escape room

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Releases Statement on ART Crashes — “We are incredibly thankful that no one was seriously injured in these incidents, which the County and ART take very seriously. ART’s number one priority is the safety of our riders and others on the road.” [Arlington County]

More I-395 Nighttime Closures — “Motorists should expect significant lane closures on the general purpose lanes along I-395 North this weekend, August 9-11, from Duke Street (Exit 3) to past Pentagon City/Crystal City (Exit 8C) for bridge rehabilitation work along the I-395 corridor.” [Press Release]

Arlington Opening Local Recovery Center — “Arlington County is opening a Local Recovery Center (LRC) to assist residents and businesses affected by the July 8, 2019 flood. This is in conjunction with the governor’s announcement that low-interest federal loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to help homeowners, renters and businesses rebuild from storm damage.” [Arlington County]

Facts About Arlington Resident Chuck Todd — Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, who lives in Arlington, shared some facts about himself in a new local magazine profile. Todd says he does not drink beer, prefers his coffee black, sleeps five hours “on a good night,” and thinks Lost Dog Cafe serves the best pizza in town. [Arlington Magazine]

Kudos for Quarter Market in Ballston — “The big top of dining options can generate a major case of FOMO, even when the meal in front of you satisfies all your conscious needs. This is particularly true at Quarter Market, where mall operators spent years seeking out and negotiating with a smartly curated collection of local chefs, restaurateurs and producers.” [Washington Post]

Escape Room Open in Clarendon — “Bond’s Escape Room has opened a second location at Market Common Clarendon… Located just above Sephora, it offers six escape room games with a wide variety of themes.” [Press Release]

Photo courtesy @clarendonalliance/Instagram

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Real Estate Near Crystal City is Hot — “In the 22202 ZIP code — which comprises Crystal City, Pentagon City, Aurora Hills, Aurora Highlands and Arlington Ridge — there are only 11 homes for sale right now, according to Realtor.com. Only three are single-family homes. The rest are condos.” [Washington Business Journal]

Escape Room Nearing Opening — Bond’s Escape Room in Clarendon says it will open in about two months. “I’m happy with the way it’s coming along!” said founder Egor Bondarev. [Instagram]

Circulator Bus Now Free — Rides on the D.C. Circulator bus are now free indefinitely, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Monday. The bus line has a stop in Rosslyn. [Fox 5]

Transportation Partners Honored — “On March 19, the Arlington County Board honored 31 local businesses and properties for their dedication to sustainable transportation for employees and tenants, as part of Arlington Transportation Partners’ (ATP) Champions program.” [Arlington County]

Seven Freed From Stuck Metro Station Elevator — “Firefighters freed seven people trapped in an elevator at the Crystal City Metro station Wednesday morning, according to a report.” [Patch, Twitter]

Politico Owner Launching New Tech Site — “Robert Allbritton, the executive chairman of private equity firm Perpetual Capital and publisher of [Rosslyn-based] Politico, is preparing to launch a global technology news site, the latest sign of growing investment in tech coverage across American journalism.” [NBC News]

Nearby: Halal Butchery Opposed in Alexandria — “Though city staff and Alexandria’s planning commission recommended approving DC Poultry Market’s application, dog lovers showed up to the Alexandria City Council’s March 16 meeting to object on olfactory grounds (‘My dog can smell when there’s a cookie down the block,’ one resident said) and on proximity to poultricide (‘Knowing that my dogs may be walked by a business that holds chickens in a windowless room before their throats are slit while fully conscious does not make me feel that my dogs are in a safe environment,’ another said).” [Washingtonian]

Flickr pool photo (originally published in 2016) by Kevin Wolf

Columbia Pike Escape Room to Open in June

By Anna Merod

Arlington’s first escape room will be opening on June 1, according to a press release by Ravenchase Adventures.

The opening for Escape Room Arlington was initially slated for December 2017. Signs went up for the business in April. Ravenchase currently has two other locations, in Herndon and Richmond.

Escape Room Arlington is in the same building as William Jeffrey’s Tavern, near the corner of Columbia Pike and N. Adams Street.

There will be four, hour-long escape room adventures, but only two of the escape rooms will be open June 1. The initial rooms are called “Mind Trap” and “Glitch,” and are considered medium difficulty. Another room “What’s in the Attic?” is expected to launch later in June while the final room “Black Valve Laboratory” should launch later this summer.

The cost per player for public games is $28.

Escape Room Arlington’s opening plans follow Bond’s Escape Room’s recent announcement that it will open an escape room in August at Market Common Clarendon.

Photo courtesy Sarah Campbell

New Escape Room on the Way for Market Common Clarendon

By Alex Koma

(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) Arlington is getting another escape room, this time in Clarendon.

Fairfax-based Bond’s Escape Room plans to open a second location in Market Common Clarendon, according to a press release. The company is aiming to open the escape room by August.

Bond’s and other escape rooms give participants the chance to solve a series of puzzles and riddles in a timed setting.

“Our goal is to give our guests an exciting, innovative experience that will leave happy memories,” Egor Bondarev, the company’s CEO, said in a release. “We will have a total of twelve rooms (six regular-size games with six miniature games), all designed by our escape room enthusiasts who create the kind of games that we’d want to play.”

Bondarev told ARLnow via email that the escape room will be located at 2800 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 910, just above Sephora.

Bond’s first opened its Fairfax location along University Drive back in 2015. The company’s website bills it as “the largest escape room venue on the East Coast.”

This announcement comes just a few weeks after Richmond-based Ravenchase Adventures revealed plans to open an escape room along Columbia Pike. The company’s website says that venue will likely open in June.

File photo

UPDATED: Escape Room Opening on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 6:15 p.m.) Richmond-based Ravenchase Adventures is opening a new escape room along Columbia Pike.

Signs are up for the business, which is located in the same building as William Jeffrey’s Tavern, near the corner of Columbia Pike and N. Adams Street.

Ravenchase — which describes itself as offering “elegant adventures for the spirited intellectual” — has existing escape rooms in Richmond and Herndon.

As defined by Wikipedia, an escape room is “a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand.”

The Arlington location is listed on the company’s website as “coming soon,” while the last Facebook post for the business said it would be opening in December 2017. A company rep emailed ARLnow.com after publication of this article to say that they were now hoping for a “late spring” opening.

“We are very heavy into the building process but it’s taken some more time that we had hoped,” said Omer Aru. “Once open, it will be a very stylish 4,000 square foot facility with four unique escape room games. We will be launching with at least two rooms: Glitch in the Matrix and MindTrap. We have two other that will follow very shortly after: Grandma’s Attic (What’s in the Attic), and Portal.”

Photo courtesy Sarah Campbell