By Lani Gering Captain Martina Jones From Fair Winds to Following Seas Over the years we have been very fortunate to be in the “right” place at the “right” time. Thanks to a chance meeting with our pal Shaun Sheehan on Union Street in Old Town Alexandria a couple of weeks ago and the offer […]

The Origin of Uncle Sam By Kathy Weiser Uncle Sam Wants You! Although Uncle Sam (initials U.S.) is the most popular personification of the United States, many Americans have little or no concept of his origins. If pressed, the average American might point to the early 20th century and Sam’s frequent appearance on army recruitment […]

By Lori Welch Brown Celebrating our  “Four Fathers” – A Look Inside Local Dads Through the ages, we’ve extolled the virtues of many famous fathers. We were taught about our founding fathers in history, recently celebrated the birth of the father of our nation, dance to the beat of the father of rock & roll, […]

By Lani Gering Emro the Sun Conure of the Boardwalk We decided that since we got such a fun reaction to our interview with “Aladdin the Christmas Camel” in the December issue we would feature our feathered friend “Emro the Sun Conure of the Boardwalk” in the May issue. I was lucky enough to tag […]

By Frances Killpatrick                 “Call Me Jon” Peterson   Jon Peterson was recently named CEO of Peterson Companies – now one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the Washington, D.C. area. In addition to National Harbor, their developments include Fairfax Corner, Fair Lakes, Virginia Gateway, Downtown Silver Spring, Burke Center, and Tysons McLean […]

By Sherrie Cunningham From Circus to Surgery And Back – Dr. Neil Kahanovitz 2017 was a tough year for the circus.  After 146 years of performances, with Washington, DC as an annual stop, Ringling Brothers called it quits.  And the more intimate Big Apple Circus filed for bankruptcy, after entertaining audiences of all ages for […]

By Lani Gering Chou Chou Scantlin – Blissfully Being Chou Chou Scantlin is a force to be reckoned with. If any of you are remotely familiar with Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms Orchestra, you know that Chou Chou is the heart of the show. Doc and his band of merry men and women have […]

Franny the K   In honor of our 30th year, we thought it only appropriate to revisit a profile of one of our very favorite people on this earth who is also one of our very first writers of 30 years. The original profile was written in 2006 and much of it is reprinted in […]

By Lani Gering Aladdin – The Christmas Camel – Is On the Farm While we love our two legged celebrities – the likes of Barney Barnwell who was featured in the November issue – there is something about a 4 legged dromedary that has graced the grounds of Historic Mount Vernon during the holidays for […]

By Lori Welch Brown Barney Barnwell is Passin’ It On! Life is so busy that you barely have time for a yoga class let alone time to get to know your neighbors, right? Sure you wave as you drive past, buy Girl Scout cookies from their daughter, pass out Halloween candy to their lil’ goblins […]