On Tuesday, we went to our first concert in the Celebrate Virginia Live series, to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead tribute band. The series started in May, and has brought bigger-than-usual names to the Fredericksburg area. The venue is an und…

We spent most of the 4th of July out on the Northern Neck, at the annual party of friends who own a home on Lower Machodoc Creek, off of the Potomac River. The drive out there is about 90 minutes for us, but it’s a quiet, peaceful ride through an are…

I spent most of last week at my 4-day girlfriends’ getaway to North Topsail Beach, where the weather was hot and sunny, the water was especially warm, and the beach was uncrowded. Every year that we go, we get better and better at planning and packin…

You know you live in a small town when a supermarket grand opening is a very big deal. Although I think Wegman’s is more than a supermarket…it seems like more of a culinary amusement park to me. Yes, there are the usual groceries, but the big attra…

Eileen’s has been open for business in their new location since May, and I’ve been a couple of times. They’ve made some updates to the circa 1833 church building since the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship vacated this past winter, but nothing ve…

Last night, we set up our ever-present folding chairs on the lawn at Kenmore to enjoy the Fredericksburg Players’ performance of The Beaux’ Stratagem, a Restoration comedy from the early 1700’s. The evening was a sort of play within a play. For t…

We made our first visit to the park at Hunting Run Reservoir off of Ely’s Ford Road last week on a rare sunny day. I remember many years ago when some of the families who lived in that area were forced out of their homes to make way for the reservoir…

Today we took our annual outing to the Ren Faire on the grounds of the Lake Anna Winery to enjoy (at long last!) a beautiful day in the sun. The Faire seemed bigger than ever this year, with a really good turnout this afternoon. As always, there were s…

I’ve heard of the proverbial golfball-sized hail, but I can’t remember ever seeing it up close until tonight. I always assumed it was a bit of an exaggeration. Turns out, not really. It’s been storming for two days now, and this evening, I grabbe…

Before today, I’d never been to the Lunchtime at Hurkamp Park concert series, since it is held from 11:30-1:30 on Tuesdays, right in the middle of the workday. But as of yesterday, I am officially retired. So now I get to discover all of the middle-o…