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Eating by the water in Alexandria – From Beachcomber to Barca

ALEXANDRIA, VA – It’s been 68 years since there were waterfront restaurants on the Potomac River in Alexandria. Given this opening, I should quickly start my definition of waterfront dining:

  1. Open air: You sit outside; e.g. on a balcony, terrace or deck;
  2. Unhindered: No need to park a street, pedestrian walkway, marina or park to get to the river.
  3. Sea level (ish): Don’t get me wrong, I love a rooftop terrace. I just don’t think of it as a dinner by the water.
  4. Open to the public: Private clubs do not count.
  5. On the Potomac: It must be on the actual Potomac River, not on a tributary, bay, port, or other river.

The last time we Alexandrians had a place to eat that met all of my criteria was in 1953 at the Beachcombers Restaurant pictured here. The city of Alexandria has done some wonderful research and recorded much of the history of the Beachcombers restaurant [PDF]. This passage below is an oral excerpt from that research, and it caught my eye:

We enjoyed eating outside with our parents on the high terrace of the Beachcomber Restaurant. There were few lights on the Maryland coast, and the silence was broken only by the distant hum of the rare cabin cruiser passing by, its blue-green and red navigation lights glowing in the deep darkness. The rhythmic lapping of the small waves on the river bank was almost the only other sound, as there was no Wilson Bridge with its noisy trucks at the time. Air traffic from the National Airport was just picking up, but the sight of planes taking off at night was unusual. I can barely remember the sight of seaplanes rocking on their pontoons and moored at the old ferry dock on Strand Street, where the Norfolk-Washington steamship used to call.

The postcards and photos below are just a few of the everyday waterfront dining items from the OurHistoryMuseum collection. They transport us to another time.

It’s worth noting that I (like everyone else I know) look forward to the spring opening of Barca Pier & Wine Bar, ARP’s newest venture. This is the first Potomac River Waterfront Dining anyone has experienced in Alexandria since Beachcombers Restaurant. It will be one of the first truly waterfront dining experiences in the region in a long time, maybe since 1953. I’ll add a portrayal of Barca at the end of this article. If Barca is something like the recently opened, absolutely amazing and adjoining Ada’s on the River from the same owners, it will be very popular.

The Beachcombers Restaurant opened in 1946.

(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)beachcomberPC-bck(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)beachcomberPC-bck90(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)

Beachcombers Restaurant lasted until around 1953 when the owners closed the business. A fire consumed part of the second floor in 1954.

BeachcombersPostcardFRONT(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)BeachcombersPostcardBACK(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)

The Alexandria Motor Boat Club was one of the many boat clubs in Alexandria during the 20th century. This is not the Old Dominion Boat Club. The steamship is the Charles MacAlester, probably on its way to Mount Vernon.

PostcardFront-1(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)PostcardBACK(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)

This is the recently built Old Dominion Boat Club, which is essentially a reconstruction of the Beachcomber restaurant.

Old Dominion Boat Club(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)

Here are pictures of Barca that have just opened.

Barca Pier is on the beautiful Potomac River between Duke and Wolfe Streets. (Photo by Susan Fleischman / The Zebra Press)Barca Pier is inspired by Barcelona’s beach bars and serves tapas, small plates of delicious, ingredient-based food. (Photo by Susan Fleischman / The Zebra Press)

Conditions on the Alexandria coast have certainly improved since this photo was taken.

ShipyardPhoto(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)

MORE: PHOTOS: The Barca Wine Bar joins the Alexandria Waterfront

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Norfolk

New satellite imagery of 76 major cities in the United States and the surrounding area on Geology.com

Landsat high resolution satellite imagery for 76 major cities is available online at Geology.com. Just click on a thumbnail and a colorful high resolution scene of the city and surroundings will fill your monitor. For those new to Landsat imagery, a tutorial on Viewing Landsat is provided. The images are of interest to geologists, city and regional planners, geographers, students and teachers. These new images will also be of interest to anyone who wants to enjoy spectacular views of cities or the surface of the earth.

Featured cities include Akron, Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Augusta, Austin, Bakersfield, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dallas and Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, El Paso, Fort Wayne, Fresno, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Lexington, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee , Minneapolis and St. Paul, Mobil, Modesto, Montgomery, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Newark and Jersey City, Oklahoma City, Omaha and Lincoln, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Richmond, Rochester, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shreveport, Spokane, St. Louis, Stockton, Tampa, Toledo, Tucson, Tulsa, Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Washington, Wichita and Yonkers.

“Satellite imagery is one of the highlights of Geology.com. We know that many people want to see and study the geography and geology of where they live, work and play,” said Hobart King, owner of Geology.com.

Other satellite images and map highlights from Geology.com include: satellite images of meteorite impact structures, map with interactive plate tectoins, highest points in all 50 states and satellite images of US states.

About Geology.com:

Geology.com serves as a portal for geological and geoscientific information on the Internet. It provides resources for learning geology and is visited by over 100,000 teachers, students, and geologists each month.

Visit Geology.com for more information.

Contact:

Hobart King

Geology.com

570-724-4728

http://geology.com

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Warrenton will be considering “parklets” along Main Street

Business owners Kelly Ann Richardson and Carter Nevill believe parklets encourage people to stay in Old Town.

Proponents say bustling public gatherings could start popping up in parking lots along Warrenton Main Street by June.

The city council will consider approving the installation of several “parklets” or temporary public spaces on Main Street as part of a five-month pilot program.

Each parklet would replace a parking lot with a seating area of ​​around 160 square meters for alfresco dining, socializing, and people-watching.

> Survey: What do you think of the concept?

“The parklets will have lots of greenery to beautify Main Street, but also seating for a morning cup of coffee, a meeting on Main Street,” said proponent Sean Polster (by and large) a proponent.

Under the proposal, the city, partnership for Warrenton, and local businesses would work together to bring these pavement extensions to life.

A local company would volunteer to apply for a parklet and agree to pay for planning, construction, insurance and approval.

The city reviewed designs, issued permits, inspected the parklet locations and installed safety barriers.

Parklets would only be available in the warmer months from April to October.

Norfolk, Washington DC, Seattle, and other cities have successful parklet programs.

Mr Polster, who owns the Main Street building that houses Deja Brew, said Carter Nevill, owner of the Carter & Spence gift shop, suggested the idea for Warrenton about a year ago.

“Since the sidewalks exist, they’re pedestrianized and that’s it,” said Nevill. “You are not encouraging people to linger and spend longer on Main Street. Expanding this social space and allowing people to chat, chat, and socialize is critical to the future of Main Street. ”

As a 12-year-old business owner, Mr. Nevill said he looked at Charlottesville’s downtown mall as a reference.

Ideally, he believes parklets would benefit restaurants with more outdoor seating.

“As we look forward to what Main Street is and how we can survive, we need to create more goals,” said Nevill. “We want people to spend two to three hours on Main Street.”

“It’s something we can do quickly and easily at low cost,” said Nevill. “In the long run, there may be better ideas to build on, but we can do that now.”

Kelly Ann Richardson, owner of Kelly Anns Quilting on South Fifth Street, believes parklets will add vitality to the old town.

“When there is activity on a sidewalk, it seems to bring more life to the city, and I think we need that,” Ms. Richardson said.

“I see (people) gathering on sidewalks. (Parklets) would give them a place to stay, ”she added. “I think people miss so much of what we have in town. . . People slow down and see what’s going on in our city. ”

However, some building and business owners have concerns about removing parking on Main Street.

“I’m all about getting more people to Warrenton, but not at the expense of removing parking lots,” said Duane Thompson, a 36-year-old builder.

Mr. Thompson started a petition against the project last week and collected around 40 signatures from old town buildings and business owners and their employees.

“I think parklets are a wonderful thing. They are pretty but we don’t have to lose any parking spaces, ”he said.

Two stores on Main Street are in his building, which has two apartments upstairs.

Mr Thompson says he has been fighting for more parking space since buying his building in 1980.

There were several pharmacies and hardware and furniture stores on Main Street at the time, and the owners “either withdrew or moved because we couldn’t provide enough space,” he said.

As a retired pharmacist, Mr. Thompson believes that filling empty Main Street storefronts with retail tenants should remain a top priority in order to get more pedestrians into Warrenton.

“As parking lots get smaller, companies are cutting their hours and letting their employees go,” Thompson said.

Main Street has 76 parking spaces between Sixth Street and Alexandria Pike, with no side streets.

However, Mr. Nevill believes that parking in the old town is not a problem.

“We could take four seats away or add ten and since people will never find that seat 20 feet from the store they go to, the complaint will persist,” said Nevill.

“Yes, there are times when it’s not convenient, but the distance you walk from a parking lot from the public parking lot to your place of business is likely, on average, less than the distance from your Wegman’s parking lot to the dairy area.” he added.

“Twenty years ago, when Main Street had so many everyday businesses – pharmacies, hardware stores. . . The need for high-volume on-street parking and the lack of parking had a much bigger argument, ”Nevill said.

Beginning with its working session on Thursday March 3rd, the city council will discuss the program and decide whether to establish guidelines and an approval process for the pilot.

Warrenton has opened a comment period for contributions from citizens and business owners through April.

Citizens can comment on parklets by email at (JavaScript must be activated in order to display this e-mail address.)by calling Park Director Margaret Rice at 540-349-2520 or speaking at an upcoming council meeting.

The Park and Recreation Committee, chaired by Mr. Polster, will review the comments and make a recommendation to the full advisory board.

> Information on parklets:

4. Parklet – pt. 1 by Fauquier Now

Parklet v5 from Fauquier Now

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Norfolk

Lea Salonga

Tony Award winning star of Miss Saigon Lea Salonga continues to fascinate audiences worldwide.
www.leasalonga.com
Her new international comeback CD “The Journey So Far” is now available on iTunes and will be available in stores on August 9, 2011.
On November 7, 2005, she sold Carnegie Hall in a brand new show directed by Richard Jay-Alexander (Bette Midler’s Kiss My Brass tour; Barbra Streisand Timeless Farewell tour) and shortly before that she started her first major US city concert tour with performances in San Francisco, Atlantic City, Honolulu, Maui, Chicago, Norfolk, Washington, DC and Los Angeles with sales of over $ 1 million.
Salonga became internationally known for her award-winning lead role as Kim on Broadway in the 1991 production of Miss Saigon. She won not only a Tony Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical,” but also the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Laurence Olivier Award (in London, where Miss Saigon originated). Her numerous plays also include Les Miserables such as Eponine, The Witch in Into The Woods, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, The Goodbye Girl, You Play Our Song, Fett, The Fantasticks, Paper Moon, The Bad Seed, The Sound of Music and Annie.
In the fall of 2002, Salonga made another splash on Broadway when Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammersteins’ Flower Drum Song were revived with a reinvented book by David Henry Hwang. She received another Tony nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical.
In March 2007 Lea returned to Broadway to appear as Fantine on the 2006 revival of Les Miserables. In July 08 she will go on a 39-week tour of Asia and the Philippines with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Salonga is a real “Disney Princess” and can be heard on the screen as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s blockbuster smash Aladdin. In a recent article in Southwest Magazine titled “50 Greatest Movie Soundtracks,” Aladdin was ranked 17th, with a special mention of Miss Salonga’s version of “A Whole New World.” She is also the singing voice of Mulan in Mulan and Mulan 2.
She can be heard on the original recordings of Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song (Broadway Revival), The King and Me (with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), The Nutcracker, Hey, Mr. Producer! and the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. Lea has recorded over a dozen solo CDs, including Lea Salonga, Lea… In Love, By Heart, Songs from Screen, Songs From Home, Lea… Live !, Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert and, most recently, Inspired.
Salonga has also made several notable appearances on television shows such as ER, As The World Turns, Hey, Mr. Producer, and Russell Watson: The Voice for PBS and the PBS Special 10th Anniversary Concert for Les Miserables.
Lea is originally from the Philippines and currently has residencies in New York, Los Angeles and Manila. Her proudest production so far is her daughter Nicole, born in May 06.

pop
singers

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Light snow Sunday, 30s return Monday

Light snow Sunday, 30s return Monday

Updated: 10:05 am CST January 12, 2020

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Feel like January. If you get off this morning, hats, coats, gloves, carvings. TEMPERATURES OVER THE ENTIRE RANGE UNDER THE FREEZING. NEBRASKA CITY, IF CITY, REALLY BEGINS TO SEE SOME DRIZZLE THAT MAY ALSO BE SOME FREEZING DRIZZLE WITH TEMPERATURES AS COLD AS THEY ARE. ON THE RADAR IN GRAND ISLAND WE START MORE ACTIVITY NEAR GRAND ISLAND BUT I HAVE SEEN NO REPORTS OF SNOW MAKING IT BOTTOM IN OUR WEST. THAT WILL CHANGE AS WE GO THROUGH OURS. UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW IN OMAHA METRO BY THIS EVENING. ONE TO TWO INCHES IN TEKAMAH, NORFOLK, WASHINGTON COUNTY. A chance of a small but light snow snow in OMAHA. THE AREAS OF DARK BLUE SHADE CLOSER TO COLUMBUS, NORFOLK THAT WILL BE A BETTER OPPORTUNITY OF SNOWFALL. THE HEAVIEST SNOW REMAINS GOOD IN OUR NORTH BUT I DON’T THINK IT’S AS DIFFICULT AS WE SAWED DURING THE EVENING COMING. THESE ARE OUR HIGHEST, BELOW AVERAGE AVERAGE FOR THIS SEASON, BUT A LITTLE WARMER TO OUR SOUTH TO 5:00 OUR EAST, MAKE THE ENTIRE VIEWING AREA WITH THE SNOW AT 9:00, 10:00 THIS EVENING. The cloud cover is building up again as we advance into the day on Monday. YOU CAN SEE THIS PINK NORTH OF KETV VIEW AREA IN THE MORNING EVENING. I think there is a chance we could see some fog, maybe even some DRIZZLE DEVELOPING TOMORROW. The question is exactly what the temperature might be. THERE IS A CHANCE WE CAN SEE SOME INSULATED SLICK SPOTS TOMORROW. Before we get ours there will likely be some snow on the streets in the afternoon and evening so take it slowly. COOL WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, BACK TO THE 20S AFTER SOME 30S ON MONDAYS AND TUESDAY, KEEP THEM

Light snow Sunday, 30s return Monday

KETV

Updated: 10:05 am CST January 12, 2020

On Sunday morning the clouds move and the chance of light snow increases as the afternoon progresses. The snow is coming to an end tonight, and drier and milder weather is on the agenda on Monday. Meteorologist Molly Bernard has your weather forecast.

On Sunday morning the clouds move and the chance of light snow increases as the afternoon progresses. The snow is coming to an end tonight, and drier and milder weather is on the agenda on Monday. Meteorologist Molly Bernard has your weather forecast.

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Norfolk

Prices at Piedmont Triad International Airport have fallen over the past year, according to local news



The contract to promote Allegiant’s non-stop route to Nashville International Airport begins June 5th.


News & Record


Employee reports

GREENSBORO – Domestic airfares at Piedmont Triad International Airport have fallen over the past year.

According to a release from PTI, the rates fell by 6.2% for the 12-month period up to September 2019. The analysis was based on a tariff survey by the US Department of Transportation.

“We are excited about this downward trend in airfare at PTI and how we are among the most comparable airports in the region,” said Kevin Baker, Executive Director of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, in the press release.

The PTI analysis of the US DOT Airline Origin and Destination Survey also found that the tariffs at the airport received positive ratings among PTI’s comparison airports in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

PTI airfares were the second lowest of the three largest airports in North Carolina. Raleigh-Durham fares were lower. PTI was in the lowest third of 24 airports in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Charlotte, Richmond, Norfolk, Washington / Dulles, and Columbia all had higher average round-trip fares for domestic travel to the United States.

Baker attributes the lower airfares in part to budget airlines Allegiant and Spirit Airlines, to the increased number of seats available to existing markets by most airlines, and to other factors such as Allegiant, which will be offering direct flights to Nashville from June.

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Business brackets for Hurricane Irene

NAGS HEAD – Hurricane Irene’s main thrust was still a day away from North Carolina, but increased waves hit the state’s Outer Banks early Friday as the storm trudged further towards the east coast.

Swelling from Irene and waves 6 to 9 feet was evident and the winds were expected to pick up later in the day, said Hal Austin, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

In the meantime, the hurricane warning area was expanded to include much of the east coast from North Carolina to Sandy Hook, NJ, south of New York City. A hurricane watch extended further north and included Long Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Mass.

For hundreds of miles, 65 million people on the densely populated east coast waited cautiously for a dangerous hurricane with the potential to cause billions in damage throughout the urban sprawl that stretches from Washington and Baltimore to Philadelphia, New, York, Boston and Furthermore. (Read more here)

Check Out: Latest Photos of NC’s Outer Banks

Friday, 08/26/11, 10:40 a.m. / ET: Home Depot – How to adapt to your needs

You need batteries, generators, circuit boards, tape, etc. – how is Home Depot preparing for you? – Your man at the front has the details – and some tips for you.

You can see it here.

Friday, 8/26/11, 10:36 a.m. / ET: Irene is getting expensive

NYTimes reports: A New York hurricane could be a multi-billion dollar catastrophe

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Irene Blog: Impact on Business

Irene set out for an area 15 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. According to the latest bulletin from the Miami National Hurricane Center, she is expected to pass near New York City in the east before returning inland to southern New England.

Irene is wearing now maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and moves north-northeast at 18 miles per hour.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for areas up to the south coast of Nova Scotia. “Interests in other parts of eastern Canada should monitor Irene’s progress,” the NHC bulletin said.

Sunday, 8/28/11 2:26 a.m. / ET: Irene turns off 20,000 NYC customers

The early rains of Hurricane Irene disconnected nearly 20,000 customers in New York City on Sunday.

According to Consolidated Edison Staten Island was the hardest hit neighborhood with 8,402 homes and businesses without electricityWhile Queens and Brooklyn had between 3,000 and 5,000 power outages. Only 15 customers in Manhattan were without power at 2:01 p.m. EDT.

In total, nearly 2 million customers in the northeast are now without power, with the largest outages being reported by Domination in Virginia, where 820,000 customers are without power, followed by Baltimore, where nearly 300,000 Constellation (BGE) customers are without power, according to Reuters.

The National Hurricane Center states that the eye of the storm is now approximately 315 km south-southwest of New York City and moving north-northeast at 28 km / h.

Saturday, 8/27/11 11:52 PM / ET: NYC transit shutdown completed

New York Transit officials have now completed shutting down the entire system of local trains, buses and subways, according to the AP. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said it secured all of its equipment and sent all employees home to shut down the largest transportation network in the United States in an unprecedented manner.

It is unclear when the system will be running again. The MTA says even if the damage is minimal, getting service back will “be a lengthy process”. And floods, mudslides, fallen trees, and rundown power lines could make the job dramatically more difficult.

Mayor Bloomberg warned a few hours ago that the outer edges of Irene had reached the city and it was no longer safe to be outside.

Saturday, 08/27/11 7:42 p.m. / ET: Update – ConocoPhillips will be closed

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STS9 reveal tour dates for Fall ’16 headliners

After the official announcement that their new album, THE UNIVERSE INSIDE– the bands first new full-length studio album in almost seven years– comes September 2nd, acclaimed electronic rock band STS9 has now announced dates for an autumn headlining tour. STS9 will bring yours expansive sound, innovative style that combines the energy of dance music of the 21st century with the dynamism of a band, unique, critically acclaimed production and Message of unity for audiences across the Midwest and the East Coast October and November.

kicking off the 20th of October in the Minneapolis, STS9– –Hunter Brown (Guitar / sequences), Jeffree Lerner (Drums), David Phipps (Keyboards / synthesizers), Zach Velmer (Drums) and Alana Rocklin (Bass) – stop Madison, Detroit, Columbus, Louisville, Memphis, Athens, Nashville, Knoxville, Asheville, Charlottesville, Norfolk, Washington, DC and Philadelphia before wrapping November 12th at the New York Terminal 5. In between their headlining dates, the quintet will spend Halloween weekend playing im Voodoo Music + Arts experience in the New Orleans and Suwannee Hulaween in the Living Oak, FL. Citi® Cardmember presale Tickets for the band’s headlining dates are on sale Tuesday 23rd August With Live Nation presale beginning Wednesday August 24th and Public sale begin Friday, August 26th;; Everything starts daily at 10:00 a.m. local time. Below is a full list of the upcoming tour dates.

The newly announced dates will follow STS9 upcoming double header in Atlanta this weekend where the band is playing theirs 30th sold out show in the majestic tabernacle This Friday, August 26th followed by a headlining show with three movements in the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Encore Park on Saturday, August 27th with a set of the band’s legendary “Ax the Cables”, in which STS9 appears in “acoustic” form. Another touring milestone is reached Friday 9th September and Saturday September 10th when STS9 occurs for the 14th year in a row at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, Mark their 20th performance at the famous venue in Colorado.

THE UNIVERSE INSIDE are published on their own 1320 records on Friday September 2nd. The 13-track The album continues its stylistic exploration in the studio, which is notable on the lead single “Become loud” a collaboration with singer / songwriter Betty Idol and celebrated production team of JUSTICE. league. Conceived as a throwback from the future, the song is an ode to the musicians and producers who STS9 grew up loving. Like much of the band’s work, there is a rally scream disguised as a dance hook. The texts are a call to “let yourself be raised”, “say proudly” and to stand up for justice and civil rights. THE UNIVERSE INSIDE opens with “Supercluster” It tests NASA’s original STS-9 radio transmission and shows the band’s return from a voyage that began with their debut Interplanetary Escape Vehicle in 1998. The first words that are heard are a call to you STS9is home and muse, california. Watch and listen HERE. THE UNIVERSE INSIDE– what was written, recorded, produced and mixed from the band on their own 1320 Mission Control in the Santa Cruz, CA.– comes to the threshold of STS9‘s 20th anniversary (in 2017). Fans can pre-order THE UNIVERSE INSIDE now on iTunes or 1320 Records and get instant downloads from “Supercluster” “Get Loud” and “Give take.”

DATE

CITY

CONFERENCE VENUE

Headliner shows:

Fri 8/26 Atlanta, GA The tabernacle
Sa 8/27 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Encore Park
Fri 9/9 Morrison, CO Red Rocks amphitheater
Sat 9/10 Morrison, CO Red Rocks amphitheater
Autumn 10/20 Minneapolis, MN Skyway Theater
Fri 10/21 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater
Sat 10/22 Detroit, MI The Fillmore
Sun 10/23 Columbus, OH Express Live! Indoor pavilion
Wed 26.10 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
Autumn 10/27 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theater

Festival appearances:

October 28th to 30th New Orleans, LA Voodoo Music + Arts experience
October 28th to 30th Live Oak, FL Suwannee Hulaween

Headliner shows:

Mon 31.10 Athens, GA Georgia Theater
Fall March 11th Nashville, TN War Memorial Auditorium
Fri 11/4 Knoxville, TN Tennessee Theater
Sa 11/5 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Sun 11/6 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater
Wed 11/9 Norfolk, VA The Norva
Fall 11/10 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore
Fri 11/11 Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore
Sat 11/12 New York, NY Maximum of 5

Festival appearance:

Autumn 12/1– –Mon 05.12 Punta Cana, DR Dominican Holidaze
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ARCHITECTURAL CAREER OF ALF LUBLIN IN VIRGINIA ABROAD

Alfred Lublin flashed over the horizon like a comet before falling to his death.

Not many people crowd in as much as Alf Lublin in 53 years, and not many leave such devoted admirers. People remember Lublin as a designer whose buildings are admired in Norfolk, Washington and abroad.

His life reads like a novel. It touched Williamsburg, Paris, Livorno, Tripoli and many other places before it ended in the wreck of a Scandinavian plane near Ankara, Turkey in January 1960.

His widow and daughter still live in Norfolk. A son who is in the Army was recently stationed at Fort Lee and another daughter lives in Northern Virginia.

I met the architect in Paris when I went to Europe with 114 other Americans in 1956 to invite Queen Elizabeth of England to come to Jamestown the next year. Lublin oversaw a French architectural project and invited Governor and Mrs. Thomas Stanley, Mayor of Norfolk and Mrs. Fred Duckworth and several others in our group to dinner at Maxim. It was an unforgettable occasion.

Among the guests was a frog-faced columnist named Art Buchwald who wrote a ridiculous column that appeared in the Paris edition of The Herald-Tribune the next day about those crazy Virginians who had come all the way to Europe to invite the Queen to come to Virginia. He must have been surprised later when she did.

I learned that Lublin was born in Kassel in 1904 and had set an excellent record in architecture and engineering at the Technical University in Charlottenburg. He was a Jew, and when Hitler came to power in the 1930s, Lublin soon realized the danger. He and his architect Ernst Freud, son of Sigmund, left Germany. Freud settled in England and became famous there. Lublin chose Paris because his mother was French and he spoke the language, but in 1936 he realized that France was also in danger and moved to New York.

There he practiced with a large company, but soon longed to have his own. He spoke to the late William B. Thalhimer of Richmond, who then ran Thalhimer’s business and helped talented Jewish refugees emigrate to the United States and advance their careers. Thalhimer suggested Norfolk, and Lublin and his bride, former Vogue’s Mary Calverley, moved there around 1938.

Virginia’s architecture firm would not recognize Lublin’s European credentials, so he had to take the Richmond state architectural engineering exams. While waiting to take them and get the results, he took on small jobs. One was to create a suburb in Williamsburg for Mrs. Carrie Williams, who owned and developed an area called Indian Springs on Jamestown Road.

Williams had met Lublin in Norfolk, offered him the contract and was delighted with his design. As the widow of a university professor, she single-handedly sold all the tickets. Today the area is one of the best in Williamsburg.

When his exam was graded, Lublin was found to have achieved the third highest grade ever received by the National Architectural Registration Board. He opened his office in Norfolk and soon co-founded Lublin and McGaughy with John McGaughy. It is now the large international company of McGaughy, Marshall and McMillan with offices in several cities in the United States and Europe.

Lublin was a modernist architect from the Bauhaus School of German Design. He particularly admired the work of Walter Gropius, a German contemporary who came to the United States in 1937 and taught at Harvard, and Frank Lloyd Wright. His modernity, his versatile skills as an architect and his ability to speak French, German and Italian soon led to opportunities to work abroad. It wasn’t long before the company had offices in Washington, Paris, Honolulu, Livorno, and Ankara.

“He had a wonderful ear for music and languages,” recalls his wife. He worked in Turkey and also learned Turkish, one of the more difficult languages. His classical training was evident in his ability to read Greek and Latin, and in his knowledge of classical music. He could identify any string quartet by Mozart or Beethoven if he heard a few bars.

The Lublin and McGaughy company designed the Kirn Memorial Library, the Maritime Tower and the Armed Forces Staff College of Norfolk, among others. In collaboration with a German company, she designed the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington and won a prize from the American Institute of Steel Construction for it. In the boom in international companies after the Second World War, the company quickly expanded overseas. Today it is one of the world’s 50 leading consulting firms for architecture and engineering. It is also among the 25 largest in the United States.

A notable quality in Alfred Lublin when I met him in Paris was his love for his adopted Virginia. That was evident that evening at Maxim’s when he was entertaining the Virginia visitors and showing us Art Buchwald.

But the best thing about him was his tolerance of the eccentricities that thrive in men and which often separate them. After tasting the poison of Hitler’s hatred, he developed a civilized tolerance that helped him overcome national barriers with ease and adapt easily to new languages ​​and customs. He might even work with the French, who are a law to themselves.

“I think in French,” he told staff members who complained about the unfathomable Gaulish spirit.

When I pass Indian Springs in Williamsburg, I fondly remember the quirky architect who designed it and who did so many other things.

Parke Rouse is a Williamsburg writer.