Crystal City

Chick-Fil-A Preps for Opening as 110 Camp Out

By ARLnow.com

If Chick-fil-A wanted an owner committed to the company’s family values, they couldn’t have done much better than Natalie Yang.

The mother of four brought 30 family members in from various parts of the country for tomorrow’s opening of her Crystal City store. Of her nine brothers and sisters, eight made the trip.

The family members were joined in the store this afternoon by many of Yang’s 46 employees. Also among the crowd were nearly 30 corporate employees and fellow store owners, who were here to train employees and help out with the marketing.

Chick-fil-A’s marketing is primarily based around giving away lots and lots of food. Yang estimated that the store has given away at least 4,000 chicken sandwiches in the past couple of days, in addition to countless biscuits and chicken nuggets.

As the family members and employees sat around inside the shiny new store on Crystal Drive today, 110 campers were lounging around in the park across the street. They arrived with tents and cold weather gear early this morning to get in line for the First 100 promotion — a time-tested marketing gimmick which promises a year’s supply of Chick-fil-A meals for the first 100 people in line at store openings.

At least 30 people had to be turned away at the crack of dawn, after the queue reached capacity, according to a company spokesperson.

What motivated the campers to spend more than 24 hours in the cold in Crystal City, awaiting tomorrow’s 6:00 a.m. opening?

“My husband used all the Chick-fil-A coupons that I had from last time, so I had to come and get more,” said Anna Matson, a stay-at-home mom from Lynchburg, Va. Matson was joined by her 17 month old son Judah, who has already attended five Chick-fil-A openings (if you count the two or three while Matson was pregnant with him).

Matson said the openings are also fun, with music, games, free food and, of course, the guy in a cow costume.

Towson University student Femi Gbangblasa, a grand opening first-timer, said he was also here for the free food. He and his six friends were trying to stay warm while chatting around one of the park’s picnic benches. Gbangblasa said he has been spending most of his time studying, but has been enjoying the experience, for the most part. Would he do it again?

“I would do it again in warmer weather, probably,” he said.

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Chick-Fil-A Devotees to Start Camping Out Overnight

By ARLnow.com

Chick-fil-A expects that some people may start camping out overnight for the “First 100” giveaway at the company’s new Crystal City location.

The company is giving a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, when the restaurant officially opens.

Chick-fil-A staffers will start monitoring the line — which will be forming in the park across the street from the store’s 2200 Crystal Drive location — at 6:00 tomorrow morning. If more than 100 people are camped out at that time, a raffle will be held to determine who is eligible to stay.

Chick-fil-A runs the “First 100” giveaway to build buzz in advance of each restaurant opening.

In another marketing move, the store distributed free chicken sandwiches to Crystal City lunch-goers over the past two days.

Anime Convention Invades Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) The annual Anime USA convention has brought scores of, er, colorful characters to the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City.

The convention, which ends on Sunday, features bands, workshops, celebrity meet and greets, concerts, a Japanese marketplace and more. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people, mostly younger, are expected to attend.

Samantha Burke, who along with four family members traveled here from North Carolina in a decorated white van, said Anime USA is a “celebration of Japanese culture.”

Almost as interesting as watching the sea of costumed humanity standing outside the hotel is watching the reactions of unsuspecting passersby. Taxi drivers, office workers, hotel guests not affiliated with the festivities — all crane their necks.

“Wow,” said one woman, gawking from the sidewalk. “All I can say is wow.”

The crowd frightened at least one citizen, who called police earlier today when she thought something was amiss. One officer told us that in years past, police have been called when convention-goers with fake guns or samurai swords have walked into banks or restaurants.

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Back to the Future: Arlington’s Streetcar Lines, Circa 1900

By ARLnow.com

Before there was such a thing as Crystal City — when South Eads Street was a recently-filled canal known as Jefferson Avenue — a state-of-the-art transportation option helped spur the development of what is now the Aurora Hills neighborhood.

That transportation option was the electric trolley. More than 100 years later, Arlington’s leaders are moving forward with a $200 million streetcar project that will stop in some of the same places as its long-forgotten predecessor.

Aurora Highlands Civic Association president Michael Dowell recently wrote about the area’s transportation history in the group’s monthly newsletter.

From 1843 to 1896, present-day Eads Street was actually a canal that connected with the famous C&O Canal by means of an elaborate aqueduct bridge over the Potomac. Then in 1896, the canal was deemed obsolete. It was filled in and an electric trolley line took its place.

From Dowell’s article:

In 1896, an electric trolley line was constructed along the former canal towpath. The new Arlington trolley line allowed the Mount Vernon Railway to offer continuous service between Washington DC, near Federal Triangle, all the way to Mount Vernon.

The new rail line was instrumental in enabling the development of our Aurora Hills neighborhood in 1910, as the trolley offered quick access for commuters headed into Washington DC. Our neighborhood had four stops along what was then called Jefferson Avenue: Four Mile Run, the Car Barn, 22nd Street, and 18th Street.

By the 1920s, bus transportation had become preferable to the trolley line and the last trolley rolled down Jefferson Avenue in early 1932. In 1934, Arlington County changed the street name to Eads Street (there were too many Jefferson Streets in Arlington County).

Ironically, the county’s proposed streetcar line, which will run along Columbia Pike and Crystal Drive, is intended to be a quicker, cleaner and more rider-friendly alternative to the bus routes that seemed preferable in the 1930s.

There were other streetcar lines in Arlington around the beginning of the century, as detailed in this Wikipedia article. The Fort Myer line, pictured, ran from Rosslyn, through Penrose (a community whose logo is a trolley) to present-day Nauck (Green Valley).

If this all sounds like history repeating itself, there’s one thing that seems especially unlikely to happen that time around. Unlike in 1906, the new streetcar project will probably not result in the development of an elaborate, transit-oriented amusement park in South Arlington.

Photos via Wikipedia and on-the-pike.com
 (from the book “Old Dominion Trolley Too: A History of the Mount Vernon Line” by John E. Merriken)

Police: Man Arrested for Forcing Women to Perform Sex Act in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) An Arlington man has been arrested and accused of forcing two women to perform sex acts at gunpoint in a Crystal City apartment building.

The man, 33-year-old McKinley C. Joyner, used the web site Backpage.com to hire a prostitute, according to police. After the woman arrived at his apartment on the 2100 block of Jefferson Davis Highway, Joyner pointed a gun at her and forced her to perform a sex act, police said in a statement.

A friend of the victim, who was waiting in the lobby, then went up to check on her. Investigators say Joyner let her in and then forced her to perform a sex act at gunpoint, as well.

Police arrived at the scene around 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning, after being called by the woman’s escort agency. The agency became concerned after not being able to get in touch with their employee, police explained.

Joyner was arrested and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy. Other charges are pending, police say. He’s currently being held without bond at the Arlington County Detention Facility.

Joyner is listed as a co-founder and partner in New York-based firm Blazetrak, LLC, which specializes in allowing fledgling artists to “get directly in touch with established industry experts and celebrity talent.”

The company’s PR agency has not returned a call for comment.

Update at 4:40 p.m. — Joyner’s biography has been removed from the Blazetrak website.

Crystal City Chick-Fil-A To Give Out 10,000 Free Sandwiches

By ARLnow.com

When Chick-fil-A does a grand opening, they do it big. The opening of the new Crystal City store at 2200 Crystal Drive will be no exception.

The company is expecting people to start lining up for the Nov. 18 opening at 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 17.

The reason people would brave the cold for a fast food restaurant opening? The store is offering a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line (a $260 value).

The queue will be set up in the park across the street, so the campers don’t get clog the sidewalk. A company spokesperson said 200 people lined up 24 hours prior to a restaurant opening in Denver last week for the same “First 100” promotion.

If there are more than 100 people in line in Crystal City by 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 17, the first 100 spots will be determined by a raffle.

In advance of the opening, Chick-fil-A will also be doing a big sandwich giveaway. The restaurant will distribute 10,000 chicken sandwiches during the lunch hour of Nov. 15 and 16.

Chick-fil-A says the store, which will employ nearly 50 people, is the result of years of market research.

“With the company having researched locations in the area since 2004, the Crystal City restaurant provides an opportunity for the chain to be a part of the Crystal City streetscape,” the company said in a press release. “The Chick-fil-A restaurant also is conveniently located to mass transit and the Pentagon.”

A BRAC Move, One of Many, Moves Forward

By ARLnow.com

Earlier this week, the military broke ground on a new building in Fort Belvoir.

The $19.6 million, 88,000 square foot facility will house the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve (OCAR), which is currently housed in leased office space in Crystal City.

Once the new facility is completed, the office and its 400 employees will move out of Crystal City and in to Fort Belvoir.

It’s just one of dozens of such moves that will be taking place over the next 10 months as the result of the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005. A few BRAC moves have already taken place, but most of the 17,000 BRAC-affected workers in Arlington are still here.

“This event marks a significant milestone in the BRAC timeline and journey,” said Joyce Morrow, an assistant to the Secretary of the Army, at the groundbreaking.

By law, the BRAC moves must be complete by Sept. 15, 2011. That will mean a lot of people leaving Arlington — particularly Crystal City — next year.

“There are 317 days left until the BRAC deadline when all of the [OCAR] personnel must be here at Fort Belvoir,” said Col. John Stycula, an official at Fort Belvoir. “With that said, let’s get digging.”

Photo by Marc Barnes/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

“Mudbug” Coming to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

A new bar/restaurant is taking over the old El Pollito space on 23rd Street in Crystal City.

The place will be called “Mudbug,” according to a state alcoholic beverage application advertised today in the Washington Post.

What Mudbug will serve is anyone’s guess, but the word mudbug is a Creole slang term for crawfish. That seems indicative of a Louisiana/Cajun theme (sounds familiar, right?).

One of the business’ principals, Measar Saengplai, is a bartender at Rosslyn’s Cafe Asia, according to his Linked In page.

Crystal City to Hold Underground “Wine Walk”

By ARLnow.com

Final details are still being firmed up, but Crystal City is planning a unique event that will combine wine sampling with some exercise — in the dead of winter.

The Crystal City 1K Wine Walk will be a one kilometer “race” through Crystal City’s interior walkways (the “underground”). Wine and food sampling stations will be set up along the way.

At the end, there will be a “finish festival” in the former underground food court.

Crystal City’s Washington Wine Academy will be a partner in the event, and will help select the wine.

The Wine Walk is tentatively planned for Sunday, Feb. 20., during President’s Day weekend.

Road Closures and Metro Changes for Marine Corps Marathon

By ARLnow.com

It’s going to be very hard to get around certain parts of Arlington on Sunday. The Marine Corps Marathon will shut down streets in Rosslyn, Crystal City and Pentagon City. The Key Bridge and a stretch of Lee Highway will also be closed.

The good news is that Metro will be opening at 5:00 a.m., two hours earlier than usual, to accommodate marathon runners and spectators (the race starts at 8:15 a.m.). Metro will be running additional Blue Line trains for much of the day, but the agency says riders should expect the system to be especially busy.

“Customers can expect crowded conditions, especially after the race as people will have to wait in long lines to get back into the rail stations,” Metro said in a statement.

Also due to the marathon, buses that normally serve the Pentagon Transit Center will be relocated to the Pentagon City station until 4:00 p.m.

The Arlington County Police Department’s full road closure list, after the jump.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Neighborhoods Host Marathon Events — A number of events are planning in Arlington in connection with Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon. Among them: Crystal City will be hosting a family-friendly race viewing festival, complete with music, face painting, a moon bounce and carnival-like food. After the race, Rosslyn will host the official MCM Finish Festival. Live music, food, a beer garden and a “recovery area” with free massages.

Dan Kain Trophies Closing Up Shop — Today is the last day for an Arlington original. Dan Kain Trophies (2207 North Pershing Drive) is packing up and moving to Merrifield, where the rent is considerably cheaper. The store is trying to sell its remaining trophy inventory, and they’re willing to make a deal for anybody who walks in before close of business today. More from TBD.

Arlington Man Sentenced for Threats — A 27-year-old Arlington man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for threatening to torture and kill his ex-girlfriend and her family. The man, Kyle McDonald, made the threatening phone calls while serving time in the Arlington County jail for stalking and violating a protection order. The phone calls were recorded by jail officials. More from the Washington Examiner.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

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