Spring Some Good Weather On Us!
By Lani Gering
Good Lord – the February weather is about to send me over the edge! Especially the wind!! Today as I compose this column, it must be blowing 60 miles an hour! Like most of you regular readers know, I am from Wyoming and the wind can really howl there. As a matter of fact they have had gusts high enough to topple semi-trailer trucks on their sides as they drive down the road. I know it isn’t quite that bad here but the 4-Runner I drive was getting blown all over the place coming across the Wilson Bridge this morning. Not only does it mess with your hair, it makes people grouchy!
Hopefully by the time daylight savings kicks back in on the 13th we will be able to begin to enjoy some more “spring-like” weather. I know that March is supposed to “come in like a lion and go out like a lamb” so let’s just hope it leans more toward the lamb part sooner rather than later!
There isn’t a lot going on here at the Harbor as far as events are concerned during the month of March. The big excitement so far is that they will be showing all of the March Madness basketball on the Jumbotron (I still really don’t think that is the official name for it, but you get the idea) down on the plaza. It will be fun to watch if you don’t have to take bungee cords to tie yourself to the chairs. The better option, however, is to head to Public House Restaurant on Fleet Street and watch all the round ball you want in a climate controlled facility where you can get a cold beer, some hot wings and everything else you sports nuts like. They have large screen HD TV’s all over the place and the “mondo” screen for the important games! Don’t forget about National Pastime in the Gaylord for sports of all sorts as well. They will be running game day specials as well. If you aren’t tuned into college basketball, Bond 45 is a great place to treat yourself to a big girl/boy drink and taste some delicious food and enjoy the games in a quiet setting.
Speaking of delicious food…..Restaurant Week in the Harbor is March 21st to 25th this year. At the time of this writing I didn’t have confirmed information on the participating restaurants and the special pricing they will be offering. This will be a good way for you to experience Harbor dining and a reasonable rate. New restaurants in the Harbor this year are Granite City, Succotash and Chipotle. I’m not a chain restaurant fan so don’t know anything about Chipotle other than the hullabaloo that took place this summer. I can tell you that both Granite City and Succotash are worth a visit!
Don’t forget about Easter! Every time it comes in the month of March I think it is way too early. Easter is an April happening as far as I’m concerned. At any rate, the Pienza Italian Market in the Gaylord Hotel is celebrating with a fantastic Easter Brunch. Dining at Pienza is a great experience. The best way to describe it is a “Five Star” buffet with great table side service. There is something for everyone’s pallet and it is worth the price of admission. If you haven’t been in the hotel yet, it is worth the trip to National Harbor in itself.
April 2nd has been classified as “Peeps Day”. In partnership with Major League Eating, National Harbor will be host to a Peeps eating contest along with other Peeps activities. Unfortunately, I don’t have any detailed information to give you about this either. The good news is you can practice for the event during Easter weekend with the Peeps in your basket!
Last, but certainly not least, the Alexandria-National Harbor water taxi service resumes it’s spring schedule this month. Yahoo! I use this mode of transportation to my office in Old Town on a regular basis and I sure have missed it during the winter months. Taking the water taxi from either direction is the perfect way for visitors at the Harbor to come see Old Town and visitors and locals alike from Old Town to visit the Harbor. No parking issues with this on either side of the river.
Come on springtime!!