Peeps - those sugary marshmallow treats that pop out around Easter to dominate Easter baskets alongside dyed eggs and plastic grass. In recent years, Peeps became art, too, and Peeps diorama contests sprouted up in a few places, including the Fredericksburg Visitor Center, where the second annual Peeps Diorama Contest kicked off on Friday, June 7.
The theme for this year's contest is "Summer Fun with my Peeps!" from the looks of things, the Peeps artists had just as much fun building their dioramas.
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Beginning Tuesday, June 25, a new traffic pattern will be in place at the Route 3 and Orange Plank Road intersection in Spotsylvania County.
The Route 3 and Orange Plank Road intersection will become a Restricted Crossing U-Turn pattern. Left turns from Route 3 westbound onto Orange Plank Road will be controlled by a green arrow and then a flashing red arrow to provide a stop control. The flashing red arrow is being used to provide additional direction to motorists, requiring them to come to a complete stop and yield to oncoming traffic before proceeding.
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After a few bridge mishaps in the news lately, highlighted by the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, VDOT is turning its attention to the Falmouth Bridge in Fredericksburg which will undergo a rehabilitation project starting in early June. In October 2023, the bridge was rated âPoorâ by VDOT.
The Falmouth Bridge crosses the Rappahannock River, connecting Fredericksburg to Stafford along Route 1.
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Michelle Shropshire left a void in Fredericksburg when she became the new Megaprojects Director in VDOT's Northern Virginia District.
Her past work in Fredericksburg with the 95 Express Lanes Fredericksburg Extension as VDOTâs Assistant District Engineer of Project Development put her in the âmegaprojectsâ zone.
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âSuadâs Majles Desserts and Coffeeâ will mark its first anniversary in June. But it didnât take a year for their customers to become regulars and discover drinks and pastries rich in culture and tradition.
Pistachio, saffron, and rose water are used in many of their recipes to give the food a Middle Eastern flair.
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For the last few months, speculation and arguments have been flying around the Fredericksburg Purina Tower like a magnet for opinions about this local landmark. On May 20, a cherry picker crane hoisted up some paint professionals to put a stop to all the talk.
All the areas that used to be red will now be blue, and the blue areas will be red.
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Construction on an existing building is moving slowly along Lafayette Boulevard in Fredericksburg, and everything about it is a mystery.
On the front window of this gray building, there are several city permits, dating from the original permit from July 2022 to more recent electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits, showing that something is going on.
The rumor is that a new âCarbonaroâs Latin Kitchenâ is coming, but none of the permits actually say âCarbonaroâs Latin Kitchen.â
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Making it as a small business today can be difficult, but small business leaders in the Fredericksburg area can look to the University of Mary Washingtonâs Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for lessons on succeeding. The center guides future entrepreneurs in pursuit of economic growth through education, consulting, connecting, and supportive research.
âA lot of people want to be their own boss,â said Susan Ball, the Director of the SBDC. She sees this as the number one reason people want to own a small business, followed by the opportunity to make more money and the feeling that they can do it better.
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The commercial space at 610 Caroline Street is starting to show life, beginning with a new neon âBistro,â sign in the front window. In early May, the new tenant âAlways Flavored,â will complete their move from the current location on Princess Anne Street, giving the Fredericksburg dining crowd another option but this time adding beer and wine.
âWeâre super excited,â said Rita Witte, the owner who has been at Princess Ann for the past 18 months. Sheâll keep the same menu to start, the same green motif for the interior, and the overall feeling will be the same. At Always Flavored, the goal is simple: to bring people together through delicious food.
Some on Caroline Street are looking forward to more businesses coming down to the lower end, and Always Flavored will be a welcome addition to the 600 block. Linda Garrett next door at Gemstone Creations is looking forward to having a new neighbor. âJust saw the sign the other day,â Garrett said. âIt will be nice to have something different on this end,â she added.
Their menu has breakfast and lunch selections that differ from usual corner breakfast places. The menu describes selections like the “Denver Sandwich,” which features scrambled eggs, bell peppers, and Spicy Mayo in the mix, and the “Chimichurri Steak and Egg” with “mouthwatering prime rib”. Every sandwich is crafted using âRita’s Way, featuring our renowned sauces.â
For lunch, there is ‘Rita’s Reuben,” the “Thai Teriyaki Chicken,” or the “Furious Cuban,” with a “wrath of Rita Mustard.” She’s all over the place at Always Flavored.
Always Flavoredâs sauces have gained recognition too. Instead of the Eagles hammering âTequila Sunriseâ out on stage, Always Flavored offers Brady’s Tequila Sunrise. Other sauces are the Wrath of Rita, Sweet Virginia Love BBQ Sauce, Honey Butt BBQ Rub, and Pissed Off Kristoff sauce. Ritabeata’s Sweet Virginia Love BBQ sauce won second place in the 2023 Scovie Awards out of the Southwest.Â
The Scovie Awards evolved from the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show after 1996 when the contest was called The Fiery Foods Challenge. They were later renamed âThe Scovie Awardsâ to honor the memory of Wilbur Scoville, the scientist who invented the Scoville Organoleptic Test in 1912 to determine the heat scale of chile peppers, the awardsâ website says. Fiery Foods & Barbecue magazine sponsors the Albuquerque, New Mexico awards.
In addition to food and sauces, Always Flavored offers cooking classes for kids to “unleash your child’s inner chef.”. They offer a class for kids aged 4-16 where they learn to create sandwiches with AF sauces and seasonings.
Rita loves her Fredericksburg fan base in Fredericksburg and plans to have a grand opening celebration this spring before joining and then taking part in all the cityâs restaurant activities like First Friday, Restaurant Week and more.
Mike Salmon is a freelance reporter for Potomac Local News.
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