The Fourth of July, Iceland and the Chesapeake Bay may seem like disparate elements for family memories so let me give you a bit of background.
Element #1 - After my father retired from the military he and my mother moved to Scientist’s Cliffs, a small private community on the Chesapeake Bay. The community is composed of some 300 cabins and sits on 276 acres of the Calvert Cliffs, which rim 25 miles of the Bay’s western shore.
Element #2 - My mother was from Iceland. She and my father met and married when he was stationed in Reykjavik and my brother and I were born there. (Yes, I have dual citizenship.) My sister, who came a bit later, was born in Richmond, VA.
Element #3 - My mother was born on the Fourth of July!
Now, put those three things together - plus my mother’s unabashed love of this country - and you have the beginning of a long, wonderful family memory.
For as many years as I can remember, the entire family gathered at Scientist’s Cliffs every Fourth of July to celebrate my mother’s birthday and the official birthday of the United States of America. The day started early with games - sack races, an egg toss, turtle races, softball - and ended with the all important scavenger hunt. It should be noted that the Bergin family took first place in the hunt at least 6 years in a row.
After lunch it was off to the beach or, if the jelly fish were too bad, straight to the swimming pool. But the main event, and the one everyone waited for, was dinner that night.
Sitting on the back deck overlooking a glen filled with azaleas, rhododendrons and towering trees, the picnic table spread with newspaper, we tucked into bushels and bushels of steamed blue crabs. It didn’t matter what else we had, the crabs were all anyone cared about. It didn’t matter how hot it was or how annoying the mosquitoes, the crabs were irresistible and we picked until the last one was gone.
By then it was dark and it was time for sparklers, birthday cake, tucking little ones into bed and talking long into the night. Even today, with family scattered to California, North and South Carolina and even Europe, the memory of our very special Fourth of July’s lives on.
Thanks to my daughter Taite, who with a simple entry on her Facebook page, sparked the reminder of what we all shared. If I left anything out, or if any of you have spent time at Scientist’s Cliff, I’d love to hear from you.
Tonight’s First Thursday (July) was all about celebrating “Main Street” in Del Ray. Visit Del Ray has adopted the theme “Where Main Street Still Exists” to promote Del Ray and we think it’s the perfect slogan for the neighborhood we call home.
Of course for us, “Main Street” is actually Mt. Vernon Avenue. Local businesses - restaurants, ice cream shops, a UPS store, coffee shops, art galleries, clothing stores, a pharmacy, dry cleaner, post office, hardware store, hair salon, yoga studio, plant nursery, and more, lots more - are all contained within about a 10 block radius.
It’s the perfect neighborhood for walking and First Thursday is a great way to explore.
“Winchester” makes his first appearance at “First Thursday” with Anne and Zac from Nelson Avenue.
Having a video about an Army Ranger competition on a real estate blog may not make much sense - at first. But for those who know me and know how much pride I take in having served as a Ranger and a Ranger instructor it makes all the sense in the world.
Ranger training is tough, it’s competitive and it gives new meaning to the word challenging. According to the National Ranger Association, the mission of Ranger training is to “develop leadership skills, confidence and competence . . . to perform effectively . . . in tactically realistic environments. The course is designed to further develop leaders who are physically and mentally tough and self-disciplined and challenges them to think, act and react effectively in stress approaching that found in combat.”
To see a video of the Best Ranger Competition, please visit us at:
With temperatures in the mid-80’s and low, low humidity, the 3rd Annual Del Ray Music Festival could rightly qualify as a Mid-Summer’s Dream. Here “Blue” takes the obligatory rest stop.
A brief spat of rain showers in the early afternoon was the only deterrent to an otherwise perfect day.
Sandy and Aaron Faulkner of Mt. Ida Avenue (with Henry)
Folks took advantage of strategically placed hay bales, dry ground for picnic blankets and generous space as they scattered the grounds of the Mt. Vernon Recreation Center.
If you haven’t already marked your calendar, then get out your pen and do it now for the:
2009 Del Ray Music Festival
Saturday, June 27
The all day event will take place on the grounds of the Mt. Vernon Recreation Center at 2701 Commonwealth Avenue. Twelve major groups will headline on the main stage with Swing Command kicking off at 10:00am and our favorite Dagmar and the Seductonesclosing out at 10:00pm. For the full music schedule click here.
Much like a trip to Wolftrap, you can bring your own blanket and picnic basket or you can take advantage of strategically placed hay bales for seating.
Del Ray, one of Alexandria’s favorite neighborhoods - and the place we call home - was the scene of a Presidential “drive by” on Saturday,, June 20. Yes, President Obama, accompanied by Sasha and Malia, made a stop at the Dairy Godmother much to the delight of local residents.
The President and his daughter placed their order at the counter (no special treatment here), waited patiently, posed for a few pictures, signed a few autographs and 15 minutes later headed back across the Potomac. Oh yes, they took a bag of “Puppy Pops” too for first dog Bo.
The Dairy Godmother, a Mt. Vernon Avenue fixture since 2001, is the brain child of former pastry chef and Del Ray resident Liz Davis.
If you haven;t seen this great video on YouTube, take a minute to have a good laugh - and a good look at Arlington, VA.
The video makes “gentle sport of Virginia’s most liberal community as a wonky, nice-but-maybe-too-nice haven for Prius-driving, latte-sipping, crunchy-granola-eating suburbanites" according to the Washington Post.
Personally, I love the idea of rappers dressed like Capitol Hill interns . . .
I've been reading Doonesbury for almost as long as Gary Trudeau has been wiriting and find his humor itmely, non-partisan and to the point. (I also like the fact that he is a big, if very quiet, supporter of injured soldiers and has done a lot here in the Washington area with Walter Reed Hospital.)
Of course Doonesbury is noted for its barbed political humor but imagine my surprise when this Sunday strip featured the plight of real estate agents!
An agent in my office had a listing in the neighborhood and asked me to be the buyers agent for one of the parties involved. The client called last night at 9:00pm, said she wanted to move quickly and asked to me with me at 4:00pm today. She set the time, not me.
It is now 1:10pm. That same "clent" just called to say that she needed to work with someone who "could move faster" and had already written the contract with another agent. No text, no email, no phone call to move our time forward.
Sixty percent of May real estate sales in Northern Virginia were composed of repeat buyers. This is in contrast to April sales where sixty percent of the buyers were first time home owners.
First-time buyers, taking advantage of their $8,000 tax credit incentive, have bought the “starter homes” on the market - encouraging more sellers to move up to a new, larger home. In fact, today’s environment, with lower prices for everyone, is the perfect model for “moving up”.
Here is why moving up to a larger home is better now: because all properties in the area have depreciated by the same percentage. Assume a home was valued at $250,000 and then depreciated by 20%, leaving a current value of $200,000. A previously valued $500,000 home at 20% less is now $400,000.
A homeowner would sell their home for $50,000 less than its high value, but would buy the larger home for $100,000 less, giving that homeowner a $50,000 positive increase.
Take a look at the graphs below to see how housing inventory is doing in your area:
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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