Here we are starting a new month. Last month sure was a hot one with temps reaching 100 degrees for a couple of days in the last week. Hopefully, there won’t be another heat wave this month. You know it’s too hot to be outside when the swimming pool water is warmer than the water you shower under and you scald your hands when you turn the spigot on for the hose!

As with most all of my Publishers Notes I outline what is in the issue. Let’s see what’s in store for you this month:

In our Business Profile, Lani Gering sits down with an old friend in her studio in the Torpedo Factory and writes about Leah Sturgis Jewelry Art.

Michael Jaworek is one of the most interesting guys I have ever met. He is definitely one of a kind and a great person to know. Read about Michael and his career of promoting music throughout the DMV in Personality Profile.

In A Bit of History, Sarah Becker looks at the life of both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and their differences as well as how our country came together.

In Entertainment Section, Gallery Beat columnist Lenny Campello writes about the Art Dealers love of Art. Check out the artists that Lenny mentions. Last Word’s Miriam Kramer offers her recommendations for summer reading while Ron Powers reviews the music of “Off Spring” in High Notes.

On July 14th we celebrate Bastille Day. With this in mind we visited Alexandria’s own Bastille Brasserie & Bar for our Dining Out column. Learn a little about this classic restaurant as we enlighten you about some of our favorites as well as a few new ones. Also, in the Dining Section and in keeping with the French theme, Charles Uppman tells us how to make the “Perfect” French fry in Let’s Eat.

Last month something happened for the very first and hopefully last time in our 37 years of publishing the OTC. The wrong text got inserted in the Grapevine column under the correct heading! There is a whole litany of why it happened that is wayyyy too technical to bore you with so, needless to say, Matt Fitzsimmons column about the newly formed Peak Shenandoah Wine Region is safely in place. Doug Fabbioli enlightens us on the folks who are important on his farm and helping with the production and dispersing his Fabbioli wines in Exploring VA Wines.

In Let’s Get Crafty, Tim Long traveled to the Turks and Caicos Islands in search of a good craft beer and Cuban cigars and was lucky enough to find both. It is always interesting to see what kinds of places he finds and good to hear when he is pleasantly surprised.

The From the Bay column is right in line with this month’s cover art as Julia Fluke writes about 10 of the best Crab Houses to visit in Anne Arundel County this summer. Julie Reardon gives us some good ideas for summer time fun in To the Blue Ridge including some alternative places to watch 4^th of July fireworks if you don’t want to battle the crowds in D.C.

We took a drive into the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania and visited Reading, Pennsylvania for our July Road Trip. It was a little over three-hour drive mostly on interstate or state two lane highways. It was cooler in the mountains and that part of Pennsylvania is just beautiful. May have to go back in the fall. As an aside, we found one of the coolest Tiki Bars I’ve been too in one of the many boroughs just outside of Reading – oddly named Jimmy G’s Beverly Hills Tavern – where I found my pal Captain Morgan hanging out.

In Caribbean Connection, discover the six Caribbean islands you can visit without a passport. I bet there are several among us who think that isn’t an option.

Motivation and Flexibility are subjects covered in the Nicole Flanagan’s Fitness and Ryan Unvertzagt’s From the Trainer columns. If this hot weather keeps up, I imagine more people will be back in the gym than on the bike trail.

Rounding out the issue is Steve Chaconas’ Go Fish, Lori Welch Brown’s Open Space and what’s happening in National Harbor this month. Steve looks at the health of the Potomac River fishery. Lori remembers life changes over the years all while writing her column every month for the last 28 years.

This month we celebrate the independence of America on July 4th. The recent bombings in Iran and their retaliation are a sobering reminder of how precious freedom is. We also celebrate Alexandria’s 276^th birthday with music, cake and fireworks on the 12th so pack a picnic, load up those lawn chairs and head to Oronoco Park at the foot of Queen Street!

In closing, I want to thank all of you once again for being faithful readers over the last 37 years and tell you how much we continue to appreciate your support. We encourage you to patronize out our advertisers and if you are so moved, tell them you saw their ad in these pages. Without them, we couldn’t do it.

Stay cool out there people!