Interested in aviation and flying? Then this weekend is for you.
It’s the best air show of the year in the Washington, DC area. Everything from vintage bi-planes to the military’s most aggressive fighter jets will perform a FREE airshow at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, this weekend.
Vintage warbirds and current fighter jets, including the vintage WW-II P-51 Mustang, AV-8B Harrier, F-104 Starfighters, F-15 Strike Eagle, and the aggressive 1,325+ mph F-22 Raptor
Dates and Times - Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, gates open at 8:00 a.m., Saturday show starts at 9:00, Sunday at 10:00. Both days end at 5:00. Click here for the show schedule.
Tickets - FREE
Nearest Metro Subway Station - Branch Avenue, Green line, then take the 20-minute shuttle.
Parking - No parking at the base, but parking is available at FedEx Field where shuttle buses will transport guests to Andrews. Shuttles also run from the Branch Avenue Metro Station.
Security - All attendees are subject to search. No coolers, backpacks, pets or large camera bags. Portable lawn chairs and collapsible strollers are allowed.
Images - P-51, Blue Angles - public domain, C-17, F-22,
Did you know that Washington, DC has more than one professional baseball team?
Besidesthe Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles, and 5 other mionor league teams, the Potomac Nationals, of the Carolina League, play home games in nearby Woodbridge, Virginia, just 40 minutes from Washington, DC.
The Carolina League formed in 1945 with just a couple of games in southern Virginia. Currently it has seven other A-level minor league teams, besides the Potomac Nationals, representing the Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Indians, Braves, White Sox, and Astros.
A few Hall of Famers have come out the Carolina leaguers, including Johnny Bench, Wade Boggs, Barry “steriod” Bonds, Darryl Strawberry and Carl Yastrzemski.
The movie Bull Durham, staring Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins was about a factious Caroline League team, the Durham Bulls.
The P-Nats play in the 24-year-old Pfitzner Stadium, which has a seating capacity of around 6,000 fans. The stadium is nothing like a “bigs” ball park but looks as if it would be very enjoyable as you get an upclose look at the players and great opportunities for autographs of future Nationals players.
Tickets are cheap compared to Washington Nationals game, as low as $7.00 for an unreserved grandstand seat.
Every Monday night when the Potomac Nationals are playing at home, you can buy an unreserved grandstand seat for only $1.00. Hot dogs are only a buck as well. Tickets for Monday night games are only available at the box office, the night of the game.
Potomac Nationals Pfitzner Stadium
7 County Complex Ct., off of Prince William Parkway
Woodbridge, VA 22192 (map it)
Dates and Times - Most evening games start around 7:00 p.m., with some afternoon games starting at 1:05 p.m. Click here for the Potomac Nationals schedule. Gates open one hour before game time.
Tickets - single-game tickets are available online or by calling 703-590-2311 ext. 215.
Started by the Miami Herald in 1984, this wacky hunt held annually on the beach in Miami, has drawn teams of trivia players, brainiacks, families and people just looking to exercise their brains and powers of observation on a Sunday afternoon. And this year, the Hunt kicks off its first year in Washington, DC.
Teams sizes can range from the lone Einstein wanna-be to teams with as many participants as you like; but four participants per team are recommended due to prizes being designed for teams of 4. Each team is provided with a map and clues, with additional hints and clues found along the route.
And the clues aren’t that easy. It takes thinking WAY outside the box and careful examination of your surroundings to come up with correct answers.
Here’s a couple samples of the questions and answers from a past Miami Hunt, to give you an idea.
Hint - Along the Hunt’s route, participants pass four volunteers wearing sandwich boards. One has the image of Mark Twain on their board; the second, a drawing of a waffle ice cream cone, the third is an image of few links of chain; and the last, a key.
Answer - Hunters had to first rearrange the images to arranges them in correct order (not too hard) — link-cone-mark-key, for ‘Lincoln marquee’. And not surprisingly, the Lincoln Theatre was close by. The theater’s marquee was lit up, but several letters were not. The answer could be found in the the letters that were lit - ‘inThetre’. Rearranged, the letters spelled ‘Thirteen’, which was the correct answer.
Hint - Hunters were handed a small purple flag with a white flower on it along the route. The hunt map also had a similar flag, showing a location at the beach. Heading to the beach, hunters witnessed a strange volleyball game in progress. The players were not using a ball, but inflatable animals, each with a number on them. A sign at the net said ‘you need to know why you are here‘.
Answer - It starts with the flag and the surroundings. Next to the volleyball net, was a lifeguard stand, also flying flags. A sign on the lifeguard stand indicated that a purple flag, meant dangerous marine life was in the water, near the beach. The only inflatable animal the volleyball players were using was a shark, with the the number 27 printed on it. So the answer was “27″.
The final clue will be given at approximately 3:00 p.m. at the Main Stage and the first three teams to correctly solve all the questions win. The top three prizes are a four-person 3, 4 or 5-day trips (airfare and hotel) to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Washington Post’s 2008 Post Hunt City Center Parking Lot 10th & H Streets, NW, at the Old Convention Center site Washington, DC (map it)
Dates and Times - Sunday, May 18, 2008. Noon until about 3:30 p.m. Rain or shine.
Admission - Free, but to participate, your team must be at the Main Stage located at the City Center Parking Lot by noon. You must apply the noon clue to information found in the Washington Post Magazine special section to begin your play, so bring a copy of the 5/18 Washington Post Magazine.
Nearest Metro Subway Station - Metro Center - Red, Blue and Orange lines or Gallery Place-Chinatown - Red, Yellow and Green lines.
Parking - Street and paid garage parking is available.
I searched the web for all kinds of Mother’s Day trivia.
Here’s what I came up with:
The percentage of women with 4 or more children - dropped from 36% of American women in 1976 to 11% just 30 years later.
The number of new moms each year - 4 million, with 11% being teen mothers and 2.5% accounting for moms over 40+ year old.
Percent of births occurring in a hospital - 99+%.
Number of Mother’s Day cards sent annually - 155 million, the 3rd highest of any holiday.
Dollars spent on Mom on Mother’s Day - just under $100 on average, including dinner, gifts, flowers and cards.
World’s youngest mother - Lina Medina, who, in 1939, delivered a 6-pound boy in Lima, Peru, at an age of 5 years and 7 months.
World’s oldest mother - Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara of Spain, delivered twins at the age of 66 in 2006.
Shortest interval between births - Just 208 days (just under 7 months) was how quickly Jayne Bleackley gave birth in 1999 and 2000.
Longest interval between births - 41 years, by Elizabeth Buttle, who’s first child came in 1956 when she was 19 and her second child was born in 1997, when she was 60.
Most children born to a mother - An unbelievable 69 by Feodor Vassilyev in 18th century Russia. Her family (actually a small city) included 16 sets of twins (32), seven sets of triplets (21), and four sets of quadruplets (16). All but two survived infancy. But that’s nothing compared to the female oyster, who can produce 100 million offspring during her lifetime.
The National Zoo’s annual fund-raiser, ZooFari, is this weekend and it brings close to 100 of Washington, D.C., best chefs, restaurants and wine makers, for an evening of dancing, live music and entertainment, animal encounters, and gourmet foods.
A few of the notable restaurants include DC’s Kinkead’s and Vidalia as well as 2941 in suburban Falls Church, VA.
Since this year’s theme highlights the zoo’s efforts to save amphibians from global extinction, I doubt frogs legs will be served.
Officers Memorial
