Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
☔ Today’s weather: Possible light rain in the evening and overnight. High of 47 and low of 41.
☔ Tomorrow: Rain in the evening and overnight. High of 63 and low of 41. Sunrise at 7:27 am and sunset at 5:07 pm.
A new French bistro will open on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray in two weeks, the restaurant’s owner tells ALXnow.
Gostov Boulangerie & Brasserie will be fully open at 2213 Mount Vernon Avenue by Wednesday, Jan. 25. Owner Abderrahim Moussaif says he has all of the necessary city permits.
Before the pandemic, I ran a Reddit forum that brought people together for local happy hours. It became a great outlet for an in-person social life: you could get out, get to know people nearby, and have a familiar group to spend time with. I enjoyed being the person who helped make that happen.
Getting people together became harder after the pandemic. Friends moved away, had kids, or settled into different routines, and organizing a night out took more effort. I still wanted that camaraderie, but having people to invite didn’t necessarily mean we could get something on the calendar.
I’m in my late 30s and live in Old Town. About a year ago, I joined Choros, a local membership community that helps guys build friendships through small-group activities. Since then, I’ve been to close to 50 hangouts, and it’s given me a regular group of guys to do things with around Alexandria and beyond.
I host board game nights and help host a monthly happy hour at the Commodore in Old Town. I’ve done escape rooms on King Street, trivia, food festivals in Del Ray, movie discussions, and Dungeons & Dragons (which can be especially tricky to get going as an adult with a busy schedule). Having that variety means I can find something that fits my mood and schedule, and there are usually familiar faces when I get there.
One of my favorite things, though, is getting on my bike, picking a destination, and making a day of it. Through Choros, I’ve found a consistent crew to ride with almost every month. That’s the kind of thing I wanted more of: people who enjoy the same stuff and make time to get out and do it together.
I still like hosting and bringing people together. What makes Choros useful is having a community to draw from, so every plan doesn’t depend on the same few friends being available. Other guys suggest and host things too, which gives me plenty of opportunities to join something without organizing it myself.
Over time, seeing the same guys at different activities builds familiarity. You have conversations to pick back up and another reason to make plans together. That’s how it’s become a circle of friends for me.
If you’re in Alexandria, check out Choros and come to one of our monthly happy hours at the Commodore. I’d be happy to meet a few more neighbors, whether you’re into board games, bike rides, or just getting out for a drink. There’s plenty happening here, along with activities throughout the rest of the D.C. area.
A 32-year-old D.C. man is being held without bond after an armed carjacking in the West End.
The incident occurred at around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, when the male victim was walking to a construction job in the 400 block of S. Van Dorn Street. The victim parked his Toyota Tundra and walked a short distance when the suspect approached him from behind and pointed a handgun at him and demanded his property, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
A regional “restaurant week” event launching next week is set to kick off next week, but as always, Alexandria does things a little differently.
There are two “restaurant week” events that include Alexandria this month.
Event location
Woodson High School
9525 Main Street
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
Northern Virginia Fairfax Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS) cordially invites you to attend and support our upcoming World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) for Road Traffic Victims.
World Day of Remembrance is an annual event where we honor those whose lives were prematurely ended after being struck by a person driving. This year is particularly painful and sad as we think about the recent death of a 13-year-old Frost middle school student who was struck and killed by a person driving a truck on Pickett Road. We will also honor the nearly 30 other people (as of today’s date) who have been killed on Northern Virginia streets while, walking, biking, or rolling since last year’s day of remembrance.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
🌥 Today’s weather: Overcast throughout the day. High of 45 and low of 34.
⛅ Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 45 and low of 34. Sunrise at 7:28 am and sunset at 5:06 pm.
Getting rescued from Somali pirates by Navy SEALs is one thing, but at the end of the day Jessica Buchanan had to save herself.
An Ohio native, Buchanan was an aid worker in northern Somalia when she and fellow aid worker Poul Hagen Thisted were kidnapped in October 2011. With an untreated thyroid condition worsening, she was kept on a starvation diet and slept in the open desert for 93 days. She was rescued by a team of 24 U.S. Navy SEALs, and President Obama phoned Buchanan’s father to inform him on the news of her release.
Alexandria plans to eliminate right turning on red at several intersections along Patrick and Henry street, but some of its neighbors have gone even further.
Allowing right turns on red started along the east coast in the 1970s as a fuel-saving measure and it became nationwide policy in the 80s.
A West End property rendered uninhabitable by a fire more than 10 years ago could finally see redevelopment into a new townhouse development — and Covid might have played a role.
The Planning Commission (item 8) unanimously recommended approval for 6336 Stevenson Avenue, which one commissioner called “the most blighted property in the West End.”
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
☔ Today’s weather: Clear throughout the day. High of 46 and low of 34.
⛅ Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 45 and low of 33. Sunrise at 7:28 am and sunset at 5:05 pm.
