Wine Night at Arlington Cinema Drafthouse

Tonight after 6:15 Arlington Cinema Drafthouse is hosting their weekly Wine Night at the Movies. Wine tastes are $1 for each 1oz poured by Washington Wine Academy experts. Stay for light dinner or the $5.50 movies, which are Knight and Day and Grown Ups tonight.

Free Opera in the Outfield

The Nationals ballpark isn't just home to baseball games, as on Sunday September 19 there will be a free outdoor showing ot the opera A Masked Ball. The Opera in the Outfield event is hosted by the Washington National Opera and last year attracted 19,000 people to the stadium.

The night will also feature their Generation O program. By signing up for this free program, young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 will receive an exclusive invite to the Red Porch lounge at Nationals Stadium on the night of the simulcast. Enjoy a beer and an opera in the same night!

Thanks Amanda for the tip!

Fireworks Pizza in Courthouse

Fireworks Pizza just opened last week down the street in Courthouse to much fanfare and anticipation. The large restaurant on Clarendon Blvd and N. Adams St. offers an air eating area, bar with TV, and a surprising amount of outdoor seating. There is also an interesting looking outdoor fireplace that is available to eat around, but they have not lit it yet. I highly recommend dining outside if the weather permits.

Their staples are obvious, with good beer and pizza selections, although the spinach dip appetizer was delicious. Their beer choices were my favorite part, and they came in nice branded glasses as well. The pizza was good but honestly can't compete with Pupatella on Wilson.

I'm very happy that Fireworks opened in this section of town, as it will help out the nightlife in this border region between Clarendon and Courthouse. There was plenty of foot traffic around Clarendon Blvd during the day, which also makes it a great people watching venue.

Clarendon Day pn September 25

The Clarendon Alliance is hosting the annual Clarendon Day parade and local festival on Saturday September 25. This is a fun and family friendly event, with lots of local businesses and restaurants participating like Whitlow's, Liberty Tavern, Rocklands BBQ, Mister Day's and others. Looking forward to it!

Clarendon Fitness raffle

Clarendon is often known as a drinking hole and nightlife venue, but its also home to many gyms and cross-fitness arenas. It seems that Arlington likes to work out as hard as they party.

Thanks to What's The Deal DC for hosting the Clarendon Fitness Collective prize raffle this week. The gym located on Highland Street next to Mister Day's is giving away a couple prizes including $500 worth of Personal Training services.

The drawing ends Friday August 27 at 4pm, and all you have to do is enter here and be their friend on Facebook.

Charity by Cheesecake?

Of course the Cheesecake Factory is known for its extensive desert selection, but one new entry stands out once you see it. The Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake is so rich and delicious, it actually hurts a little bit to eat it. It's big enough to share, and I doubt anyone consuming one alone could survive.

The restaurant was nice enough to do something to take a little of the guilt away from eating this insanely good desert. They claim that for each one of these cheesecakes sold, 25 cents will go to "feed hungry Americans in our communities."

I didn't get any details about exactly which local charities would benefit (the Arlington Food Assistance Center comes to mind) because I was distracted with its million calorie goodness.

Clarendon makes the Post happy

The Washington Post's Going Out Guide recently did a feature of places in Clarendon that makes them happy. Not surprisingly, Lyon Hall was ranked #1 as it seems to be the hip place to be seen now.

But I agree with Clarendon Culture that Eleventh should be somewhere on this list. The tiny little lounge serves a nice alternative to the huge and loud scene at the Ballroom. But maybe the less people know about our local hidden gems, the better for us. One local gem that did make the list was Iota, my favorite venue for live indie music and open mic nights on Wednesdays.

I'm sure we will have lots more places to make us happy in the neighborhood once the Clarendon Center construction finishes late this year.

Thanks to Cecelia for the link! Check out her book blog... if you're into that kind of thing.

Free Shakespeare plays in DC

Last week I was lucky enough to be in the city for Shakespeare Theatre Company's rendition of the comedy Twelfth Night. This is a free show hosted by Lansburgh Theatre the running August 19 to September 5, 2010.

Since the DC tax payers paid a cool $20 million to build the theatre, several free shows have been put on to give back to the community. The best way to get tickets for these shows is to sign up for the online lottery they day of the event. If not, you will have to wait outside in line for the Will Call tickets remaining. It looked like everyone waiting in line was able to get a seat though. The theatre is very modern and refreshing, and I honestly don't think there is a bad seat in the house.

This incarnation of Twelfth Night was very entertaining and fun, with plenty of adult PG-13ish humor to make the Bard proud. I highly recommend this as a different, upscale and free date venue for the city. Try to take the metro to Gallery Place because parking is limited. Or if you don't feel like straying from the Orange line exit at Metro Center, it is only a five block walk east to the theatre.

Arlington County Fair by day

Today was a beautiful day for the Arlington County Fair, hosted at the corner near Route 50 and Glebe road south of Clarendon. I was one of the lucky winners of the fair's twitter contest, scoring a shirt and tickets for three rides for free.

There are basically two parts to the fair: the indoor array of vendors/shops and the outdoor rides, food and carnival games. I was impressed with how many different rides were available, from the traditional Ferris wheel to the Super Shot vertical drop.

I got my fill of cotton candy, chocolate shakes and "winning" tiny stuffed animals today. I'm looking forward to going back in the evening to get some night time pictures, which would be more appropriate for this blog.

Screwtop Wine Bar outdoor seating

I got the chance to try out Screwtop Wine Bar's new outdoor seating on Fillmore Street. While only four small tables, it provides some more much needed sitting space for the unique Clarendon venue. And you won't be seeing a sign with sandwich specials on the sidewalk anytime soon after all the drama lately.

I tried the red wine flight, which offered three small portions of different flavors ranging from fruity to darker and dryer. I always recommend trying the samplers at any venue that offers them (like Lyon Hall's beer flight), just because I'm usually indecisive and its an easy conversation starter.

The grilled cheese sliders where delicious, although slight in portions. Screwtop is great dating venue, has a nice wine and cheese selection, some good appetizers but its not going to be cheap. There menu is a little bit confusing and needs to be streamlined a little. Overall I'm very happy with what Screwtop offers to the local nightlife and hope to go back soon, or to take some of their wine classes once they resume after August.

Thanks to Jason's DC Foodies blog for the image and a very thorough review of Screwtop.