Events

To Do This Weekend: St. Patrick’s Day Stuff

By ARLnow.com

Ireland’s Four Courts seems like the place to be this weekend for pre-St. Patrick’s Day fun. Saturday morning the pub will be hosting runners before and after the Four Courts Four Miler. It is also billing itself as a post-ShamrockFest destination.

Four Court’s normal Sunday activities will become even more Irish-y. Expect a special Irish Sunday brunch. Then, later Sunday night, karaoke become Irish-themed karaoke.

For more dedicated drinkers, the Arlington Athletic and Social League is holding its “St. Practice Day” bar crawl on Saturday. The $10 registration fee is almost worth it just for the t-shirt.

Registration starts between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. at Mister Day’s. Subsequent destinations include Hard Times Cafe, Clarendon Grill, Eleventh Street Lounge, and SoBe.

For more over-21 festivities, check out our St. Patrick’s Day Guide.

Photo courtesy Stacey Viera of Every Food Fits. Smiley faces added to protect the innocent.

Road Closures to Avoid This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

A number of road closures will play havoc with traffic in Arlington this weekend.

The Four Courts Four Miler kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Police will shut down Wilson Blvd from Courthouse Road to North Rhodes Street from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Wilson Blvd from North Rhodes Street to Route 110 in Rosslyn will be closed at 8:45 a.m. Northbound Route 110 from Rosslyn to Route 1 in Crystal City will be shut down from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Click here for a map.

Cars parked along the route will be ticketed and towed. Race participants are urged to use Metro. The Courthouse station is a short distance from the starting line.

Chain Bridge will be completely closed to traffic and pedestrians all weekend. That is, unless the predicted rain prevents reconstruction work on the bridge deck from taking place, which is a distinct possibility. If work goes on as scheduled, expect Chain Bridge to remain closed from Friday night to early Monday morning.

“Motorists are advised to use alternate routes and river crossings including the American Legion, Key, Roosevelt, Memorial and 14th Street Bridges,” VDOT said of the Chain Bridge closure, in a statement.

Finally, the ongoing Humpback Bridge replacement project will result in lane closures during the day on Saturday. One lane of the George Washington Parkway from Memorial Bridge to I-395 will be closed in each direction from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

To Do Tonight: Young Democrats Date Auction

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington Young Democrats are holding their 9th annual date auction tonight at the 7:00 p.m. at Clarendon Grill (1101 N. Highland Street).

Attendees (185 have RSVPed on Facebook) are asked to donate $5 and a canned or non-perishable food item at the door. The auction benefits the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

In addition to the 30 bachelors and bachelorettes being auctioned off, raffle drawings will be held for the following prizes:

  • Lunch with Congressman Jim Moran
  • Lunch with Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Committee chair and former Virginia gubernatorial candidate
  • Tasting for four at Boccato Gelato
  • Wine tasting for 20 at Best Cellars
  • Weekend getaway to Shenandoah River vacation home

P. Brennan’s Won’t Be Open for St. Paddy’s Day

By ARLnow.com

Hope that P. Brennan’s would open in time for a big St. Patrick’s Day celebration has been squashed. The owners of the new Irish pub on Columbia Pike were trying to wrap up construction and get the proper permits in time for the holiday, but we’re now told that it will instead remain closed.

In its place, however, P. Brennan’s sister pub, McGinty’s, will be hosting a St. Patrick’s Day “extravaganza” featuring a live radio broadcast, a band flown in from Ireland, dancers, specials and giveaways. McGinty’s, located in the Market Square at Potomac Yard development near Crystal City, says it hopes to be “the greenest spot in the county.”

More details on the festivities at McGinty’s and 15 other bars can be found in our St. Patrick’s Day Guide.

Bike Legend Gary Fisher Leading Ride in Crystal City Tonight

By ARLnow.com

The first customer of Revolution Cycles City Hub, a brand new bike rental store in Crystal City, was no less than Gary Fisher himself. The legendary bike maker is in town this week for the National Bike Summit.

“At first we didn’t believe it,” said Revolution Cycles marketing manager Chris Huller. “We couldn’t ask for a better person to kick this off.”

Fisher, who rented a Trek bike with a polka dot saddlebag, told the staff he’d return tonight to lead a “tweet ride,” a group ride promoted on Twitter.

The ride will leave the City Hub store at 220 20th Street South, near the McCormick and Schmick’s, around 7:00 tonight, Huller said. The destination has not yet been set, but it’s likely to head into the District, possibly ending up at a bar.

City Hub, meanwhile, will have its “semi-official” opening tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The store will rent bikes for $5 per hour or $35 per day.

City Hub will only rent bikes; it will not sell bikes. Huller says the store’s concept of “a bikeless bike shop” is new for the industry.

Beam Me Up, Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Crystal City’s Crystal Screen series is returning this summer with a theme that all generations of sci-fi fans will surely cheer. Every Monday night, starting on June 7, Crystal City will screen a different Star Trek movie.

The series will start with 1979’s original Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and will conclude on August 16 with last year’s Star Trek, J. J. Abrams’ well-received, contemporary take on the franchise.

Like last year, the big screen will be set up at 18th and Bell Street, across from the Crystal City Metro Station. Crystal City BID has more information.

Grand Opening Giveaway At New Crystal City Spa

By ARLnow.com

About a year and a half ago, the local and national news media went gaga for a delightfully quirky new service: fish pedicures. It was offered by Yvonne’s, a hair salon and day spa in Alexandria. Fish pedicure stories appeared on numerous network and cable news shows, as reporters and anchors debated the pedicure’s sanitary merits.

Well, now Crystal City residents don’t have to drive down to Alexandria to have their toes nipped at by tiny flesh-eating fish. Yvonne’s is opening up a new location in the Market Square at Potomac Yard development (3650 S. Glebe Road), near the Harris Teeter.

For their grand opening celebration tomorrow (Saturday), Yvonne’s is giving away $50 gift cards to the first 100 customers. The gift cards are going fast but, if you don’t make it in time, a small block of gift cards is being set aside for ARLnow.com readers. Just be sure to say that you heard about the promotion here.

The ARLnow.com St. Patrick’s Day Guide

By ARLnow.com

St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year. While the midweek date may put a damper on the daytime festivities (or may put a dent in workplace productivity, depending on your level of commitment), it also gives bar owners a chance to ramp up the revelry the weekend before.

After the jump, we’ve compiled a list of the best (mostly over-21) St. Patrick’s Day fun Arlington has to offer, from Thursday the week before to the wee hours of March 17. Enjoy — and please leave the car at home if you choose to imbibe.


(more…)

Street Art Comes to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

The sheer scale of Crystal City’s G-40: The Summit is large enough to impress at least one jet-setting local artist, who praised the exhibition while saying that he otherwise considers Crystal City to be an “upper class ghetto.”

Set in four vacant floors of an office building at 223 23rd Street, G-40 will feature more than 2,000 pieces of art from 400 artists. Each floor showcases artists from different cultural hubs: DC, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Several artists who were on hand at Monday night’s VIP and press reception said it’s the largest single-theme exhibit in the DC area in recent memory.

Much of the art, curated by Shane Pomajambo of Art Whino, is considered to be “New Brow” (formerly known as “Low Brow”), a raw, grungy, edgy genre strongly influenced by punk music, street culture and comic books. Don’t bring the kids, unless you want them to see some pretty graphic stuff.

G-40 officially opens to the public Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., with food and wine pairings by a group of local executive chefs, live painting, and music by DJ Sonny Cheeba. Attendance is free, but the food is extra.

(more…)

To Do This Weekend: Olympic Events

By ARLnow.com

The Vancouver Olympics are coming to a close on Sunday, which, if you’ve been watching regularly, may feel like an old friend is going on two-year, extended vacation.

But don’t worry, there are still some opportunities to show your Olympic spirit this weekend.

If the U.S. men’s hockey team beats Finland today (on NBC4 at 3:00 p.m.), Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse will screen the gold metal game live on the big screen Sunday afternoon.

Also on Sunday, Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria is hosting on Olympic block party (as seen on our Events page) and oyster roast from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. The gold metal hockey game will also be shown. From the event posting:

“Expect a day’s worth of good food, fine wine, craft beers, good friends and neighbors and plenty of fun. There’s no fee to attend – Oysters, Red Apron Hot Dogs, Beer, Wine, Coffee and much more will all be priced individually anywhere from $3 to $12.”

View More Stories