Clarendon Day Surprises and Art Outlet

Sometimes things don't go exactly as you had planned - and sometimes you stumble across great surprises.

This past Saturday late afternoon / evening, I headed over to Clarendon Day. My day had not gone exactly according to plan and I was running late - in fact, I was afraid I was going to completely miss the festival.

We got there at 6:30 (I wasn't sure if the festival ended at 6 or 7) - a lot of the booths were starting to close down, but the music was still going on. And this was my first pleasant surprise of the night - Soja (or Soldiers of Jah Army) was playing. I had heard about this band and assumed they were pretty good b/c I had heard enough buzz about them, but had never actually seen or heard them. They were awesome. If you like reggae, this is a great band. After enjoying the performance for about a half hour, I bought a CD and got on their mailing list. There were absolutely fabulous. There is something really wonderful and fun about discovering new music that you really enjoy especially local music.

So, I'm in a really good mood because I had just discovered cool new music and we're wandering over to this other thing that I was kind of sort of supposed to go to, but wasn't real excited about, and I stumble upon my second great surprise of the night ...

Art Outlet in the Danville Body Shop right by Whole Foods in Clarendon. Art Outlet is the art exhibition in a body shop. Saturday night there was live music. I think they have that every Saturday night during the exhibition. This was like the definition of the coolest place to hang out I can think of - the art was great, the atmosphere (a body shop) was great, the entertainment was good, there was a couch you could sit and hang out, there were refreshments. It was absolutely fabulous. I can't say enough about it. The exhibit runs through November 12th, but just on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, including till 10 PM on Fridays and 12 PM on Sundays. You really should check this out - there was a small crowd there when I was there - I think this thing should be HUGE! Check it out.

Oh, and that thing I was kind of sort of supposed to go to - I never made it. Sometimes the surprises are the best part of the evening.