New Bar Rumored to Open in Courthouse on Friday

Quick heads up that my spies tell me Velocity Five is opening up on Friday. Eagle-eyed What's Up Arlington readers will remember it's going in at the spot formerly occupied by King Street Blues.

Note to Velocity Five - the Green Lantern called, he wants his logo back.

How Much Would You Pay for Parking in Clarendon?

The Arlington Sun Gazette's Scott McCaffrey recently took aim at a proposal to charge for parking after 6pm and on weekends in the Arlington County garage in Clarendon at 3033 Wilson Blvd (entrance on Highland Street):

THUMBS DOWN: To one of the dumber proposals being considered by county officials to help solve their budget shortfall.

Board members this weekend will be asked to advertise for public hearing a proposal to start charging residents $3 to park on nights and weekends at the Department of Human Services garage on Wilson Boulevard. Parking is now free, and keeping it that way will encourage patronage of Clarendon venues as well as keep vehicles off neighborhood streets.

This proposal is a nickel-and-dime approach to governance that is beneath Arlington’s leaders to propose, let alone enact. County Board members can make quick work of this wrongheaded proposal by simply refusing to advertise it for a hearing.

There are certainly drawbacks to the proposal. But considering these fees would be on the low end of current parking fees in Clarendon, Scott's rhetoric is a little over the top. Would any husband really turn to his wife and say, "Honey, I was going to take you to Restaurant 3 for our anniversary tonight, but it's $3 for parking now, so we're having Hungry Man TV dinners instead. Hope you like salisbury steak."

The current subsidized free parking also incentivizes driving over Metro, biking or walking. Why make the effort and pay at least $1.35 to Metro to Clarendon when parking's plentiful and free?

What do you think? Would a $3 fee be a reasonable considering the county's $35 million budget gap? Or is it a "nickel-and-dime approach," as Scott suggests, and the deficit could be better made up through general tax increases?

Bye to the Blues, Ray's Relocates

I'm sorry to confirm the news first reported on Twitter by @jamiebowers that King Street Blues in Courthouse has suddenly closed. A sign on the door doesn't give an explanation for the closing but says something called the Velocity Sports Grill will be opening in that location.

If history is any indication, that may not last long either. Just since 2002, that spot has switched from RT's Seafood to M&S Seafood to KSB and now to Velocity.

But the void in Courthouse dining options is already being filled by the new location of an Arlington favorite. As We Love DC reports, Ray's the Steaks has re-opened just across Clarendon Blvd from the former KSB.

Are Video Rental Stores Going Extinct?

A few months back, I noticed that the Hollywood Video at Glebe & Columbia Pike had closed. Then a couple of weeks ago, I drove by the Video Warehouse on S. Glebe and that was shuttered, as well. Those closures are in addition to the Hollywood Video on Lee Highway that's been closed for some time now.

Are Arlington's video rental stores going extinct? I think you could count the remaining stores on one hand -- a Hollywood Video on Wilson Blvd. in Courthouse, generic rental outlets in Bluemont and Ballston, and maybe one or two others. But while there's plenty of deserved nostalgia for vanishing book stores and record shops, I don't think anyone could say the same about video stores.

Maybe it's time video stores went the way of the dinosaur. Between economic pressures, competition from Netflix, and new technologies like TiVo and video-on-demand, I wouldn't be surprised. I've recently stopped driving to Hollywood Video and instead use the RedBox at my local Harris Teeter. Why pay $4 per video plus gas when you can get a DVD for $1 a day at RedBox?

Do You Know the Way for a Slippery Day?

A quick tip for Buckingham and Ballston residents who need to walk to Metro on icy days like this. There's a covered walkway that goes all the way from Glebe Road to Fairfax Drive.

Just enter the Ballston Common Mall and go to the second floor. Go through the tunnel over Wilson Blvd and follow the walkway through the office building, then through another tunnel over 9th St N. The walkways will continue past more offices, then you'll take the escalator down and walk another few steps to the entrance to the Ballston Metro.

It's only a couple of blocks, but on a slippery day like today, it's a lifesaver. Or at least, a coccyx-saver.

Expect a Plague of Locusts Any Minute Now

I'm telecommuting today. The weather outside my window so far:

10am: Tropical storm-force winds

10:15am: Near-whiteout snow

10:30am: Thunder and lightning

10:45am: Back to just wind

Got a text from Arlington Alert warning that traffic lights are out in all directions at Seven Corners due to the wind. (Arlington Alert update 11:52am - "Traffic lights at 7 Corners are working again. Numerous traffic lights out across Fairfax due to high winds.")

The forecast for the rest of the day, and I am not making this up, is "rain and snow and windy." Translation: "We don't know either."

UPDATE: Check out this amazing video shot by my friend Jeremy ...

Arlington County Board's Annual New Year's Day Meeting

The Arlington County Board has a tradition unlike any other in the entire country, holding its first meeting of the year on the first day of the year. Yes, you can tell what a bunch of political nerds we are in Arlington that we can't even wait one day to listen to our elected officials make speeches.

It's actually the most entertaining, concise board meeting of the year. They swear in the chair and vice chair, then each member lays out their priorities for the year ahead. Here are the details:

What: Arlington County Board's Annual New Year's Day Meeting
Date: Thursday, January 1, 2009
Time: 11:00am - 12:15pm
Location: County Board Meeting Room (3rd floor), 2100 Clarendon Blvd

In addition to receiving a greater sense of civic pride, they usually also put out free coffee and donuts. Hope to see you there!

Tonight: State of the County

Just a quick heads up that Arlington County Board Chair Walter Tejada will be delivering the State of the County address tonight at 6:30pm at the Arlington County Board Room, Room 307, 2100 Clarendon Blvd (Courthouse Metro).

Sunday: "The World in 70 Acres" at Potomac Overlook

Here's a cool event coming up Sunday:

Potomac Overlook Regional Park will celebrate the winter solstice with a screening of “The World in 70 Acres,” a documentary about the park, on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m.

The video explores various aspects of the park - its human history, natural setting, programs and activities and also covers educational themes and topics such as energy and earth science. The video's script was written by the park's chief naturalist, Martin Ogle, and is narrated by Keith Tomlinson, manager at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. The documentary was produced and edited, largely as a volunteer effort, by local videographer David Schneider.

The video is short enough (25 minutes) to be accessible and enjoyable for children 6 and older. Refreshments will be served. Also featured will be live music by Jody Marshall, whose hammered dulcimer music can be heard in the documentary.

For reservations and more information, call (703) 528-5406.

A Breath of Fresh Air in Ballston

The list of nightspots in Clarendon that are smoke-free (or have a dedicated smoke-free bar) keeps growing: Clarendon Grill, Eleventh, Liberty Tavern, Tallula's EatBar.

By contrast, until recently, the list in Ballston has been short. In fact ... nonexistent.

While Ballston has some smoke-free restaurants like Pinzimini, Sangam, Ted's Montana Grill and Willow, there's been nowhere I'd go for a drink on a Saturday night. (As always, if I'm missing a place, feel free to correct me in comments.)

As someone who lives near Ballston, it's especially frustrating for two reasons:

• Bailey's, Front Page and Rock Bottom are all already set up with two separate bars. Why not make one smoke-free? Front Page and Rock Bottom even have outdoor patios they could reserve for smokers. Pretty ridiculous that they refuse to make any accomodation whatsoever for the 75 percent of us who are non-smokers.
  
  
• An unusually cold autumn. Do I bundle up and walk an extra 20 minutes in the bitter cold to Clarendon? Or put up with the smoke in Ballston?

Fortunately, I have a new option with the opening of Union Jack's in the Ballston Common Mall in the space formerly occupied by Romano's Macaroni Grill. I stopped by for the first time this week not knowing it was smoke-free and noticed it still had that new restaurant smell.

Sure enough, I got an email the very next morning from Union Jack's responding to an email I'd sent a few weeks back saying that yes, they are totally smoke-free!

To find more smoke-free establishments near you, check out FitArlington's Smoke-Free Restaurants Guide. (One warning -- some restaurants are listed in the guide even if they allow smoking at the bar.)

Is There a Stereotypical "Arlington Girl"?

Want to get a conversation going at happy hour tonight? Ask your friends if they think there's such a thing as an Arlington Girl.

My thoughts? While it's a clever try, unfortunately this UrbanDictionary.com definition is just too generic - it could be describing a yuppie woman just about anywhere. The Rock Bottom reference feels like a Mad Lib where the blank was "popular happy hour spot."

And why is it limited to females? Couldn't you just as easily poke fun at the "Arlington Dude" with the half-zip pullover, jeans, and flip-flops who goes to Crystal City Sports Pub to watch Hokies games?

What do you think?

Kicking Off Turkey Day with the Turkey Trot

What was my time in the 2008 Arlington Turkey Trot 5K? I ran the whole thing.

When you're as lousy a runner as I am, that's the only measuring stick that counts. And with temperatures in the mid-30s at starting time and the race almost entirely up and down gentle hills in Lyon Park and Ashton Heights, the Turkey Trot seemed more like the Gobble Hobble. But I finished.

The most amazing thing? You've never seen a happier group of people who are simultaneously sweaty and freezing. A cheer went up at the start and a big crowd hung out long after the finish. People came out to cheer us all along the parade route, with a puppy escaping its owners at one point and weaving through the runners like Barry Sanders in the open field. There was even a house on Fillmore Street handing out cups of beer to the runners, good for a laugh in the race's last mile.

I was up at 6am to help get runners registered with a group from CRM. Combined with the 4,000 calories worth of food I'll be consuming and 9 hours of football, Vegas has set the line of when I pass out on my couch at 8pm. Bet the under.

Staying in Town for Thanksgiving?

The Green Miles' family is based mostly in Massachusetts, and it didn't take very long into my time living in Arlington to realize that no matter if I drove, flew, or took the train, making the schlep north twice in a month - for both Thanksgiving and Christmas - made the holidays much less enjoyable.

This year I'm staying in town for Thanksgiving and heading to Massachusetts for Christmas. When I tell people I'm staying home for Thanksgiving, people usually look at me like I'm a lonely shut-in. A young professional recently wrote a Washington Post column portraying herself as some kind of pioneer for daring to spend her holiday in DC.

But the holidays in Arlington are among the most fun times of the year. Of course, Christmas brings lots of holiday lights and greatly reduced traffic. But a lesser-known fact is that the night before Thanksgiving is a huge party night -- anyone who's young, single, and staying in Arlington for Turkey Day will be found out in Clarendon, Shirlington, or Pentagon Row on Wednesday night.

My Wednesday night will end early this year as I'm waking up before dawn on Thanksgiving Day, volunteering to help with registration at the Arlington Turkey Trot. I'll then be running the 5K race through Lyon Park and Ashton Heights.

And of course, the 350 calories I burn while running the 5K will balance out the 3,000 calories I consume watching football ... right? OK, maybe not.

Report from the Poll at Arlington Central Library

The Green Miles is working the polls for Arlington Democrats this morning! I'm manning a relatively quiet spot so I thought I'd post these pictures.

The line is gradually getting a bit shorter now (at 8:15am), but at 7:30 this morning, here's what the wait looked like.

The line snaked out the Central Library auditorium, through the back door, down the back steps ...

Past the tennis courts, around the corner ...

Through the parking lot past the baseball diamond ...

And halfway down the block towards Washington Boulevard ...

At times this morning, the line has been up to two hours long. But I haven't heard a single complaint.

Cushiest job of the day -- election monitor. Really? You're worried about voter fraud here? Come on. This is Arlington. We get it done.

Scratch That. Long Lines For Early Voting, Too.

On Tuesday, I said that you could avoid long lines by voting early.

The lesson for What's Up Arlington readers -- never listen to me.

I just tried to vote in-person absentee (4:45pm on Thursday), but watched the line wind past the "30 minutes wait to vote from this point" sign, around the "45 minutes" sign, and beyond the "60 minutes" sign. I gave up and headed to King Street Blues for a Sam Adams Oktoberfest and some BBQ chicken sliders (wicked awesome).

Luckily, my job allows me some flexibility to come in late/leave early to vote, so I can vote on Tuesday. But if you need to vote in-person absentee, give yourself plenty of time and bring your iPod or a book! And for all the details on voting, early or otherwise, check out the Arlington County Election 2008 Survival Guide.

UPDATE: A friend told me that at 6pm, the line was over two hours long.

UPDATE 10/31 at 5:15pm: An Arlington Young Democrat who's waiting in line right now just texted me to say the line has now hit THREE HOURS long.

UPDATE 11/1: Five hours on Saturday.

Avoid Election Day Lines, Vote In-Person Absentee

Back in 2004, if you got to vote in Arlington on Election Day without having to wait in line for at least half an hour, you were one of the lucky ones. The Green Miles was lucky enough to be at the relatively quiet Lyon Park polling place, but friends in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor who tried to vote either first thing in the morning or after work who waited well over an hour.

The long lines put voters between a rock and a hard place. If you go in the morning and the line is out the door and around the block, do you tell your boss you'll be late? If it's in the evening, do you cancel your evening plans to shiver in line?

Fortunately, you don't have to choose. Arlington County is offering in-person absentee voting at 2100 Clarendon Blvd with extended hours on Thursday and Saturday. You can get all the details in the voter registration office's Arlington County Election 2008 Survival Guide.

I've heard lines can be long on Saturdays as well, but Arlington Young Democrats are hoping to encourage Thursday evening absentee voting with a happy hour this Thursday (Oct. 30) from 5-8pm at King Street Blues in Courthouse. Get voting out of the way early, then enjoy some free appetizers -- sounds like a pretty good deal. (For the record, there are no similar events listed on the Arlington-Falls Church Young Republicans website.)

Tonight: ACE's "Hallowgreen" 30th Anniversary Gala

The Green Miles will be heading to the Hilton Arlington in Ballston tonight for Hallowgreen! It's the 30th anniversary gala for Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Program highlighting ACE’s 30 years
• Live music by The Walkaways
• Costume contest with cash prizes for:
  • Best Environmental Costume
  • Best Costume from Reused Materials
  • Best Student Costume
• Eco-Horror displays
• Silent auction
• Stewardship awards
• Cash bar
• Refreshments (highlighting local and organic produce) catered by the Hilton Arlington

I'll be entering the "best environmental costume" contest but expect to be beaten soundly by someone much more creative than me. And if you're thinking about outbidding me for the autographed copy of An Inconvenient Truth, you'd better bring your checkbook.

Tickets will be available at the door:

- Single: $75
- Couple: $140
- Students (under 21): $10
- VIP: Single: $175 / Couple: $300

Steep by WUA standards I know, but at least they're practically giving away student tickets.

A major shout out to the sponsors of Hallowgreen: The Nature Conservancy, The Hilton Arlington, Ecoprint, Arbour Realty, The Cadmus Group, and Wild Birds Unlimited.

As much credit as the sponsors deserve, it's kind of surprising to see some big green businesses missing from that list. Where's EnviroCAB (EDIT: Envirocab was not a major sponsor but donated lots of gift certificates)? Where are those Fresh AIRE business champions?

Cross-posted from The Green Miles

I Think I'll Park Riiiiiiight ...

Here:

Yes, the middle of the sidewalk on Wilson Boulevard will do just fine.

I'm Just Sayin'

Friday, October 3rd, 1:52pm: What's Up Arlington publishes "Breaking News: VA ABC Sticks Nose Into Shirlington's Oktoberfest"

Friday, October 3rd, 4:18pm: WashingtonPost.com's Going Out Gurus publish "Breaking News: Oktoberfest Crackdown"

I can only quote Chuckie from Good Will Hunting: You're suspect. Ya you.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Ask Josh Marshall.

Note -- the time on the footer of this blog is adjusted to Greenwich Mean Time to synch up with blog aggregators like DCblogs.com. If you don't believe me, check the time I posted the WUA link to my Facebook profile.

Breaking News: VA ABC Sticks Nose Into Shirlington's Oktoberfest

Thanks to commenter Joshua for the heads up on this. I just called over to Capitol City Brewing in Shirlington, which confirmed the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has suddenly placed new restrictions on Saturday's Oktoberfest.

In past years, a $25 admission would get you unlimited tastes of beer through the whole event. Cap City tells me they've been having the event for years and Arlington Police have never complained about it. But this year, the ABC has suddenly decreed that Oktoberfest can only give 10 taste tickets with admission and not sell any additional taste tickets above and beyond that.

To make sure customers get a good value even with the restrictions, Cap City is cutting the cost to $20 and offering $2 pints all day inside the restaurant.

Anyone who's been knows that Oktoberfest is one of Arlington's best events of the year. These restrictions will certainly keep it from being the all-day funfest it usually is, but it's definitely still worth checking out. It's where I discovered some of my favorite breweries, including Wolaver, Maredsous, and Shenandoah Brewing.

Now, about the ABC ... can anyone tell me what this agency does that a liquor tax and additional funding for local enforcement efforts couldn't? For all conservatives like to talk about the nanny state, why aren't they railing against this dinosaur limping along from the Commonwealth's teetotalling days? And if the ABC really wants to limit drinking, why can I walk into any ABC store and buy enough vodka to fill my bathtub?