bar crawl

Shamrock Crawl Returns to Clarendon Next Month

By ARLnow.com

Shamrock Crawl logoThe Shamrock Crawl, dubbed Arlington’s biggest bar crawl, will return to Clarendon next month.

The bar crawl is scheduled to take place from 1-9 p.m. on Saturday, March 19. Tickets are $15 through the end of the month, $20 starting March 1 and $30 at the door.

“The Shamrock Crawl is a time of festive jubilation, so let your Irish cheer run free!” says the event’s website. “Join thousands of fellow beer lovers in celebrating a day full of green revelry at some of Arlington’s most popular bars.”

Attendees will get a refillable Shamrock mug, party favors, green beads, drink specials at each stop and free photos of the event. Participating bars include Clarendon Ballroom, Clarendon Grill, Mad Rose, Hunan One, Whitlow’s, Spider Kelly’s, Hard Times Cafe, IOTA Club, Mister Days and American Tap Room.

Last year, some 3,700 people participated in the Shamrock Crawl. That’s down from 5,000 revelers in 2014, but crime was also down — two arrests compared to more than two dozen arrests in 2014 — as a new bar crawl policy provided funds from organizers for a stepped-up police presence.

Arlington bar crawls may not be as wild and crazy as they once were, but they still rankle some business owners, as well as residents of surrounding neighborhoods, who sometimes complain of parking issues and the occasional drunk who shows up on their lawn.

We asked new County Board members Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey about that our ARLnow Presents event Wednesday night. (Video below.)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

US Airways planes on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport

Shortest Day of the Year — Today is the shortest day of the year. The sun will be up just 9 hours and 26 minutes today, so enjoy the daylight while it lasts. Tonight is the winter solstice. [Capital Weather Gang]

Two Big Crystal City Projects on Hold — Two projects to replace aging office buildings in Crystal City are on hold due to high office vacancy in the region. Vornado was planning to replace 1851 S. Bell Street with what would have been the tallest building in Crystal City and the largest private office building in Arlington. The company was also planning to replace 223 23rd Street S. with an office and a residential tower. Those have both reportedly been shelved due to market conditions. [Washington Business Journal]

Police Play Cornhole With Bar Crawlers — Nearly 2,000 people flocked to Clarendon on Saturday for the inaugural Candy Cane Crawl, a holiday-themed bar crawl. Arlington County Police used the occasion to educate bar-goers about the dangers of drunk driving, by having people try to play cornhole while wearing “drunk goggles.” [WUSA 9]

Mary Slye Obituary — Mary Patricia Slye, who managed Robert Slye Electronics on Washington Blvd in Virginia Square, died last month of a heart attack at the age of 65. Slye was an Arlington resident and began working at the audio visual installation business in the mid-1980s. [Washington Post]

Vehicle Topples Light Pole on Washington Blvd — A vehicle struck a light pole near the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Pershing Drive on Saturday, sending it toppling across the street. Luckily, no one was hurt. Eastbound traffic on Washington Blvd was blocked for about 15 minutes. [Twitter]

GMU Grad Hopes to Run for Arlington School Board — A newly-minted George Mason University grad has a specific and somewhat uncommon career goal for someone her age: Marlayna Bush says she wants to run for the Arlington School Board in 2018. She just received her BA in conflict analysis and resolution. [George Mason University]

Christmas-Themed Bar Crawl Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Candy Cane Crawl logoA new holiday-themed bar crawl will be spreading cheer and possibly vomit on the streets of Clarendon on the weekend before Christmas.

The Candy Cane Crawl is planned from 1-9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19.

“Thousands of participants will quench their thirst on exclusive drink deals as they explore Clarendon and celebrate the holiday season one bar at a time,” according to the event’s website.

Tickets are $20 online or $30 at the door. That gets revelers “a refillable signature Santa mug, access to some of Clarendon’s best bars, exclusive drinks & food specials and a raffle entry to win great prizes.”

Participating bars include Mad Rose Tavern, Clarendon Grill, Clarendon Ballroom, Whitlow’s, IOTA Club and Cafe, Mister Days, SoBe, American Tap Room, Spider Kelly’s, Hard Times Cafe and Hunan One.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

"Peacock" tree in Bailey's Branch Park (Flickr pool photo by TheBeltWalk)

Task Force Recommends TJ Site — Ten months after the Arlington County Board nixed a proposed new elementary school next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, a working group appointed by the Board has concluded that the site is, in fact, the best one for a new school. The group also recommended that the School Board starts planning for a second new South Arlington elementary school, most likely in the Pentagon City area. [InsideNova]

Election Day Bar Crawl Was a Bust — Organizers of an election day bar crawl in Clarendon say they have learned “that people are not up for celebrating democracy on a Tuesday night of a work week.” Despite giving out 65-70 bracelets for the crawl, which was to encourage younger people to vote, one of the participating bars — Whitlow’s — didn’t see a single customer wearing the bracelets. [Washington Post]

‘Suburban North Arlington Is Going to Develop’ — The urbanist blog Greater Greater Washington says that development is inevitable for Lee Highway. The website is encouraging residents of the car-oriented corridor to participate in a county-led planning process for Lee Highway that’s currently underway, including a “visioning charrette” this weekend. [Greater Greater Washington]

Ray’s Maintains Steak Supremacy — Despite an influx of flashy new steakhouses in the District, Ray’s the Steaks in Courthouse still has the best-tasting steak around, and for a lot less than the newcomers, says food critic Todd Kliman. [Washingtonian]

W-L, Yorktown Rivalry Game Tonight — Yorktown will face Washington-Lee in a cross-county rivalry game with playoff implications. Both football squads could make the playoffs with a win tonight. A win also comes with the unofficial distinction of being this year’s Arlington County champion. [Washington Post]

M.J. Stewart Back at UNC Following Suspension — Former Yorktown standout M.J. Stewart is back leading the University of North Carolina’s secondary, after an off-campus altercation led to an assault and battery charge and a suspension from the team. [Daily Tarheel]

Tuckahoe 5K Road Closures — The annual Tuckahoe 5K race will take place Saturday. Arlington police will close portions of Williamsburg Blvd, Little Falls Road, 26th Street and Underwood Street between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m. to accommodate the race. [Arlington County]

Dems Captured All But One Precinct — The two Democratic County Board members-elect nearly swept every voting precinct in the county during Tuesday’s election. Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey together captured all but one precinct in Arlington. In the Madison precinct of North Arlington, a “bastion of Republicanism in an otherwise true-blue community,” Republican-endorsed independent Michael McMenamin finished second to Christian Dorsey. [InsideNova]

Jury Duty Questionnaires Due — If you were among the seven percent of Arlington and Falls Church residents who received a juror qualification questionnaire in the mail last month, it’s likely past due by now. Recipients are required by law to return the form within 10 days of receiving it. [Arlington County]

Development Forum Next Week — Registration is closing at noon today for a forum on development in Arlington County. Speakers at the event, scheduled for Nov. 10, include Arlington Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins, Rosslyn BID President Mary-Claire Burick and Shooshan Company COO Kelly Shooshan. [CREW Northern Virginia]

Flickr pool photo by TheBeltWalk

Halloween Bar Crawl to Return to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Halloween Bar Crawl logo(Updated at 4 p.m.) The Clarendon Halloween Bar Crawl will return this year with an extra hour of revelry.

The bar crawl is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31 — Halloween — from 1-9 p.m. The start time is an hour earlier than last year. Just like last year, participants are encouraged to come in costume.

“We recommend wearing your spookiest, scariest or most creative costume!” says the event website. “There will be costume prizes for the most festively dressed participants.”

Tickets currently are available online for $20, and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door for $30. The fee gets participants a souvenir mug, food and drink specials at bars in Clarendon and a raffle entry.

Bars along the crawl include Whitlow’s, Mad Rose, Clarendon Ballroom, Bracket Room, Don Tito, Mister Days, Spider Kelly’s, Hard Time Cafe and Hunan One, among others.

Last year, the Arlington County Police Department live tweeted the Halloween-themed festivities. It was deemed a relatively quiet affair, crime-wise, with thousands of participants and only 9-10 arrests.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Barcroft field baseball game (Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley)

Historic Affairs Board: Preserve Stratford — Arlington’s Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board has voted unanimously to recommend designating Stratford Junior High School, the current home of the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, a local historic district. The School Board will now decide whether or not to go along with the historic designation, which could delay plans to build a new middle school on the site by 2019. [InsideNova]

Three Arrests at Bar Crawl — There were only three arrests made at the All-American Bar Crawl in Clarendon on Saturday. Arlington County police were out in force, keeping the peace among the thousands of revelers who participated in the rain-drenched event, which the department again live-tweeted. Among the arrests were one for being drunk in public and another for failure to pay, according to a police spokesman. [Twitter]

Man With Knife Arrested at McDonald’s — A man was arrested at the McDonald’s on the 3000 block of Columbia Pike on Saturday afternoon. Police responded to the restaurant for a report of a fight in progress and encountered a man who was brandishing a knife. The suspect was arrested but was acting disorderly and spitting on officers while in custody, according to a police spokesman. It was later determined that the man was wanted for a probation violation in Loudoun County.

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

All-American Bar Crawl to Return This Month

By ARLnow.com

2014 All-American Bar Crawl attendeesThousands of revelers will celebrate their independence from sobriety at a Fourth of July-themed bar crawl in Clarendon on June 27.

The event will run from 2:00-9:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 27. Tickets are $20 in advance or $30 at the door.

“The All American Bar Crawl celebrates America’s birthday a few days early!” said the bar crawl’s website. “Rock your red, white and blue and get ready for a day full of Star Spangled shenanigans and bar-hopping in Arlington with thousands of your closest friends.”

Participants will get a “signature freedom mug,” “patriotic party beads,” a raffle entry, free event photos, prizes “for the most festively dressed participants” and, of course, food and drink specials around town. While the drink specials cannot be advertised, per Virginia law, the food specials include $2 cheese pizza slices from Bronx Pizza.

Participating bars include Clarendon Grill, Mad Rose Tavern, American Tap Room, Clarendon Ballroom, Spider Kelly’s, Hard Times Cafe, Hunan One, Whitlow’s, Mister Days, SoBe, Don Tito and IOTA Club and Cafe.

The crawl is being organized by Project DC Events.

Crime, Attendance Down at Shamrock Bar Crawl

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Some 3,700 people participated in Saturday’s Shamrock Crawl, an annual St. Patrick’s Day-themed bar crawl in Clarendon, according to police.

That’s down from nearly 5,000 attendees for last year’s crawl. Unlike last year, however, this one resulted in relatively few arrests.

Police say they arrested two people in direct connection to the crawl — one for assault and battery, and the other for drunk in public. That compares to more than two dozen arrests during last year’s event, including a bar crawl attendee who was arrested for allegedly showing up naked at the Arlington magistrate’s office in search of her incarcerated husband.

The Arlington County Police Department credited planning and cooperation among police, bars, event organizers and neighbors for the largely drama-free afternoon.

“It was a lot smoother of an operation,” said ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. “We have to credit the bars that participated as their staff refused to let people who were highly intoxicated in. There was a great working partnership for this event between police and the participating businesses.”

“It was a year-long planning process… there were constant meetings among county staff, the civic associations, the businesses and the bar crawl hosts,” Sternbeck added. “It showed positive results in terms of behavior.”

Sternbeck said police “could have arrested quite a bit more for drunk in public” but instead focused on getting those individuals home safely via taxicabs. New this year, Sternbeck and another police department employee live-tweeted the bar crawl and set up an outdoor photo booth — complete with props including a McGruff the Crime Dog mascot head — where they mixed fun with a bit of public outreach.

“We definitely spoke to them directly about responsible partying, appropriate behavior and transportation usage,” he said.

Despite helping to drastically reduce crime, police did take note of one area for possible improvement.

“The biggest problem I saw was people darting into the street before waiting for the appropriate time to cross,” Sternbeck said. Several police department tweets showed attendees dressed in green crossing in the middle of busy roads, in front of cars.

Per new bar crawl regulations that were approved last year, bar crawl organizer Project DC Events was to pick up the tab for police overtime associated with security for the event. Sternbeck was unable to say what the bill was for this weekend, though the Washington Post previously reported that the cost to police was between $15,000 and $20,000.

Photos courtesy Arlington County Police Department

St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl Returns March 21

By Ethan Rothstein

shamrocklogo_newThe Shamrock Crawl, an annual bar crawl in Clarendon for the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, is back again this year, on March 21.

The Saturday following the annual celebration of the Irish spirit, thousands of carousers will be wearing green and holding commemorative mugs for the event hosted by Arlington’s Project DC Events.

To take part in the festivities, drinkers can register online for $15. After 11:59 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday), the price goes up to $20.

The crawl will start at 2:00 p.m., with participants registering at either the Clarendon Grill (1101 N. Highland Street) or Clarendon Ballroom (3185 Wilson Blvd) before 5:30 p.m. Crawlers will get a shamrock mug to be refilled at participating restaurants, party favors, St. Patrick’s Day beads and $2 slices at Bronx Pizza (3100 Clarendon Blvd).

The participating businesses are:

  • Clarendon Grill
  • Clarendon Ballroom
  • Mad Rose Tavern
  • Whitlow’s on Wilson
  • American Tap Room
  • Hard Times Cafe
  • Spider Kelly’s
  • Hunan One Restaurant
  • Mister Days
  • SoBe
  • IOTA Club & Cafe
  • Don Tito

Last year, thousands of revelers packed the streets all day, including one woman who allegedly tried to visit her husband in the Arlington County jail sans clothing.

Pub Crawl This Weekend Raising Funds for Animal Charity

By Ethan Rothstein

Disney-themed bar crawl (photo courtesy Dalfa Ahmed) (Updated at 11:20 a.m.) A pub crawl planned for Sunday, Feb. 15, the day before Presidents Day, is about more than getting sloshed at a host of bars in Clarendon and Courthouse.

The Bow Wow Crawl for Charity is the seventh annual crawl on the February holiday for a group of friends. The themed crawls — previously there have been Disney and video game characters — always donate proceeds to charity and this year, the money is going to Arlington-based Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. Participants are encouraged to dress up like animals in the spirit of the event.

According to the bar crawl’s fundraising page, the bar crawl started seven years ago with three people on the day before a federal holiday. It has since grown to more than 100, benefiting charities like Give Kids the World and Child’s Play.

“Now this isn’t your typical bar crawl,” Adam Ross, who co-founded the bar crawl, writes on the page. “It’s not put on by a big promotion company. We are grassroots. We don’t sell wristbands or drink tickets or do any publicizing. It is the same crew that comes each year, only expanded by word of mouth, friends bringing other friends, or whatever strangers we run into along our journey. We aren’t out to make money off this, nor will we ever. After the second year of this bar crawl it was apparent that it was getting popular and that we would have a large number of attendees. We decided two things at that point; we would have a new theme ever year and we would raise money for a charity that corresponded with that theme.”

The crawl’s website has raised $400 of a $900 goal, with two weeks left on its online fundraiser.

The crawl begins on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill (2424 Wilson Blvd). The crawl will then swing into D.C. before finishing up back in Arlington.

It’s unclear if the crawl has applied for or received a bar crawl permit, a new regulation the Arlington County Board instituted last summer. The permits are intended to recoup county costs from the additional police presence the crawls — which have been attended by as many as 5,000 people in the past — necessitate.

Photo courtesy Dalfa Ahmed

Police Department Live Tweets Halloween Bar Crawl

By ARLnow.com
1/8

(Updated at 5:05 p.m.) The Arlington County Police Department live-tweeted Saturday’s Halloween-themed bar crawl in Clarendon, providing Twitter followers with frequent updates, safety tips and photos.

The bar crawl, billed as “The Rise of the Day Drinkers,” ran from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. It was the first bar crawl approved for a permit under the county’s new bar crawl regulations, which are intended to curb drunken criminal activity by providing a larger police presence, at the expense of crawl organizers.

The stepped-up police presence apparently worked. This past weekend’s Halloween-theme was a relatively quiet affair, with only 9 or 10 arrests, according to initial reports. There were no reports of any bar crawl patrons stripping naked, or any other significant incidents, according to police spokesman Lt. Kip Malcolm.

ACPD’s live-tweeting highlighted authorities’ efforts to keep everyone safe — from officers making sure long lines outside of bars did not stretch out onto the street to paramedics having a stretcher ready should medical assistance be needed.

The police department’s running commentary also had some lighter moments, including an officer taking a photo with Muppets characters, a joke about finding Waldo, and a reminder that orange could be the new black for bar crawl patrons who choose to drive home while drunk (see below).

Photos via @ArlingtonVaPD

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