By Bob Tagert

Here it is, September 2023, and the local sports scene is on the upswing. After an awful start, the Washington Nationals are now one of the hottest teams in baseball. The Washington Redskins aka Commanders have new owners and a new intensity as well as a new quarterback. Not necessarily “local” but very near and dear to my heart, World Cup Rugby starts in France on the 8th. For World Cup Rugby check out your favorite sports bar for the schedule. Fantastic sport to play and watch. Life is looking good.

This year marks a banner year for the Historic Alexandria Homes Tour. They celebrate 80 years of letting us tour some of the most beautiful and unique homes on the east coast. See the calendar of events for details.

As the weather turns a bit cooler it is a great time to get out and about. For those who read us in the Bay and Blue Ridge areas, it is a great time to visit Alexandria and discover the charm of Old Town and its surrounding “suburbs” – the likes of Del Ray and North Old Town. The outdoor dining will be at its best with the cooler weather and there are many offerings. We paid a visit to one of our longtime favorites in the 200 Block of King – The Warehouse – in this month’s Dining Out.

For those of us who live here, the weather is perfect for a visit to southern Maryland and the Calvert Marine Museum where you can “Discover the Otters” and take a cruise on their Skip Jack. This is a great place to take the family.

September is also a good time to think about getting in some early holiday shopping. We can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than heading south to St. Mary’s county to Leonardtown just off Route 5 and checking out Shepherd’s Old Field Market – see the Road Trip column for details. It may just be the one stop shop you need to make to check off everyone on your list.

It is also a wonderful time to visit a few of the wonderful wineries, breweries and distilleries in the Blue Ridge. One of our favorites is the Blue Ridge Whisky Wine Loop which covers Rappahannock County, a part of Madison and the whole of Page counties. Google ‘Blue Ridge Whisky Wine Loop’ to get the low down.

I have had several people ask me why I haven’t written much about sailing this season – I think I mentioned it in pretty much every Pub Notes I wrote last year. To be totally honest, we haven’t even taken her out for a motor around the creek this year. As I get older and the boat gets older, we both are slowing down. She is in need of some work on the interior lights and the anchor rode and I am in need of a miracle to fix my right ankle. That being said…we are both going to do the best we can to get out on the water this fall and spend a few nights at anchor. Not much else beats a meal prepped on the Magma grill, eating and drinking under the stars and sleeping on nature’s rocking chair.

Life is too short…sail a boat, drink the wine, sip the whiskey and make it last…eat the key lime cheesecake first! Enjoy your day off on Labor Day…you earned it!