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Looking for an unusual, creative and romantic way to spend your Valentine Friday Night?  How about Woo at the Zoo ? Friends of the National Zoo, or FONZ, are happy to sponsor this one of a kind event at the Washington National Zoo.  The evening includes a cash bar, complimentary hors d’oeurves, a rose and most importantly…a fascinating, entertaining and intriguing look at animal “love”. 

The National Zoo is one of the regions best and popular attractions. Not only is the zoo one of the best in the country, it’s FREE!  If you can’t make this over 21 romantic event, check out the other events at the FONZ.org site.

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Eight US presidents were born in the great Commonwealth of Virginia!  Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor and Wilson… some pretty heavyweights in US history.  You could spend the upcoming President’s Day weekend sleeping in on Monday, or checking out the “Presdiential Cribs”. … possible new show for the History Channel?

Scattered across Virginia are the estates, universities, memorials, and monuments for these great leaders.  But none is more accessible from the 95 corridor than Mount Vernon, the estate, and burial ground of our #1 Commander and Chief, George Washington.

The Mount Vernon folks are making a trip to their locale even more enticing by offering reduced rates through the end of February and FREE Admission on the actual President’s Day Monday. A full slate of events are scheduled for the weekend, including a military encampment and military honors at Washington’s tomb.  Check out the discounts and events on their website MountVernon.org

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What an eventful week in DC! 

The Blizzard of 2009 singlehandedly took out retailer’s chances of having a banner pre-Christmas weekend.  But, more than likely, restored the sanity and serenity of the holiday to Nothern Virginia as most of the population was locked down for the weekend. 

The Senate passed a bartered bloated version of the Healthcare Bill which doesn’t align with what the House ludicrously passed, and are pounding their fists in victory.  ?? Seriously? 

My kid’s elementary school choir cancelled their Winter performance because there was too many families protesting them singing “Sleigh Bells” as it implied Christmas…   Seriously??

Lots of thought provoking and challenging events that could undermine your holiday (whatever your holiday is) sprirt.  But there is another thing I encounter in Virginia… everywhere I go.  Families, spouses, parents who are missing their loved ones as they serve faithfully overseas.  The US Soldier, Sailor, Airmen or Marine that will be without their families and the comforts of home during the holidays aren’t thinking about Healthcare bills or what politcally correct song they can sing on the 24th.  They probably don’t care if it is a Holiday Tree or a Christmas Tree., they would just like to be in front of the one in their home.

Thank you Servicemen and women for your sacrifice.  Thank you for being there.

Create your own family Chirstmas card photo… by actually ice skating in a scheduled snow fall!  In case the forecasted foot of snow does not arrive this weekend, you can still glide around the rink everynight at 7 pm through the falling snow. 

 The Pentagon Row Ice Rink is open daily and cranks up the atmosphere during the holiday season with their snow making!  Their regular hours are:

You can even get out there on Christmas Day… here are the holiday hours:

The National Harbor area is becoming the center for celebrating the holiday season in the DC area.  There are many spirited events including an ice show, stage shows and a water skiing santa.  One of my favorites is the HolidayMarket, hosted by the National Harbor every weekend until Christmas.  The outdoor promenade hosts artisans, specialty foods and vendors every Saturday 12-8 and Sunday 12-6 until December 20.  The National Harbor is beautifully decorated and features a spectcular lit Christmas tree. 

New this year, an interactive holiday attraction debuts that you won’t want to miss. Gaylord National Resort’s ICE! is a winter wonderland created entirely of 5,000 BLOCKS of ice weighing 1.5 MILLION POUNDS! hand-sculpted by 40 international artisans and kept at a chilling nine degrees Fahrenheit.

From Virginia take the OuterLoop over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and take the National Harbor Exit 2A.  for more information about all of the events at the National Harbor visit their web site….  National Harbor.

It must be Thanksgiving because there are runners everywhere.  After  turkey, black friday shopping and sleeping on the couch, the latest Thanksgiving tradition is to participate in a race. There are a few great runs that have really taken off in recent years to help work off or build up that holiday appetite.  Strap on your running shoes, pin your race number to your apron and go for it!

 Alexandria Turkey Trot
November 26, 2009, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Cora Kelly School, 3600 Commonwealth Ave., Alexandria, Virginia. DC Road Runners Club, a local group affiliated with USA Track & Field, sponsors an annual race on Thanksgiving Day. Food donations support ALIVE!, a nonprofit organization serving Alexandria’s needy.

Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K & Fun Walk  Centerville - Now in its 21st year, the Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K has become a family tradition. With the 5K race and the 2 kilometer fun walk, the whole family can participate in a fun, healthy activity to start their Thanksgiving Day. Open to competitive runners and runners of all abilities, the race offers short-sleeved T- shirts to all registrants, overall and age group awards in the 5K, post-race refreshments, and random prizes. Enjoy a well- organized community event, and still get home in time to put the turkey in the oven!

Family of Micah YMCA Turkey Trot 5K Run/walk Fredericksburg - The 17th Annual Turkey Trot has grown from 200 runners to over 2000 participants making this one of the favorite events of the year.  Come celebrate with the YMCA and support the Friends of Micah in their endeavor to assist with the Homeless of the area.

Ashburn Farm 10K & 5K Fun Run    A great way to show support for the children at HUMBLE United Methodist School is through the support of the Ashburn Farm 10K race held on Thanksgiving morning November 26th.  All proceeds for the race go directly to HUMBLE School in Uganda helping to educate and provide Christian shelter for the children. 

SOME’S Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger 5K   Washington DC  - Join Honorary Chair Mayor Adrian Fenty, SOME and more than 4,000 participants and help the homeless and hungry on Thanksgiving Day. In its eighth year, the Trot for Hunger features a Little Turkey One Mile Fun Run at 8 am, a 5K timed race at 8:30 and a fun walk at 8:40. Registration is $23 through November 16 and $25 from November 17 - November 24. Overall and age group prizes are offered.

At Fort Hood yesterday there were two events that encompassed many of the experiences our military members and families.  The somber memorial service for the painful loss suffered during the recent massacare by an army major prefaced the exuberance of the homecoming of the Grey Wolf Troopers, soldiers of the 3rd Brigade combat team, 1st Cavalary.  Tragically the 13 fallen men and women and the dozens of wounded soldiers met their enemy on friendly soil in their own backyards.  It is a stark reminder of the threat and peril that our servicemen face daily throughout the world.

Long before and long after Veterans day was set on the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month, soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen have placed themselves in harm’s way for our protection.  Armistice Day, the end of World War I, was memorialized with the creation of Rememberance Day to honor the veterans of the Great War.  Afterwards, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Dessert Storm, Dessert Storm 2 and the War on Terror propelled countless military members and their families into the line of fire.  Our military has been threatened and attacked outside of declared war in Beirut, Somalia, at the Pentagon attacks and countless other engagements. 

These dangers do not deter those that willingly and loyally serve.  Those honored veterans and active duty military that have put on the mantle of service to their country stand in the gap for us everyday.  Oftentimes their stories are punctuated with jubuliant homecomings like seen at Fort Hood yesterday.  Coverage of the Homecoming But knowingly these servicemen enter into lives that can end with a somber homecoming in a flag draped casket surrounded by battle buddies and loved ones. 

To all of those who sacrifice, thank you.

No Tom Tom or Garmin. Just you, your wits and 8-11 acres of corn stalks. 

Fall in Virginia isn’t complete without a trip through these Byzantine Kernel Labrynths - “corn maze” just seems to elementary for some of these complex creations. The good ones can really challenge you, if you don’t just follow the guy that got out of his Range Rover and slipped the farmer an extra $50 for the key so he wouldn’t look foolish in the maze.  

If you wait until the sun goes down and hit a moonlight maze, the spooky factor cranks up the fun.  Add in a shaky home video, your teenagers, and you may have the framework for your own Blair Witch Project. baahaaaa….. Look out Spielberg.

 Some of the best Mazes, pumpkin patches and farms are just a short drive from Dc suburbs.  And ….your going against traffic!!! Yeah!

 Some of the best around: 

Midland - Thru Nov 7 - Cows-N-Corn Corn Maze Adventure and Dairy Farm is a working 300 cow, 1800 acre dairy farm. October features a corn maze adventure and family haunted hayride!

Leesburg - Sep 25 - Nov 1 - MAiZE - Get lost in this elaborate 11-acre cornfield maze.When you find your way out, pick-your-own pumpkin right out of the patch, shoot the corn cannon, ride on the cow train, bounce on the cow belly bounce, take a hayride and enjoy great food.

The Plains - Weekends Sep 26 - Nov 8 - The Corn Maze in The Plains - Great for younger kids! Come get lost in the maze, hear “Swift” The Rooster crow, go for a hayride, see the fall colors, play in the huge barnyard of fun with giant slides, mini mazes, corn tires, and tire swings; have a local burger and some roasted sweet corn, and choose from thousands of pumpkins!

Fredericksburg - Oct 2-4 - Belvedere Plantation Fall Festival - Escape to the countryside with friends and family, and create special memories! Experience the Cornfield Maze, Fun Barn, Zip Lines, Pumpkin Mountain Slide, Moon Bounce, pig races, and Little Farmer’s Coral, hayrides and roaring bonfires and animals at the Olde Barnyard.

Winchester - The Pumpkin Patch at Hill High Farm features the We Remember patriotic corn maze, straw mazes for the kids, hayrides to the pumpkin patch, bluegrass music, homemade foods, farm animals and antique farm equipment displays. Pick-your-own apples and pumpkins galore.

Got another great maze? Where is it?

March 28 - April 12, 2009

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is planned to be the same, as nearly as possible, with the average date of blooming for the trees (April 4).  Exactly when the buds will open is not easy to predict.  It is pretty much impossible to give an accurate forecast much more than 10 days before peak bloom.  National Park Service Horticulturalists monitor five distinct stages of bud development and provide timely forecasts and updates.

The peak bloom date is defined as the day on which 70% of the blossoms of the Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open.  This date varies from year to year, depending on weather conditions.

During the blooming period, The National Park Service conducts annual “Cherry Tree” walks and bike tours around the Tidal Basin.  

History of the Gift of Trees 1912-2009

The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrating the continued close relationship between our two cultures.

In a small ceremony on march 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees from Japan on the north bank of the Tidal Basing in West Potomac Park.  In 1915, the United states Government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan.  The First “festival” was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the Nation’s Capital.

First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965.  In 1981 , the circle of giving came back when Japanese horticulturist were given cutting from our trees to replace some cherry trees in Japan which hand been destroyed in a flood.

The Festival was stretched in to two weeks in 1994 to accommodate a divers activity schedule during the trees’ blooming period.  Today, more than a million people visit Washington DC each year to admire the blossoming cheery trees and attend events that herald the beginning of spring in the Nation’s Capital.

For more information on the Cherry Blossom Festival and dates of events go to www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

While you are here in DC walking the Tidal Basin please do not pick the blossoms.  Picking the blossoms or branches of the historic trees is very damaging.  Please respect the park and leave the blossoms for the next generation to enjoy too.