365 Things to Do in Arlington Archives - Page 39 of 85

#286 – Go Letterboxing

January 20, 2011 by Elizabeth

: Image by elvis_pelt via Flickr

Letterboxing is a mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. Take a notebook and pencil and your own personal rubber stamp and inkpad with you as you follow the clues. My son’s Cub Scout Troop learned about letterboxing a few years ago and even placed one of their own, “Tiger in the Woods,” one of six in Arlington and there are hundreds in Northern Virginia. Click this website link for a list of letterboxes nearby or use the site to search for others when you travel.

#285 – Go on a Car-Free Diet

January 18, 2011 by Elizabeth

Arlington’s Car-Free Diet program offers an easy and fun way to live a car-lite or car-free lifestyle. You can save money, improve your health, and clean the environment by choosing to leave your car at home and take Metrorail, use Metrobus or ART Bus service, ride your bike, walk or carpool. Or stay home and telework!

VIsit the Car-Free Diet website to get started!

#284 – Try Fine Lebanese Cuisine at Me Jana

January 17, 2011 by Elizabeth

Me Jana Restaurant Arlington — Photo courtesy of Me Jana

I’ve written about most of the restaurants participating in DC Restaurant week but don’t think I have mentioned Me Jana, an upscale Lebanese restaurant in Clarendon. Northern Virginia magazine named it one of the “50 Best Restaurants” in Northern Virginia. It’s definitely one of my family’s favorites. Choose from hot and cold mezza as well as main plates including lamb shank, kebobs and branzino.

#283 – Shop at Le Village Marche in Shirlington

January 16, 2011 by Elizabeth

Named by Washington Post Express as The Best Gift Shop in 2010, Le Village Marche offers Parisian-influenced vintage home decor and unusual gifts.

#281 – Take a Cooking Class

January 14, 2011 by Elizabeth

Whole Foods Market in Arlington is offering a variety of free cooking classes including “Curried Lamb with Pan Roasted Chick Peas” on Tuesday, January 19th at 7 PM, “I Can Cook Vegetarian” on Tuesday, January 25th at 7 and “Cooking Classes for Kids” on Saturday, January 29th at 10:30 and 11:30 depending on age group.

#280 – Pay Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 13, 2011 by Elizabeth

UPDATE: This was a date specific event, but search the Arlington County website for MLK Tributes and Days of Service for the current year.

Monday, January 17th, 2011 is a Federal holiday to celebrate Martin Luther King’s Birthday and Arlington will once again pay tribute in several ways. On Sunday, January 16, 2011 from 7-9PM the 42nd Annual Tribute Celebration will be held at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center Auditorium. Horace Holmes from ABC7/WJLA-TV will be the Master of Ceremonies for the tribute which will also feature Keynote Speaker Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, activist and friend of Dr. King, the World Childrens’ Choir and the Washington-Lee Jazz Band.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'” Each year, Americans across the country come together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities in what has been proclaimed a national “Day of Service”.

Hold your own service project or join in with Arlington’s AmeriCorps team who will be holding a neighborhood & stream cleanup from 10 am to noon on . Monday, January 17, 10:00 a.m. to noon. Volunteers will meet at Arlington Mill Community Center, 4975 Columbia Pike to clean up a section of Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run stream and keep trash out of Arlington County’s largest stream watershed. Please register at volunteer@arlingtonenvironment.org or 703-228-6406.

Also on Monday, January 17, from 1 – 4 pm volunteers are needed to help AmeriCorps at Gulf Branch Nature Center, 3608 Military Rd, to remove invasive plants that are smothering our forest floor and strangling trees. They suggest you dress warmly, wear clothes that can get dirty, and bring work or gardening gloves and clippers if you have them. Call Gulf Branch at 703-228-3403 for more information.

Each of us can contribute to strengthening our own communities by serving in Dr. King’s honor on the King Holiday and throughout the year. The King Center website says that “King Day is a time for realizing that each of us has the power to help alleviate poverty, build community and foster peace through nonviolence, if only we have the courage and commitment to work for it.”

If you’re interested in finding other service project in this area or registering one of your own, visit http://mlkday.gov/.