It wouldn’t rain on the Fredericksburg Christmas Parade despite shaky weather forecasts.
Hundreds came to Caroline and Princess Anne streets to celebrate the holiday season on Saturday, December 2, 2o23.
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Manassas is moving ahead with an expansion of this city museum that will not include a new public library.
The $3.9 million expansion will provide enough room for 135 people to sit during events or as room to display new exhibits. The goal is to have this done by the 150th anniversary of Manassas' incorporation into a town on April 3, 2023. Manassas later became a city in 1975.
Officials began exploring expansion possibilities in 2008, but these plans were set aside due to the economic conditions. Later in 2017, city officials began floating the idea of building a new library on the museum grounds, so the two facilities would sit next to each other.
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A new exhibit was launched this month at the Manassas Museum called "Manassas Faces," which uses faces of city residents to tell the story of life in Manassas.
This exhibit features local residents, past and present, that have made a significant impact on Manassas and the surrounding community, but who are often overlooked.
There are 10 to 15 faces on the exhibit that was created by museum curator Mary Helen Dellinger.
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Drivers traveling over across the Occoquan River on Route 1 have seen their share of orange cones in the past few years.
A project to widen the road from four to six lanes between the river and Mary's Way, across from Marumsco Plaza, just wrapped up.
Now the Virginia Department of Transportation is looking to modify the intersection at Routes 1 and 123. It's once again talking about putting a bridge over the highway, providing more direct access to the Belmont Bay neighborhood -- something its been talking about for the past 10 years.
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As the region continues to reopen after the pandemic, a new events center aims to bring events like combat sports, weddings, receptions, plays, movie screenings, and more to Manassas.
The Salisbury Center will be an event center that specializes in live events serving refreshments and using video to enhance productions. There are three local partners behind the company.
The center will be located inside the old Manassas Theaters 4, at 8990 Mathis Avenue.
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The cicada's clicking hum starts slow and builds to a crescendo that conjures images of a hot summer day when Slurpees ruled, and Big Buddies were the gum of choice.
This summer happens to be the year of the "Brood X," the cicada type that comes out once every 17 years. These bugs have been in hibernation since 2004 when George W. Bush was thinking about his second term, YouTube was gaining momentum, and the highlight of the Super Bowl was Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction."
The Brood X is just one of a few types of cicadas that come out on schedule when the ground is regularly about 64 degrees Fahrenheit, which is around mid-May. They aren't everywhere either, just around the southeastern U.S. and as far west as the Ohio area, but the lines are blurred a bit - who's watching them anyway?
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Campers in our region are lucky to live in an area where it’s feasible to leave the office about 4 p.m. on Friday and then find themselves sitting in one of the many local camping destinations, roasting a hot dog on an open fire no more than two hours later.
With the weather warming up and campgrounds open, this will be the case for many.
The first and largest local campground is Prince William Forest Park, a National Park just north of Quantico on the side of Interstate 95. The park’s Oak Ridge Campground, a 100-site, wooded campground capable of accommodating tents, RVs, and trailers.
The park’s Turkey Run Ridge Group Campground has six campsites that accommodate 25 people, three campsites that accommodate 40 people, or a Single Historic Cabin that holds four, six, or 10 people.
Cots, a ceiling fan, picnic tables, and cooking grills make these wooden tents a home away from home, the NPS said. On a promotional video produced by the Prince William Conservation Alliance, the park is called “a natural oasis in Northern Virginia’s suburban sprawl.”
Prince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936. Many of the trails and roads in the park were originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
For campers who’d instead have it a boating experience, there’s Leesylvania State Park in Woodbridge, on the banks of the Potomac River. At Leesylvania, there are camping sites for small tents-only a primitive campground is available for groups. Four tents-only primitive campsites are available only for guests arriving by canoe or kayak.
The visitor center opened for the season on March 6, and the Breakwater Marina Store will open later in the spring.
Near Gainesville, there’s Hillwood Camping Park with 140 sites available to everything from the RV camper to the tents. It’s divided into three different sections – the long-term campground, extended camping, and full hook-up campground. They do not take reservations and recommend calling a day ahead of arrival, and they’ll let you know what’s available.
From the look of the descriptions on their website, Hillwood sees a lot of people coming to the Washington, D.C. area for business and use the campground instead of a short-term apartment or hotel.
“Tucked just outside of Gainesville, Hillwood Camping Park provides workers traveling to the D.C. area for long-term business or military assignments with a peaceful respite far enough away from the metro to relax but close enough for daily travel,” their website states.
Let's face it, sometimes stuff piles up in the house, shed, or garage.
Before you know it, a film crew taping an episode of "Hoarders" could come knocking at your door.
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When the commotion at the U.S. Capitol started on January 6, Tech. Sgt. Amanda Smialek was ordered to report for duty.
Her Air National Guard unit the next day and be ready to jump into her job as a medical technician.
"My phone starts blowing up," she said. The next day "I had to report, to provide medical support for all the Air National Guard units that were called in, I was one of three medical specialists in the Capitol."
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