Clarendon Day this Saturday Sept 24

The annual Clarendon Day festival is coming this Saturday September 24. The all day event is family friendly will start with a 10k and 5k run, followered by live music on two stages, arts & crafts tables and food vendors from local restaurants.

Here is the list of musicians playing that day, with some of my local favorites like Honor By August, Andy Zipf, and Justin Tradwick:

IOTA Stage
(Wilson Blvd & Highland St)
11:00    ERIC BRACE and PETER COOPER
12:00    BOBBY THOMPSON
1:15      MELODIME
2:30      BETHANY and THE GUITAR
3:45      HONOR BY AUGUST

 Arlington's Car-Free Diet Stage
(Clarendon Boulevard at Garfield St)

11:00    BROTHER SHAMUS
12:00    HELLO
1:15      JUSTIN TRAWICK GROUP

2:30      ANDY ZIPF BAND
3:45      THE WALKAWAYS

Tristan Prettyman at IOTA tonight

Photo via tristanprettyman.com

The beautiful and talented Tristan Prettyman will be returning tonight to Iota's stage at 8pm. The singer, guitarist, surfer and former model has two albums out and is working on her third. I'm sure the show will be packed, as last time she came to Clarendon the show was sold out early.

Upcoming Iota shows: Ten Out of Tenn and Tristan Prettyman

Ten Out of Tenn members. Photo via ExpressNightOut

The upcoming week is an exciting one for the music scene in Clarendon! The first of the not-to-miss shows will be at Iota on Friday Sept 16 as the amazing super-band Ten Out Of Tenn return to Arlington. The tiny stage will be literally overflowing with exceptional rock/folk/indie talent, including accomplished musicians like Butterfly Boucher, Katie Herzig, K. S. Rhoads, and Jeremy Lister!

More fantastic live music continues on Tuesday Sept 20 with Tristan Prettyman gracing the stage of Iota again. I'm sure the show will be completely sold out before Tristan takes the stage and graces us with her beauty and talent!

Then a week later, Iota is hosting their 9 Songwriters Series on Monday Sept 26. This jam packed show of talent will include locals like Justin Trawick and Andy Zipf. This is a great value, as the cover charge is $10 so you basically get to see each artist for only $1 each!

South Block Smoothies' free breakfast burrito

South Block breakfast burrito & Mango Mania smoothie

Today South Block was offering free breakfast burritos to those who liked them on Facebook. Thanks to Clarendon Culture who tipped me off to this nice freebie. I tried a flour totillia egg, cheese and bacon which hit the spot for a quick outdoor snack on such a beautiful day. It paired nicely with a delicious Mango Mania smoothie.

Apartments from Dr. Dremo's ashes... one day?

Plans for 2000 Wilson. Photo via DCMetroCentric.com

It's interesting that while most of the land in Arlington is bought up by developers and then designed so that every square foot of space is used, there are still strips of baren and undeveloped space stuck in real estate limbo.

The best example of this is the space where Dr. Dremo's used to reside in Courthouse. Torn down over four years ago, the large open area now serves as an eyesore as plans to builda mixed use building continually get delayed. Clarendon's own version of story happened with the same developer named Zom in the space next to O'Sullivan's that was supposed to be the 10 story Waverly building.

But now DCMetroCentric is reporting that their are rumors of some progress on the 2000 Wilson project. It will be nice to see the land used for something one day, but I don't think the area needs more high rise apartment buildings. Rather, I would perfer to see more afordable light commericial spaces to promote more restaurant diverstiy. Clarendon is lucky to have tons of great dining options now, but more and more of them are becoming higher end and more expensive restuarants.

Arlington Arts Center Happy Hour Sept 15

AAC on Wilson Blvd, photo via SwedishScene.com

Next Thursday September 15 the Arlington Arts Center on Wilson Blvd is hosting their first in a series of fall happy hours. You can register online here and for $10 get tickes for the wine, cheese and art event from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Sounds like a good date night event!

Emily Henry featured at IOTA Open Mic

IOTA's open mic show every Wednesday is my favorite free event in Clarendon. It's always exciting not knowing who will perform or what genre of music they will bring to the stage. Everyone gets to play two songs, and those range from acoustic guitar covers, original songs with mandalins and violins, to singers and rappers.

This past Wednesday IOTA also added a featured musician in the middle of the open mic slots: the very talented Emily Henry. The  Fredericksburg native acoustic/folk singer caught everyone's attention and played about six songs for the crowd, including her hit "Las Vegas". She was a tough act to follow for people scheduled after her! I am very much looking forward to seeing her perform again at IOTA sometime.

Cafe Wilson brunch

I finally got a chance to try out the tiny and easily missed Cafe Wilson on Garfield & Wilson. Before 2005, it was known as "Big Belly Deli" and still has the same decour and signage as before but just different owners.

Cafe Wilson is known for its vegetarian dishes and low prices, but I tried a few meat heavy items from their all day breakfast menu. The two eggs, hash browns, toast and circle bacon pictured here is a delicious value for $5.50. The egg, cheese and sausage english muffin was fresh but bland. I want to drop by again with some vegan friends and get their opinion of the quirkly little deli.

I hope little unique shops like this one can stay around as Clarendon grows and becomes more urbanized. Their neighbor Hunan Number One is one of my favorite places to get a cheap beer, and is similar to Cafe Wilson in the way that you could easily miss it walking past. Also, both venues have no-frills interior offers a nice contrast to all the high end restaurants that have popped up recently.

Rabbit and Red Velvet Cupcakery

Clarendon's newest little restuarant Rabbit opened last week and has more to offer than just their Red Velvet cupcakes. Their menu keeps with the rabbit food theme as it is mostly salads and sandwitches with sides of salads.

I tried their version of the Cubano pork sandwitch, which was good but nothing spectacular. The tuna salad pictured here was decent, but I agree with Clarendon Culture's review that their food seems lacking for the price.

There are many positives about Rabbit that will bring be back though, such as the airy wooden decorating, fresh carrot juice and the self serve water jug with mint and cucumbers. I'm also a fan of their cookies & creme cupcakes, and think their sweets will be good competition for neighboring Crumbs and Bakeshop.

Andy Zipf @ IOTA

Zipf at Iot in March. Photo via AlexandriaTalks.com

I got to Iota late Thursday because I was enjoying Pete's clam pizza and cane sodas, but I still made it in time to see Andy Zipf's entire set. I missed the opening acts, including Justin Tradwick, but it was still worth it to see Andy's rock/folk band play.

Andy Zipf has frequented Iota in the past,and they have also opened for Badly Drawn Boy and The Ataris! I can see why, as this local musician had the crowd mesmerized with songs from their new album. He played with a full band that included several electric and acoustic guitars, drums, bass, keyboard, and even a cello.  I also had a chance to meet their drummer Adam and learn a little about the history of the band. Looking forward to their next show!