By Bob Tagert

As I write this at the end of February the temperature today is 52 and a little overcast. The rest of the week will be in the low 50’s. We have even had a few days that hit 70 degrees. These temps made me think of the work I need to do on my sailboat and my thoughts turned to southern Maryland. With that in mind, we took a Road Trip to our Maryland neighbor and our typical summer playground and checked out a fun event at the Pax River Naval Museum.

As we have done for several years, the From the Bay column regales the cathartic “Annual Burning of the Socks” that takes place in Eastport. Julie Reardon has noticed the warm temps as she writes about spring steeplechasing and other early springtime events in her To the Blue Ridge column. Ashley Schultz takes a break from all of the bad stuff out there in the interwebs and clues us in on the new blockbuster movie, Black Panther in her Social Media Message.

In keeping with the Irish theme we interviewed Andrew Bryan at Irish Whisper for our Behind the Bar and the man who makes the Irish stew at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub, Lester Fields, is this month’s Master of Cuisine.

Our Personality Profile takes a look at the local man who saved the “Big Apple Circus” while the Business Profile looks at John Crouch Tobacconist after 50 years. These and all of our other columns and features are just waiting to be read.

Don’t forget the St. Patrick’s Day Parade here in Old Town. It is way too early for us but at least it will get you in the mood for the real day. It steps off at 12:15 on the 3^rd and is the only parade that goes down King Street!

Am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we have been publishing the OTC for over 30 years…I guess that gives me a chance to say that we have been Alexandria’s go-to publication for a long time!

In the spirit of the month of March, I leave you with…..Erin Go Bragh!