Adventure Brewing at Eagle Village will open for business on January 11, bringing its award-winning craft brews to a second location in Fredericksburg.
“We have been looking at locations for a very long time since Adventure South closed, with the landlord not wanting to renew the lease. We still wanted to have a presence in the Fredericksburg area,” said co-owner Russ Patishnock.
Adventure Brewing South, the second location the brewery Adventure’s opened, was located at 3300 Dill Smith Drive in Fredericksburg, closed on March 1, 2019.
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Dark Star Saloon & Cafe serves fresh farm-to-fork, gourmet food in a casual environment.
- "It’s really truly a family restaurant, run by a young family. I want people to understand that they don't have to literally come to a place that's super high-end, like [The Inn at] Little Washington is super high-end fine dining. I want people to get the same type of product but in an environment, they're not used to getting it in,” said Krystopher Scott, owner and executive chef of Dark Star Saloon & Cafe.
- “Our veggies change based on what we get at the farmer’s market...All the herbs come from the garden around the building, a lot of the meat comes from the butcher’s shop in town. We are starting to source out to other farms for different items,” Scott said.
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Eavesdrop Brewery has been issued a new license from the Virginia ABC to operate as a brewpub.
- They may now serve wine, hard seltzer and cider in addition to craft beers.
Prior to this licensing change, Eavesdrop was only able to offer its patrons craft beers with special occasions where they could serve wine, cider, and seltzer under a banquet license.
- “As of this last weekend we served wine, sangria and we are working with a distributor to get cider in here. We also have a seltzer that we are planning on releasing on November 22. It is a raspberry seltzer, we are brewing that for the first time,” said Sam Madden, general manager of Eavesdrop Brewery.
- “People really like the IPAs that we have. Yorkshire IPA that’s the house beer we’ve had since we opened up. We do swap out a lot according to what our Mug Club members prefer and what our customers want,” Madden said.
They are also partnering with a second location of Eugene’s Sausage and Fries to bring their customers’ consistent food service.
- Eugene’s Sausage and Fries serves gourmet sausages made with specialty meats like elk and duck along with classic hot dogs, brats and sandwiches.
- “We officially signed a lease with Eugene’s Sausage and Fries, originally located in Haymarket, will be opening right across from Eavesdrop brewery,” Madden said.
- “They’re a separate business about 15 feet away. This will be a symbiotic relationship. Fingers crossed they will be open in a few months. They will have a full kitchen and the full menu that they offer at their first location. This is a big step for us because of the food trucks and a lot of breweries have inconsistent food because things fall through,” Madden said.
The brewery offers your standard beers to include IPAs, American ales, and stouts. There’s also red ales, and a Wiki Carn Wit Beer on the menu.
- Eavesdrop is located on Route 28 near the Prince William County/Fairfax County line at 7223 Centreville Road.
- It’s partially hidden behind some larger buildings, so you’ll need to look for it if you’ve not been there before.
Rep. Rob Wittman(R-1st District) joined Stafford County Aquia District Supervisor Cindy Shelton, and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam chief broadband advisor Evan Feinman, discuss the way ahead for getting broadband access to the underserved areas of Stafford County.
- Wittman said the first hurdle is getting an accurate map of underserved regions.
- The current maps are inaccurate because all of the internet service providers have not given the information.
- The Broadband Data Improvement Act, co-sponsored by Wittman, requires broadband providers to report service availability on geolocation rather than traditional census blocks, to create an improved National Broadband Map that is significantly more accurate.
- This allows federal broadband funds to be better directed to areas that need it most,” according to the meeting agenda from Congressman Wittman’s office.
“Our job is to first make sure we have dollars at the federal level that will go into accelerating our investment in broadband. We have $600 million allocated to build out this system. The total cost of building out broadband in the U.S., it’s about $80 billion. This is not going to be the panacea that folks think it will be,” Wittman said.
“What we want to be able to do in conjunction with Stafford County, the state of Virginia, the federal government can help accelerate the investment in infrastructure,” Wittman said.
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Jack’s Pumpkin Glow, a family-friendly Halloween event, is creating an enormous display of over 1,000 expertly carved pumpkins at Lake Fairfax Park.
“Guests can expect to be transported into a pumpkin wonderland that features over 5,000 hand-carved jack o’ lanterns. Jack’s Pumpkin Glow brings the Halloween spirit to life that everyone can enjoy,” said Vice President of The Glow Shannon Donnelly,in an email.
“Guests will see larger than life pumpkin sculptures of dinosaurs, motorcycles, and flowers, along with other beautiful pieces. They can also expect to see carvings of their favorite characters from princesses to superheroes to classic Halloween creatures,” Donnely said.
They carve over 1,000 pumpkins weekly so there are always fresh pumpkins.
- Pumpkin carvers continue to carve out new designs throughout the month of October.
- There are several master carvers who carve pumpkins live during the event.
“We have the same designs our patrons can see each week, we have a lot of new scenes this year for Lake Fairfax, like our giant pumpkin tower, our 15-foot tall pumpkin lighthouse, and some of the most famous paintings, like the Mona Lisa, pumpkinized,” said Donnelly.
“We have several live carvers, Angelito Baban has won national carving competitions in both ice and pumpkins. Rachel O’Neil is one of our new artists, who specializes in painting and sculpting. So, they both bring different techniques to our creations,” said Donnelly.
Organizers suggest that guests wear appropriate attire for the weather, as the event takes place outdoors.
- The event opens for the weekend starting Thursday, October 3rd and will run every weekend in October.
- Tickets range between $17 and $28 per person.
- Lake Fairfax Park is located at 1400 Lake Fairfax Drive in Reston.
- For more information: glowpumpkin.com/washington-dc.
Editors note: Potomac Local Parents is a monthly column that looks at life through the eyes of real parents. Do you know of a parent we should feature? Send us their contact information and we’ll contact them.
This month, we interview Reyner.
How many children do you have and what are their ages?
We have five wonderful daughters: Sarah Elizabeth (8), Laura Ann (6), Emily Jane (5), Hannah Grace (2), and Abigail Joy (8 mo). We also have two precious boys who could not be carried to term: Jonathan Reyner and Nathan Daniel. The boys are buried in my plot at Quantico National Cemetery (Gina and I are both veterans of the United States Marine Corps).
Describe your career in a nutshell.
I am a CPA, licensed in Virginia and working for a “Big Four” public accounting firm. I specialize in managing large program transformation projects. As they say, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree – Mom and Dad are both Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Missouri. Dad is a university professor, and mom is an accountant for a midwestern telecommunications company.
What are your top 3 tips for balancing a career and parenthood?
Work when you’re at work; don’t work when you’re at home. In an increasingly interconnected world, many people are distracted at work and unproductive, finishing the day accomplishing little and then being forced to take work home.
On a related note, telework and mobile devices have done much to provide flexible options to working moms and dads, but have also done much to allow parents to work “24/7,” if things are allowed to get out of balance. Of course, finding your rhythm is the key.
The point is, focus on work at the office, and focus on family at home.
Choose when your family gets to spend time with you each day, and keep to the schedule. I try to give my kids an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening at roughly the same times each day.
Schedule family events on your calendar like you would schedule anything else that is important. Don’t let anything hinder you from keeping those appointments.
How do you tackle any important project at work?
You carefully budget the most valuable, unrecoverable asset, time. Every good business person knows there are 1,440 minutes in a day, and one who recognizes that minutes wasted are never recovered will carefully plan how they are spent.
If an important project requires time invested to be successful, why do we believe our families are different? Successful marriages and the turning out of well-adjusted children both require time, and you must make the investment.
What do you like to do for family fun time?
The kids are at an age where simple things are fun. That means playing hide-and-go-seek, tag, the kiddie pool in the yard, sprinklers, catching bugs, board games, etc. We also love riding bikes and camping.
What’s your best piece of advice for new parents?
Love your children. Love compensates for many mistakes, and no parent is perfect. I have Psalm 127 written in the front of my family journal, “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it…” Read the Bible every morning and evening, and pray for your spouse and children often. Wisdom comes from above, and parenting requires all the wisdom you can get.
What’s your favorite book?
The Bible, as a guide and compass for life.
Beyond that, we love Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan) and have lately been working our way through the Laura Ingalls Wilder series with much excitement in the evenings before bedtime.
With our second daughter already being named Laura, we simply substitute the names of Laura’s Ingalls’ sisters with the names of our other daughters, and the girls seem to get a thrill from imagining themselves in an early-American setting.
What do you like to do in your free time for fun?
When I was seven years old, Dad bought 80 acres for us to enjoy, and I couldn’t stay inside; this meant I read very little. Now I’m trying to make up for lost time – I love to read. Beyond that, anything outdoors – with fishing at the top of the list.
How do you handle things at work when unexpected things pop up with children, like multiple rounds of illness or snow days?
Probably like anyone, you make it work. The key is to communicate and set expectations with colleagues in a timely manner. If I need to make a last-minute adjustment to my work schedule, I try to plan how objectives will still be achieved on time, but by alternative means.
With the kids being young and us deciding to homeschool, my wife cares for the children full-time, which provides coverage for almost anything. When necessary, my job has been flexible, and I have been careful to honor that flexibility by only requesting it when absolutely necessary.
As a manager of large projects, I have made it a point to be especially understanding of single-parents. When snow days or sick days come, I make the accommodation without question, and employees usually honor that by ensuring nothing gets dropped.
STAFFORD COUNTY -- -- Residents of Marlborough Point and parts of Widewater will now have access to broadband Internet service provided by KGI Communications, LLC. The King George County-based firm is the first company to offer high-speed broadband to this area of Stafford County.
Who can get service and how?
Currently, this service is available to “those within the MP [Marlboro Point] area from Potomac Overlook to the water, and Widewater, on the water near Simms Point area and a small area around,” said KGI Communications President Michele Wido.
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STAFFORD -- The owner of a one-of-a-kind brewery hopes Stafford County authorities will let him reopen soon.
Wild Run Brewing Company, a microbrewery at Aquia Pines Camp Resort off Route 1 in North Stafford has been closed for zoning infractions since March 23, 2017.
Owner Everett Lovell opened the brewery with the idea that it would be an amenity at his Aquia Pines Camp Resort, a place with campsites for RVs, or cabins for those who want four walls. Unlike other brew houses now dotting the landscape, Lovell’s was designed to a resort amenity, much like a swimming pool or put-put golf course.
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STAFFORD COUNTY -- When it was time to commemorate and educate the public about one local man’s contribution to the Harlem Renaissance, a group of Stafford residents stepped up to make it happen.
Commemorating Palmer Hayden, Widewater-born artist
Friends of Widewater State Park is beginning to request donations to fund a historical marker within the park that opened last fall, a the confluence of the Potomac River and Aquia Creek, for Palmer Hayden, local African American painter famous for his work during the Harlem Renaissance.
