and Studebaker. On display will be vehicles primarily from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Up to 19 cars will be featured. For more information contact Packards Virginia at www.packardsva.org. Among one of the Packard’s being shown is this 1933 Packard Model 1001 Coupe Roadster pictured here. It is one of only 10 known to exist and is rarely shown. It is fitted with a 320 CID, nine main bearing, straight 8 engine producing 120 hp. In the small body, this provides a fast, sporty ride. Wood door cappings, and dashboard with jewel-like instruments rounds out the design of this beautiful rare car.
Old Town Crier
Formerly known as the King Street Art Festival this event has been moved from that location to John Carlyle Square just off of Duke Street in the Eisenhower Avenue development. There are going to be safety protocols in place. These include the wearing of masks for all over the age of 2 years, using hand sanitizer and hand washing stations and avoiding casual touching of the art. Entrances and exits will follow one-way traffic and attendees are asked to practice physical distancing. For more information: www.artfestival.com *While admission is free you have to reserve a time slot via Eventbrite.
ABOUT ALEXANDRIA, VA Named the #1 Best Value U.S. Travel Destination 2018 by Money magazine, a Top 3 Best Small City in the U.S. 2019 by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards and one of the South’s Prettiest Cities 2018 by Southern Living, Alexandria hums with a cosmopolitan feel and a walkable lifestyle—a welcoming weekend escape next to our nation’s capital. A nationally designated historic district founded in 1749, Old Town Alexandria is home to more than 200 independent restaurants and boutiques alongside intimate historic museums and new happenings at the waterfront. At the heart of it all is bustling King Street, a walkable mile recognized as one of the “Great Streets” of America. New restaurants tucked in to 18th- and 19th-century architecture still intact from the city’s days as George Washington’s hometown ignite historic and off-the-beatenpath neighborhoods as the waterfront district evolves with new energy.
September 2020 | 3
BUSINESS PROFILE
BOB TAGERT
COPPER FOX DISTILLERY 901 CAPITOL LANDING ROAD WILLIAMSBURG, VA 757-903-2076 #9 RIVER LANE SPERRYVILLE, VA 540-987-8554 COPPERFOXDISTILLERY.COM
Proprietor and Distiller Rick Wasmund
COOKIN’ WHISKY AT COPPER FOX DISTILLERY
4 | September 2020
I
n July of 2009 we first wrote about Rick Wasmund, founder, owner and master distiller of Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, Virginia. We had chosen Rick as a Personality Profile instead of a Business Profile because he had just sold his first bottle of Wasmund’s Single Malt Whisky and the reports were still rolling in, however, as a personality, he was great. In 1999 Rick was leading a comfortable life in Middleburg, Virginia as an insurance agent and living on a large estate that he also managed. While attending a Scotch whisky tasting event in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., the idea of making a whisky with fruit wood rather than peat came to him. All Scotch whisky is peat smoked to get that unique flavor. Clearly it was a good idea as he convinced his neighbor Sean Mcaskey to join his venture. When asked why he agreed so readily, Sean said, “It just seemed like a good idea!” On a personal note, Rick and Sean are two of the most laid back and smart people that
you will ever meet. To learn more about the distilling process, the two visited many U.S. distilleries including Maker’s Mark, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, A. Smith Bowman and even a distillery that was closed-they received an escort out of the facility rather than a tour! Asked what they hoped to learn, Wasmund jokingly answered that he wanted to hear that the idea was impossible, but the visits only reinforced his belief about the viability of creating a unique whiskey product. Leaving Virginia and his job, Wasmund traveled to Scotland, where he obtained an internship at Bowmore Distillery on Islay, where he learned to malt his own barley. There he also received confirmation that his ideas were new to the whisky world and unique enough to create a commercially viable product. He also gained an appreciation of the skill, passion, dedication
and perseverance necessary to pursue his dream... perseverance being the key word for his future. Upon returning to Virginia, Wasmund started working on a business plan for his venture and by September 2001 started raising investment money. He operated under the license of Copper Fox Distillery for a while before buying the apple facility where the first distillery was located in Sperryville. Rick designed the set up for the distillery and he and Sean built most of the physical plan. The first whisky they made was an applewood smoked American Single Malt Whisky. This landmark whisky is still my favorite today. In August 2006 the first bottle of Wasmund’s Single Old Town Crier
Clockwise, from above: Interior shots; The Still; The Mashing Tanks; Mashing, Day 1 Mashing, Day 2; The Grain; Product ready to be sold.
BUSINESS PROFILE| FROM PG 4
Malt Whisky was sold. The dream had come true as Wasmund’s greatest pleasure that year was seeing the first bottle of Wasmund’s on the shelf of a store in Warrenton. Wasmund spent many days and miles on the road introducing his Single Malt Whisky to new drinkers throughout the United States. As the business began to grow, so did his business family and his personal life. Rick’s mom, Helen (Malt Mom), soon joined the business after selling her home and business in Buffalo, New York to help with the day to day operation. Rick’s life was about to change as well. One evening in 2007 Rick decided to visit the popular Griffin Tavern and Restaurant in Flint Hill. Here he struck up a conversation with Chelsea Stone, a local nurse. He eventually asked if he could buy her a drink and she ask what did he recommend! “How about my whisky,” he said proudly. “What are you drinking?” she asked. “No, he responded, I mean the whisky that I make at my distillery.” Three years later they were married. The marketing was proving effective for Wasmund’s Single Malt Whisky as Rick visited as many states as he could. The company was also engaged in developing new products as well. Soon they had developed their Copper Fox Original Rye that was apple and cherry wood smoked. With the success of the original Rye, they developed their extremely popular Peachwood Smoked Old Town Crier
American Single Malt. They even got into the clear whisky business with their “Vir Gin” a single malt gin with great floral notes. As the brand was expanding, so was their family. Daughter Camille was born and a few years later son Mason arrived. With the business and family expanding there was an acute need for a second location. In 2014, Wasmund became aware of a 6 acre, 104-room motel The Lord Padget - that the city of Williamsburg owned and was willing to sell. With the vision of how he could turn this into a perfect distillery in the heart of Williamsburg, he swung into action. He purchased the property and began developing it into a distillery. He soon established a bottling room, and tasting room and a retail store. Moving forward Rick implemented his plan...some rooms were gutted and reconfigured for much needed barrel storage as Sperryville had maxed out. He also created two new malting floors so they could meet the demand of being the only hand malted barley for the distillery. He had also started selling his barley to the tide of new craft brewers that were flowing into the region. In addition, the property also had a freestanding home on the property where Rick and Chelsea could raise their family. The last part to be developed was the new welcome area which includes a large bar and tasting room as well as the Company Store. Large glass windows have been built into the walls where
you can view the mash being processed as well as the new still. The new still can produce twice as much product as the Sperryville operation. This helps in keeping up with the demand. In addition to their original four products, Copper Fox now produces Sassy Single Malt Rye (a sassafrass smoked single malt rye), Apple Brandy Barrel Finish Original American Single Malt, Port Style Barrel Finish Original American Single Malt, Cognac Barrel Finish Limited Edition Rye as well as Single Malt, Rye and Bourbon Mash Spirits. Speaking of bourbon, Copper Fox has recently started making Dawson Reserve Bourbon. This bourbon is named after their late friend Billy Dawson who was the exclusive grower of the barley used in all Copper Fox products. Over the years the relationship between Billy and Rick grew into a mutual respect that each produced the best product they could. Here Billy lives in their hearts in Dawson’s Reserve Bourbon. What started out as a true epiphany fueled with that unwavering “I can do that” passion of Rick Wasmund, a brand-new whisky was born and is being well received within the industry and by customers. If you decide to take a road trip, whether you head to the mountains or the Chesapeake Bay be sure to stop at one of the Copper Fox Distilleries and take a tour and enjoy a flight of their whiskys or one of their craft cocktails. Like Rick says...’On the rocks with some water to release the flavor’...he was right. September 2020 | 5
SPECIAL FEATURE
The History of Labor Day Let’s Celebrate on the 7th!! Labor Day: What it means. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and wellbeing of our country.
Labor Day Legislation Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative
enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
Founder of Labor Day More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent
research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
The First Labor Day The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea
Can you wear white after Labor Day? This old tradition goes back to the late Victorian era, where it was a fashion faus pax to wear any white clothing after the summer officially ended on Labor Day. The tradition isn’t really followed anymore. EmilyPost.com explains the logic behind the fashion trend – white indicated you were still in vacation mode at your summer cottage. 6 | September 2020
spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
A Nationwide Holiday The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television. The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker. Source material supplied by the United States Department of Labor.
Labor Day is the unofficial end of Hot Dog Season. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says that between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans will eat over 7 billion hot dogs. Images Courtesy Vecteezy.Com
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September 2020 | 7
FINANCIAL FOCUS
CARL TREVISAN, CFP© & STEPHEN BEARCE
Six Priorities for the Sandwich Generation
T
he “Sandwich Generation”— adults caring for aging parents as well as children—faces several stressful challenges that come from trying to juggle everyone’s needs. One of those top stressors: finances, such as how to cover education and health care costs and still save enough for retirement. The demands often compete with one another—which is why setting clear priorities is so important. Here are six tips for setting those priorities to help you deliver the support your loved ones need— without shortchanging yourself. 1. Take care of your future first. Saving enough for retirement should be your top priority. You have to take care of your needs before you help your parents and your children. 2. Create or update your investment plan. Create an investment plan
that will help you balance your financial goals with the needs of your children and parents. Review your budget, analyze your expenses, and set savings targets to help you prioritize planning for an upcoming expense, such as college costs or long-term care for your parents. 3. Review your insurance coverage. Protecting your income is always a good idea, but it’s even more important when you have two generations depending on you. Make sure you have enough life insurance in case something happens to you to pay off your mortgage and other debt, and to help cover the future living expenses of your dependents. And don’t forget disability insurance: More than a quarter of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before they retire, according to the
Council for Disability Awareness.* 4. Check in on your parents’ financial health. Though it might seem awkward, talk to your parents about their wishes for the future and their financial health. What financial assets and expenses do they have? How do they plan to meet their financial obligations? Do they have a plan to cover the costs of long-term care? This conversation can help you determine how much financial support you will need to provide. Also, make sure your parents have done adequate estate planning, and ask for copies of their will or trust, durable power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and advance healthcare directive. Make sure your own estateplanning documents are complete and updated as well.
5. Consider reducing financial support for grown children. Many parents still help their grown children with their finances—sometimes even to their detriment. Many young Baby Boomers are still paying their kids’ expenses, cell phone bill, or car insurance. If this is the case for you, talk with your children about the steps they can take to start becoming more financially independent. 6. Look for ways to help reduce your taxes. In some cases, you may be able to claim your aging parents as dependents. Also check with a tax advisor to see if their medical expenses qualify as a tax deduction. Another way that may benefit your financial bottom line is to set up a 529 Plan for your children’s education expenses. * https://disabilitycanhappen.org/overview/
Wells Fargo Advisors is not a tax or legal advisor. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing in a 529 savings plan. The official statement, which contains this and other information, can be obtained by calling your financial advisor. Read it carefully before you invest. This article was written by/for Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Carl M. Trevisan, Managing Director-Investments and Stephen M. Bearce, First Vice PresidentInvestments in Alexandria, VA at 800-247-8602. 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. © 2019 Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. All rights reserved. 8 | September 2020
Old Town Crier
A BIT OF HISTORY
©2020 SARAH BECKER
“W
e may be done with COVID-19, but COVID-19 is not done with us,” NIH Director Francis Collins noted not long ago. The rapidly transmitting coronavirus has taken hold and the number of cases, of deaths per capita endures. “COVID-19 is extraordinarily widespread,” the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Deborah Birx said in early August. “Particularly asymptomatic spread in people under 30.” The number of American children infected as of August 13: 338,000. America, by all measures, has yet to successfully slow COVID-19’s spread. California’s caseload now exceeds New York’s. No effective vaccine exists; vaccine hesitancy has yet to be mulled and too many refuse to regularly wear protective face masks. Or maintain 6’ of social distance. How in this COVID-19 era is success defined? Today’s success literature draws heavily on history. “Benjamin Franklin [1706-1790] was Old Town Crier
Ben Franklin & COVID-19 a close observer of human conduct, and recognized at an early age that certain attitudes and behaviors are more conducive to success and happiness than others,” author Steven Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. “Much of the success literature of the past 50 years…was filled with social image consciousness and quick fixes—with social band-aids and aspirin that addressed acute problems… but left the underlying chronic problems untouched to fester and resurface again.” “Almost all of the success literature in the first 150 years…focused on what could be called the Character
Ethic—things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the Golden Rule,” Covey explained. “Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is representative of that literature.” “The Character Ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success…as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character,” Covey continued. “But shortly after World War I the basic view of success shifted from the Character Ethic to… the Personality Ethic, success being more a function of
personality, of public image, of attitudes and behaviors.” “When I was a Boy, I met with a Book intitled Essays to do Good, which I think was written by your Father [Boston Puritan Cotton Mather, 1663-1728],” Benjamin Franklin wrote Samuel Mather in 1784. “[S] everal Leaves of it were torn out: But the Remainder gave me such a Turn of Thinking as to have an Influence on my Conduct thro’ Life; for I have always set a greater Value on the Character of a Doer of Good, than on any other kind of Reputation; and if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful Citizen, the Publick owes the Advantage
of it to that Book…[Your father] was a Man that never miss’d any Occasion of giving Instruction, and he once said to me, You are young and have the World before you; STOOP as you go through it, and you will miss many hard Thumps. This Advice, thus beat into my head has frequently been of use to me, and often I think of it when I see Pride mortified….” “[Franklin] observed that happiness seemed to be more related to what went on within a person than without,” Covey concluded. “He had also come to believe that success could be better measured by the good a person does than by any other means…There is also the intrinsic security that comes as a result of effective interdependent living.” Benjamin Franklin—one of the most admired men of the Enlightenment, America’s Voltaire—was the youngest of ten children and had little formal schooling. He was born on Boston’s Milk Street, the son of a soap- and candlemaker. Yet Franklin, a retired printer at age 42; a scientist and inventor, became one of A BIT OF HISTORY > PAGE 10
September 2020 | 9
A BIT OF HISTORY | FROM PAGE 9
America’s greatest statesmen. What are Franklin’s twelve guiding virtues? They are: [1] There is no happiness but in a virtuous and selfapproving conduct. Virtue [defined as moral excellence and goodness] is the best preservative of health as it prescribes temperance. [2] Acquiring the qualities of virtue requires a good plan and consistent effort. [3] Religion is a powerful regulator of human conduct. “I believe in one God, creator of the Universe,” Franklin penned in 1790. “That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him is doing good to his other Children…[V]ital religion has always suffered when orthodoxy is more regarded than virtue.” [4] Correct action is dependent upon correct opinion. [5] Motives of personal gain tend to be opposite of one’s true selfinterest. [6] Where truth and honesty are wanting, everything is wanting. [7] The proper acquisition and use of money may be a blessing, but the opposite is always a curse. [8] It is, by far, much easier to preserve health than to regain it. “When we are young, and sometimes when older, we fail to appreciate the importance of good health and what it takes to preserve it,” Franklin said. “To the extent a person is careless…or foolish, in doing things injurious to himself he will detract so much from his potential for happiness. Prudence, temperance, moderation, and self-discipline are those virtues best suited for fostering physical and mental health.” [9] Happiness springs immediately from the mind. [10] Life is immeasurably more satisfying to those who get along well with others than to those who do not. [11] Of all human relationships, the most enduring and satisfying are those of family. [12] In the process of aging and dying the fruits of a virtuous life are most sensibly felt. The latter reminds one of cancer survivor and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; 10 | September 2020
deceased Congressman and civil rights activist John R. Lewis [D-GA], as well as the more than 5.5 million Americans unmercifully stricken with COVID-19. The number of infected inhabitants climbed from 4 million to 5 million in only 14 days. “Liberty is…the parent of virtue,” Virginia colonist Arthur Lee exclaimed in 1769. Let us exercise our freedoms, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” sensibly. In the 1890s Alexandria’s Leadbeater family placed a bust of Benjamin Franklin in their Apothecary Shop. Why? The family admired not only Franklin’s interest in science, but also his character. To the extent that Franklin opposed slavery it was on the pragmatic ground that slavery encouraged idleness. “The rapid Progress true Science now makes, occasions my regretting sometimes that I was born so soon,” Franklin told Joseph Priestley in 1780. “It is impossible to imagine the Height to which may be carried, in a thousand years, the Power of Man over Matter…all Diseases may by sure means be prevented or cured, not excepting even that of Old Age, and our Lives lengthened at pleasure even beyond the antediluvian Standard. O that moral Science were in as fair a way of Improvement, that Men would cease to be Wolves to one another, and that human Beings would at length learn what they now improperly call Humanity!” Scientists only partially understand the particularities of COVID-19 as of now. Economists typically define a public good as “a commodity or service that is provided without profit to all members of a society either by government, a private individual, or organization.” The Encyclopedia Britannica further defines such as nonexcluable and nondepletable. A public good is nondepletable “if one’s individual enjoyment of the good does not diminish the amount of the good available to others.” Clean air is a public good, polluted air is a public bad. COVID-19 is mostly transmitted by droplet spread [sneeze or cough], including oral contact. Think of the infected droplets as
air borne pollutants of a type—a public health matter for which corrective action is needed. Individuals, their families and communities can benefit, will benefit when the Center for Disease Control’s collective public action goals are achieved. In the case of COVID-19, when all except children under two years regularly wear protective face masks—we wash our hands often and maintain 6’ or more of social distance. “There should be universal wearing of masks,” NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci suggests. Illinois is the first state to make “it a felony for assault on workers enforcing mask rules.” Pennsylvania and New Jersey have also put punitive measures in place. Together we can defeat this disease! Thereby reducing COVID-19’s infection rate; your and others pandemicrelated stresses. The attitudinal changes, the behavioral changes needed to protect the public’s health are yours to ensure. The University of Washington’s COVID-19 tracking station estimates U.S. deaths will reach 300,000 by December unless “more people wear face masks.” America reached its highest single day COVID-19 death count in mid-August. Be a Doer of Good. Benjamin Franklin’s twelve virtues are a prescription for life. The U.S. death count as of August 13: 166,000+. “Death takes no bribes,” Franklin affirmed. Be part of the pandemic’s solution! However inconvenient, tyrannical, or inopportune face masks may seem. The competing flu season draws near. Sarah Becker started writing for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, SLAM’s saving grace Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email: abitofhistory53@gmail.com
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THE LAST WORD
D
ame Agatha Christie’s books are often listed right after William Shakespeare’s works and the Bible on the list of the bestselling works of all time. How did a modest puzzle maker and writer who called herself “lowbrow” create a template for the twentiethcentury mystery novel and achieve worldwide fame in her lifetime? Why has she maintained her reputation as the world continues to read her works widely forty-five years after her death? Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson provides a few clues while examining the mystery of Agatha’s life. Thompson focuses more on Agatha Christie’s mental processes than traditional biographical details throughout the book, exhibiting an admirably thorough and convincing reading of her works while offering her own interpretation of Agatha’s much-heralded disappearance for eleven days in 1926. She does establish Agatha’s base for her imagination in her childhood at Ashfield, her beloved house in Torquay, Devon, England. Agatha Miller was born in 1890 and grew up there as a very happy child with little formal schooling. As the youngest sibling in her family, she grew up like an only child in a structured, middleclass life near the seaside, free to dream and imagine her life while surrounded by her parents and the kind of competent, respectable servants who populate her novels. The first twelve years of her life gave her the warmth and stability to bear the turmoil that occurred after her father, Frederick, died of a heart attack. Her mother, Clara, had to decide what to do with Old Town Crier
MIRIAM R. KRAMER
Agatha as they faced precarious financial straits and the possible sale of Ashfield. Agatha went off to a pensionnat, a kind of finishing school, in Paris, briefly considering singing as a profession, and then went with her mother to Cairo as a debutante, since coming out was far less expensive abroad. When Agatha met Archibald Christie in 1912, her fate was determined. A penniless pilot, lean, single-minded, and attractive, he excited both her love and her imagination. She never felt as if she could solve the puzzle of his personality, which was a characteristic of her nature. As Thompson indicates, Agatha loved not getting to the bottom of mysteries in real life. While Archie went off to World War I, they became engaged. She joined a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), serving as a trainee nurse who dispensed medications. Here Agatha grew to know the nature of the poisons she so liberally used in her later works while she waited for Archie to come home. At this point Agatha was a romantic young woman full of notions, but also open to the dialogue in the conversations that swept around her. Married to her sense of story was this unconscious absorption in her characters’ voices. Their veracity lent her plots substance and minimal but impactful clues to their types and humanity. After they married, she and Archie set out upon a life together, living in London and traveling around the world to former and current British colonies for a year when Archie got a limited job to do so. Their trips to South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States fed her
love for travel. Agatha always kept in mind the view of a rather conservative British public, which pops up in her characters’ voices sometimes: “British is best” or “British is good enough for me.” Such characters represented many of her readers. Yet her fans fall under a very big tent. She often reveals the aforementioned characters as xenophobic or easily taken in by Hercule Poirot, for example, who turns the dial up on his “Frenchified” foreign image to get such bigots to take him less seriously or confide in him. They cannot even remember that he is Belgian, not French. After all, what’s the difference? Therefore, Agatha’s attitudes are always hard to ascertain. Sometimes her characters are of the people, but the outsider also features prominently, and they are sometimes one and the same. That, in many ways, is one secret to her everlasting popularity. So many of us look like we belong and never feel like we do, and most of us present a mask to the world. When she and Archie returned from their voyage, Agatha started writing mysteries as a way of competing with her older sister, Madge, who had written a play that was being put on in London. Her first mystery, and first Hercule Poirot book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was a cleverly plotted book that finally got her into print as a detective fiction writer while creating perhaps the most famous detective, aside from Sherlock Holmes or her own Miss Marple, in the history of mysteries. Miss Marple first appeared in a book of short stories, The Thirteen Problems, seven years later. Agatha and Archie had a daughter, Rosalind, and moved to a golfing community near
London, Sunningdale. They were able to get a mortgage on a home they called “Styles” after the home in her first mystery novel. In 1926, though, Archie presented Agatha with the equivalent of an ultimatum, telling her that he had fallen in love with another woman, Nancy Neele, and that he wanted a divorce. He did so soon after her beloved mother’s death, while Agatha was grieving deeply. Agatha, still romantic and in love with her husband despite their increasing distance, was devastated. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Thompson’s biography has her imagining Agatha’s trajectory as she left her daughter in the hands of a trusted servant. In a state of shock, she then drove her car to a quarry. At that point Agatha disappeared to her husband and the public. Thompson imagines Agatha on the brink of suicide, finally deciding to disappear in a confused bid to get Archie’s attention. She presents Agatha’s desperate emotions and actions as she detaches from her own identity, pretending to be a Mrs. Teresa Neele. In essence, Agatha reacted psychologically to stress by taking on another personality. Mrs. Neele travels to the Harrogate Hydro Spa in northern England as a widow from South Africa bearing the last name of Archie Christie’s future wife-to-be. In the mean time, the world looked for the author Agatha Christie, increasing her notoriety. As a private person, she regretted the scandal she created all her life. Many of her mysteries’ characters don disguises or take other names: her life bled into her writing in this
regard. Ms. Christie decided to escape her anguish physically and psychologically in lieu of suicide, creating a temporary persona to relieve her suffering. TAGS: Agatha Christie, classic mysteries, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Mary Westmacott, memoir Thompson offers a different perspective on Agatha’s disappearance than those offered before. From her research she believes that THE LAST WORD > PAGE 13
September 2020 | 11
HIGH NOTES
RON POWERS
Hello Take Me Anywhere BY NIGHT SHOP
T
he other day I was doing a Zoom call with a friend of mine who lives in Los Angeles and, as usual, we talked about the music we’d been listening to lately. My friend was particularly excited about a new song she had just discovered called “Hello Take Me Anywhere” which had recently been released by an act local to LA called “Night Shop”. Justin Sullivan is the man behind “Night Shop”. You might know him as the drummer for Kevin Morby, The Babies, or as a member of another LA act called “Flat Worms”. “Hello Take Me Anywhere” is a song scooped out of the timeless waters of American roots music, country music, and rock-n-roll. I like it for its laidback rock rhythm and Sullivan’s cool vocal delivery which reminds me of Bob Dylan only less nasally and more diaphragm centered. I also enjoy the subtle Creedence Clearwater Revival type acoustic guitar rhythms shuffling under the round tone of the electric guitar. “Hello Take Me Anywhere” is an impressive tune but it’s not a firework-show of a song. While listening you get the feeling that Justin Sullivan is doing anything but trying to impress you. And that’s exactly why the song pulls you in. The production of this tune is laid back and easy to take in. It doesn’t abruptly grab 12 | September 2020
you with a white-knuckle-desperate attempt to cut through the glut of music and content being spewed out day after day. No, Night Shop seems to be an act that plays its own game and shows little if any regard to what is happening on the dance floor of today’s frantic-for-attention music industry. After putting on “Hello Take Me Anywhere” I simply found myself pleasantly enjoying the music. Everything about the sound of this song holds together with a smoothness but at the same time it has some analog “hair” that especially comes through on the drums. I particularly enjoy the zappy bite of the snare drum. Lyrically “Hello Take Me Anywhere” expresses what life has been like for many of us these days. Quarantine has, among other things, caused many to notice just how important it is to get out of the house. The line “take me anywhere” gives voice to the collective itch many of us have felt in 2020. The value of just to be able to go to one’s favorite restaurant, bar, or cafe is being felt more and more as this time of withdraw stretches on. In the fashion of great songwriters, Sullivan gives voice to what people are going through. But, he does it in a playful light way that’s fun to listen to. His choice of “steady-as-she-goes” melody and musical arrangement is a smart match for the lyrical content too. For me this song expresses what it’s like to navigate a tough time with a level head and a fun attitude. Night Shop will likely be doing live streamed performances on Instagram in the coming weeks so be sure to look out for that. If you’d like to listen to “Hello Take Me Anywhere” or other releases by Night Shop you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and most other places digital music is streamed or sold. If you’d like to know more about Justin Sullivan and Night Shop, you can find him on Instagram, and Facebook. Enjoy! Ron Powers is an independent A&R specialist and music industry consultant, and is constantly searching for, discovering and writing about new talent. Old Town Crier
THE LAST WORD | FROM PAGE 11
Agatha meant to jolt Archie into returning to their marriage. She hated the idea of divorce and had begged him to stay for Rosalind’s sake. Immediately after she left, she sent Archie’s brother, Campbell Christie, a letter telling him where she was, but it went astray when Campbell did not receive it on time. He did not believe it when it finally arrived. Therefore Agatha simply stayed at the spa, paralyzed, watching her disappearance became newspaper fodder and a public relations nightmare. When Archie eventually found her, they both pretended that she had suffered from amnesia to excuse her actions. The public, which by now had a sense of ownership of her disappearance, had an understandably hard time believing this account. In this way Thompson describes Agatha’s emotional reasons for her disappearance, and the break between the idealistic romantic Agatha had always been before her divorce and the damaged, more guarded woman who survived that turmoil. Her second marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan, although described as a very happy one, was safer. They were good friends rather than people desperately in love. Agatha needed security in marriage, however, so she took care not to let her husband, thirteen years younger than she, stay alone and get into trouble with other women. She went on expeditions with him to Iraq and many other places in the Middle East to keep him company and write. In this way her daughter suffered for attention. Agatha was a loving daughter and wife, but a more complicated mother, who related less to her downto-earth, pessimistic daughter than her beloved mother, Clara. Until Clara’s death and beyond, she remained much more fond of being a daughter than a mother. Laura Thompson spends a good amount of time focusing on Agatha’s mindset and psychological outlook, in contrast to Jared Cade in his book Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days. She counters his arguments and claims one by one, in particular some of his assertions about Agatha’s motivations for disappearing and the way in which she did it. She also disputes his claims of information gained from Agatha’s friend’s daughter, Judith Gardner, calling them Old Town Crier
spurious. For example, she points out that other than such assertions there is no evidence that Max Mallowan indulged in love affairs later in life, for example with colleague Barbara Parker. Having read Cade’s book some time ago, I see how they approached Agatha’s life very differently. Cade focused strongly on chronological events and Agatha’s relationships with others around her, including her many friends throughout her life. Thompson also speaks of Agatha’s relationships with her close family and husbands, but discusses her individual psychological development from childhood onward much more extensively. She shows handily how Agatha revealed personal details and romantic, ineffable attitudes much more in her novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott than she ever did in the tightly constructed, more detached detective novels that catapulted her to worldwide fame. Thompson mostly ignores Agatha’s strong relationships with her sister, Madge, and many friends, including Nan Kon, who features prominently in Jared Cade’s book. She does not always deny them, but they rarely feature prominently. Which biographer is correct? In any case, Thompson’s omission is perhaps a weakness in this otherwise very worthwhile account. In Cade’s version of her life, Agatha seemed to be a good, generous friend to many. Before perusing this biography, I started re-reading Agatha’s mysteries in March as a way of escaping the pandemic. Occasionally I reread her when I need comfort reading. I believe one of her great strengths is her way of portraying conversation, particularly with her dry, sometimes straightforward and sometimes sense of humor. She captures the voice of the person on the street, the good servant, the upper middle-class family member, the ne’er-dowell black sheep of the family, and even the upper class close to perfectly. Both Thompson and Cade sometimes fail to note how alive her writing is as a result. That being said, Ms. Christie does sometimes waver badly when it comes to depicting national or racial types. Some of her characters would now be seen as racist stereotypes. She had unfortunate tendencies to exaggerate and stereotype people as a Latin type, or a Jewish type, or an Eastern European refugee type, for example. Not all of her writing maintains the same level of
quality, either. She has some silly early detective writing, such as the novel The Big Four, that aped Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlockian melodrama. Other novels show, even within the detective genre, sophisticated romantic yearnings, the desperation to which people can sink, and complications within the human spirit. So why is it worth reading Laura Thompson’s biography? Why do we still pay attention to someone who painted in broad brush strokes that sometimes register to the contemporary ear as deeply offensive? One answer is that Agatha is inconsistent and purposefully untrustworthy in creating such stereotypes. She would sometimes undercut such images by showing that one of her characters is playing a part, causing those around them to misjudge them. Therefore, a reader cannot always trust her seemingly casual bigotry. She always keeps us on our toes until Miss Marple, Poirot, or her other set characters solve the crime. Miss Marple herself generally leads law-enforcement and other prominent characters to misjudge and underestimate her as an older, unmarried woman. Therefore, Agatha even undercuts the ageism displayed by her police detectives and others who discount Miss Marple’s mental acuity to their own chagrin.
Agatha Christie’s popularity remains because human beings are messy and life does not tie up with neat endings. Certainly her own did not. She maintained a love for Archie Christie all her life, faithfully keeping all his letters in a briefcase, while also loving her husband, Max Mallowan, and putting Archie behind her in other ways. In her mysteries, on the other hand, murderers show a limited set of motivations. Only certain people have both the motivation and the circumstances to commit their crimes. Unlike real life, the vast majority of her killers get what they deserve. Her plots are ingenious puzzles, and the world loves a puzzle. Her universe features clearly cut righteousness and wickedness. We also love her characters: their familiarity but also the way any of them could be made unfamiliar. Her innocent-looking detective Miss Marple, a fluffy old lady with pink cheeks, believes inexorably in evil. She and Hercule Poirot also recognize patterns within human nature rather than the facades that cover up such patterns. They or other problem-solvers reveal the recognizable licentiousness, cold calculation, or desperation percolating in the lives of more than one innocent-looking suspect. It is therefore a mistake to
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focus on her characters as cardboard cutouts, despite the way she recycles some of the same tropes: the faithful servant, the femme fatale, the dry, careful lawyer, the female companion. Their simplicity is deceptive and sometimes ill-served by their televised versions. Agatha also builds real characterization, however limited, through their conversations more than inner monologues, but they are no less recognizable and sometimes more easily digestible as a result. As Laura Thompson points out, Agatha Christie’s own life could be shambolic, despite her notable career as a prolific and diverse writer. She had complicated relationships and took paths she never completed. Agatha knew that shades of grey are the norm. In her detective novels she distills that knowledge, simplifies it, and uses sleight-of-hand while showing us afterwards how she did the magic trick. In wrapping up the plot and punishing the perpetrators, she provides vicarious satisfaction and catharsis, deceiving simplicity, and a moral certainty that most of us do not know in real life. In the end it is no mystery that her knowledge of human nature and way of arranging its facets so cleverly is the key to her continued, and well-deserved, success.
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September 2020 | 13
GALLERY BEAT
F. LENNOX CAMPELLO
Obsessed By Ophelia 26 x 14 x 8 Blown and Cast Glass , Video Inside a man holds a video screen with the image of a dreaming Ophelia. He is surrounded by stacks of books, a crown, a sacred heart and a broken heart sewn back together. The finial is of a straight jacket.
Art or Entertainment?
A Images: Tim Tate
Guardians Of The Necropolis 36 x 18 x 18 Cast Glass, Wood, Video
She Goes Walking After Midnight, 14 x 10 x 3 Glass, Video
The finial on this piece is of 3 Alligator Men. One holds the Book of the Dead, one holds a lotus flower, one a plum bob. Inside stand 2 large figures, back to back watching over each other. The both hold a video. One video is of flying through night time clouds...one is of billowing curtains in front of a darkened entrance. They are surrounded by Crocodile Women, canopic jars, sarcophagi and Egyptian sculptures. This piece protects the owner from death.
14 | September 2020
The View From afar 18 x 10 x 10 Glass,Video
s the Covidian Age begins (to the dismay of newspaper editors all over New York and LA) to show signs of slowing down, I got to think about art stuff that I originally thought about decades ago, whenever some shiny “new” thing popped into the art scene. Remember when everyone was doing “art videos” as the new thing? I don’t hide the fact that most art videos (which I have sometimes called artists’ home movies) left me pretty ambivalent, especially as I try to view them as art, rather than entertainment. In the nearly 70 or 80-year history of artists’ home movies, I can probably count in one hand the number of them that I would even remotely consider as something more than a low budget attempt at
making a film, and most of those on that list start before the VCR was invented. And even after all these years, no one has ever surpassed Salvador Dali’s “Un Chien Andalou.” And for the really “artsy” ones, Ana Mendieta’s still rule. Nonetheless, it is a fact that most of the voices in the art world that count and weighin a lot more importantly than mine, once upon a time a decade or two ago viewed video (pun intended) as the leading edge for creativity in the modern dialogue of the visual arts (even though the genre was then in its 7th decade). Witness the video overloads in the Whitney Biennial lists of the 2010s for example. History lesson for anyone born after 1980 or so: Before GALLERY BEAT > PAGE 15
Old Town Crier
GALLERY BEAT | FROM PAGE 14
everyone had streaming as a matter of fact, they had VCRs or DVD players in their homes… and before that, if you wanted to see a movie, you generally had to go to a movie theatre, and many American cities had a seedy neighborhood area where porn theatres were concentrated when I was a kid in Brooklyn, that seedy area was in and around Times Square in NYC. And just like video killed the radio star, it also killed seedy porn theatres all over the landscape but concurrently it gave the porn industry a huge new life that they had never hereto dreamed of and also gave them access to the privacy of the home as it eliminated the requirement to visit a seedy theatre in order to view a porn movie. It flourished to new heights in the age of the DVD! In 1996 I did an exhibition of classic drawings of the then “new” set of Internet porn stars. In reviewing that show, the Washington Post art critic wrote that my drawings managed “to find a delicate balance between the black charcoal and cream-colored paper resulting in a grainy,
film-noir effect, making his subjects, traffickers in massconsumption prurience, seem tough but vulnerable, like a flowering plant in a sexual wasteland.” Talk about art jargon! Then the Internet killed the DVD porn industry, as free porn streamed into homes everywhere and everyone became a porn star if they so desired. Let’s stop talking about porn and get back to art. Then, also a few decades ago, Tim Tate took video out of the DVD player – which is how art video used to be “watched” back then -- and incorporated it into novel sculptural work, so that the video became “part” of the final artwork – NOT the artwork itself. Tate was the very first one on planet Earth to do… I don’t know about any other planets. And then amazing and tiny cell phones handed all of us all a brilliant opportunity to once and for all do for art videos what VCRs and DVDs did for the porn industry (in a sense), but in this case remove them from our galleries and museums and put them on the web, where we can watch
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them whenever and wherever we want! This is sort of a win-win situation for nearly all. The reduction of artsy videos from the gallery/ museum/art fair scene reopened gallery, art fair, and museum space for other artsy stuff… and suddenly painting was back with the art crown at all these places. Whatever else “new art” may be lurking out there now disguised as technology (I predict some sort of hologramtype stuff) ... the cycle will start again as soon as the Covidian Age expires. And for art video aficionados, it will deliver an exponential growth in the genre, as hologram technology lands in our homes in a few years. And as soon as your Aunt Elvira (I did have an aunt so
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named) sets aside her weekend watercolors and oils, and picks up the new family digital holocamera and starts making art movies by the millions, I can guarantee that curators will leave tire tracks on their way to find something “new”
in art. The allure of the “new” in art has been always an interesting topic for discussion, but somehow, painting (so far) always returns to the top. Mask back on.
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Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 15
URBAN GARDEN
MELINDA MYERS
Fall Garden Tasks to Protect Your Landscape from Winter Wildlife Damage
A
To protect plantings from rabbits, use fencing that is at least four feet tall or a repellent that discourages them from dining on plants.
Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com
16 | September 2020
s the seasons change, we adjust our gardening tasks and plantings to match. Animals also make changes this time of year, often changing their eating habits and dining locations. These adjustments can impact your gardens. Reduce the risk of damage by starting in fall to protect your landscape from hungry animals this winter. Take a walk around your landscape to evaluate plants and plantings for their susceptibility to animal damage. Look for pathways that animals use to access your landscape and areas of potential damage. Note new plantings, animal favorites and those special plantings you would hate to lose. Make sure these are protected. Check mulch around trees and shrubs. Deep layers of mulch and mulch piled around the trunk of trees and the base of shrubs provides shelter for mice and voles. These rodents like to gnaw on the bark of trees and shrubs in winter. Pull mulch off tree trunks and stems and spread out deep mulch so it is only two to four inches deep. Protect young trees and shrubs with a fourfeet-tall fence of hardware cloth sunk several inches into the ground to prevent vole damage at ground level and most rabbit damage. Mature trees are usually only bothered during years where the vole and rabbit populations are high and food is scarce. Fencing around garden beds filled with animal favorites is another option. Make sure your fence is high enough, tight to the ground and gates are secure. You will need a four-feet-high fence for rabbits and at least five- to six-feet-high fence to keep deer out of small gardens. A fence of several strands of fishing line has proven to be successful
for some gardeners. Repellents are another less obtrusive option. These use smell or taste to discourage animals from dining in your landscape. Check the label to see if the repellent works on the animals and rodents you are trying to manage. Apply repellents before animals start feeding for best results. Then reapply as recommended on the label. Look for one, like organic Plantskydd (plantskydd.com), that is rain and snow resistant, lasting up to six months on dormant plants over the winter so you will need to apply it less often. Scare tactics may be effective depending on where you live. In urban and suburban areas animals are used to human scents and sounds. Gardeners often hang old CDs and shiny ribbons in tree branches to scare hungry animals. If you opt for scare tactics, be sure to employ a variety of options and change their location to increase your chance of success. Constantly monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the methods used and check all plantings for damage. When animal populations are high and hungry, they will eat about anything. Be willing to change things up if one method is not working. Using multiple tactics will help increase your level of success. Protect your landscape from hungry deer, rabbits, and voles this winter. Start preparing in fall before their winter dining habits begin. If you are vigilant and persistent, you can coexist with these creatures and still have a beautiful landscape. Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Tree World Plant Care for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com. Old Town Crier
DO YOUR PART TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 KEEP YOUR DISTANCE • WASH YOUR HANDS THROW PROTECTIVE ITEMS AWAY IN THE TRASH YOURSELF! AND PLEASE... WEAR THAT MASK!
Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 17
TAKE PHOTOS, LEAVE FOOTPRINTS
SCOTT DICKEN
Photos: Scott Dicken
Part 2 – Adrenaline & Culture
I
often get asked by friends and family what my top choices would be for a first-time traveler to Africa and to be honest I find it a massively daunting question. Not least is Africa a huge continent; but people’s expectations of the ‘Africa experience’, their propensity for luxury vs. budget and their general travel styles vary so greatly. That said, and having been lucky enough to sample a mere 22 of the 54 fully recognized countries that comprise the African continent, I enjoy the challenge and excitement of planning trips to Africa and often plan trips just to add to my ‘future trips’ list. With that in mind I decided to put together a goto list of my preferred destinations, by category, for first-time visitors. In my column last month I focused on budget destinations and Big-Game safaris. This month I turn my attention to those seeking an adrenaline rush or a little culture!
Adrenaline Junkies SOUTH AFRICA: I would suggest South Africa is the go-to choice for anyone seeking a true adrenaline rush in Africa. Not only does South Africa provide a smorgasbord of high-octane options, but it also provides more surety with regards to health and safety. Putting aside safety fears, shark cage diving in Gansbaai, the highest bungee jump in the world from Bloukrans Bridge in the Western Cape, abseiling from Table Mountain or skydiving are all viable options. If you’re thinking of visiting South Africa, you’ll also get the benefit of lower prices than other safari destinations, great wildlife, beaches, wine country….and penguins (those at Boulders Beach just outside of Cape Town being the most visited)! NAMIBIA: Namibia’s capital of extreme sport is Swakopmund, which lies on the country’s west coast. You’ll find a number of adventure companies offering adrenaline activities such as sandboarding; sea kayaking; sky diving; sand dune buggying; quad biking; and shark fishing. You’ll probably want to spend a couple of days here before exploring Namibia’s other highlights, which include wildlife-rich Etosha National Park, the rust-red sand dunes 18 | September 2020
of Soussusvlei, and the ancient desert landscapes of Damaraland. Namibia, along with South Africa, is also one of the easiest and safest countries on the continent in which to arrange a selfdrive itinerary. Adventure surely awaits! TANZANIA: I’ve included Tanzania in the adrenaline category for one reason; Mt. Kilimanjaro. Admittedly, climbing the world’s highest free-standing mountain (5,895 m) may not be everybody’s cup of tea; but there is no denying that it’s an extreme activity that’s massively rewarding. The climb can take anywhere between 4-9 days depending on your route, acclimatization time, and choice of tour operator. After successfully completing the climb opt for some relaxation in the form of a safari in the Serengeti or hit the pristine white sands of Zanzibar.
Culture Vultures MOROCCO: My only North African pick is Morocco. This is mostly because current security concerns put me off adding Egypt to the list at the moment (although that’s starting to change again). If you’re looking for culture then Morocco is a definite must. Of course, by picking North Africa you’re ruling out the big-game experience, but you’re definitely going to lower your costs on both flights and accommodation. Some of the key sights and activities to make sure you explore are Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, Marrakesh, traversing the High Atlas Mountains, and camel riding through the Sahara with an overnight stay in a Bedouin camp.o ETHIOPIA: The highlight of any trip to Ethiopia is undoubtedly the rockhewn churches of Lalibela. However, Ethiopia has a significant number of other cultural landmarks including those in Axum, Gondar, Harar and
the Simien Mountains National Park. Top that off
with sensational food and wash it all down with an Ethiopian coffee ceremony (a sign of friendship and hospitality), and you’ve got yourself one top-notch cultural holiday. The Bale Mountains National Park and Simien Mountain range are also great places to spot rare wildlife including Ethiopian wolves, the Walia ibex and the Gelada monkey. So whilst Ethiopia might not be your usual African adventure for the first time visitor it’ll undoubtedly be a rewarding one.
Honorable Mentions MALAWI: Malawi sits off the radar for most tourists primarily because, until 2012, it lacked a ‘big 5’ park (that’s a park which houses rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo). However, with Majete National Park now restocked, Malawi has its first ‘big 5’ park back on the map, with visitor numbers still remarkably low; meaning that you
can have a more exclusive, wilderness feel to your safari. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit Lake Malawi, whose underwater diversity has earned it World Heritage site status. The lake is a great place to
snorkel and dive as well as kayak and windsurf. Uganda: While I wouldn’t suggest that your first time in Africa should solely consist of a visit to Uganda. If you’re looking at an overland trip that takes in, for example, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda over a two-week period then it’s worth trying to make sure that Jinja in Uganda is on the itinerary if you’re an extreme sports fanatic. It’s a great place to white water raft the Nile (I can personally attest that the rapids are high grade and terrifying if you fall out of the raft) and you can also bungee jump (to New Zealand safety standards if tour operators in Uganda are to be believed), white water kayak, and horseback ride. Old Town Crier
Traverse the Sahara by Camel in Morocco
Boulders B famous b each is home to S each-dw elling pe outh Africa’s nguins
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is not for the faint-hearted
home to some Uganda is also e ets I’ve had th of the best suns ph ra og phot opportunity to
Take a ride down Namibia’s sand dunes Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 19
POINTS ON PETS
JAIME STEPHENS
The Bird is the Word
T
he perennial question – whether dogs or cats are the more popular pet – continues. In these times, however, more people are looking at other options including fish, smaller animals such as gerbils, guinea pigs and hamsters, and birds. A 2017-2018 survey showed that out of a total of 393.3 million households, fish were the most popular pet (139.3 million), followed by cats (94.2 million), dogs (89.7 million), and birds (20.3 million). With school age children (and many adults!) now spending more and more time at home, and with boredom setting in quickly, smaller pets, usually requiring less maintenance, can help keep them occupied and teach them about science and nature, kindness, love, and compassion.
Things to Consider • Owning birds can be somewhat high maintenance and thus is not for everyone. Before considering adding a bird to your household, one of the most important things to know is that they can be noisy. What some see as musical and mellifluous, others may find annoying to say the least. • If you are a neat-nik and overly concerned with tidiness, know that birds can be messy. They waste a significant amount of their food and also enjoy throwing it out of their cage. This is not from a desire to be obstreperous 20 | September 2020
but rather due to an innate genetic trait; in the wild, these traits provide food for creatures on the ground below. Fortunately, this type of mess is fairly easy to clean up and a cage skirt, which wraps around the cage and serves as a trap, can help. • Birds are essentially wild, unlike most dogs and cats, and require handling and socialization each day in order to stay tame. They do best with a reliable and structured routine, and some require hours of attention daily. If your schedule does not allow for this, you should reconsider whether a bird is the right pet for you. • Birds can be destructive. Their beaks continue to grow throughout their lives and must be worn down frequently to prevent overgrowth. As a result, birds need to chew. The best way to prevent furniture and other items from being destroyed is to provide them with lots of toys. These need to be switched out frequently as they can get damaged quickly and birds become easily bored. Pet stores have numerous options, but it is also fairly easy to make toys for your bird yourself. • Birds require more than just a diet of birdseed! To keep your bird in tip-top health, be sure to feed he or she generous portions of raw fruits and vegetables every day, and be sure to
wash them carefully. In addition to providing them with key nutrients, the different tastes and textures also stimulate your bird’s mind, creating positive psychological benefits. Birds also need clean water at all times. • Birds have delicate respiratory systems, far more sensitive than humans. Airborne toxins that can be tolerated by humans can be extremely dangerous, and sometimes fatal, to birds. Certain cookware, containing Teflon, can give off odorless fumes that are rapidly fatal to birds. Cigarette smoke, scented candles, wood smoke, hair spray, perfumes, cleaning products; these are just a few items that give off toxic fumes and are hazardous to birds.
Lifespan of Birds Some birds can live a very long life. While this is certainly a good thing, it’s
important that potential owners are aware that they may have their bird around for many, many years; some large parrot species, including large cockatoos, amazons, and macaws, have very long lifespans, with 80 years being reported, and record ages of over 100. Small parrots, such as lovebirds, hanging parrots, and budgies, have shorter lifespans of up to 15–20 years.
What to Choose The canary is a good
choice for families with small children. It stays in its cage, requires minimal interaction with its owners, and does not require a companion bird. Finches are also good choices but do best in pairs. Cockatiels are friendly and affectionate, also a good choice, but are higher maintenance than canaries and finches. They require plenty of attention, toys, time out of their cage, and are better suited for families with older children. Parakeets, a small member POINTS ON PETS > PAGE 21
Old Town Crier
POINTS ON PETS | FROM PAGE 20
of the parrot family are intelligent and social animals and enjoy the stimulation of toys and interaction with humans as well as with other parakeets. A common behavior is the chewing of material such as wood, especially for female parakeets, which comes from their nest-building instinct.
Your Bird’s Health Most pet birds are diurnal species, rising at dawn and settling into sleep at dusk. Like people, sleep is of great importance to a bird’s health; they require between 10-12 hours of sleep each night. Exposing companion birds to artificially long days by household lights or televisions can cause sleep deprivation, which puts your bird’s health
at risk. Owning a bird usually means seeing a vet specialist, either an avian vet or an exotic pet vet. Exotic pets refer to any animal other than a cat, dog, or a farm animal. These vets treat sick or injured animals but also handle preventative healthcare, which can extend the life of your bird. For assistance in locating an avian vet, consult the Association of Avian Vets website at www.aav.org. The AAV has more than 1700 members comprised of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary students, and allied professionals that work in private practice, colleges and universities, zoos, government, and industry. To ensure a long-term and rewarding relationship with your bird, it is important
to select your pet’s health professional carefully. With proper research, owning a companion bird can be a wonderful experience. Do your homework first, and you will find the perfect bird or bird for you! Jaime Stephens lives in Alexandria with her husband, John, tripod cat, OJ, and tuxedo cat, Pookie. For now, her bird companions are limited to the hummingbirds that come and enjoy their feeders each summer.
Bath & Primp • Nail Trim & file • Full Haircut Deshed • Theraclean Treatment • Teeth Brushing Hair Coloring • Exotic Grooming Gianna Schjang, Gabriella Brown • Paw Spa LLC 315 South Washington Street, Alexandria 22314 703-517-4428 • www.thepawspava.com
Love. Brush. Groom. Repeat.
Sources: Association of Avian Veterinarians www.aav.org The Spruce Pets www.thesprucepets.com Petsmart www.petsmart.com American Veterinary Medical Association www.avma.org
PETS
OF THE MONTH
SHNOOKUMS
Senior, Female, Red-Eared Slider Turtle
4101 Eisenhower Avenue Alexandria, VA 703-746-4774 alexandriaanimals.org Mon-Fri, 1-8 pm Closed Wed Sat & Sun, 12-5 pm
Shnookums recently celebrated her 100th day at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, so our summer campers threw her a physically-distanced party to help her mark the occasion. They helped decorate, presented certificates and a specially commissioned portrait and brought treats of course! Shnookums can’t wait to celebrate with a family to call her own soon. Could it be you? Set up an adoption appointment and learn more about Shnookums at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt.
LUCY
Adult, Spayed Female, Brown Tabby Domestic Short Hair Lucy is as sweet and affectionate as her beautiful eyes are green. A little shy on first acquaintance, Lucy quickly turns into an outgoing love-bug who demands love and affection from all of her friends. She gets so excited at the thought of cuddle time that she begins kneading biscuits with not two but all four paws in her signature Lucy “happy dance”. Yes, it is as adorable to watch as it sounds. If you would like to see how excited Lucy is to meet you, set up an adoption appointment and view Lucy’s adoption profile at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt-ByAppointment.
BOWSER
Adult, Neutered Male, Brown and White Terrier Bowser’s big smile is infectious. You can’t look at his happy face and adorable, wagging tail without grinning yourself! Behind Bowser’s handsome smile is one smart brain, and he loves working on clicker training with his volunteer friends at the Animal Welfare League. Bowser has perfected his “sit” and can’t wait to learn more. When Bowser isn’t showing off his smarts, he loves cuddling with his friends. While you pet him under the chin, he even puts his paw on your arm. Belly rubs are also a particular favorite of this big ol’ love-bug. If you’re interested in meeting Bowser in-person or virtually, set up an adoption appointment and view Bowser’s adoption profile at AlexandriaAnimals. org/Adopt-By-Appointment.
Adopt by Appointment at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria virtually on Zoom or in-person at the Vola Lawson Animal Shelter! The AWLA is upholding ALX Promise standards to welcome visitors back to the shelter safely for adoptions and other community services on an appointment basis. Learn more at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt-By-Appointment.
Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 21
CARIBBEAN CONNECTION CARIBBEAN JOURNAL STAFF
P
roteu
S
UNDERWATER SPACE STATION COMING TO THE CARIBBEAN
T
he “underwater version” of the International Space Station is coming to the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Renowned ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau has announced his plans for PROTEUS, a project that’s being billed as the “world’s most advanced scientific research station and habitat.” “As our life support system, the Ocean is indispensable to solving the planet’s biggest problems. Challenges created by climate change, rising sea levels, extreme storms and viruses represent a multi-trillion22 | September 2020
dollar risk to the global economy,” Cousteau said. Surprisingly, despite the Ocean representing over 99% of our world’s living space, only 5% has been explored to date. PROTEUS, contemplated as the first in a network of underwater habitats, is essential to driving meaningful solutions that protect the future of our planet. The knowledge that will be uncovered underwater will forever change the way generations of humans live up above.” CARRIBEAN CONNECTION PAGE 23
Old Town Crier
PROTEUS™ WILL REDEFINE THE WAY WE GO ABOUT DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH..
MYSTERY READING AT ITS BEST
— FABIENCOUSTEAUOLC.ORG/PROTEUS
CARIBBEAN CONNECTION FROM PAGE 20
PROTEUS will be more than four times bigger than any previous underwater habitat; it will include everything from sleeping quarters to labs to a “moon pool.” Powered by hybrid energy sources including wind, solar and ocean thermal energy, PROTEUS will also have the world’s first-ever underwater greenhouse. The intent is to build an “effective, comfortable and attractive facility for researchers, and an exciting underwater structure that garners the same passion for ocean exploration as we have for space exploration,” said Yves Behar, the industrial designer who is conceiving the
structure. It’s not the first underwater habitat project for Cousteau, who led a team of five “aquanauts” at a 400-squarefoot station in the Florida Keys. The project continues a trend started by Fabien’s grandfather Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who built the first underwater research habitats in 1962. “We must dare to dream bigger and look to our ocean as part of the solution,” Fabien Cousteau said. “PROTEUS will be integral to giving back to our future generations that which we have taken for granted.” The project will be built off the coast of Curaçao at a depth of 60 feet. “We are delighted to be home to PROTEUS,” said Dr Steven Martina, Curaçao’s
Minister of Economic Development. “Our incredible Caribbean sea holds immense riches yet to be fully discovered. The economic potential of having the first underwater space station located in Curaçao’s waters is enormous, from job creation to tourism.” For more, visit the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center at fabiencousteauolc.org The OTC is happy to partner with Alexander Britell, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the Miami, Florida based Caribbean journal, and his staff. Check them out online at caribjournal. com for valuable information on all of the fabulous travel options and things of interest in the Caribbean.
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.”
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September 2020 | 23
FROM THE BAY
KATHY RESHETILOFF, BAY JOURNAL
Lined seahorses anchor to underwater plants at the Virginia Living Museum. When mating, the male seahorse incubates 100–300 of the female’s tiny eggs for two weeks. before they hatch.
Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program
I
n the Lower Chesapeake Bay, a small horse moves through the underwater beds of eelgrass looking for food. No, it’s not a pony like the famous wild horses of Assateague Island National Seashore. It’s a lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), the only species of seahorse found in the Chesapeake Bay. The lined seahorse inhabits a range from the northern point of Nova Scotia, Canada, to the southern area of Venezuela in South America. Locally, lined seahorses are usually found from the Lower to Mid Chesapeake, although in drier, saltier years they may move as far north as Maryland’s Bay Bridge. Seahorses are vertebrate fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. Other family members include the sea dragon, ghost pipefish, sea moth and pipehorse. The lined seahorse is most closely related to the pipefish: Both share the characteristic elongated tubular jaw with a small toothless mouth at the end. A seahorse’s body is covered with a kind of bony armor of jointed rings. A dorsal fin, made up of 16–20 rays, beats so rapidly that it appears transparent. It also has an anal fin with three or four rays. The top of its head, the coronet, is almost as distinctive in each animal as a human thumbprint. Mature lined seahorses can reach a length of 6.7 inches. They range in color from pale yellow to black and are marked laterally with dusky spots and 24 | September 2020
A lined seahorse, can change its color, which makes it difficult to find in the wild.
Photo by Will Parson/ Chesapeake Bay Program
lines. The Chesapeake’s underwater grass meadows are the lined seahorse’s preferred habitat. It swims erect, pausing to curl its tail around strands of grass to stabilize its body, then stay very still. This skill, combined with the creature’s ability to quickly change its color, camouflaging its skin to match the surround ings, makes the seahorse an ambush predator. It uses its long, tubular snout to suck in tiny crustaceans, plankton, worms and other invertebrates swimming by. Effective camouflaging also helps to protect the seahorse from potential predators such as ray, fish, birds, crabs and sea turtles, as well as people, who collect them for medi cines, aquaria or souvenirs.
The seahorses’ sophisticated camouflage makes them hard to find, creating a few problems for scientists who want to learn more about the animals. One of the most striking characteristics of this species is its reproductive cycle. In many fish species, parental care often falls to the male, which is responsible for fanning or guarding the eggs and making sure they remain oxygenated. Seahorses takes this a step further — the males actually guard and nurture the eggs in a pouch on their body. After an elaborate courtship, which the monogamous pair may repeat during a later reproductive cycle, the female lays 200–300 eggs in the male’s pouch before he fertilizes them. The male provides oxygen
and transfers nutrients to the developing embryos through a network of capillaries in its pouch. The young remain in the pouch for about two to three weeks, depending on water temperature. After a convulsive “birth,” during which the male seahorse’s body expels the contents of the pouch, tiny juvenile seahorses emerge. The male usually becomes pregnant again almost immediately. Despite the frequency of these pregnancies and the volume of young produced, on average only two of the thousands of juveniles a pair produces reach maturity each breeding season. In summer, the lined seahorses inhabit the shallower areas and swims to water only a few feet deeper in winter. The
weight of their body “armor” and their erect habit makes the poor swimmers. They spend most days feeding while attached by their tail to vegetation. And when they do swim, they use their dorsal fin (which beats 20–30 times per second) to propel themselves forward, gliding slightly up and down through the water. Lined seahorse populations were assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2017. It was listed as a vulnerable species because of its proximity to the highly populated coasts of North, Central and South America. Specific worldwide threats include bycatch in shrimp trawl fisheries and collection for the aquarium trade, tourism curios and cultural medicines. In the Chesapeake Bay, their population is considered stable. But the loss of their primary habitat from shoreline development and nutri ent pollution could harm local populations. Reducing nutrient and sediment pollution and conserving our coastal shoreline habitats, particularly underwater grass beds, will help ensure the continued existence of this unique seahorse of the Chesapeake. Kathryn Reshetiloff, a Bay Journal columnist, is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis. Old Town Crier
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September 2020 | 25
ROAD TRIP
BOB TAGERT
To and From
Historic Yorktown, VA
T
his month’s road trip covers a lot of miles as well as great places to stop. We had to go to Williamsburg, Virginia to conduct R&D for the Business Profile about Copper Fox Distillery in this issue so we incorporated a circular trip south that carried us through Yorktown, a beautiful historic town straight out of a storybook. But first we needed to get south. We began our trip by taking Maryland Route 5 south to Waldorf where it turns into Route 301. After crossing the Potomac River Bridge into Virginia we proceeded to Route 3 south into King George County. Our first stop was at Ingleside Winery to see if our friend and owner Doug Flemer was at work on this Saturday. We were in luck as we found him walking through the beautiful courtyard that this winery is known for. Years ago when we hosted the annual Old Town Cup sailboat race, Ingleside was our wine sponsor. Great wines at a good price. Since we were on a time frame to reach Williamsburg, I will only mention the attractions along the way as we did not have the time to stop and explore. Westmoreland State Park is located on the Potomac River’s Northern Neck. The park offers many opportunities for family fun including
26 | September 2020
an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and adjacent bathhouse, meeting area, snack bar, camp store and power boat ramp. You will also find a visitors center, campgrounds, cabins, a playground, fishing pier, boat rentals and 6 miles of hiking trails. Six miles south from Westmoreland State Park is the town of Montross, home to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument and Stratford Hall Plantation. Continuing south on Route 3 you will come to Warsaw, a town of unique history. A former plantation, Belle Mount is currently operated as a vineyard and winery within a few miles of Warsaw town limits. Before crossing the Rappahannock River you will come to the bustling town of Kilmarnock. Route 3 passes through the middle of town and continues on to White Stone, a small town before the bridge that has really great gas prices - $1.86 per gallon. Crossing over the Rappahannock River we continued to Route 17 to Saluda then picked up route 33 to 14 to West Point where we crossed the York River. From there we picked our way along back roads to I-64 towards Williamsburg. From there we took exit 238 and Copper Fox Distillery is about a mile down the road. From Copper Fox we picked up the scenic
Colonial National Historic Parkway toward Yorktown. The parkway runs along the shore line of the York River, across ponds and scenic overlooks. Before we reached the York River we turned right into Yorktown. The first thing you will notice is how clean and freshly painted everything looks. Historic buildings now house museums, restaurants and small inns. It is just stunning. The town is most famous as the site of the siege and subsequent surrender of General Charles Cornwallis to General George Washington and the French Fleet during the American Revolutionary War on October 19, 1781. Although the war would last for another year, this British defeat at Yorktown was the beginning of the end of the war. Yorktown also figured prominently in the American Civil War serving as a major port to supply both northern and southern towns, depending upon who held Yorktown at the time. Today, Yorktown is one of three sites of the Historic Triangle, which also includes Jamestown and Williamsburg as important colonial-era settlements. It is the eastern terminus of the Colonia Parkway connecting these locations. Yorktown is ROAD TRIP > PAGE 27
Old Town Crier
ROAD TRIP | FROM PAGE 26
also the eastern terminus of the TransAmerican Trail, a bicycle touring route created by the Adventure Cycling Association. Today Yorktown has become a popular destination for heritage tourism. Yorktown has distinct areas. Yorktown Village or Historic Yorktown is located close to the York River, near the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge that spans the river to Gloucester Point. Historic Yorktown is comprised first of Water Street, a small strip along the beach of the river: it contains several small restaurants, a park, a hotel, a pier and an antiques shop. In May 2005a building was constructed with more shops and restaurants, enhancing what is known as the “Riverwalk” section on the waterfront. You can even step back in history when you join the crew of the Yorktown Schooner Alliance. Main Street is located on
a bluff above the floodplain. Architecture in this area is almost exclusively original to the colonial era. Nine buildings, including the circa-1730 Nelson House and Somerwell House, survive from the pre-Revolutionary period. The old courthouse, several small shops, the Nelson House and the Yorktown Monument are located along this road. Around the center of town are residential streets. Grace Church, situated on Church Street near the old courthouse, is noted for its architecture. Yorktown and the nearby area are significant to the early history of the United States. Colonial National Historic Park, which contains and preserves Yorktown National Battlefield and Yorktown National Cemetery, is located on the outskirts of town. The battlefield has many of the earthworks dug by the besieging American and French forces. As we bid farewell to Yorktown we crossed the bridge heading to Gloucester
Point. Route 17 is a heavily traveled road and we soon came upon strip malls as we passed through the remote towns. We eventually came to the Town of Gloucester. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay but this place was once the capital of the Native American Powhatan Confederacy. Today, Cloucester County is a treasure trove of historic sites and offers a slower pace of life. Look for this town in a future Road Trip destination. From here we stayed on Route 17 back to Saluda and across the Rappahannock River to retrace our steps up Route 3. It was on this part of the trip that nostalgia set in. Years ago I berthed my sailboat at Tall Timbers Marina in Maryland. Directly across the Potomac River was Coles Point. There were many times we would sail over to Coles Point and relax at the restaurant. We were now only about a half hour from Coles Point by land and decided to take a visit. On the way we stopped at the Hague Winery
for a bottle of their signature Chardonel white wine. It was a good break. Arriving at Coles Point it looked pretty much the same since I last saw it. Some years back local Alexandrian Taylor Burke and a friend bought the property and began to spruce it up. Floating docks were added as well as some covered slips. The restaurant was remodeled and local Alexandrian restaurateur Troy Clayton brought the restaurant back to life and called it The Landing. I remembered he had a saying on the wall...”All who wander, are not lost.” This is the way I felt at that moment. It was like coming home. Today the restaurant is run by the local icon Tim’s Rivershore group and is called Tim’s at Coles Point. This would be our last stop before returning home, but it was hard to pull away from all of those memories. Enjoying rum drinks and a platter of steamed shrimp and snow crab legs and a side of hush puppies made for an enjoyable
respite. Gazing out across the river in the direction of Tall Timbers brought back fond memories of sailing or boating over to Coles Point with friends many, many years ago. “What the hell, one more rum and then we will go!” As we worked our way back to Route 3 we came upon one of the many roadside farm stands, however, this one was absent of any personnel. The sign simply said, “Leave your money in the red box!” We purchased a few items for dinner later that night and I must say, the watermelon was delicious! As you can tell, this was a road trip that required an overnight stay. In Williamsburg there are many small motels/hotels that are reminiscent of travel 50 years ago. Clean and inexpensive. Driving down some of these back roads is a real treat as they take you through a different time. In today’s world, that is a welcome breath of fresh air.
This Page, Clockwise from Top: Entrance to the tasting room from the beautiful courtyard at Ingleside Winery. Tim at Coles Point Steamer. Honor System Roadside Market. Hague Wine.
Opposite Page, Clockwise from Top: Schooner Alliance. Sites from Yorktown. Cheap Gas in Whitestone.
Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 27
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28 | September 2020
Old Town Crier
TO THE BLUE RIDGE
JULIE REARDON
It May Be Time to Consider a Rural Lifestyle BY SHANNON GILMORE AND MEG MULLERY
Racing Through the Corona Pandemic
T
ime to put away the seltzers and wine coolers and break out the brown liquor. No, it’s not winter yet but a proper mint julep needs a fine whiskey and Kentucky Derby Day is September 5th this year. Originally planned to allow spectators, this is no longer the case so we’re watching on TV. Besides, there’s still the Preakness, rescheduled from the third Saturday in May this year to October 3. And it’s right down the road at Pimlico near Baltimore. Although there will be no infield party this year, at press time there were tickets available - will see if attendees are allowed the closer it gets to race time. Normally held the first Saturday in May, the 146th Kentucky Derby was a victim of the corona virus pandemic and rather than cancel entirely, the decision was made to move it to the first Saturday in September at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Like the Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase traditionally held on the same day here in Virginia, quarantining and social distancing meant cancellations, postponing and changing race meets. Unlike so many other sports, however, horse people are nothing if not creative, so racing was able to find ways to continue to hold race meets, albeit scaled back to meet safety demands and without spectators or onsite public wagering. In fact, with the absence of so many live sporting events, horse racing was able to capture a larger share of the TV market on Fox Sports than it has ever had in recent years. According to a Fox sports executive in an interview with a racing trade publication, “I don’t think you can overstate [the importance of] live-event coverage,” said Michael Mulvihill, adding that Fox Sports had been able to do much more live coverage than it ever has Old Town Crier
before. Total viewing of racing in Belmont and Saratoga, he said, was up 300% over the same period last year, and that also contributed to an increase in handle per meet. Churchill Downs was able to hold a live race meet in May and June, but because of the logistics of staging such a huge event as the Derby, management had to make a decision on that race day long before anyone knew if public gatherings would even be allowed, so it opted to postpone the Kentucky Derby until September. Arguably the best known horse race in the world, certainly in this country, the decision was made to move it to the Sept. 5th date well before anyone knew if live racing would be possible. And indeed, the track and several others were able to hold race meets by restricting spectators and fans—only owners, trainers, riders and staff were allowed on the track, and testing and quarantine protocols were set up for jockeys and staff. Fans could of course bet and watch their favorites on TV or live stream; they just couldn’t attend in person. Most of the online betting shops provide their customers access to live racing online or on TV as well. Locally, the point to point season was almost completely shut down by the pandemic. Only a handful of the larger sanctioned race meets were able to stage their meets, and those lost money because they depend on admissions fees from fans and sponsorship from businesses for purses and operating money much more than the flat tracks since there is no parimutuel wagering. The biggest area race, the Virginia Gold Cup, was rescheduled from May 2nd to June 27th and run at Great Meadow in the Plains without spectators or wagering. And the locally popular Middleburg Spring Race meet, normally held on the third
Saturday in April, was rescheduled and held without spectators on June 13th. A Middleburg Spring Race meet fan lamented not being able to attend this year. “It was their 100-year anniversary,” she said. “All kinds of parties and special commemorative events that were planned had to be canceled.” The most popular fall meet here, the International Gold Cup held at Great Meadow, is at press time scheduled to run at its regular fall time on October 24th. If you plan on attending, check their website www.vagoldcup.com for the most current information. This year’s Triple Crown races had to break with tradition in order to survive. In order to fit the new dates in, the Belmont Stakes, normally the last and most grueling of the three races, was held first, in June and at the shortest distance. The traditional schedule starts with the Kentucky Derby at a mile and a quarter, then two weeks later the Preakness, near Baltimore at Pimlico, runs at a distance of a mile and three sixteenths, the shortest race of the three normally. Often viewed as the most difficult of the three is the final race, the Belmont Stakes held in New York three weeks after the Preakness. As the last and most grueling of the three races, the Belmont is the longest at a mile and a half. Because it was held in June and first of the three races, the Belmont distance was shortened this year from a mile and a half to a mile and an eighth. The Belmont winner Tiz the Law, a flashy colt with white rimmed eyes and a big white blaze, is favored to win the Derby. Fresh off his victory in the Travers stakes at the same distance August 8th, he’s the one to beat among the projected 20 entries. For more information on the likely Derby entrants visit www. kentuckyderby.com
D
ream about moving to a rural area and owning a “farmette” or hobby farm with vegetable and flower gardens, chickens and even horses? We live that dream every day in beautiful Western Loudoun where we enjoy our horses, dogs, cats, chickens, starry nights and stunning sunsets. Bookended by the Capitol and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Western Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties offer unlimited opportunities to turn your vision into a reality. And even start a small business for fun and extra income. For starters, owning horses is a commitment, but plenty of resources exist in the form of farm stores, feed and hay experts, vets, county extension agents, and other horse owners who will willingly answer questions and provide advice. Very briefly, size and location, barn/stable, and fencing need consideration when buying an equestrian property or farmette.
Size/Location • Ideally, horses require at least two acres per horse, although horses are kept on smaller acreage all the time. • County zoning must allow for the keeping of horses. • A tax break may exist if the property is in land use or conservation easement. • Does the property suit your desires? For example, can you add a riding ring or will you be happy just to care and enjoy them. • Water source in rural areas typically is a well. You want to ensure that water is accessible to the paddocks.
Barn/ Stable • What type and how many stalls will be needed to best suit your purpose? • Does structure have cold/hot water? Electricity? Storage for hay and equipment. Outdoor lighting? • Effective drainage to ensure barn does not flood in a heavy rain.
Fencing • What is the type and condition of fencing? Be an educated consumer when it comes to the cost of fencing, which can run between $8-$12 per linear foot depending on type and another $2 per foot to paint it. Gates need to be in working condition, i.e., can you open and close them easily? COUNTRY LIVIN' > PAGE 30
September 2020 | 29
COUNTRY LIVIN' FROM PAGE 29
Worth noting, programs exist that can be financially beneficial to the property owner if the property has ponds or creeks that are part of a watershed. The foregoing touches only on some considerations. Horse ownership can seem intimidating, but resources are readily available to provide advice and guidance. Horses produce manure, of course. And manure can be a money maker. Seasoned manure becomes fertilizer AKA Black Gold. Look to the mushroom farmers in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, for an indication of its value. They regularly send trucks to a large equestrian facility in Loudoun County to load up manure and return with tons of Black Gold. Horse owners do the same for their gardens or sell or barter it. Establishing a small business encompasses a range of skills and is limited only by your creativity. If horse manure isn’t your thing, here are just a few ways to embrace your inner entrepreneur. Chickens are a popular backyard starter. They are quite charming and surprisingly more like pets than a barnyard animal. Couple of fun facts:
30 | September 2020
Chickens have their own language and can recognize and respond to their names; and, luckily for humans, they love to snack on ticks. An added bonus are eggs for eating or for sale or barter. Grocery shopping becomes less frequent when swapping eggs for zucchini with your neighbor. Beehives provide another money-making hobby. Low start-up costs lead to uniquely
delicious honey that can be sold at local farmers markets or is always a welcome gift for family and friends. Bees also play an important role in supporting native plants and the environment. It is always a special day when the neighbor leaves a jar of honey on the back step. Lavender proved to be an innovative and profitable hobby for a small farm in Loudoun
County. Most weekends, the farm is open to the public where the lovely purple flower can be self-harvested for a fee or purchased in dry bundles, along with lavender soap, candles, and even lavender scones. Farm fresh eggs and warm scones smothered in honey, tempted yet? Questions about the new reality due to the current pandemic situation revolve around a dramatic shift in how we conduct all aspects of our lives. Google recently announced its employees will continue to work remotely well into 2021, and many
companies are following Google’s lead. Adult and childhood learning will continue online for the foreseeable future. “Zoom” has zoomed into our personal and professional lives providing new and creative ways to experience happy hours, meet with clients, and schedule those team meetings that formerly took place in conference rooms. While it’s impossible to predict how all this plays out, it may be time to explore a rural lifestyle and make the country life dream a reality. We are living it and happy to answer questions and share our experience. A rural way of life may be just what Dr Fauci ordered. Shannon Gilmore and Meg Mullery are licensed real estate agents with the Middleburg office of Washington Fine Properties. Their backgrounds— teaching school, lobbying, media relations, city living—seemingly were not a good fit for owning horses and a rural lifestyle, but they took the risk and have no regrets.
Old Town Crier
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Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 31
THE GASTRONOMES
DINING OUT
Brunch at
The Warehouse Casually Elegant!
THE WAREHOUSE 214 KING STREET | OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA 703-683-6868 | WAREHOUSEOLDTOWN.COM
32 | September 2020
I
t is really good to be getting back to a little bit of normalcy in this stage of living through the pandemic. We have been frequent diners at many, many establishments in the DMV over the years and not being able to just drop in at any given time on a regular basis for the last few months has been a challenge. With the restrictions in Phase 3 being a little more “user friendly”, we have dined both inside and outside at some of our favorite places in the area and are anxiously awaiting the time when we can sit at the bar. We have both been “bar” people for the most part since we love the banter that almost always takes place and even if you are by yourself, you aren’t alone. Going to brunch has been a favorite activity of mine for many years. There is something special about being able to get eggs benedict at 3:00 in the afternoon or a good hamburger at 10:00 in the morning. And…. there is the Mimosa and Bloody Mary option in the morning that is always available at a good brunch spot. BT has fond memories of his brunch antics with his rugby teammates in the late 80’s when “bottomless” champagne was an offering at many places. I guess they would hit the buffet at the former Holiday Inn (now the Alexandrian) on King Street in Old Town on Sundays to celebrate or mourn the results
of their match on Saturday and imbibe until the Redskins game came on. I guess the team was a bit better in those days. It was a full life! This brings me to the brunch experience at The Warehouse. This dining establishment has been a favorite for over 30 years and have been great supporters of the OTC in that time. They chose to stick it out through this entire pandemic and kept their doors open from the beginning. They are adamant about following the “rules” for social distancing, etc. so if you are on the fence about dining out in person (see this column in the August issue), you might want to venture out to the Warehouse – you will be safe. Brunch is served on both Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am – 4 pm. This is a huge dining window compared to other places in Old Town. The fact that they serve it on Saturdays makes it a great place to grab some good eats after doing your Farmers Market shopping at the fountain just up the street from the restaurant and…there is FREE 2 hour parking in the city lot on Saturday mornings until noon. The Saturday & Sunday Lunch & Brunch menu is accompanied by several “brunch additions” which are varied from weekend to weekend. While much of the menu is geared to New DINING OUT > PAGE 33
Old Town Crier
GOOD SPORTS GOOD FRIENDS GREAT EATS!
COVID-19 SPECIALS* DINING OUT | FROM PAGE 32
Orleans/Cajun cuisine, there is much more to choose from and something for everyone’s palate. We will let you check the full menu out online rather than regale you with all that is available in this space. There are sandwiches, soups (try their famous She Crab), several appetizers and entrées that include Spicy Pecan Crusted Chicken and New Orleans Smothered Catfish. Trust me, you will not be disappointed in the selections. My usual go-to order at brunch here is the Eggs Benedict but I stepped outside of the box and treated myself to one of the “additions” – the NOLA Brunch. The NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana for those who don’t know) consists of French donuts (beignets much like those served at Café Du Monde in New Orleans), scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries. I substituted fresh fruit for the home fries since I was way over the suggested calorie count with the “donuts”. This dish is served with maple syrup on the side. The scrambled eggs were cooked to
perfection – fluffy and moist. I have been scrambling eggs for over 50 years and have yet to get them to taste like this. BT also stepped it up by foregoing his normal 2 eggs over easy, sausage and home fries (which is on the menu) and ordered the Eggs Benedict. Chef Sert puts a bit different spin on this benedict by serving it with Tasso ham instead of Canadian bacon. The dish is served with fresh steamed vegetables but if you prefer home fries or fruit, that can be arranged. The dish didn’t disappoint. For you shellfish lovers, there was a Crab Cakes Benedict offering on the “additions” menu that is topped with mustard hollandaise and served with home fries. The brunch offerings are served with your choice of strawberries and champagne or strawberries and double cream. I guess you know what we chose! They also pour a plentiful mimosa and the Bloody Mary’s here are very tasty. The décor at The Warehouse is such that you feel at home whether you are in your sundress or shorts or decked to the nines for a special occasion.
It truly can be described as both casual and elegant. One of our favorite things about this restaurant is the caricatures of local “celebrities” that adorn the walls. We know or knew (several have passed on) a good many of the faces that are on display. They definitely tell the story of the many personalities that have graced this place since they opened. Treat yourself to brunch this month – it’s a great way to start out a Saturday or Sunday.
Steak Dinner for Two & a Bottle of Wine - $70 Pasta Dinner for Four w/Salad - $79 Movie Pack - $25 All available for curbside pickup or delivery to your door via Uber Eats, Door Dash & GrubHub
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“A Washington Post Capitol Cuisine Favorite” The Very Best Alexandria has to offer in the Heart of Historic Old Town Famous for our She Crab Soup, Steaks and Crab Cakes
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Old Town Crier
September 2020 | 33
LET’S EAT
CHARLES OPPMAN
PASTA Sicilian Style
S
icily, like many other cities and areas of Italy is a wondrous place. It is geographically in the Mediterranean Sea – part of Europe and Africa, but arguably belonging to neither. There is much evidence of rich cultures left behind by a plethora of conquerors. As a result, Sicily has evidence of varied customs, languages, cooking, architecture, art, etc. The Romans ruled Sicily in the 3rd century BC. They were followed by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Normans, Spanish, Phoenicians, Greeks, Arabs and French…not necessarily in that order. There is evidence of many other conquerors from many other countries, but it would take pages to fully explore the impact they all had on Sicily. In researching this article, I found the World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica reliable sources of information. In addition to its unique history, the food of Sicily is exquisite. Some Sicilians still eat the same food, and prepare it exactly as their ancestors did centuries ago. That cuisine consists mainly of fish from the sea and home grown vegetables. I had a wonderful dish from Palermo that was made by a native Sicilian, now married to an Italo-American and living right here in Northern Virginia. The recipe is a little unique because the only ingredient cooked is the pasta! If you try it, I think you, too, will find that it is worth the time it takes to prepare this fresh food the Sicilian way.
34 | September 2020
Sicilian Pasta 6 medium to large cloves of garlic, minced finely 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil for the sauce 6 medium very, very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch chunks. Do not use canned tomatoes as it changes the taste and the thrust of the recipe 1 cup of tightly packed, fresh basil leaves *1 lb. to 1 /1/2 lbs. of spaghetti 2/3 cup of pine nuts or walnuts 1/2 to 3/4 cups of freshly grated Parmigiannno Regianno cheese Salt and pepper to taste Pour the olive oil and garlic into a serving dish or platter. Add the peeled and seeded tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Do this early in the day so the tomatoes and garlic can macerate for at least four to six hours. Put the basil, pine nuts and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil into either a mortar and pestle or a food processor. Mix until the ingredients become “lumpy” but not liquefied. Then cook the pasta according to package directions. When the pasta is al dente, drain (do not rinse) and add to the tomato, garlic and oil mixture. Then add the “lumpy” mixture. Working quickly, mix in the grated cheese and more pepper. Toss well and serve immediately. If the pasta gets too cool, reheat in a 350 degree oven until it is warmed to your liking. If there is any left, it can be reheated in the oven, or in a non-stick, large frying pan on a very low heat. It does not microwave well. If you feel the pasta is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of oil at a time until you reach the desired consistency. *This recipe will feed 4 to 6 people depending on how hungry they are!
Old Town Crier
DINING GUIDE AMERICAN
AUGIE’S MUSSEL HOUSE 1106 King Street 703.721.3970 BILBO BAGGINS 208 Queen St. 703-683-0300 BLACKWALL HITCH 5 Cameron St. 703-739-6090 CAFE 44 44 Canal Center 571-800-6644 CARLYLE CLUB 411 John Carlyle St. 703-549-8957 CHADWICKS 203 Strand St. 703-836-4442 CHART HOUSE One Cameron St. 703-684-5080 CITY KITCHEN 330 South Pickett St. 703-685-9172 fatcitykitchen.com COLUMBIA FIREHOUSE 109 S. St. Asaph St. 703-683-1776 EVENING STAR CAFÉ 2000 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-549-5051 EXECUTIVE DINER & CAFE 1400 Duke Street 703-299-0894 FIVE GUYS 725 King St. 703-549-7991 FOSTERS GRILLE 2004 Eisenhower Ave. 703-725-1342 GADSBYS TAVERN 138 N. Royal St. 703-548-1288 GRATEFUL KITCHEN 727 N. Henry Street HARD TIMES CAFE 1404 King St. 703-837-0050 HEN QUARTER 1404 King St. 703-684-6969 HUMMINGBIRD 220 South Union Street 703-566-1355 JACKS PLACE 222 North Lee St. 703-684-0372 JAVA GRILL 611 King Street 571-431-7631 JOE THEISMANNS 1800 Diagonal Rd. 703-739-0777 JUNCTION BAKERY & BISTRO 1508 Mount Vernon Avenue Alexandria 703-436-0025 LAPORTAS 1600 Duke St. 703-683-6313
Old Town Crier
THE LIGHT HORSE 715 King Street 703-549-0533
LIVE OAK 1603 Commonwealth Ave. 571-312-0402 LORI'S TABLE 1028 King Street 703-549-5545 LOST DOG CAFE 808 North Henry St. 571-970-6511 MACKIE’S BAR AND GRILL 907 King St. 703-684-3288 mackiesbarandgrill.com MAGNOLIA’S ON KING 703 King St. 703-838-9090 MAJESTIC CAFÉ 911 King St. 703-837-9117 MASON SOCIAL 728 Henry Street 703-548-8800 mason-social.com MOUNT VERNON INN Mount Vernon, Va 703-780-0011 MURPHYS IRISH PUB 713 King St. 703-548-1717 murphyspub.com NORTHSIDE 1O 10 East Glebe Rd. 703-888-0032 OCONNELLS RESTAURANT & BAR 112 King St. 703-739-1124 PORK BARREL BBQ 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. 703-822-5699 THE PEOPLES DRUG 103 N. Alfred Street 571-257-8851 RAMPARTS 1700 Fern St. 703-998-6616 rampartstavern.com RIVER BEND BISTRO 7966 Fort Hunt Rd. Hollin Hall Shopping Center 703-347-7545 riverbendbistro.com ROCK IT GRILL 1319 King St. 703-739-2274 RT's RESTAURANT 3804 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-684-6010 rtsrestaurant.com SAMUEL BECKETTS IRISH GASTRO PUB 2800 S. Randolph St. Villages of Shirlington 703-379-0122 SHOOTER MCGEES 5239 Duke St. 703-751-9266 SMOKING KOW BBQ 3250 Duke Sttreet 703-888-2649 SONOMA CELLAR 207 King St. 703-966-3550
SOUTH BLOCK 106 N. Lee Street 703-465-8423 SOUTHSIDE 815 815 S. Washington St. 703-836-6222 SWEETGREEN 823 King St. 571-319-0192 SWEET FIRE DONNA'S BBQ & HOPS 510 John Carlyle Street 571-312-7960 T.J. STONES GRILL HOUSE & TAP ROOM 608 Montgomery St. 703-548-1004 tjstones.com UNION STREET PUBLIC HOUSE 121 South Union St. 703-548-1785 unionstreetpublichouse.com VERMILLION 1120 King St. 703-684-9669 VIRTUE GRAIN & FEED 106 South Union St. 571-970-3669 VOLA’S DOCKSIDE GRILL & THE HI-TIDE LOUNGE 101 North Union St. 703-935-8890 THE WAREHOUSE BAR & GRILL 214 King St. 703-683-6868 warehouseoldtown.com ASIAN
ASIAN BISTRO 809 King St. 703-836-1515 KINGS RANSOM 728 King Street 571-319-0794 KISSO ASIAN BISTRO 300 King Street 703-888-1513 MALAYA 1019 King St. 703-519-3710 MAI THAI 9 King St. 703-548-0600 NASIME 1209 King St. 703-548-1848 SIGNATURE THAI 722 King Street 707-888-2458 STREETS MARKET AND CAFE 3108 Mt. Vernon Ave. 571-431-6810 THAILAND ROYAL 801 N. Fairfax St. 703 535-6622 TOKYO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE 66 Canal Center Plaza 703-683-8878 CAPHE BANH MI VIETNAMESE 407 Cameron St. 703-549-0800 KAI ZEN TAVERN 1901 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-836-1212 THE SUSHI BAR 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue 571-257-3232
CONTINENTAL
BRABO by Robert Weidmaier 1600 King St. 703-894-3440 BRABO TASTING ROOM 1600 King St. 703-894-5252 CEDAR KNOLL GW Parkway at Lucia Ln. 703-780-3665 OLD HOUSE COSMOPOLITAN 1024 Cameron Street 703-717-9361 TEMPO 4231 Duke St. 703-370-7900 temporestaurant.com VILLAGE BRAUHAUS 710 King Street 703-888-1951 villagebrauhaus.com FRENCH
BASTILLE 606 N. Fayette St. 703-519-3776 bastillerestaurant.com BISTRO SANCERRE FRENCH 1755 Duke Street LE REFUGE 127 N. Washington St. 703-548-4661 FONTAINES CAFFE & CREPERIE 119 S. Royal St. 703-535-8151 LA MADELEINE 500 King St. 703-729-2854 TWO NINETEEN RESTAURANT 219 King St. 703-549-1141 ITALIAN BUGSYS PIZZA RESTAURANT 111 King St. 703-683-0313 FACCIA LUNA 823 S. Washington St. 703-838-5998 HANK & MIMI'S PIZZA AND PASTA 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 LENA’S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA & TAP 401 East Braddock Rd. 703-960-1086 MIA'S ITALIAN KITCHEN 100 King Street 703-997-5300 MICHAEL’S LITTLE ITALY 305 S. Washington St. 703-548-9338 RED ROCKS FIREBRICK PIZZA 904 King St. 703-717-9873
MEDITERRANEAN
TAVERNA CRETEKOU 818 King St. 703-548-8688 tavernacretekou.com PITA HOUSE 719 King St. 703-684-9194 DELIAS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL 209 Swamp Fox Rd. 703-329-0006 VASO'S MEDITERRANEAN BISTRO 1118 King Street 703-566-2720 VASO'S KITCHEN 1225 Powhatan Street 703-548-2747 SEAFOOD
HANKS OYSTER BAR 1026 King St. 703-739-HANK FISH MARKET-OLD TOWN 105 King St. 703-836-5676 fishmarketoldva.com ERNIES ORGINIAL CRABHOUSE 1743 King St. 703-836-0046 THE WHARF 119 King St. 703-836-2834 INDIAN
DISHES OF INDIA 1510A Bellview Blvd. 703-660-6085 DIYA 218 North Lee, 2nd Floor 703-706-5338 NAMASTE 1504 King St. 703-970-0615 MEXICAN LATIN SOUTHWESTERN
CASA TEQUILA (next to Crate & Barrel) 1701 Duke 703-518-5312 CHOP SHOP TACO 1008 Madison Street 571-970-6438 DON TACO TEQUILA BAR 808 King St. 703-988-3144 LOS CUATES RESTAURANT 1116 King Street 703-548-2918 LOS TIOS GRILL 2615 Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-299-9290 LOS TOLTECOS 4111 Duke St. 703-823-1167 TAQUERIA POBLANO 2400-B Mt. Vernon Ave. 703-548-TACO (8226) TEQUILA & TACO 540 John Carlyle Street 703-721-3203 Urbano 116 116 King Street 571-970-5148
Please Contact your favorite restaurants for updates on their "Social Distancing" policies. September 2020 | 35
GRAPEVINE
MATT FITZSIMMONS
Wineries That Will Survive The Zombie Apocalypse
P
lanning for the Zombie Apocalypse has never been timelier. Not long ago, the idea that a mysterious contagion could sweep the United States and cause mass chaos seemed confined to works of fiction. But now…planning “What If ” scenarios like “Where should I go when the zombie hordes are approaching” doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Many ideas on where to ride out the coming storm come to mind… most of them rather obvious. Should you shelter at a Walmart? No way – everyone else will be thinking the same thing. How about the local mall? Saw the movie – didn’t work out so well. Maybe a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Not a bad choice…but will your stockpile last? If you think carefully, there ARE other places fitting all the necessary survival criteria. Locations far enough from population centers but close enough for survivors to reach. Places surrounded by farms invaluable in a postindustrial world. Land located on hilltops that are naturally defensible. And most importantly – hideouts with cellars absolutely STOCKED with wine. In the Zombie Apocalypse, wine is a triple value-added proposition – safe to drink when water treatment plants fail, essential for team building,
36 | September 2020
and easy to barter for other essentials. So naturally, the perfect place to survive is at a winery. To those familiar with the Virginia wine industry, this is hardly a surprise. As Scott Spelbring of
Bluemont Vineyards
explains, “The best vineyards have very specific criteria. You want a location with at least a 900-foot elevation to ensure your vines are above the frost line, rocky soil for good drainage, and a moderate slope that not only forces cold air to drop, makes it difficult for zombies to climb your hilltop bastion.” Doug Fabbioli of Fabbioli Cellars further opined, “While the main purpose of the New Ag School is to ensure sustainable agriculture thrives in Loudoun County, I’m proud we’re training future generations the skills they’ll need in a post-World War Z environment”. Virginia winemakers aren’t the only business in town studying how to cope with a zombie pandemic. In 2011, the Department of Defense drafted CONPLAN
8888 (Counter-Zombie Dominance) as a teaching
tool for contingency planning. Not to be outdone, later that year
the Center for Disease Control (CDC) published
several articles using a ‘notional’ zombie pandemic to educate the public on disaster preparation. The Zombie Apocalypse is coming – so be prepared!
Fighting Undead Hordes is Thirsty Work To determine a winery’s suitability as a refuge, the following locations were vetted using a rigorous analytical methodology provided by CareerBuilder which aggregated information from 90 national, state and local employment databases. It was further adapted to the Virginia wine scene by developing a winery’s rating in the areas of Resources (wine/food/ manufacturing), Defensibility (natural geography/ weaponry), and Demographics (population density/ population skill sets). These scores were tallied into a Zombie Defense Index (ZDI) and ranked. Official emergency preparedness poster Image courtesy the CDC
Virginia Winery Survivability Rankings (Continued on page 38)
Location
Resources (R-Score)
Defensibility (D-Score)
Demographics (P-Score)
ZDI Score (R+D+P)
Survivability Ranking
Grayhaven Winery
7
6
6
19
5
Morais Vineyards & Winery
6
14
3
23
4
Iron Heart Winery
10
10
6
26
3
Bluemont Vineyard
6
17
4
27
2
Chatham Vineyards & Winery
7
20
7
34
1
Old Town Crier
EXPLORING VA WINES
O
ne of the skills that I was fortunate to learn a number of decades ago was the process of blending wines. Blending is something that has happened in the industry for many generations: the French have their Bordeaux and Rhône blends, the Italians blend Chianti, Tuscans, and just about all their wines. Some older vineyards in California were planted in a traditional Italian way, with
DOUG FABBIOLI
the different grape varietals interplanted in the same block of ground. When picking time came, the grapes were all picked at the same time and blended right away. Blending can create a better wine, each varietal bringing its own strengths and character to the finished product. In some blends, such as a Bordeaux blend, there is a lot of tradition in the varietals and the style used. Staying within that structure
is expected, and the wine produced is much more defined in the glass. I certainly respect the traditional blending with our estategrown Tre Sorelle as well as our American Meritage, both of which are Bordeaux-style blends. On the other hand, it is a pleasure to break out of the traditional blending structure to create something different like our Raspberry Merlot. Blending various fruits with traditional wine
real people. earth friendly. fabulous wines. HOLD YOUR ‘FABB’ EVENT AT FABBIOLI CELLARS! WEDDINGS • CORPORATE OUTINGS • GRADUATIONS • CELEBRATIONS
email us at info@fabbioliwines.com 15669 Limestone School Rd • Leesburg, VA 20176 703.771.1197 • fabbioliwines.com Old Town Crier
grapes is nothing new, but was often done for cheaper products, using the sweetness and fruit to move lower quality wine. Little did I know when I was playing with it that I would create a signature wine for us! One of the keys to blending wines is to prepare ahead of time in order to make good decisions. Once two wines are blended together, there is no separating them. I will pull samples ahead of time, and clear my schedule so I can concentrate on the flavors and the process. I also like to have a couple of people with me who can taste and learn the process—I don’t taste or blend in a vacuum. As I taste, I know I am looking to make wines that fit the labels and products that I have already created. With a Cabernet Franc for instance, I will look to blend in a little structure in the middle with some Petit Verdot, or maybe add some finishing tannins with some Cabernet Sauvignon. Sometimes it may be acid that the wine needs, so knowing each of the components will make the trial and error process a little more efficient. Oak character is another factor to keep in mind, but it can be added after blending by shifting the wine into newer barrels of the right kind
of oak. As with so much in wine-making, experience and patience play important roles. Another key part to blending is having a lower tier wine to blend the extras into. We have a wine called Padrino which is made up of our “left over” varietals. I get customers asking about Padrino on a regular basis. It is never the same twice because it is a combination of the pieces that are left from blending. Some years it may be more Tannat, other years it may be Cabernet Franc with a few other odd pieces. Some years all the pieces fit and I had nothing left over at the end of the process, and in those years we do not have a Padrino. Starting the blending process with great base wines is clearly the most important part. Some vintages will be more challenging than others, but recognizing that a little bit of “this” can really help out with “that” is seen as early as on the crush pad as the grapes are going into the fermenter. Blending is the artistic point where the paint hits the canvas, but the paint is made in the vineyard as the grapes grow. Being skilled at “making paint” is the key to having a great wine that needs very little tinkering. Let’s raise a glass to the art in the wine! September 2020 | 37
#3 Iron Heart Winery
GRAPEVINE | FROM PAGE 36
Grayhaven
#5: Grayhaven Winery Grayhaven is situated almost mid-way between Richmond and Charlottesville. The winery is picturesque, reminiscent of a scene from Tolkien. Located in a sparsely populated agricultural region whose main industry, Grayhaven rates well on Resources and Demographics. Grayhaven is one of the few Virginia wineries that grows Pinotage, a full-bodied, fruity variety that pairs great with BBQ. But my favorite beverage is their Rivercrest port-style wine that is great with cheese. Charcuterie boards will be rare in a post-apocalypse world, but fortunately this drinks well on its own. In theory, Grayhaven should rank low on the Defense scale, but it has an ace up its sleeve – this winery has ALREADY survived a zombie outbreak. See…this was the filming location for Attack of the Vegan Zombies. For this proven record against the undead, it’s rated #5 of the winery survival index.
Wine blogger Becca Bullard Lowe at Morais, preparing to lead the charge against flesh-eating ghouls
Photo: BeccaDrinksWine
#4: Morais Vineyards & Winery Morais is part of a blended community of agricultural and residential developments about an hour outside of D.C. This puts it out of immediate reach of aggressive survivors but remember – zombie hordes know no fatigue. They are famous for its amazing cherry wine and a light, crisp Vihno Verde-style wine aptlynamed “Battlefield”. When you’ve been on the run from shambling corpses all day, you’ll NEED a bottle of this. Morais’ ZDI ranking would be fairly low if it wasn’t for one very, very important thing: THEY HAVE A TANK. That’s right, this is the only winery that has a 20,000 pound zombie-crunching death medal machine. For this reason alone, Morais is one of the safest post-apocalypse wineries in the state.
Iron Heart is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, south-west of Roanoke. The winery’s natural isolation, low-population density, and role as a farm greatly increases its Resource, Demographics, and Defense scores. Even if they never produced a drop of wine, this is exactly where you’d want to hole up. My favorite is their dry Riesling, although their Iron Heart Label Model Cabernet Franc is excellent too. What makes this winery truly remarkable is the backstory. Iron Heart’s name is double-edged; it’s in honor of the location’s history as a steel mill, and the strength of character of the women who once owned the farm. In their honor, Iron Heart uses the ladies who work here, friends, & family members as models for their bottle art. Even a zombie with a half-rotten brain will know not to mess with this group of bad-ass women.
Bluemont
#2 Bluemont Vineyard
Lifestyle
THE 15TH ANNUAL
20
BEST
20
OF FAUQUIER
BEST WINERY 2010-2020
Bluemont has a justifiable reputation as having the best view in the state, with the Washington Monument visible on a clear day. No doubt, that view would be equally useful in detecting approaching zombie hordes or hostile biker convoys. They have a great selection, but Bluemont’s Albariño and “Ascent” red-blend are particularly good. It’s fortunate their barrel room is fully stocked. Once the mountain becomes besieged, you’re going to need supplies to sustain yourself. Bluemont also has a secret weapon – nearby Mt. Weather. This high-security government compound serves a relocation site for senior officials in event of a national emergency. With neighbors like that, Bluemont is the perfect location to stay in a crisis.
Chatham Vineyard
#1 Chatham Vineyards Chatham is without a doubt the top winery pick for surviving a pandemic. This area is already thinly populated, plus being adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay gives them an escape route from any land-based zombie swarms. Chatham’s sandy-loam soil and maritime climate allows them to grow an outstanding mineral-driven Chardonnay, perfect for serving with oysters. Red drinkers will love the soft and foodfriendly Merlot. If this wasn’t enough, it’s close to Virginia Beach - one of the top 5 cities most likely to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, according to a CareerBuilder study of 53 U.S. metropolitan areas. As winemaker Jon Wehner explained, “It’s no surprise Chatham was rated #1. We offer award-wining wine, friendly service, and an early 19th century manor home which is the perfect postapocalypse refuge.” Great wine and security – what more can you ask for? 38 | September 2020
Old Town Crier
FITNESS
NICOLE FLANAGAN
FALL BACK INTO EXERCISE F
or some of us the fall brings a feeling of renewal. The changing of seasons can bring a change in your daily routine. With the kids heading back to school and the holidays just around the corner it may be impossible to find time to exercise. But what better time of the year is there to enjoy the fresh air without the heat and humidity. September is a great time to get back in gear and change up that workout you have been doing all summer. There are twelve weeks from the beginning of September until Thanksgiving. That is a great time frame to get in the habit of a new workout that you will be able to stick with through the winter months. There are so many ways to make exercising more fun in the fall. Trying out a new routine or simply bringing a running workout from the treadmill to the tree-lined streets is a great way to change your routine and get your mind set on some new workout goals. This holiday season let’s focus on staying in that workout mode. For the next twelve weeks stay on track by adding new things to your workout. Fall is a great time for running, cycling, hiking, and walking. Walking is the easiest form of exercise. The key to making walking enjoyable is to make it a part of your daily routine. Start walking in the morning before work or school. By getting started early you jump start your body, mind, Old Town Crier
and metabolism so you have more energy throughout the day. If you need something a little more fast-paced, running is a great way to stay in shape especially in the fall. It’s not too hot, not too cold and the crisp morning air will be much more awakening than a buzzing alarm clock. Once you get in the habit of a morning run or walk you will find yourself looking forward to waking up early just to see the sun rise as you begin your workout. Bringing your cycling workout from the studio to the streets or the trails will add fun to your workout. Get out those mountain bikes and take the kids out for a bike ride after school. You get to spend time with the family while enjoying a fun calorie-burning workout. If biking on the trails does not seem like it’s for you then try going hiking. It’s a great leg work out and the views of the woods in the fall are beautiful. When the weather begins to get too chilly, take advantage of that gym membership you’ve been holding on to and waiting
to use since the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Gyms offer a variety of cardio and strength machines that can help you to break that workout plateau. The key to keep seeing results is to keep a workout interesting. Don’t do the same exercises over and over for an extended period of time. By changing your workout every couple weeks you are forcing your body to adapt to new
burner, try a cycle or a cardio kick boxing class. If you want an all-over strength and flexibility workout try pilates or a beginner yoga class. If your club has an indoor pool, I highly recommend taking a water aerobics class or swimming laps on your own. Swimming is a great overall strength and conditioning workout and if you have access to a pool year round why not take advantage of it. If you’re not crazy about going the gym then home fitness is another great option. Having a home gym can be as simple as having a few sets of dumbbells and some resistance bands to having a complete gym with at home cardio machines, mirrors from ceiling to floor and a weight bench. There are also workouts that you can do with no equipment at all. There are many resources available online to help you with everything you need for a home gym, from what equipment you need to how to organize your workout. The best way to keep up with your fitness is to incorporate
THE BEST WAY TO KEEP UP WITH YOUR FITNESS IS TO INCORPORATE EXERCISE INTO YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE. routines. This keeps it from becoming “comfortable” with a certain workout. Take advantage of all that your club has to offer. While some of the services are limited because of social distancing requirements, most health clubs offer free classes to their members. If you are looking for a high intensity calorie
exercise into your everyday life. We all know the obvious suggestions like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking your car farther away from your final destination, and walking to lunch on your break. Here are a few that may be less obvious. When you are at your kid’s soccer practice or game walk a few laps around the field instead of sitting and watching. You’ll get a much better view of the action and also get some exercise in for yourself. Be an active television watcher. Most of our favorite shows start the new season in the fall. While you’re enjoying the new season of your favorite show do some standing lunges, jog in place, lift weights or do tricep dips on the couch. During commercials do as many sit-ups and push-ups as you can get in before the show comes back on. During a onehour show you will probably get almost twenty minutes of commercials. With so many options to amp up your fitness routine for the fall it seems like it should be easy to get started. Half of winning the battle with exercise is getting into the habit. Remember that it takes about four weeks for the body to adapt to lifestyle changes. Try to stick with your new program for a month. After that, behavior patterns will have adapted and your program will be much easier to stick with. Good Luck! September 2020 | 39
FROM THE TRAINER
RYAN UNVERZAGT
Sample Bodyweight Workout* Jumping Jacks...................... 3 Squats.................................3 Mountain Climbers................ 3 Pushups...............................3 Situps..................................3 Front Hover (Plank)................ 3 Alternating Forward Lunge...... 3 Squat Jumps.........................3
x x x x x x x x
50 reps 25 50 20 25 30 seconds 24 reps 15
*See exercise details and descriptions below
B
odyweight training is nothing new, but I would like to discuss how you can integrate this type of training in your fitness routines. For centuries, man utilized his own bodyweight as a means to get stronger for battle which is one reason why our military still uses this type of training today. Bodyweight training uses the forces of gravity as a means of resistance without the need for barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, etc. If you are searching for a change in your exercise routine, just try using your own bodyweight. The best thing about training this way is that you can do it anywhere and you can remain socially distanced. No more excuses of why you didn’t get to the gym this week. Let me explain a few of the exercises above. Mountain climbers are performed in the pushup position by bending your hip and knee with one foot forward and underneath you while the opposite leg is straight. Bodyweight should be evenly distributed through each hand and foot. Next, switch foot positions rapidly by “jumping” and alternating the landing position. Try to
keep your hips level with the rest of your body. Arms stay straight as your feet do the work. Each alternation counts as a repetition. Make sense? I hope so because that’s a hard one to describe on paper. The front hover or plank is similar to the pushup position except that you will support your upper body with the forearms (elbows directly under the shoulders) and your feet together. Try not to let your hips drop toward the floor by contracting your abdominals and avoid holding your breath. The object of this exercise is to hold this “plank” position for a thirty-second count. A squat jump is simply a squat finished off with an explosive jump up. Remember to always land softly by bending your knees and hips. There are only eight exercises with this routine, but the goal is to perform each one without rest in between. Once you have completed the circuit, allow yourself a rest break anywhere between 2-5 minutes before starting another round. In this example, I have a total of 3 rounds. Here is another way to incorporate bodyweight
training into a normal weight lifting routine. Execute your lift then follow it up immediately with a body weight exercise. Examples: Bench Press followed by
Pushups, Leg Press followed by squat jumps, or an Abdominal Crunch Machine followed by the Front Hover. You might be surprised on how difficult the bodyweight
exercises can be when performed in this fashion. Never underestimate the value of bodyweight training because it can be a great addition to any fitness routine.
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Unverzagt holds Bachelor of Science degree in Wellness Management from Black Hills State University. He is a certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association and a Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography. 40 | September 2020
Old Town Crier
FIRST BLUSH
KIM PUTENS
because it can make you look older than you are. Using foundation has more to do with the condition of your skin. If your skin is blotchy and uneven, you may want to consider wearing foundation. If not, skip it all together and apply a good moisturizer. Remember, foundation’s primary goal is to even out your skin tone to create a monotone surface in which to apply color. Think of foundation as the canvas before applying the artwork – eye shadow, cheek color, lipstick, etc.
What is triple milled soap?
How do I choose the right moisturizer for my face?
B
elieve it or not, the most important thing about choosing a moisturizer is the weight, not the fancy ingredients. The wrong weight of moisturizer can actually cause as many, if not more, problems than the ingredients. If too heavy, it can clog your pores and cause breakouts. If not heavy enough, the lack of moisturizer can lead to premature aging. In choosing the right weight, apply a normal amount to your jaw line. Wait a few seconds and check the area. If the moisturizer feels sticky or greasy, it means that it hasn’t absorbed into your skin and is too heavy for your complexion. If the moisturizer soaks in and still feels dry and your skin feels taught, then the moisturizer is not heavy Old Town Crier
enough. Look for a moisturizer that soaks in to your skin, but your skin feels relieved and looks plump. Everywhere I look, all the makeup has shimmer and glitter. How do I embrace it without looking like a teenager? Shimmer can actually be your friend. Glitter, not so much. Leave glitter to stage performances. A bit of shimmer can actually make old skin look young. And, it is the easiest and cheapest way to freshen up your skin and bring about a youthful glow. But, if you overdue it, you could end up looking like an overaged teenager. Keep in mind, dry and dull looking skin exacerbates looking old. So, the best thing to do is be strategic about your placement and amount. The best place to get the most bang for your buck is to apply a bit of shimmer
along the base of your eyebrow along the brow bone. It gives the illusion of an instant lift to a sagging eye (which happens to all of us as we approach 40). Another good place for a bit of shimmer is along your cheekbone. Again, it gives the illusion of an instant lift to the face but it also gives a punch of glow and dewiness that is associated with youthful skin. It is okay to go for broke and put a bit of shimmer along the brow bone and the cheekbone. You’ll be amazed at how your friends will compliment your new youthful appearance.
I’m 40, should I be wearing foundation? Not necessarily. Determining when to wear foundation has nothing to do with how old you are. In fact, I would argue, that if your skin looks good, you should avoid foundation
A triple milled soap is actually three soaps milled into one. The process of milling three soaps into one is a lengthy process taking months to produce a single bar of soap, but it provides users with a soap that lasts much longer than its counterparts. A triple milled soap usually lasts a month or more. Also, the French have the oldest and best known milling process which is why triple milled soaps are often known as French triple milled soaps. Haircuts $15 Shampoo, Cut & Blow Dry $18 (extra charge for long hair) Scissors Cut $17+up Color $43+up Permanent $45+up (including haircut & conditioner)
Do I need a lip liner with my lipstick? Most of the time lip liner is a personal preference. For some, they do not feel complete without lip liner. The only time lip liner is absolutely necessary is if (1) your lipstick tends to bleed, no matter the color and (2) if you are wearing a deep and dark color like red, which bleeds on everyone. I would not recommend lining your lips when wearing lip-gloss. What you can do, however, is use a lip liner to fill in your lips to add more color and staying power to your lipgloss.
What are hair powders or dry shampoos? Hair powder and dry shampoo are actually the same thing but referred to differently. These are essentially talcum powders that have been colored to match your hair color. By applying the hair powder/dry shampoo to your scalp, the powder will soak up the excess oils and freshen up your hair as if it was washed. Basically, the powders give life to second day hair without having to wash your hair.
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Good Haircut! Beautiful Perm!
Long Lasting Color!
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703-836-1916
Monday-Friday 9 am-7 pm • Saturday 9 am-6 pm We care and will give you only the best! Biolage • Vital Nutrient • Socolor • Matrix Perm • Paul Mitchell • Nexxus September 2020 | 41
GO FISH
STEVE CHACONAS
Bass Fishermen are in Hot Water
I
t’s been a difficult tournament season, covidshortened by Gov. Hogan’s recreational fishing ban. Many trails played catch up, having more tournaments in a shorter period of time, many during the hottest part of the season. With record heat in June and July, limiting bass tournaments during hot weather months was discussed by MD’s Black Bass Advisory Committee (BBAC) during a covid-free conference call. A late June, out of state, 81 boat tournament prompted a lengthy discussion as reports of 65+ dead bass surfaced after the event. Chester County Bass Masters (CCBM) tournament director reported 6 dead fish the day of the tournament. But days following caught the attention of Maryland Bass Nation Conservation Director Scott Sewell. First 15-20 floaters were reported a few days later. Later that week around 65 dead bass were removed. BBAC has been concerned with out of state tournaments whose home states close their fisheries during spawning months, forcing anglers into MD waters. Precautions have been placed by MD DNR for the Upper Bay, Anchor Marine with a recovery tank, oxygen tank, and oxygen testing equipment. In addition, a chute was installed to take bass away from bulkheads, allowing them to disperse. Sewell would rather see DNR release trucks move fish to better release locations. CCBM was aware of ideal water temperature and oxygen content, however these parameters were neglected during their disastrous weigh in. Sewell says putting fish in recovery tanks, without appropriate oxygen and temperature to recover, sentenced healthy fish to delayed mortality. DNR permits tournaments 42 | September 2020
conditionally. However warm weather guidelines don’t kick in until June 15. Sewell suggests they be based on water temperature and DNR should provide staffers to observe. However this suggestion was shot down by DNR’s Bill Anderson who insisted staff only works Monday thru Friday. Sewell questioned that stance as staff time would be better used in the field and repeat violators should be fined or banned. Tournament directors can’t take all blame. Sewell maintains anglers should be responsible for fish care. They aren’t running livewells continuously (worried about draining batteries), neglect icing water and aren’t draining and adding fresh water to stay 7 degrees cooler in summer months. Sewell is concerned Tournament Directors don’t check livewell operation, instead they focus on whether they’re empty. He’d also like to see livewell water temperatures taken prior to weigh in. Hot weather presents livewell challenges. Putting bass into a hot box is like sitting in your car without AC. Freshwater Fisheries Program Manager Joe Love says fish are cold blooded and their internal temperatures are regulated by outside temperatures. Extra fish care is needed in hot weather. No prolonged selfies or laying fish on carpets, because fish will heat up, dry out and suffocate. Gill filaments that supply oxygen to fish don’t function correctly when dry. Scales and skin mucus protect from infection. If mucus dries, skin is compromised by handling and could create open wounds. When bass are in warm water with others, oxygen levels can plummet if not managed correctly. Love says fish subjected to low oxygen may not be dead, but they’re getting there.
DNR imposes special conditions between June 15th and October 31st for the Potomac and Upper Bay. Anglers must have working live wells, use nonpiercing cull clips, and keep bass in bags no longer than 2 minutes without refreshing water. A penalty of at least 0.25 lbs. must be imposed on participants for each dead fish. Anglers should ensure fish are recuperated before release, either returning them to livewells before release, using release boats, or release tanks with chutes. Additional precautions include monitoring water and air temperature. Frozen water jugs cool livewells. Use re-circulation and water exchanges with cooler shaded waters. Additional batteries can be used for livewells. Jumper boxes can start outboards if batteries run low. A dissolved oxygen meter measures livewell oxygen levels. Fish health isn’t always visible. Some are tougher than others but that shouldn’t lead to apathy. Anglers cannot know whether their fish has LMBV or another physical stressor that could complicate handling. Delayed mortality can appear a few days later
when dead bass wash up on boat ramps. Weighing impacts of summer tournaments, BBAC will consider additional restrictions. This could include limiting possession, time of day, or whether hot water tournaments are allowed at all. Many clubs like Fish On Bass Anglers already self-impose restrictions. Tournament angling has
progressed from metal stringers to high tech livewell systems but, especially in summer months, it’s still up to anglers to keep fish alive. Author Capt. Steve Chaconas is Potomac bass fishing guide. Potomac River reports: nationalbass.com. Book trips/ purchase gift certificates: info@ NationalBass.com.
Potomac River Bassing in September IIt’s hot, as water hits the mid to upper 80s, get out early and leave before the heat and storms roll in. Take a top down approach and continue as long as weather and fish cooperate. Hollow frogs or soft plastic buzz toads will work close to cover, grass or wood. When the topwater bite fades, try shallow crankbaits and bladed jigs. Slow retrieves with swim jigs will work too. Catch grass and snap and stop. Stay in the shade as long as possible. After the sun is out and stays, time to go to soft plastics. Texas rigged Mizmo tubes on 3/0 Mustad Ultra Point Tube hooks, shaky head with long shank Mustad jig hooks, Neko rigs with Mustad 2/0 red wacky rig hooks and wacky rigged weightless stickworms work. Skip baits under docks or into grass clumps. Line is key too. For frogs and toads, use 60 pound Gamma torque braid. For the crankbaits and bladed jigs, use 12-14 pound test Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. The soft plastics presentations can be used on spinning gear like Quantum Smoke reels spooled with 15 pound test Gamma Torque braid with 10-12 pound test Edge leader. Or on casting gear, spool Quantum Smoke casting reels with 14 pound test Edge that can also handle most cover situations.
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LORI WELCH BROWN
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can’t wait for 2020 to be in our rearview mirrors, but I’m almost afraid of what lurks behind Door #2021. This year has been a wild and crazy ride to our own backyards, testing facilities, Zoom meetings, etc. Personally, it seems like the summer that wasn’t. Definitely not like the summers of our past. Road trips. Farmer’s markets. Parades. Ice cream. Hurry up—the fireworks are starting! Fireflies. Boating on the Chesapeake. Summer concerts. Sand castles. Festivals. Screen on the Green. Blankets on the lawn. Roller coasters. Packed coolers. Margaritas. Jimmy Buffet. Oysters. Did anyone bring the OFF? Lawn mowers, the smell of cut grass and mulch. Blue crabs drenched in Old Bay. We need more ice! Toes in the sand. Summer camp. Snow cones. Tomato sandwiches. “When do the kids come home? I thought it was two weeks!” Waves. Salt water. Strawberries. Salt water taffy. Burgers on the grill. “I said rare!” Watermelon. Corn on the cob. Don’t forget the SPF 50! Tropical drinks. Sunsets. Where’s the fly swatter? Definitely not the summer we imagined. Pandemic. Quarantine. Isolate. Better get to Costco!
Old Town Crier
Amazon, Amazon and more Amazon. We need bleach! Cook, cook, cook. Clean, clean, clean. I found TP— it’s coming from Australia! Gloves. Rain. Social distancing. Gloves are bad! Empty the dishwasher. We’re out of hand sanitizer. Political stupidity. Where’s your mask? Uber eats. George Floyd. You’re too close! It’s sooo hot! Black Lives Matter. More heat. More humidity. There are no tests! More political stupidity. Do the dishes! The A/C isn’t working! Peaceful protests. His mask isn’t even covering his nose! Why bother? Buy more TP. A/C replaced. “What about the poor doctors and nurses?” More frickin’ rain. It’s still hot in here! Call the A/C guy! Are we living in the dark ages? How is this even still happening? A/C fixed. Birthday party? How many? No thanks—too many people for me. Staying home again. Restaurant? Are they even open? Seats too close. It’s all a big conspiracy—it will all be over after the election, but get more TP just in case. Pack extra masks. You have to wash it! Puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles. Why is she wearing a mask alone in the car for God’s sake? I love my house, but I’m tired of it. I’m tired of cooking, cleaning and
breaking down Amazon boxes. I’m tired of not being able to see people smile. I’m tired of people complaining about wearing masks. And, I hate not being able to see my dad or hug my loved ones. It’s all so exhausting. It is a long and winding road, but so is life. We have to do what we can to stay positive and focused on the things that we can control. I’ve rediscovered my love for farmer’s markets and local road trips. Money I usually spend on hair and nails went to art supplies and online classes. We are resilient humans who are capable of adapting to change. As Glennon Doyle often says, “We can do hard things.” Maybe my summer hasn’t been as hard as yours. Maybe you lost a parent to COVID or you have to home school your kids. Or, maybe your summer was a blast. You were able to go to the beach, paddle board, eat crabs, and spend time with family. It’s not helpful to compare levels of hardness or anxiety, but better to realize that we are all going through something. When will it end? Maybe it’s a new beginning, our new reality. September has always represented a fresh start—the beginning of a new school year. I recently shifted my mindset from
“When will it end?” to “It’s a new beginning,” and my anxiety lessened. Like our first day back to school, it is filled with new, exciting and scary possibilities. It also has new opportunities. New professions, inventions, businesses, etc. will be created. A mental shift, a more heightened awareness, and a deeper consciousness is being unearthed. For every positive, there are 32 negatives. I get it. But, we have to start somewhere— back to the school of life. We have to put on a new pair of glasses to envision a different perspective. Will we always have to wear masks? Maybe. Maybe masks are like seat buckles. At some point, we won’t be able to imagine a safe existence without them and realize we should have been wearing them all along. I don’t know. I’m not certain. That’s the scary part—just like the first day of school. Not being certain of pretty much anything is terrifying. Where is my locker? How do I get to my second period class? Will any of my friends have my lunch time? The unknown is hard for all of us. When will it be safe to travel? Will I ever be able to visit my dad again? When will I be able to see my Texas family again? What about all
my friends who own small businesses? What about the restaurant workers? Here’s what I am certain of. Or, if you want me to go all Oprah on you—“Here’s what I know for sure…” I’m healthy. I can jump in my Jeep and head out for a day trip to many fabulous local destinations. At least for the time being, I can eat at some of my fave restaurants. I can support local merchants. We are figuring things out. My family is healthy, and my dad is getting excellent care. I am a middle-aged woman living in America with access to medical care, and all my basic needs are being met. My trip to Italy didn’t materialize, but there is plenty of joy to be found in my own back yard. I’ve still got the open road. I’ve still got options. Tomorrow is a new day full of endless possibilities. Where to go? What to do? Which mask to wear? Change is hard, but necessary. Adapt and move on. My cup runneth over, my wrinkles runneth over my mask, and I’m headed back to the school of life where the lessons are hard, but the learning is plentiful. September 2020 | 43
NATIONAL HARBOR
LANI GERING
The Wheel
Redstone BBQ Shrimp
Afternoon Delight
T
hings seem to be looking up a bit in National Harbor. Now that I don’t live there anymore, I look at it from a different perspective I guess. My afternoon trip (all four and a half miles of it) over the Woody Bridge from Old Town Alexandria to the Harbor was fun. I’ve only been gone for about 6 weeks but quite a bit has happened since I left. Walrus Oyster and Ale is back up and running, Furlough Cheesecake is fully open in the old Stonewall Kitchen space on American Way and another dessert themed business, Messy Treatz, is opening up on Waterfront Street. With Savannah’s Candy Kitchen serving up their popular pralines, the Harbor is becoming a mecca for those of us with a sweet tooth. I might just have to profile them all in a future column. I chose to spend the bulk of my time around the waterfront since it was a beautiful day in the middle of the week and I figured it would be easy to get a “socially distanced” seat in the bar at McCormick & Schmick for their popular Happy Hour. I was wrong… it was the same as it used to be in our pre-Covid world - if you didn’t get there before 4-4:30 pm you couldn’t find a seat. With the limitations of the pandemic, there was a wait time at 4. So….I decided to go to Plan B and sit outside at Redstone. I was very lucky that there was a couple leaving as I walked in. They have the bar seats 44 | September 2020
set up in two’s with way more than 6’ between so that really limits the number of people they can serve. It was my lucky day. As I sat waiting for my adult beverage and people watching, I noticed a woman who was looking for a seat to no avail. Turns out she was by herself on an afternoon adventure just like I was so I asked her to join me. This is one of the things I have always loved about going out in the Harbor – meeting new friends pretty much everywhere you stop. Tracy and I had a very fun conversation and I look forward to seeing her again soon. I ordered the very popular Buffalo Jumbo Shrimp – no describing how good these are – and settled in for some people watching. For a Wednesday late afternoon, the plaza had a decent number of people roaming around and they were either wearing a mask or had one handy. The Harbor is very diligent about maintaining the pandemic protocols. There are hand washing stations and hand sanitizer stations scattered throughout as well as reminders of the 6 foot rule. The Wheel was in full swing/ spin and since it was National Dog Day, there were some four-legged passengers waiting in the queue. Derek Lovato and his crew are very clever with the promotions for the Wheel – there is always some good deal going on. Be sure to check their website
(thecapitalwheel.com) or Facebook page to see what the latest is. My next to the last stop was Bond 45 to see if any of my Harbor pals were there. I was lucky enough to score another “socially distanced” seat and was so happy to see that one of my very favorite bartenders, Carlos, and manager extraordinaire, John, were both on duty. They know the meaning of hospitality and treat everyone like gold. This was my go-to place when I lived across the street and remains my favorite place in the Harbor. I hated to leave but had to get back to Old Town. On the way out, I picked up lobster rolls and chowder to-go from Mason’s Famous Lobster. These are the best in the area in my opinion and they made for a nice picnic style dinner at home. Note: I left Old Town at 3:15 pm in order to avoid rush hour traffic and was across the bridge and pulling into the Fleet Street garage at 3:25. The hardest part is getting out of Old Town. When you go, be sure that you stay in the far left lane once on the Beltway since it is the exit only lane for the Harbor and it moves pretty fast. Parking isn’t cheap in the Harbor but parking isn’t really cheap anywhere you go in the DMV. I recommend picking a space in one of the garages. The metered parking is ridiculously over-priced.
Plaza Waterfront View
John and Carlos of Bond 45
Bond 45’s Socially Distanced Seating Old Town Crier
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