National Harbor By Lani Gering Springtime Is Around the Corner…. Springtime is just around the corner and you know what this means. Tourists – as well as we locals – will be clamouring and crowding into the area to witness the annual blooming of the cherry blossoms. The verdict is out on when the blooms will actually appear since the weather has been so mild this winter that the cherry trees didn’t have a chance to go into their normal dormant stage to store up for the spring blooms. However, who knows what could happen with the weather between the time I’m penning this column (February 24th) and the time you read it. Let’s hope for the best since they really are beautiful. Two years ago, the Harbor added more than 100 Okame cherry trees to its existing collection bringing the number of trees it has to more than 200, many of which line the Potomac River. The trees were planted in mass along the Harbor waterfront so that you are able to see them when arriving by car, bus or boat. According to a member of the Harbor marketing team, the Okame’s are early bloomers and should be ready for prime time before their famous counterparts that line the Tidal Basin. The forecast for the time of bloom had not been made at the time of this writing but is scheduled to be announced early this month. …..at the Gaylord Beginning on March 20th and running through April 12th, the Gaylord Resort is bringing back Bloom. This is a four-week celebration full of spring-focused activities. With endless offerings inside the resort, visitors and guests alike can enjoy the beautiful sight of over 100 cherry blossom trees adorning the waterfront in front of the Resort. During Bloom, the Resort transforms into a spring oasis…
By Bob Tagert Famous for the Oysters and not the Oscars! Hollywood, Maryland This month we decided to go south to Hollywood, Maryland in St. Mary’s County – it is a straight shot down Rte 5 to 235 from the Beltway. Just follow the signs to St. Mary’s. It was named in 1867, when a store owner at Thompson’s General Store near the Uniontown section of the county required a name for the post office inside the store. The store owner was inspired by the gigantic holly tree planted in front of the store and named the post office Hollywood. Hollywood also includes the nationally renowned Sotterley Plantation on the banks of the Patuxent River. Sotterley was founded in 1703 by James Bowles, a wealthy planter. Hollywood is also noted for the letter O, and it doesn’t stand for Oscar…it stands for Oyster, and Hollywood Oyster Company produces some of the best oysters in Maryland. Aquaculture has become a popular profession and is creating an industry of sustainable oyster farming. The Patuxent River is the deepest river on the East Coast and is over a mile wide where the Hollywood oyster farm is located. Hogs Neck Creek has a clay/sand bottom and is lined with fossilized rock-giving the oysters their signature taste! These are the very popular Sweet Jesus oysters. Hollywood Oyster Company has a fleet of their own trucks that deliver locally and flies oysters regularly around the USA. There are many restaurants in the DMV that serve the Sweet Jesus oysters. Look for them the next time you crave some good bivalves. Close to Hollywood Oyster Company is Snellman’s General Merchandise Store on Sotterley Road. This local store is worth writing about by itself. If Snellman’s doesn’t have it, you don’t need it…pretty much. I have driven by…
This last month we experienced rather nice weather for a February – good mixture of sun and rain with very little cold. I can deal with that but you never know what Mother Nature might throw at us in March. What we do have in March, however, is the most popular parade of the year, the St. Patrick’s parade on the 7th, daylight savings time goes into effect on the 8th, my birthday on the 14th, St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th and the first day of spring on the 19th. Speaking of Irish, we are introducing McNamara’s Pub & Restaurant in Arlington in Dining Out and one of Old Town’s popular – and very witty – Irishmen, Paul Smith, at O’Connell’s, in Behind the Bar. Check out the Personality Profile this month and read about the making of a Rock & Roll photographer. In From the Blue Ridge Julie Reardon gives us a little history of Point to Point racing. We profiled a “Hot” new business venture in Business Profile with Hurricane Bob Yakeley at the wheel. In our Road Trip we give you a look at Hollywood, Maryland and their oysters as well as a few more entertaining stops. Lori Welch Brown enlightens us on Middle Age Madness as opposed to basketball March Madness in Open Space and Parker Poodle fills in for Sarah Becker with his “Read Across America Day” awareness piece in A Bit of History. We say goodbye to Nancy Bauer who has been penning Grapevine for us for over 2 years. Her 30th and final column appears this month. We will be welcoming Matt Fitzsimmons in April. Wishing Nancy all the best in her new endeavor. I forgot to mention that we also have the “Ides of March” on the 15th. Check out some…