Thank you to everybody who submitted photos to and voted in our Crystal City 5K ‘Flickr Flash’ Photo Contest. With more than 900 votes recorded, here are your winners:

1. “Invincible!” by Serotta_tigrrrl (200 votes) wins a $200 Morton’s Crystal City gift card and a race t-shirt

2. “Dashing!” by Webaroo (167 votes) wins a $50 Jaleo gift card and race t-shirt

3. “Watermark” by Webaroo (116 votes) wins a $25 Bozzelli’s Italian Deli gift card and race t-shirt

To see all photos submitted, go to the contest’s Flickr page.


It’s hard to believe, but April is almost over. Along with the end of April comes the end of a great spring tradition — Crystal City’s 5K Friday races. The last race of the season will take place on Friday.

Over the past four weeks, we’ve asked photographers to head out with a camera and snap some photos of the action for our Crystal City ‘Flickr Flash’ Photo Contest. Ignoring rain and hunger pains (the races start at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays), photographers were able to capture more that 50 great shots.

We’ve now narrowed the submissions down to 10 finalists. Take a look below and vote for your three favorites. Voting will end at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. We’re offering the following prizes to the top three vote-getters:

  • 1st Prize: $200 Morton’s Crystal City gift card and a race t-shirt
  • 2nd Prize: $50 Jaleo gift card and race t-shirt
  • 3rd Prize: $25 Bozzelli’s Italian Deli gift card and race t-shirt

Thank you to everybody who participated in the contest, and good luck to the finalists!

(Note that photos are copyrighted by their respective owners.)



Students from Arlington Traditional and Glebe, Jamestown, McKinley and Taylor Elementary Schools traveled to the District yesterday to participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll

Arlington schools were granted 250 tickets by the White House for this year’s festivities on the South Lawn. Each of the five schools were chosen because they had not participated in the Easter Egg Roll in previous years.

The schools were each granted 50 tickets. The tickets were good for a noon admission — after President Obama’s official participation in the festivities, but still in time to see some of the invited celebrities and musical acts.

Glebe Elementary principal Jamie Borg arrived on an Arlington County school bus with dozens of preschoolers, a few fourth grade helpers and a couple of school staffers in tow. Borg said that many students were looking forward to seeing the First Family, but they had other things they wanted to do, in case the president decided to stay inside.

They’re hoping to see President Obama… but I think they’ll just be excited to see anything they can see,” she said. “They’ve been talking a lot about the eggs.”

See more photos from the school’s visit and from the egg roll ceremony itself, after the jump.

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Tonight’s Crystal City 5K Friday race is your last chance to snap photos for our ‘Flickr Flash’ photo contest.

Submit your shots from this race or any previous 5K Friday race to the contest’s Flickr stream by Sunday for a chance to win gift cards to local restaurants.

A panel will pick ten finalists and ARLnow.com readers will select the winners next week. Good luck to all contest participants!


Photographers: want to show off your skills and get a chance to win gift cards to local restaurants?

If so, head down to the 5K race on Crystal Drive in Crystal City tonight and get a few photos of anything race-related. Upload the photos to our contest Flickr group and get a chance to win some tasty prizes.

If you brought your camera to last week’s race and haven’t uploaded your photos yet, feel free to upload them now.

With any luck the rain will have passed by the time the race starts. The contest is sponsored by ARLnow.com, Foto DC, Crystal City BID and Pacers.

Flickr photo by Diltch1


A Toyota Camry somehow hopped a curb, smashed a small stone wall and hit the side of a house in the Claremont neighborhood this afternoon.

The crash happened near the traffic circle at the intersection of S. Chesterfield Road and S. Dinwiddie Street, across the street from Wakefield High School. Only one vehicle was involved and there were no reported injuries. No word on whether any charges will be filed against the driver.

The car wound up in a homeowner’s garden, about five feet above street level. A large crack was visible in the base of the home’s brick chimney, about where the car struck, but it’s not known for sure whether it was actually caused by the collision.

Roads were temporarily blocked while a tow truck worked to extract the car from the yard. More photos, after the jump.

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Update on 4/8/11 — Good news for fair-weather photographers who don’t want to brave today’s rain: the contest has been extended by two weeks.

Tomorrow hundreds of runners will kick off the first Crystal City 5K Friday of the year, and we’re hosting a contest to make the evening race as competitive for photographers as it is for runners.

ARLnow.com, in partnership with Crystal City BID, FotoDC and Pacers, is challenging photographers of all skill levels to take photos of the first four 5K Friday races and upload up to five to a specially-designated contest page on Flickr. Feel free to use your creativity and take photos of anything race-related.

On Sunday, April 24, a panel of representatives from all four organizations will help choose ten finalists. Then it’s up to ARLnow.com readers to vote for the winning photos.

We’re offering the following prizes to the top three vote-getters:

  • 1st Prize: $200 Morton’s Crystal City gift card and a race t-shirt
  • 2nd Prize: $50 Jaleo gift card and race t-shirt
  • 3rd Prize: $25 Bozzelli’s Italian Deli gift card and race t-shirt

The winners will be announced during the race after-party at Crystal City’s FLASH photo exhibit. Happy snapping!


Here, Artisphere’s newly-christened restaurant/cafe/bar, held an open house for local hotel concierges, nearby office workers and local neighbors today.

A jazz band performed as guests sampled mini versions of some of the sandwiches Here will be serving when it opens to the public on Tuesday. Here’s how Here is being described in promotional literature:

Open the same hours as Artisphere, Here promises to be a modern and exciting addition to Rosslyn’s daytime dining, happy hour and nightlife scene. Its menu will feature a seasonal menu of comfort food with Latin flavors made from locally-sourced and fresh ingredients. The restaurant will also offer delicious alternatives to the usual intermission concession items, including homemade guacamole, fire-roasted salsa and chips, and inventive recreations of American and Latin comfort food. Artisphere’s focus on being a less formal arts space includes welcoming patrons to take a drink from the bar and wander through its galleries and performance venues.

Here’s tentative menu includes salads, sandwiches, burgers (including vegetarian), freshly-made pizzas, pasta, sides, charcuterie, cheeses and daily specials. The restaurant will have eight beers on tap, a wine list and a fully-stocked bar. Co-owner Rolando Juarez says he hopes Here becomes its own destination, rather than just a place people stop by while in Artisphere.

“We’re hoping to draw a crowd of our own who just want to come in to eat,” he said. Here will be open tomorrow night with a limited menu for an fully-booked, RSVP-only launch party. More photos after the jump. (more…)


FotoDC’s month-long FLASH photo exhibit will kick off in Crystal City tonight.

Located on the top two floors of an office building at 2450 Crystal Drive, the show features 250 photos from 55 local photographers, a library of 150 photography books and a wine bar run by the Washington Wine Academy.

Photographers and reporters got a sneak peak at the exhibit last night. Here some of our photos from the event.

DISCLOSURE: Crystal City BID, the sponsor of FLASH, is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

As part of FLASH, ARLnow.com will be hosting a photo contest dubbed “Flickr Flash.”

The contest will challenge photographers to take photos during the first two Crystal City 5K Friday races in April and submit them to a Flickr group for recognition and prizes. Ten finalists will be chosen and will be voted on by ARLnow.com readers. The top three vote-getters will be announced at a FLASH event and will receive gift cards from local restaurants.


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